1/11/2026
Well, good morning. I am John, Mark, the associate pastor of Children & Youth hear Grace. I'm glad to see you this morning.
Would you pray with me? And for me this morning,
but we are tempted to be focused on ourselves this morning and not on you. Would you transform us the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus that we would be made Anew by Your Word. We all crave compassion, and our lives, when we need it. But we often struggle to offer it when others needed. Give us the heart to go to you. When we are in need and take others to you and their need above all other needs in this life, we need you most in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Imagine. Your child wants to play basketball. So you take them to practices, you pick him up from practices. And this is before the season starts preseason practices than their season practices and on and on it goes until the very first game. your child doesn't start the game, but They're far enough ahead in the game your child goes. You're a static there first time playing you don't know what to do with yourself before you know it the ball is coming towards MMA and reaches for it. As does someone else on the other team? And crack. With a swift bad. Your child goes from reaching to the ball. The smacking the courts. You don't know what to do with yourself. You're mix of emotions. You're you're not sure before you know that you're on your way to the. ER you find yourself in the ER and you're sitting there with your tryouts was briefly unconscious, there's a little blood you don't know what to do but your Waiting for the doctor. And it's taking a really long time.
Taking an annoyingly, long time. I thought we signed in an hour ago, two hours ago. This is your child were talking about. Your child does not wait for two hours. They seem like they're getting worse. Is a concussion. How bad is it? What's going on? Did they break their nose? What needs to happen?
You asked the nurse. Will the doctor's busy? I don't care.
What is the doctor doing? That's more important than helping my child. Dr. Johnson has to see other patients right now. I still don't care.
Eventually you see this doctor? You're not supposed to approach them. but you do,
What are you doing? I have other patients to see. He says Okay.
And you wait. I'll see you in a minute. This is what a doctor does, didn't they? Take some host that's supposed to be a mediate service, your child eats them another hour till eventually they get you to see the doctor. Your house. All right. After Time.
You're going to have to stock their license. You're not supposed to wait.
When we need something, when our needs our immediate, we expect responses to be immediate the worst. The need, the more immediate, we expect the response. When we need something, we ask of God and he's silent. What do we do with ourselves? Where do we run to Does God have the right to be silent. The test us to push back on a request. The texts of scripture. I believe we'll find a Jesus. We're not used to A Jesus. We don't expect and someone who knows more than we do. I believe in scripture as in the text will read this morning. God's heart is toward the needy and the broken by bringing us the wholeness in himself. And more than any information or quick fixes. He's interested in our transformation and our formation in the likeness of Christ.
In the text of scripture will consider two scenes that I believed display the profound compassion of Jesus. So if you would, please stand for the reading of God's word. As we read, Matthew 15 verses 21 239 will be continuing in the gospel of Matthew that passed. Your band has been walking through, and we returned after the Advent season, in Matthew chapter 15 verses 21 the 39, and Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and sidon and behold a Canaanite woman from that region. Came out and was crying. Have mercy on me? Oh, Lord. Son of David. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. But he did not answer her word and his disciples came and begged him saying send her away for she's crying out 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. And he answered it is not right to take the children's bed bread 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. Oh woman. Great. Is your faith. Be a done for you. As you desire and her daughter was healed instantly. Jesus went on from there and walk beside the Sea of Galilee and he went up on the mountain and sat down there and great crowds came to him, bringing with them. The lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and I put them on his feet and healed them so that the crowd wondered when they saw them. You speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking in the blind thing and they glorify the god of Israel, then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now 3 days and I have and I have nothing to eat and I'm unwilling to send them away. Hungry, must a faint on the way. And the disciples said to him, where are we to get enough bread and such a desolate, place to be so great, a crowd and Jesus said to them, how many loads do you have? They said, seven and a few small fish and directing the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven Loaves and the fish, and having given thinks he broke them and gave them to the disciples and the decide. Gave them to the crowds and they all ate and were satisfied and they took up seven. Baskets full of the broken pieces left over those, you eight or four thousand men besides women and children. And after sending away the crowds he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. This is God's word.
