A Church for All People

What do people want when they’re looking for a church? This week we begin a new series that flips the question into a statement. It’s not what WE want in a church, but it’s all about the church GOD wants.

The miracle was still fresh in people’s minds. Over 5000 people had filled their stomachs with bread and fish, they had more left over than they had when they started. They knew what kind of “church” they wanted. Jesus wasn’t their Savior from sin. He was a King who could provide for their physical needs. That’s what they were looking for.

Last week we heard how Jesus and the disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. The crowds still followed him, and Jesus did many miracles - healing everyone they brought to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law heard what Jesus was doing and came to find him. They accused him of breaking the traditions of the elders because his disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate their meal. Jesus responded by quoting the Prophet Isaiah: ““ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules’”” (Matthew 15:8–9 NIV). The religious leaders who should have been waiting for Jesus didn’t want him. They wanted their “church” filled with rules to keep in order to earn eternal life.

Facing rejection on all sides, Jesus left the land of Israel and traveled from Capernaum to the region of Tyre and Sidon – the hometown of Queen Jezebel and the place where Baal had been chief among the gods. Jesus is no longer in “friendly” Jewish territory. He left to visit Gentiles – unbelievers. Maybe they would listen to him? Jesus once again tried to find some alone time. Mark recorded that “He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret” (Mark 7:24 NIV). Why not? Think about how quickly news travels when something exciting happens in town. Now, imagine how quickly it would travel when people heard about a huge meal on the shores of Galilee, followed by many healings. As soon as the people of Tyre and Sidon realized that Jesus was in town, they began looking for him.

“A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly”” (Matthew 15:22 NIV). As Jesus and the disciples walked along, the woman began following them, crying out in anguish for help. She didn’t stop. She mirrored their every step and her cries continued. She was desperate for her daughter to be released from her demon possession.

Jesus simply looked and passed by. He didn’t say a word.

A few years ago we were spending the week at our friend’s cabin in northern Wisconsin. We had been going there for almost 12 years and always enjoyed the peace and quiet during the week when most cabin owners were at home working. Not this year – the people who owned a cabin across the bay left their dog tied up while they went home for a few days. The poor dog barked, and whined, and cried for almost 2 days straight. It wanted to be loose. It wanted its owners. It wanted to be heard. All I could think of was, “That poor dog!” and “Those cruel people!” Not only had they left their dog, we had to put up with all the noise!

That poor woman! Poor you! Poor me! Sometimes it feels like we’ve been left behind, tied up and alone, with no one who cares. We raise our voices to God in prayer. We howl through loneliness. We whine at our hurts. We bark in anger. It feels like God has forgotten us. Jesus really doesn’t care what’s happening in our lives. He put us here. He knew what I needed for my job, for my family, for my personal success. I’ve told him over and over. I have been praying non-stop the entire time. What response do I get? He hasn’t answered me a word! How unfair! How wrong! Why bother? Forget prayer. Forget talking to God. If he can’t answer when I call and when I need it, why bother even trying?

Peter and the others wanted nothing to do with this obnoxious woman. Obviously Jesus had ignored her. She was a Canaanite. She and her ancestors hadn’t deserved to live in the first place. The Israelites were supposed to kill them all when they conquered the Promised Land. She was a Gentile! She was also a woman. What right did she have to approach their Teacher? He had better things to do than listen to “this person.” They pleaded with Jesus, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us” (Matthew 15:23 NIV).

Do we ever treat people that way? Look down on them? Judge them? Decide they aren’t worth listening to because they’re loud and annoying? We talked about how proud and condemning the Pharisees were earlier, but we’re the same. We watch someone walking down the sidewalk on a hot afternoon. They have a bag full of stuff slung over their shoulder. The sun has turned their skin leathery and brown. They look unkempt and dirty. What thoughts pop into our heads? Homeless. Lazy. Get a job. Dangerous. Criminal.

What happens when someone walks into church who doesn’t look like they belong? Do we do the same thing? We watch them come in. New. Haven’t seen them before. Skin color. Threadbare clothes and torn up shoes. What are the first things that come to mind when a visitor walks in and sits down? Stranger. Doesn’t know all the “rules.” Isn’t part of the group. Doesn’t belong, at least not until they figure a few things out. This church certainly isn’t for “that person”!

It almost sounds like Jesus is reinforcing their opinion of this Gentile woman. He told them, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:24 NIV). What would she say? Was Jesus right? Was she so undeserving that she shouldn't even bother trying to get Jesus’ help?

