Lent II: Reminiscere – March 1, 2026

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Canaanite woman was going through much suffering. Why?

Because her daughter was severely oppressed by a demon.

Her daughter was tormented, and so the mother suffered as well.

A mother's heart is bound up with her child.

When the child suffers, the mother suffers too.

The Canaanite woman heard the reports about Jesus.

She lives way in Tyre and Sidon, kind of the northwest parts of Galilee.

And she heard that Jesus cast out demons in the synagogue at Capernaum.

She also heard that Jesus gave sight to the blind, healed the sick,

and even raised the dead.

And from these reports, she concluded that Jesus is the son of David.

In other words, the promised Savior.

She believed that Jesus came not only to redeem us from sin and death,

but also to rescue us from the devil.

She believed that Jesus could heal her daughter.

And so she cried out, have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David.

My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.

If Jesus could help her daughter, then this would help the mother.

She said, have mercy on me by helping my daughter.

And so we are no different than this woman. When a family member suffers, we suffer as well.

We too endure attacks and temptations of the devil, both upon our loved ones

and even upon ourselves.

The devil is alive and active.

And today. We also live in a fallen world.

We suffer from the consequences of our own sins and from the sins of others.

We endure many trials and tribulations.

We suffer from sickness and disease, from heart attacks, strokes,

chronic illness, depression, anxiety, and the death of a loved one.

The list goes on and on. We know what it is to have days and nights of anxious thought.

We know what it is to lie awake at night wondering what's going to happen next.

We know what it is to feel weak and helpless and afraid, just like the Canaanite woman.

We sang a few moments ago, stanza one, When in the hour of deepest need,

we know not where to look for aid.

When days and nights of anxious thoughts, no help or counsel yet have brought,

namely from the world. But what do we do next?

We sing, the hymn goes on to say, To you, O faithful God, we cry for rescue from our misery.

To you, O faithful God, we cry for rescue from our misery. for you are the only one who can help me.

So just like the Canaanite woman, cry out to God in prayer.

He hears you. He cares about you. In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, deliver us from evil.

And the Greek literally reads, and deliver me from the evil one, namely the devil.

The Canaanite woman cried out to Jesus, have mercy on me, O Lord,

son of David, for my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.

But something happens that is very difficult for us to understand.

She cries out, and Jesus answers her not a word.

He is silent. He doesn't say anything, almost like he's ignoring her.

Have you prayed and prayed, and yet there is no answer?

Have you pleaded with God, and yet the situation really doesn't change?

Have you cried out in distress and it seems like God is silent?

It is one of the hardest things for us to endure. We want God to answer our prayers immediately.

It is hard for us to pray, thy will be done, because we want our will to be

done in our own time and way.

And when God does not, we are tempted to think, why is this happening to me?

Does God not care? Has God abandoned me? Is he ignoring my prayers?

The disciples wanted to send this woman away, get rid of her,

she's bothering us. Jesus, you don't have time for this woman from Tyre and Sidon.

We too think that Jesus is only for some people but not for others.

But Jesus has come for all people, Jew and Gentile, young and old,

you and me, our neighbor, our family member, a friend.

Then Jesus says I was

not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel

It sounds as if

Jesus is excluding her He's

only come for some but not others type of thing But she persists She persists

She goes closer to him She falls down on her hands and knees Her prayer is now

shorter than before It's only three words.

Lord, help me. She's desperate.

And then Jesus responds as if he was not interested in helping her.

He said, it is not right to throw the children's bread to the dogs.

He called her a dog.

If you were in her shoes, what would you do? Would you walk away?

Would you conclude that Jesus is not merciful after all? Would you give up on prayer?

Would you doubt the many promises of God?

But this woman does something remarkable.

She does not walk away. She does not give up. She does not doubt that Jesus is merciful.

Instead, she thinks to him in faith all the more. And she says,

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

In other words, yes, Lord, I am a dog.

I am not worthy of the things for which I pray, nor do I deserve them.

Like your people Israel who are lost, I too am lost in sin. I too am a child of Adam and Eve.

I am a poor, miserable sinner. But I believe that you, Jesus, you are the son of David.

You are the promised Savior. You are the Savior not only for Israel,

but for me and for the whole world.

I believe that you have the power to heal my demon-possessed daughter.

Lord, your children of Israel, your own children, have no interest in you.

You are the bread of life, and they are throwing you away. And this is not right.

They are rejecting you.

Yet I am one who needs you. I need your help.

Lord, if the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table,

then just give me a crumb of your grace, and my daughter can be healed. Lord, please help me.

Jesus turns and looks at her and says, Woman, great is your faith.

Let it be done as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly at that

moment, perhaps maybe even a distance away.

The woman's faith was great because it looked at Jesus.

Her faith, Jesus was the object of her faith. Her faith trusted in Jesus alone.

She firmly believed that Jesus is the Son of God and that he is able to help her daughter.

Furthermore, Jesus knew that she had great faith.

By the way, there's only two in the scriptures that are identified by Jesus as having great faith.