So just to remind ourselves where we are in the gospel of Matthew, some context Jesus has just been in a u.s. region near the Sea of Gallery, Place Called ganesa Rhett a place of fertility and fruitfulness a place called The Garden of the Gods. A place with such good fruit that the priest would say they couldn't bring their fruits, you Festival is because people just show up to the festival's, not for God. But for the really good fruit. And he goes from this place. Where he interacts with the Jewish leaders, who are described in such an amazing way. As, in Matthew 15829 quoting, the Old Testament, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, in vain, do they worship me teaching as Doctrine the Commandments of men? Or. Do better.
Every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone, they are blind guides and if the blind lead the blind both will fall into a pit. Turn place to fruitfulness among the Jewish leaders.
Their blind guides. Their hearts are far from God, even though they worship him with their lips. And this is the setting. And before this, there's some bookends from chapter 14 and then we will finish Within chapter 15 to feedings in chapter 14, The Feeding of the 5000 and bookended in chapter 15 by the feeding of the four thousand. And so in between these two miraculous, feedings of Jesus, we see some displays of faith. Peter, even as he gets out into the boat, in chapter 14 has been told he has little faith. Jesus has responded to the Jewish leaders, calling them blind guides telling them that they have fruitless worship. Even though they speak rightly of God, and then Jesus goes to Tyre and sidon which in short our historic enemies of Israel. This is painting, their very existence is a reminder that God's people didn't obey centuries beforehand. That these cities are standing is proof of disobedience. They shouldn't be there. And so we're not expecting anything good to come out of Tyre and sidon. They are Canaan. And this in this region that Jesus goes to where he withdraws to a Canaanite woman approaches. Mark describes her a little differently but he's using in Matthew was calling her a Canaanite to show the contrast. She's not only a gentile. She's from Canaan. We're not expecting anything good from her. So what's this, what's this woman going to do? She comes out and says, have mercy on me. Oh, Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. As I've been going through the text, I'm just going to give a spoiler like Chris. Did I love this woman? I want to have faith like this woman. Humility her persistence. Just watch her. I mean, can you imagine sitting in an ER room? Sure, many of you have in your weeding and weeding. What's going to happen? Her daughter's in need and she says, have mercy on me in high liturgical churches. This is a a common refrain have mercy on me. Oh, Lord, she calls him, Lord three times in her interaction, she's which, which could be a reference. Just calling someone Master. But the way that she speaks about him, Lord, son of David. The Jewish Messiah, what Matthew was intent on us? Knowing through his very long genealogies that we might skip over. Son of David. This is who Jesus is, this is what he's called throughout the Book of Matthew. He's not just anyone, he's the son of David, the promised Messiah and she calls him that it's such a beautiful thing and if you want to memorize a verse, if you want to memorize something to go throughout your day, it's a Phrase that I think fits a lot of season have mercy on me. Oh Lord.
Her daughter's oppressed by a demon. We don't get any more details. Maybe there's a sickness attached to it, maybe she's acting erratically, we don't know, but it's bad. Bad enough for her to come seeking Jesus. Ain't that something we don't expect him to do. He's silent. silent long enough that the disciples say this, They begged him. Send her away for she's crying out after us. The way that that the the Greeks that the word used is an imperfect, which just means she's probably repeating this phrase have mercy on me. Oh, Lord, son of David for my daughter is severely depressed. Again, and again and again, they're walking down the road. can I hear Jesus like, give her what she wants tell her to go away, something
How's the answer? Use a few responses to silence the woman and he responds with the woman overhearing. I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. I think sometimes in our context, we can lose the Primacy of the Jewish people as they are to be through whom all the nations are blessed. We, if we are Gentiles are being blessed through the Jewish people, With a Jewish Messiah. So, whatever relationship we see between the Jewish people and us as a church, today, we have to do something with the way that God works is through a Jewish Messiah, and then, the epicenter of his church and Acts is Jerusalem, and then Judea going out to the nation's. And so, Jesus responds with a heart of God, the Good Shepherd. Psalm 23, this Good Shepherd, John 10, who Jesus is the Good Shepherd? His heart is still for his lost sheep. His heart is for them to be found. Perhaps reminding is Disciples of his mission.