All this time, the woman had been trailing behind Jesus and the others, crying out in her pain and need. Now, she took a bold step. “The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said” (Matthew 15:25 NIV). She bowed before him, head to the ground, in a position of humility and submission. She knew Jesus could help her and her daughter. She believed it! She knew that she wasn't one of those sheep, but hadn’t she acknowledged him as Lord? She had called out to the Son of David for help. She realized that he was the heir to the throne and had proven it time and again with the news of all the miracles he had done. She had stepped in front of the only one who could help and stopped him in his tracks.

“He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs”” (Matthew 15:26 NIV). Does Jesus sound like me complaining about the dog howling day and night? Jesus was being very up front with the woman. It’s not right to take food from children and feed it to the puppies playing around the table. He was telling her that it was not acceptable to take Jesus’ word, and his miracles, and his gift of salvation from the Jewish nation and hand it to the Gentile nations. After all, he hadn’t come from Tyre or Sidon. He was born in Bethlehem. Jesus was a Jew from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of David, the rightful heir to the throne. Why would he bother with this Gentile, this woman, this Canaanite?

“Yes, Lord,” she responded in humility. “You’re right. I don’t deserve it. I haven’t earned it. I’m not part of the Jewish bloodline. I shouldn’t even be asking you. But isn’t it true Jesus, that “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table” (Matthew 15:27 NIV). I may not be one of the lost sheep, one of your little children, but even a pet deserves to take the crumbs they find on the floor. Lord, I heard about your miracle. I wish I could have been there to be among the crowd you fed. I would have been satisfied just to pick a few crumbs off the ground. Lord, I just need you. I trust you. Please, Lord, heal my daughter!” She didn’t need to be “that person.” She didn’t even care if anyone noticed her in the kingdom of God. She desperately wanted what Jesus had to offer, and she believed that it belonged to her too!

Jesus responded with some of the most beautiful words in the New Testament. He said, “O, woman, great is your faith!” Jesus only said that about two people – this woman, and a Roman centurion who believed that Jesus could heal his servant with just a word. Remember what he said to Peter as they completed their watery walk back to the boat? “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31 NIV). Not this woman, not this Gentile, not this Canaanite. Her faith was great! Can you think of some other words for “great”? Tremendous! Gigantic! Staggering! Stupendous! King-sized! Her faith was all that because she trusted that Jesus, the Son of David, would help her.

Jesus did. He promised, ““Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment” (Matthew 15:28 NIV). Did “that person” belong in the kingdom of God? The Pharisees would have said, “Absolutely not! She’s not a descendant of Abraham!” The disciples had objected – “Send her away! She’s driving us crazy with her begging and pleading!” Jesus watched this all play out and was amazed. He had known all about this woman and her problem. He understood her heartache. He felt the same way for his fellow Jews – he wanted nothing more for them to find healing and life in him. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing as he strung her along, and he knew exactly what to say. She responded in faith and trust, and even surprised the LORD of all! Does she belong to Jesus? Yes!

This woman believed what Jesus would accomplish for her and the entire world before it even happened. Jesus took all “those people” who didn’t belong in his family, who would never belong, and called them brothers and sisters. Paul said it so beautifully in our first reading this morning: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (Ephesians 2:13-14,16,19 NIV). What is the church that God wants? The answer is simple: He wants everyone in his church – a church filled with individuals “from every nation, tribe, language, and people” (Revelation 14:6 NIV). Only Jesus can bring people together in that kind of unity. Only Jesus can take a bunch of Navajo, Hispanic, and Anglo people and make us a family. Only Jesus can open up this little group and welcome everyone else with open arms. Only Jesus can open the door to the world and shout out, “All are welcome here!” All? The homeless? The confused? The criminal? The abuser? The poor parent? The below average student? The obnoxious boss? The crabby spouse? Yes!

Jesus wants us to come with the same words the woman used, “Have mercy on me!” We come to Jesus, poor, destitute, and lost. We confess our weakness. We acknowledge our sin. We admit that we have not been honest with him or anyone else. We kneel in front of him begging, “Lord, help me!” With hands once nailed to a cross and arms that bore the weight of our sins he reaches out and envelops us with love. He helps us lay our burdens down, picks us up, and says, “I have done it for you, just as you desired,” and we are rescued, renewed, restored.

Thanks to Jesus we all belong! Thanks to Jesus we aren’t “those people.” We are “his people,” bought and paid for, united with each other in love, and ready to let our great faith shine just like the woman who came to Jesus. What kind of church does God want? A church that is for ALL people! Amen. To God alone the glory! Pastor Jon Brohn