Mercy and Prayer for All Isaiah 56:7, Romans 11:32; Matthew 15:21–28
Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has won mercy for all, and invites all to come to Him in prayer.
The Lord declares in our Old Testament, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
And Paul teaches us in our Epistle, For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
All have sinned and disobeyed, but Jesus died for all, and calls all to believe and repent, that He might have mercy on all.
Prayer for all, mercy for all, and the knowledge of Christ that brings salvation for all.
Prayer is too comforting, God’s mercy too healing, and the knowledge of Christ too wise and eternally impacting to be just for a few… God offers it to all.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
He intends the knowledge of His Gospel to be wisdom and mercy for all…
He intends His inspired Word, which 2 Timothy 3 says makes us wise for salvation, and for godly living, to be truth for all…
He intends Holy Baptism, which makes us His dear children by faith, to be a blessing for all…
And He intends His Church, to be a family for all… as Isaiah says, a house of prayer for all peoples.
Our mission at St. John is to know Christ, and to make Him known… to all!
Another way we could put that is to know His mercy, and make it known.
To know His saving grace, and make it known…
To know His holy Word, and make it known…
To know His holy Commandments, and make them known…
To know His Church, His family, and make it known…
To know His fellowship, and make it known…
To know His gift of prayer, and to make it known that this is a house of prayer for all.
As Jesus said when he cleared the temple of the money-changers, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’.
And that’s what makes His house beautiful…
… the place where His Word is heard… where our payers and praise are heard… where holy Baptism is witnessed… and the holy meal of our Lord’s Supper is celebrated.
God’s Spirit never tires of coming to us, and strengthening us whenever and wherever we read and hear His Word… so let us never tire of hearing and learning it.
God never tires of hearing our praise and prayers… our hymns and songs and liturgies.. so let us never tire of singing His praises!
Every word of prayer and praise that rolls off our lips, or that we say in our hearts, our Heavenly Father hears.
His mind never wanders as we pray…
He gives us His full, undivided attention every time, every word, every thought.
So let us never tire in bringing our needs and concerns, and our joys to Him in prayer.
Let us persist, even when it seems He isn’t hearing or responding, He is…
… and in due time, we’ll see His answer, as He gives us what’s best for us in the end, in the long-run, what’s best for our eternal life and soul.
In today’s Gospel we have an inspirational example of persisting in faith and prayer, calling upon Jesus, proof that He hears and has mercy for all.
A Canaanite woman, a Gentile, outside the house of Israel…
… a desperate woman, not for herself but for her daughter, who was severely oppressed, our text says, and in the worst way, by demons…
… she begged and pled with the only One who could help, the miracle-worker from Nazareth, Promised Messiah of the Jews…
… who had come to Tyre and Sidon, homeland of the Canaanites, the ancient enemies of the Jews.
This is one of the few times Jesus went outside of Palestine in His ministry… but in that brief journey, He showed that His mercy is for all who call on Him.
It’s amazing how this woman approached Jesus, with such courage and confidence… not so much in herself, but in Jesus… and not for herself, but for her daughter.
She refused to give up… she would do anything to save her daughter, something every loving parent can understand.
She was convinced that Jesus was the One who could help her.
Even though she and her daughter were foreigners to the Jews, and generally looked down on, she believed that Jesus was different in His thinking, that He truly cared about her Canaanite daughter.
And so she followed Him and begged Him over and over again, to have mercy and heal her dear, hurting child.
Jesus was testing the woman’s faith, not to manipulate her, but to strengthen her…
… and to give her an opportunity to be a witness of His love and mercy for all…
… and to show His disciples, and us, what persistent, determined, courageous faith looks like...
… and to this day, how many millions have been encouraged by this story of her bold faith in Christ, and her dear love for her daughter.
Jesus was making the most of her God-given faith and resolve, to inspire and encourage us all.
The disciples didn’t realize what Jesus was doing, so they told the woman to shut up or get lost. Not very nice.
But it would take more than that to scare her away.
She wasn’t intimidated; her faith in Jesus and her love for her daughter gave her the power to persist.
Finally, Jesus answered her.
Still testing her, He looked at her and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she didn’t believe that; she knew Jesus loved her and her daughter, that her ethnicity made no difference to Him.
So she kept asking and pleading, “Lord, help me.”
Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs”… as Gentiles were called and thought of by some.
She replied, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”
What a clever response. But it wasn’t her wit that impressed Jesus, it was her faith, a gift to her from Heaven, that’s what touched His heart.
Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
When we, by faith, pray to God for healing, it’s always in the context of, “Thy will be done”, or, “according to Your good and gracious will.”
All God’s faithful children will be physically healed, if not now, then certainly and completely healed when we’re raised in glory at the final resurrection.
So as we pray, we know we’ll be healed -- it’s just a matter of when, now or later… And so we pray with confidence, and gratitude!
In driving out demons, Jesus healed, not just the girl’s body, but also her soul.
Sometimes we have to wait for the healing of our body, but we never have to wait for the healing of our soul.
By faith, Jesus would begin the healing our souls, starting now!
The moment we’re baptized, God reclaims and renews and heals our souls.
When we repent and are absolved of our sin…
… when we hear and read and learn and pray and reflect on God’s Word…
… every time we receive Christ’s body and blood for our strength and forgiveness, God has mercy on us, and our souls are healed and restored.
And not just in this place, but around the globe, wherever God’s faithful children gather around His Word and His Sacraments, there, minds are renewed, hearts are healed, and souls are saved.
Knowing how great and real God’s mercy is, let us, like the brave and faithful woman in our Gospel, never give up, never quit believing, but persist in faith, and in prayer, and in following and calling on and serving Jesus…
… and in sharing the good news that He has life, mercy… and peace for all...
… that extraordinary peace, that passes our understanding, and guards our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who, in His great mercy, hears us and heals us. Amen.