Perhaps. Helping this woman, understand where she sits is the Primacy of the Jewish people. But does she give up? I don't know. I might but that kind of response, like,
Jesus. God incarnate, what am I supposed to do? If this is what he says he's about. Who am I to say otherwise? And I think, sometimes I'm learning through the texts of scripture godly people. Respond to God's pushback. They don't give up. It pushes back, it's an opportunity when he asked a question, says something that's hard. It's an opportunity to ask. Why does he want me to learn? Who does he want me to be? How does he want me to respond? Cuz I promise you, he doesn't want you to give up.
Insult hearing this, she comes. And she kneels that like she comes and she kneels down, she doubles down. This is her daughter. We're talking about
She comes to him and she heals. And we're so insistent on our faith. Being anything always, internal buttface requires movement requires action. She comes to him and says, Lord, help me as we'll see. You throughout this texting through the texts of scripture. It's God, Reliance not self-reliance that he's about his mission to bring us to the end of ourselves is his grace in our lives. It's not the lack of it. She comes to him. She kneels, she worships him. And she ask for help. And so he responds with what seems a rather harsh response. It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
What?
What am I supposed to do with that?
And I can tell you what I think, but we got to do something with it. I believe Jesus said it. The Jewish people.
Aren't you. He's referring to, as the children, his children who have rejected him the children. He's come to that the gospels are clear by and large rejected not all but some In dogs in this culture were typically not man's best friends, but more of a carnivorous fiend. They were on the outside. They random packs. You think of a third world country where you see a pack of dogs? You don't think some pet you want to get close to? but given the way that he speaks in the way that she responds and the word that's used, there is a potential and I think that this is The Masters dog. That belongs in the home. Not the one who's getting the food first, but she responds in this way. Yes! Lord, yet, even the dogs. Eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table, I don't need your best.
I just need something. Your Grace is good enough that you can give it, you can give it to the Jewish people, you can bring it to them. Lord, I know where I stand, I know who I am. Just me prompts. Your Grace is good enough. There's some leftover that's good enough for me, give me the leftovers in the styrofoam box. York race is good enough, that Crumbs are going to satisfy me. And humility this woman displays. She doesn't write Jesus but she doesn't give up.
She responds with faith and humility. She receives what he says.
She's not entitled. I'm often tempted to be in title. Even when I do something wrong. I want to blame it on someone else. If things are taking too long, I feel that something is wrong.
And he says, and responds with what seems to be true? A woman. Great is your faith. Be it done for you. As you desire, I think it's due to research look into it. This is not the response that were expecting. From this woman. The Jewish people Peter pain, whom Jesus says, he's going to build his church. She says the same thing. Whatever is loosed in heaven with a loose stunner. If he's going to give the disciples power, he gives Peter power. We expect this pillar of the church and he said to have little faith. You choose leaders, are the blind, leading the blind. But this woman who's not even named. She has great faith just like the Centurion. This Gentile has incredible faith and he answers her prayer request. And her child was healed instantly. Did you some things? I think we can learn from her. She was honest about her problem and her status. You didn't argue with Jesus when he responded to her. She said, yes. And you are enough. She's an exhibit exhibit. Entitlement, she went to Jesus with her problem. What had she heard about him? Rumors? What did she know, did she have the text of scripture and yet her claim? Is that she's the Lord that he's the Lord, the son of David and she was persistent.
She didn't give up there was this stick-to-itiveness, it was this grit. There was this some level of humility, maybe humiliation. She doesn't give up.
and I think Beyond wanting her daughter healed I think she realized who Jesus was And we know nothing else about her, but she presses in and presses forward and she's told by the god of the universe. Great, is your excuse me? Great is your faith. And so the scene shifts. And we moved to Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them. The lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put him at his feet where we all should be on the way. At the feet of Jesus.
And what happens? He heals them. Doesn't push back though. We're not told about any argument or any conversation any discussion between these people. But he loves them. He killed them for a while.
And so, the crowd Wonders that is healing. And is wonder if you're eating in the ESV, it's it's amazement, it's astonishment, its flabbergasted, it's the British were gobsmacked who what? I mean we're going to see how amazed they are in just a second, they're so amazed that the mute or speaking. The crippled or healthy, the lame or walking in the blind seeing and they glorified the god of Israel, the right response to God's work in our life. Glorifying the god of Israel. Not our work, not someone or something else, but glorifying God. And I think sometimes we pray to God, we ask for an answer this, what we've longed for and then before we walked out the door, we forgotten what he's done. There's an opportunity to glorify The God Who answers our prayer to respond to him.