The other one is the Gentile centurion. Only two people Jesus recognizes as

having great faith, not the disciples.

Not anyone else. Two Gentile people.

So he knew that she had great faith. And Jesus knew that in testing her faith,

that she would pass the flying colors, that she would pass the test.

Her faith endured the trial and was strengthened all the more.

I believe that Jesus tested her for our sake. He knew that if he was silent

and seemed ignoring her and called her a dog, this would not offend her at all.

He knew that her faith was great.

And so she is an example for us for what to do when we go through trial and temptation.

There are two things especially to notice about this woman. First, she is humble.

She accepts the Lord's diagnosis that she is like a dog. She does not defend herself.

She does not claim worthiness. She deserves this miracle.

She confesses, in effect, I am unworthy. I am a sinner and I am in need of mercy.

And this is exactly what we do when we confess our sins.

We say, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities.

And then we plead to God for mercy, as we did this morning.

God's law humbles us. It exposes our pride, our arrogance, our gossip,

our anger, our lust, our selfishness.

The law shows that we are not righteous in and of ourselves, and that hurts.

But it is a good hurt because it drives us to Christ.

It drives us to pray, have mercy on me, O Lord. And that is a prayer that God delights to answer.

Second, the woman is persistent.

She does not stop praying. And even when Jesus is silent, she prays.

And even when the disciples want to send her away, she prays.

And even when Jesus' words seem harsh, she prays. She keeps coming.

She keeps asking. She keeps seeking. She keeps knocking.

And so also for us. Pray every morning and every evening. Pray with your family.

Pray during meals.

Pray when things are going well. Pray when things are not going well.

Pray when things, pray when you are strong.

Pray when you are weak. Do not give up. Your heavenly father hears you.

Now consider this. The kid and I woman is called a dog. and she is treated like

an outcast, an outsider from Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile pagan area.

But who is it that ultimately becomes the outcast?

Who is it that is cast outside of the city? Who is it that is rejected by his own people?

And who is it who is treated like a dog?

It is Jesus. us.

Jesus came to his own, but his own did not receive him.

He was betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, mocked by the soldiers,

and rejected by the crowds.

He was flogged, beaten, and spit upon. He was cast out of the city of Jerusalem

and nailed to a cross, and he was the stone which the builders rejected.

And while on the cross, Jesus cried out to his heavenly Father,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And he was silent.

But Jesus did not throw in the towel.

He did not give up. He endured the suffering and the crucifixion of the cross

for us and for our salvation.

We don't have a God who knows nothing about suffering.

Jesus suffered more than any of us will suffer. And his crucifixion of the cross

was the payment for our sins.

And the payment was his blood as an atoning sacrifice for us and for our salvation.

And on the third day, he rose from the dead.

Dearly beloved, our journey to heaven will not be easy. We will face trials,

we will face temptations, we will face sufferings, and the devil will tempt

us and attack us. Our faith will be tested.

But do not be surprised. St. Paul says in our epistle lesson for today that

in the midst of suffering, suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces

character, and character produces hope.

In other words, at times, suffering is good for us because it strengthens our faith in Christ.

St. Paul asked the question, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger

or swore? No, none of these things.

None of these things will be able to separate us from the love of God,

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul says that God's strength is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

When we are weak, God is strong.

Why does God allow suffering? We will never fully have the answer to this question.

His thoughts are not our thoughts. But we do know that he loves you.

And God's love is not based on the circumstances around you.

What God is really like is seen only when we look at the cross.

And what do we see there? We see a God who loves you.

Repaid for your sins and grants you salvation.

So when you have a bad day, when you go through trials and tribulations,

when you are attacked by the devil, when you lie awake at night with anxious

thoughts, and when it seems like God is silent, do not give up.

Do not throw in the towel.

Do not doubt his many promises.

Instead, trust that God hears you. Trust that he loves you.

Trust that he cares for you. and that he is present with you always,

especially this morning, by means of gospel and sacraments.

Is not silent toward you. Rather, he speaks to you clearly from his word as

it's read or as it's preached.

He even helps you to endure the troubles that come into your lives.

Walk by faith and not by sight.

Walk by faith in God's promises and not by the circumstances around you.

Continue to hear his word.

Continue to receive Christ's body and blood here at the altar.

Here God does not give you crumbs, but he gives you a small wafer and a sip

of wine from the cup, which is his body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins.

And this meal then will strengthen your faith in Christ.

Our journey to heaven will not be easy, but Christ leads us and we gladly follow.

There will be a day when he will call us out of this veil of tears and sorrow

and bring us home to heaven.

And even when we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

we will fear no evil because we know that Christ died and rose again for us

and that he opened heaven for us and for all who believe.

But until that day comes, and while we are still here on this earth,

love your family, your friends, your neighbors. and if they need help, be there for them.

Pray for them, just as a Canaanite woman did for her daughter.

Help those who are suffering and be there.

Furthermore, be faithful in your vocation as spouse, parent, son, daughter,

student, worker, and others see Christ in you.

To God be all the glory, now and forevermore. Amen. Please stand.