Lord, Have Mercy

“Lord, have mercy” is a phrase we often use without thinking. But in those three simple words is a prayer with deep meaning. Sometimes we use those words in a liturgical prayer form to reply to a request or concern. Saying, “Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.” some of you have uttered those words in desperate times.

Jesus tells the story of a tax collector and a Pharisee who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee—an upstanding citizen and religious leader—was showy in his prayer. At the same time, the tax collector confessed his sinfulness and asked for forgiveness, saying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner, and went home justified before God.” Luke 18:13-14

I am willing to say many of us use the phrase “Lord, have mercy” without even thinking. But what a prayer it is. Today we see Jesus entering Tyre and Sidon, and a Canaanite woman welcomes him in with a cry and a plea for mercy.

One of the benefits of suffering is that it can lead us to seek the Lord and his mercy.

When life goes smoothly, we can forget about the Lord and take his blessings for granted. But when suffering comes, when we have nowhere else to turn–that’s what it may take to get us to turn to the Lord. When trouble comes, God says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” That’s what this woman is doing when she comes to Jesus. It’s her “day of trouble,” and she’s calling on God for help.

She cries out, “Lord, have mercy.” It’s the cry of the church in all ages. We call on the Lord and ask for his mercy. We come before God with all our needs, suffering, and misery in our lives and the world. We need God’s help; we need his mercy.

And that is what God gives us–his mercy. That’s why Christ came. All the misery in this world–violence, oppression, virus, depression, riots, and disasters–ultimately, the answer is in God's mercy. That mercy took Christ to the cross. By his all-availing death, you and I will finally be delivered from all the misery we experience.

God’s mercy is his answer to our misery. He takes pity on us. He shows us compassion. He visits us in our distress. He gives us relief from the ravages of sin in the world. You can see it in your life. You can see it all around you. Life doesn’t work right. There’s suffering. There’s misery right here in Hope Mills. So, thank God he has mercy on us!

Notice Jesus’ response–or rather, his lack of response! “But he did not answer her a word.” That’s not what we would expect. How do we explain his silence? Come to think of it, how do we explain the silence of God in our lives? Sometimes we pray to God and don’t get the answer we’re looking for.

Didn’t God hear our prayers? We are met with the silence of God. This is a mystery to us. But God moves his wonders mysteriously to perform. The silence of God is not due to his cold-heartedness but rather to our inability to know precisely what God is doing. He may have a better plan for us than the one we have in mind.

At first, the Canaanite woman is met with silence. “He did not answer her a word.” The timing isn’t quite right yet. Jesus is waiting a bit before he answers. He may want this woman to exercise her faith a bit. And he has something to teach his disciples, too. The disciples don’t understand what Jesus is doing. So, they say, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

At first, it seems like Jesus is going along with that thinking. Jesus tells her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And that’s true. In his ministry, Jesus was sent primarily to the house of Israel, that is, to the Jews. The lost sheep of Israel needed to be gathered. The Lord had made a covenant with Israel, and Jesus came to fulfill it. His ministry, almost entirely, was among the Jews. God had promised to bless the family of Abraham, and Jesus is keeping that promise. To the Jews first.

But the promise of blessing to Israel did not exclude those Gentiles who came into contact with Israel. They can “rub up” against the blessing, so to speak. That’s what this Gentile woman is doing. Even while Jesus is busy ministering to the Jews, he will not withhold his blessing from this Gentile woman. Although, for a moment, it looks like he will. He says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But the Canaanite woman perseveres. She kneels before Jesus and says, “Lord, help me.” But Jesus replies, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” In other words, “It’s not right to take the blessings promised to the children of Israel and give them to the Gentiles,” that is, “the dogs.” Often the Jews would refer to the Gentiles as “dogs,” as a term of disrespect, an insult.

But there’s something in the way that Jesus says it. In Greek, there are a couple of ways to say “dog.” The word Jews would use to insult Gentiles is not what Jesus uses. Instead, he uses a form of the word that can be translated as “little pet dogs” or “doggies.” It’s an affectionate term used for dogs who got to live in the house and were taken care of.

Jesus here is giving the woman an opening to grab onto. And the Canaanite woman picks up on it. “Yes, Lord,” she says, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Ah! She’s got it! Faith hears what the Lord is saying and latches onto it. Jesus is not putting her off. Instead, he is giving her a word she could cling to.

The woman came, not claiming anything as her right but simply throwing herself on the Lord’s mercy. She was willing to be a dog that eats the scraps off the table. She was ready to be a little dog if it meant being fed near the Lord’s table. For that’s where the blessings are.

The great faith of the Canaanite woman. It is a God-given faith produced by the Spirit working through the word. It is a faith that perseveres and takes the Lord up on his promises. God wants to give you that same kind of faith–persevering faith in a merciful Lord. God wants you to come to Jesus, time and time again, despite any obstacles you may face. It is so easy to give up. People do it all the time. When there is suffering in their life, they give up and think that God is uncaring. But God does not want you to give up. He wants you to persevere, in faith, like the Canaanite woman. He wants you to seek–and to find–his mercy and blessing.

Jesus commends this woman’s faith: “O woman, great is your faith!” Jesus grants her request. Her demonized daughter is healed. How is Jesus able to do that? Because Christ is the victor over sin and death and the devil. He has authority over them. Jesus, our Savior, won that victory for us in a most mysterious way.

He, the Son of God, came down into our mess and our misery. He suffered the ravages of sin when he was nailed to the cross. Jesus experienced the silence of God when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But by dying as the sacrifice for sin, Jesus defeated the devil. The devil was clipped of his strength. God then vindicated his Son by raising him from the dead. God shows his mercy in the greatest way. His mercy in Christ forgives our sins, delivers us from the devil, and gives us the sure hope of everlasting life. “Oh, thanks to the Lord, for his mercy endures forever.”

Today, God is strengthening your faith. He is building in you a faith like that of the Canaanite woman. She was willing to come like a little dog to eat at the Lord’s table. Often, we come to the Lord’s Table, not just as dogs but as his dear children, to dine on this foretaste of the feast to come. The faith of the Canaanite woman was great because it was faith in a great Lord who bestows great mercy.