But this happens for enough time. Not a crowd Gathers. And it's been 3 days. It's been 3 days and they haven't eaten.
So they're healed. They might be incredibly amazed at their healing.
But everybody knows that feeling of a rumbly. Tumbly And Jesus says I have compassion on them because it's been three days, they had nothing to eat and I don't want to send them away. If I send him away without any food. Hey, my friend, I might pass out. I in high school, my brother did two days for soccer. And he didn't have any food that day. And so my mom called him in for dinner and we have a living room with carpet. And kitchen with hardwood, like 15 ft from the living room to the kitchen table, right? Hey, dinner's ready?
Me about five steps. and he just,
On the hardwood.
Pass out when you don't have enough food, it's it. It's a human response. It's not this esoteric, ridiculous thing. You don't eat. Enough days for enough time. Jesus has compassion on them which is a clarification of what Jesus has already been doing up to this point if he's been healing people for three days, he's obviously been showing compassion.
Compassion that moves compassion isn't a Pity and a just wondering what might be done. It's a movement towards those that are in need
and so, Disciple said to him. But where would we get food? And Jesus asked them, what do you have? 7 lows, if you fish Same number of things, the different numbering, three loaves, two fish in the feeding of the 5000, but what do you have, what do you have? You can tell me what you don't have and all the nuts response that we have. We can work, you know, if I had that, I would give that you'd be pretty impressed by that, too. And we often miss. What do we have? What has he given me? What finances, what children? What family, what do you have? That is concerned with what you would do if you did have that thing you don't have and might never have He more often has what have I given you to Seward? How are you going to use that? Because I've heard and lived enough time to know that if we don't do anything with god, with what he's given us now, we're not going to do anything when we have more than we have now. Until they give him a little. And that's more than enough.
How many loads do you have seven and a few small fish and sees takes them? And tells them to take a seat, he takes the seven loaves in the fish. He gives thanks. I gave it to the disciples. We're going to find out is probably around 10,000 people. 7 pieces of bread. Please just for a moment. That's ludicrous, right? Like you have a group of like 20 people. A package of saltines. You guys ready for this?
and then, Thanks for it. And they all eat. He can give it to the disciples. He doesn't have to do everything himself. He delegates. This I both and they handed out.
It was satisfied. When was the last time you were satisfied? When was the last time you were content? What things do you believe you need to be content to be satisfied in your life. You've also Paul says that godliness with contentment is great gain, we have food a place to sleep with these. We should be content of her clothes on her back. May 8th and we're satisfied. I think it's just a reminder. As we read the story of the longing of our hearts are not to be satisfied with the stuff that we have with the solutions to our many escalating problems. The modern world creates as many problems as we solve. Cars never save time. They just asked for more of it. Is the problems that we have, we create Solutions and our Solutions funny enough as people create a million more problems. And yet, when we go to him, we taste and see that the Lord is good. We see who he is and we might find what our souls have been longing for.
Contentment.
And what I think of, when I think of eating and satisfaction is my mom's dad. When he ate, he would always say things like you can call me anyting. Salad for dinner. Or.
And my grandpa, I don't remember the word but my grandpa, a new Navajo. and so when he would finish you would say the Navajo word and then he'd Go I mean
And there was a satisfaction. He was hungry and he hate. and you knew he was satisfied, especially when he told the person I must have some more God, meets our need.
Are we satisfied with the way that he responds?
He hears us, he's not surprised by our needs.
But he meets them. When he's done, he sends the crowd away and he continues with his mission. Then how can we take? Jesus has compassion and bring it to bear on our lives this week. Just a few ideas the which I'm sure there are many. Go to Jesus, for compassion, in your time of need. There's a tendency in the human heart to treat God as our last resort, rather than our first Resort. Jesus makes an invitation and Matthew 11:28. He says, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Go to him in prayer. Go to his sons and daughters, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and look to him for compassion. His love and compassion for you far, outstrips and outweighs any need we could ever bring to him. He's not annoyed when we come to him, he's waiting with open arms for us to run to him with our needs. And just an encouragement. In each of the stories, we looked at what these people do, is their coming to Jesus. The Canaanite woman has to press and she comes to him and he is silent. She gives what seems to be some push back and she presses in the testing of your faith. Produces more faith. She came and she was told great, is your face. If you think that you are my or anyone's faith will grow, if we stay distant and far from God, do not respond to his work and simply do not come to him. We are sorely mistaken. Is a responsibility to come. It's his invitation. We are his guests that we may sit at his table and not eat a packet of Saltines. But a feast, And bring what we may. He will take it and multiply it beyond our wildest imaginations not for our Self aggrandizement for our self-image. But for his glory and our good.
