August 16, 2026 Sermon -- Pastor Becky Piper [Matthew 15:10-28]

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew, the fifteenth chapter.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, Listen and understand.

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.

Then the disciples approached and said to him, Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?

He answered, Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

Let them alone.

They are blind guides of the blind.

And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.

But Peter said to him, Explain this parable to us.

Then he said, Are you also still without understanding?

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer?

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.

For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

These are what defile a person.

But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

Just then a Canaanite woman from the region came out and started shouting, Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David, my daughter is tormented by a demon.

But he did not answer her at all.

And his disciples came and urged him, saying, Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.

He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

But she came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me.

He answered, It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.

She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.

Then Jesus answered her, Woman, great is your faith.

Let it be done for you as you wish.

And her daughter was healed from that moment.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

You may be seated.

From the God who was, is, and is to come.

Amen.

When I was a child, after my parents had mowed our lawn, which was a very large lawn, and I'm sure they didn't like that we did this, but we would gather up all the grass clippings and we'd use them and we'd create an outline and we were gonna build a house with outlining of grass clippings and make rooms and decide which what we wanted in the rooms and use the grass clippings to line up those as well.

And then we'd use that to play.

But if you showed up after it was all built, and you're like, ooh, I want to play, we'd be like, nope, you stay outside the house.

Those of us who built the house will play inside the house.

It was great that we used our imaginations, but it still seemed like as kids we were there deciding who were insiders and who were outsiders, even with a pretend house built out of grass clippings outlining our house.

In Isaiah, we hear that the Lord declares that the house of the Lord shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

And just like kids playing outside and creating an imaginary house, our desire to have insiders and outsiders runs pretty deep, which is part of what seems to be shown in our gospel reading for today, in this curious story about the Canaanite woman, and to me, this odd way that Jesus seems to act in the story, seeming to be worried about keeping things in order with insiders and outsiders.

So I find this story a bit painful to read.

But then I think if I can work through it, if we can work through this story together and not ignore it, that within this story we will also find a place that we can focus our hearts.

At the beginning of Jesus meeting the Canaanite woman, he does not treat her well.

Reverend Richard Swanson asks, does Jesus listen to himself when he talks or does he just talk?

If what comes out of the mouth defiles a person, does he hear what he says to the woman when he meets her?

It's painful and it's awkward.

It's like overhearing a private conversation between two people, and then all of a sudden you realize, oh, they really don't want anybody else to hear what they're saying, so you try to quickly step away because it's uncomfortable.

That's almost what it feels like hearing Jesus' response to the Canaanite woman.

Yet often I've read this story as Jesus treating the woman this way in order to prove a point.

Well, he's just doing this because there's a point that needs to be made.

But then I think how many people want to be used as an example and treated badly in order to prove a point to someone else.

Yet maybe Jesus isn't really purposely being mean to her, but he's simply following the social and community standards and the barriers that surround her because at the time she was an outsider.

No matter which way you looked at her, she was an outsider.

Stay outside the lines, don't come inside.

When she first approached Jesus, she's taking a risk because she doesn't know if he'll respond.

And she says, Have mercy on me, Lord, son of David.

My daughter is tormented by a demon.

Lord, have mercy.

And Jesus says nothing.

He doesn't answer her.

And then his disciples jump in, as they always seem to do, and they don't speak to her, but they speak to Jesus that he needs to get rid of her because she's there distracting them and distracting him of what needs to be done in her cry for mercy.

So then he answers her and he reminds all that are listening that he came first for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

There's a plan.

Eventually the Gentiles will receive this message, but it's not yet.

She's desperate.

This woman is desperate for her daughter's sake.

And desperate people who are determined are not going to be easily dismissed.

She's heard, I'm sure, of Jesus.

That's why she came to him.

Isn't he the one that gives mercy and compassion and healing?

So when Jesus basically dismisses her again, she changes, changes her tactics and she kneels in front of him.

