First reading: Isaiah 56:1,6-7
Psalm: Ps 67:2-3,5,6-8
Epistle: Romans 11:13-15,29-32
Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.

Today we face lessons that are both off-putting and welcoming. We come to meet Jesus and find that He is full of conflict like that.

We try to understand Jesus in various ways. At certain points in our life we reach a comfortable place. I get Jesus. I see what He was trying to say, how He was trying to teach. Then we reach a conclusion. We place Jesus into a category that works for us.

Jesus is my brother.
Jesus is my teacher.
Jesus is my savior.
Jesus is my friend.
Jesus is my confidant.
Jesus is my healer.
Jesus is my judge.

We could spend a day walking through the Litany of the Holy Name. We could spend a lifetime studying Christology – the names and roles of Jesus. Whatever the approach, we place Jesus into a category that works for us.

Then, certain readings and especially a certain number of the Gospels come along and turn that notion, that category, on its head. Today is like that.

the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, —Lord, help me.—
He said in reply,
—It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.—

Wait — did Jesus just call this woman a dog? Did He imply that she was somehow sub-human? Did He refuse to help at her plea, as she probably lay prostrate before Him, sobbing and weeping, worried for her daughter, and at the end of her rope?

Wow!

There goes the notions of Jesus as brother, teacher, savior, healer, friend, and confidant. There goes our tidy Jesus corner. That category that worked so well for us — it’s down the tube, or at least has been upset quite a bit.

Now there are a few of us for whom this Jesus fits very nicely. Yeah, we like this Jesus – judgmental, angry, mean, put ’em in their place Jesus. No soup for you Canaanite. A few would say: —Thankfully, a reading that finally puts my notion of Jesus front and center. Angry Jesus works for me.—

Brothers and sisters,

Not one of these is correct because Jesus cannot be a tidy corner in our lives. Jesus doesn’t fit into our lives nicely and cleanly. Jesus upsets every notion we have and every category we have created. Recall in Matthew 10:34 Jesus says:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.—

This is a sword of destruction. It destroys everything we think, believe, and hold dear. It destroys our notions, our thoughts, the ways we categorize, because none of this is based on the salvation of Jesus, but rather on our tendency to sin, to make ourselves comfortable at the expense of Jesus and His Gospel.

Jesus brought the sword so that He could tear us down, so that He could make us uncomfortable in complacency. In doing that He offers the one thing we truly desire, but are afraid to ask for – over-reaching mercy.

Friends,

Something happened to this Canaanite woman in the region of Tyre and Sidon.

What we know is that she came and called out. It is likely that she had been pestering the disciples for some time else they would not have said: —Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.— She kept at it and finally threw herself down in front of Jesus.

I think she had a tidy explanation for Jesus too. Jesus is my healer. She came with her cries, her long pleading, and her tidy explanation, and laying there she might well have thought – this prophet just called me a dog. Yet, even after all the calling, the sobbing, the pleas, and the groveling, topped off by Jesus’ refusal to help, something amazing happened.

The Canaanite woman changed. She asked for over-reaching mercy. Her notion of Jesus was suddenly and irrevocably changed and the light of faith dawned.

Then Jesus said to her in reply,
—O woman, great is your faith!—

We need to change our notion of Jesus. We need to change into the people Isaiah saw.

The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
ministering to him,
loving the name of the LORD,
and becoming his servants—”
all who keep the sabbath free from profanation
and hold to my covenant,
them I will bring to my holy mountain
and make joyful in my house of prayer

We are all foreigners in the Kingdom. Like the Canaanite woman we keep crying and pleading. We come to church and we humble ourselves, and still, all seems silent. Life is difficult. The little compartment we created for Jesus is broken and we can’t find the answer.

Like the Gentiles of old we are foreigners on the outside. We are being put-off. Grace keeps working at us until we see, and in that moment we will recognize God’s absolute, all powerful, over-reaching mercy. We will be pulled inside. When the light of faith dawns in our lives, when we call for over-reaching mercy, it will be given to us. We will hear Jesus say: —great is your faith!—

Then everything will change. Jesus will be all-in-all in our lives. His word will take precedence. His name will be our only hope. Sin will die, hopelessness will end, and healing will occur. There will be no compartments. Grace will be in our lives in all its fullness. We will live and act as children of God, in the house of the Lord. Amen.