Who in your life needs compassion?
Maybe it's you. Maybe the body, the soul and the mind that God has given, you have not been tended while it's late. And the garden of your life is full of weeds. God's compassion is for all who would take him up on his offer and encouragement to go to him for compassion, and whatever is going on in your life, where there is a struggle with family, with house, with your own sin, the grace of God and compassion that he has for us should cause us to move towards him. Give yourself the appropriate and godly compassion. And in that way, when we see others in need We go towards them compassion. Moves towards those in need When were told the story of the Good Samaritan, we see a bunch of people just walked by and do nothing. We go. Who would do that me? About six times a day. I see people in need. I wake up in the morning, usually, someone of my daughters. I'm hungry.
To show compassion or my daughter is to get her breakfast.
It's an appropriate response to need and compassion can also be far more than that, but it's certainly not less than that. We we say what doesn't apply to my family. It doesn't apply to my spouse. It doesn't apply those within my circle. That has to be something that looks like this Grand expression of compassion and I think we misunderstand the daily simple, small moments calling the God has in our life. The small moments are not have no regard their of every regard. They are what Define all that we do is win encouragement to show compassion in the smallest of ways and I was like man
I just I don't have any instances of like if someone's on the side of the road and you you do something and I was coming to work and there was a car in the ditch or sorry this morning they had all the help they need. It was just what I perceived as a clear sign from God. Just a reminder. That if we are looking for opportunities to move towards those that need, he will give us opportunities.
And don't give up be persistent in your face.
I think we all need to hear that this morning whether it's our own laziness or hardship from our external World, whatever it is, don't give up.
I'm serious, don't give up. I don't know if it's a cognitive issue with doubts. I don't know if things have just gotten really hard lately. I don't know if things have gotten really boring and stagnant, but don't give up cuz when we bring what little, we have God uses it and he meets us. I hope when I was in college in the midst of fighting with an SS sent me a text and we were dating. So when she sent me a text and a little girl, she was shaking her head and I think about it all the time when things get hard and the text just read, don't give a Keep trying. Not because you're an awful because God is more than enough than even the crumbs that he has our enough, and when we bring what little we have to him, he doesn't just use it. There's more than enough, they brought seven loaves, he left with seven baskets.
Don't give up.
When we're driving.
Overdriving, especially on a trip. And Nestle asked me, what are you thinking about? I'm usually thinking about the sounds. The car is making Got a good. Sounds like a bad sound. The road is that my tires.
I'm concerned for the, for the welfare of my family. Usually, it's fine. Thinking about the car there enough gas. Check the oil. What's the weather like
You don't talk about.
And sometimes I get a flat tire, things break down. And when that happens, I'm looking for someone, or at least, I would like to think I have support something went really bad. And I was actually talking to someone at impact the, the high school conference, we went to last weekend, and I just met this random guy, and he goes where you from, Brooksville is all, I know Kirksville.
One time I was driving my car, broke down or I got a flat tire. And within minutes, there were five people helping me. I was like, that's pretty cool. you know, Kirksville because
and it's so simple. And if we make it more than an hour to be God, gives us opportunities. How can you use? What little we have? When we simply show up to those in need, It's an opportunity that he gives us.
And so, I just want to end with this last, this last side, God's grace. Brings us to the end of ourselves. More often than he keeps us from it. Some of our greatest fears regarding meet us, and our deepest need
But we're so afraid of happening to us is sometimes what he uses to cause God Reliance and not self reliance.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, your truth, would you teach us to follow you to seek your compassion, to show your compassion to those around us and keep trying and Your Grace by your power to move towards you and towards others in the name of Jesus. Amen.
