Reminiscere Sunday
Genesis 32:22-32; Romans 5:1-5; Matthew 15:21-28
In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Last week, we heard about Jesus as your Example in the face of temptation, your Champion redeeming you from satan’s grip in His death and resurrection, making you righteous, and as your Helper against the demonic forces. But in today’s reading, He doesn’t seem to be helping.
The Gospel lesson is famously confusing. Sure, the woman has no merit of her own. She comes to Jesus as one who is empty and broken. But she’s not begging for herself. Her daughter is demon possessed, “severely,” it says. And you simply can’t get around the fact that Jesus is ignoring the woman’s prayer. We’d like to think that God doesn’t do this. God doesn’t want it to look like He’s ignoring prayer. But what else should we call it when “he did not answer her a word” (Matt. 15:23)? That is troubling for us. And you can relate. Do you think you’re the only one who’s felt that God is ignoring your prayer? You have prayed for your marriage, your children, the health of someone dear, and at times, you have felt the same stony silence from your God.
Honestly, if that were the end of the reading, this would already be an incredibly shocking text, but it gets worse. Jesus says that He was “sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24), meaning that He was not sent to this woman or her daughter. That’s the implication. As if God is saying, “I’m not your God.” And then, Jesus calls her a dog. Not a cute pet, by the way. Dogs in that day were disgusting scavengers that lived off trash and refuse. Our Lord calls her that. The whole scene is disturbing. And yet, faced with God’s seeming rejection, we are given the most beautiful picture of prayer.
The text tells us that the Canaanite woman “came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David’” (Matt. 15:22). It’s not clear in the English, but the word for “crying” there is in the imperfect tense. Meaning, it implies a repetitive or continuous action. She was continually crying out, continually praying for mercy. This is what she does as she waits upon the Lord, and the whole thing implies time. We don’t know how long this had been going on. It could have been hours that she cried out to Jesus. It must have been quite a while, because the disciples eventually join her plea, even if only to be rid of her. But the woman just keeps on crying out to God, over time.
Now, imagine for a moment that you were there. Imagine that you don’t know how the story ends. You have no clue that Jesus will say, “great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire” (Matt. 15:28). You simply come upon the scene, watching this poor woman after she’d already been praying for a while, but being ignored by the Christ. If you were to see this, you’d think, “Well, Jesus isn’t going to grant her prayer.” The woman’s pleas would seem pointless and foolish. Maybe you’d even counsel her, “Hey, Jesus can obviously hear you, and He’s choosing not to respond. You’re wasting your time and making a fool of yourself. Go home to your child.” That’s what we’d think.
But somehow, the woman knows that this Jesus is the One who hates demons. This is the Man whom demons fear, who casts them out and sends them to pigs. She knows that He comes to free those enslaved by sin and bound in chains. “Jesus, the Lord, the mighty God, an all-sufficient ransom paid. O matchless price! His precious blood for vile, rebellious traitors shed. Jesus the Sacrifice became to rescue guilty souls from hell; the spotless, bleeding, dying Lamb beneath avenging justice fell.” This is Him, the only One who can help her daughter. The One whose Blood will set us all free. So while God seemingly rejects her, she waits upon the Lord.
Remember what Isaiah says about those who wait upon the Lord? They “shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Is. 40:31). That’s what happens to those who wait upon the Lord. Not those who work hard, who take matters into their own hands, but those who wait.
That doesn’t make any sense. When we think of waiting for God to answer our prayer, not immediately getting what we ask for, that makes us feel frustrated and exhausted. When you continually cry out to God, it seems to drain you of energy, not give it. But Isaiah promises this for your faith. It is renewed and strengthened in your waiting. And that’s what we see in the Canaanite woman. Not only is she undeterred in her prayer when Jesus ignores her, but it seems to enliven her. The first chance she gets, the first hint of acknowledgement from Jesus, she throws herself in front of Him. When He calls her a dog, she agrees: “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table” (Matt. 15:27).
This woman waits upon the Lord even when He seemingly ignores her. This is your picture of prayer. Some of you are reluctant to approach God in prayer. You are tempted to think that it’s a waste of time simply because you don’t see God granting your requests. Instead, you tend to see this. You see yourself in this woman’s shoes, ignored, maybe even feeling despised by God. Others of you do pray, but you’re reluctant to continue in prayer. You’re tempted to think that you should only pray once and be done with it, believing that if you pray more than once, then you’re not really trusting God. But look at the text. Do you see this? How your Lord simply adores this woman’s persistent prayer? He praises her continued reliance upon Him.
This is how it is, beloved. The Canaanite Woman is a picture of you. You do not come to God on your own strength. You don’t convince Him to listen to your prayers by your worthiness or your sincerity or how hard you pray. You come in weakness. You come empty. That’s how your Lord would have you approach Him, that He might renew you with His own strength.
St. Paul says, “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). God doesn’t give you strength for your whole life. He would have you wait upon Him in prayer, just as He would have you ask for daily bread. He doesn’t have you pray for yearly bread or monthly bread. Daily, you rely upon Him. You cry out to Him continually.
And quite often, you look like this Canaanite Woman. At least, you look like her before Jesus grants her prayer. Oftentimes, that’s you, following after your Lord, asking for mercy, confused, not knowing what He will do or how long before He responds, even. And, let’s be honest, sometimes you feel foolish. You come before God empty and weak, in great need. And it feels downright silly to continue to pray, to hold on to Christ when it seems as if He’s just ignoring you because of what you have to endure. You’re praying for your spouse’s health, your child’s faith, your own sanity, the depression you struggle with, whatever it is. It seems foolish that you continue waiting upon the Lord.
But that is prayer born of faith. Here you learn that, no matter what it seems, your Jesus is not ignoring you. He’s not despising the cares of your heart. In fact, He’s deeply pleased with your prayers. Do you see that here? Do you think of your own prayers as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, a sweet incense? You should. So what if we feel foolish! If this woman is foolish, then let us all be fools in prayer.
That doesn’t mean you’ll always have your prayers answered as you want. You don’t know how it will turn out. You may continue to be thoroughly confused. But your Jesus is not. He’s not confused. He’s not wondering what to do with your prayers, how to answer them. He’s not puzzled by your problems. Jesus knows how to deal with the demons. Jesus knows how to crush Satan‘s head. Jesus knows how to go to the cross with the sins of the world, with your sins, paying for each one of them with His Blood. Jesus knows how to ransom you and deliver you from this broken world. Jesus knows how to defeat death and rise from it on the third day. Dear saints, He knows how to deal with you. He knows how to answer your prayers at the right time. He knows when the anguish of your heart will cease. He’s the one who knows your needs and how best to meet them. So continue to pray and come to Him where He is found in His Body and Blood, that like the Canaanite woman, you might continually rely upon Him.
In ☩ Jesus’ name. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
"If God is for us, who is against us?" 