Lord, help me.

See me.

See my daughter.

Don't just see me with your eyes.

Why don't you see me with your heart?

And in my opinion, this is where it gets even more painful when Jesus responds to her.

It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.

I want him to call her child of God.

I want him to say, oh beloved one.

But instead he calls her that typical derogatory name for someone who is a Gentile.

She calls out to him with a cry of mercy for her soul.

And he calls her dog.

But that often happens in the world at that point and in our world today.

When people are called something other than what they truly are, when people are looked upon as an object instead of a named child of God, it's much easier to see someone as other because then they can be dismissed and they don't have to be seen.

So I find it painful to hear Jesus respond in this way as well.

But I'm also thankful that the story doesn't end right there.

Because this story shows possibility.

It shows that even when Jesus becomes distracted by what he needs to have done, he can take a step back from this determined woman.

He can learn something and then have the clouded clouds clear from his own eyes and see things differently and see her differently, and see her for who she really is standing before her.

So I think to myself, when we hear this, we do not need to despair, for God's mercy is strong.

The woman responds to Jesus saying, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.

She doesn't dismiss being called a dog or walk away.

I'm sure she has been used to being dismissed and called other names throughout her life.

So she boldly calls it what it is and she stays persistent in her cries for mercy for Jesus.

She knows what he is capable of.

And right there, she cracks his heart right open.

Because then he says, Woman, great is your faith.

He doesn't call her dog any longer.

He says, Let it be done for you as you wish.

And the woman's daughter was healed instantly.

And I think how many of us would like to be in that place?

To be persistent before Jesus and to know that healing can happen instantly.

I think in that moment, Jesus saw her finally for who she really was.

Not just a Canaanite woman, not an outsider, not someone to call dogs.

Jesus saw her as a person in need of mercy, as someone to be seen, not simply with his eyes, but with his heart.

Luke Powery, the Dean of Duke University Chapel, writes that this is where the outsider finds a place on the inside of the heart of God.

Isn't that beautiful?

Finding a place on the inside of the heart of God.

Because there are those in our world today who recognize that cry of mercy.

They recognize being voiceless and nameless.

Those who are made to feel that they are less than, that they don't belong.

Those that we find easier to ignore and not see, because once you see someone, you can't unsee them and their need for mercy.

So maybe that is part of the request of this story for us.

To see people as Jesus finally saw the Canaanite woman, to see people for who they are, people worthy of receiving mercy, to see people as having a place on the inside of the heart of God.

Because isn't that what Jesus does for us when we come before Him and cry for mercy?

Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy.

We come before Him with our hands open.

And within our hands are placed all that we need to be filled up to go out, forgiveness and mercy, compassion and love.

That's what is built here in this house of prayer, a house of mercy.

How would you picture our world to look or our place to look if we were all peoples welcomed as a house of prayer?

I have a picture that I've had up since the spring in my office at Lutheran Memorial, and maybe some of you recognize this.

This is some confirmation youth drew this this spring.

And so it's been hanging there, and as I was reading this gospel text, I looked up at it again, and I thought, here is an image of young people from this congregation of how they saw what was happening, the scripture passage for the day, but also what we can be as a house of prayer.

For the cross is at the center, there is Christ, and there's a group of people surrounding the cross.

And one of them is obviously in need of help.

And I, in my head, I'm looking at this person crying out for mercy.

And so they bring this person to Jesus.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

This is an image of the house of prayer.

This is an image of who we are, of why we are here as well.

Because we know that when we cry, Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy, we receive it as a gift.

And there can be many things that may distract us along the way.

But we come back to that again and again.

For Jesus sees each of us on the inside of the heart of God.

And maybe that's how we are called to see each other as well.

When you call out for mercy, Christ will see you and will give over mercy and care.

And when we go out of those doors, I pray that our eyes are open so we see others with the heart of God and also extend mercy.

Amen.