11 Pentecost/Year A
August 16, 2020
Isaiah 56:1,6-8; Psalm 67; Matthew 15: 21-28
Opening Prayer: Lift Every Voice and Sing II - #139 Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior
1 Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
2 Let me at thy throne of mercy Find a sweet relief;
Kneeling there in deep contrition, Help my unbelief.
Refrain
3 Trusting only in thy merit, Would I seek thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit, Save me by thy grace.
Refrain
4 Thou the spring of all my comfort, More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside thee? Whom in heav’n but thee?
Refrain
*Play the hymn recording…
In today’s gospel reading…I don’t think it’s too hard to imagine, hearing the words of this hymn, flowing from the lips of the Canaanite woman…
Pass me not, O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
I don’t think it’s too difficult to notice in today’s gospel, that the Canaanite woman was probably used to being passed by…passed by and ignored by many….she was a woman, she was of the wrong class and culture and lived in the wrong part of town…
Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
It even seemed, at first, as if Jesus, was about to pass her by…
She cried out to him…“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all.
The disciples were even urging Jesus to send her away…and dismiss her…
But she knelt before him, and prayed with all her heart and soul and body and mind… perhaps with a tinge a doubt, but with a persistence of faith and hope, that he would not pass her by…
Saying to Jesus, “Lord, help me.”
Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, Do not pass me by.
Jesus answered her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Did you hear that? Did you listen closely to what the woman was saying?
Something happened in that moment, in that exchange of words between Jesus and the Canaanite woman…something happened….that changed the direction of what would happen next…
Jesus heard another part of the story that perhaps he hadn’t heard before….a new story that had not been told….or I should say…a story that had not been listened to…a story spoken by a woman, whose words and worth, and social status, most likely meant nothing to those in the room…at the time… a perspective and a voice that had been silenced for too long, missing from the conversations, because of the powerful religious and government forces who controlled every aspect of life.
But what Jesus said next…most likely surprised the disciples…who were sure they were doing all the right and holy things, following the religious laws of the days….
Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
His words, and his next steps affirmed that her faith and persistence in living out her faith….was seen and heard…I hear you….God hears your prayers too…your hopes…your desires…your needs…your story matters…your prayers matter, your life matters…you too are a beloved child of God…Great is your faith!
It was a moment that revealed a new way of understanding the wideness of God’s love and mercy…a love that does not pass anyone by…a love people can trust in, and believe in, especially when the people of this world seem to be passing them by…ignoring their cries for help, their cries for healing, their cries to be loved and respected for who they are….
In the dream of God’s beloved community…in the kingdom of heaven here on earth…there are no “others”….all are beloved children of God…all are called upon by God, blessed by God, looked upon with love and compassion and mercy and grace upon grace….
No one… should ever have to worry…that God is only calling on others…or to have to pray, that God would not pass them by…
But they do worry…we worry at times…but thank you, God…that none of us, need to worry…that God would every desire to pass us by…Jesus reminds us of that…Jesus…assures us of that…and as followers of Jesus…we are called to bring that same hope and assurance to those we share this great big world with…to those, whose nightly prayers still persist, with hope and great faith…that they will be seen and heard…that someday…all people will truly be free to live a life, in the fullness of God’s love, and joy and peace…
This gospel story hits close to home today…It’s not just a story from the scriptures, about something that happened thousands of years ago.
There are important voices and perspectives that have not been listened to for many, many years…the voices of our siblings who have been crying out for justice and equity and respect for the dignity of every human being, for far too long…
In this time of the pandemic…it has been increasingly evident…that these cries have been there are along….and the cries seem to be getting louder…maybe because much of our lives have become quieter in many ways…and we are just now noticing them…and listening to them…in a new way…
We tell ourselves we’ve already heard the stories, we’ve listened long enough…we’re ready to move on…there aren’t any issues anymore…
But the social and political unrest in our country right now is revealing something different…. As a society, we have not always been listening well…we have not been listening deeply to the cries of our siblings, whose stories keep being pushed aside…we have not always been listening with an open mind and an open heart…in a way, that has moved us to a new way of loving our neighbors…and living with our neighbors, as it moved Jesus, in today’s gospel reading…
Yet the noise level and the conversations that are popping up everywhere right now…are also signs of Good news and hope, that people are indeed striving to listen in new ways! There are many who are intentionally gathering to listen and learn new ways of being with one another…there are people working together to help feed the hungry and shelter the homeless, there are those who are working closely with women and children seeking safety, there are those reaching out through social media to lead people to circles of support for substance abuse and mental health needs…
There are many others, working behind the scenes, who go unnoticed everyday….who are striving to help others know, through their words and their actions…that their cries are being heard…their voices are being heard… their prayers, their hopes…their desires… are being heard now…They are being assured that their story matters…their prayers matter, their lives matter…and that they, too are a beloved child of God.
So, in these days of a mix of quiet and noisy, and the mix of many different voices crying out….let’s all strive to listen more deeply to one another, and learn to love one another more fully, and in ways that leads us to new actions, that lift up and respect the dignity of every human being…actions that will lead to the day…when no one… would ever have to worry or pray, that God would not pass them by…
May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us. May God give us his blessing… (psalm 67) All of us…
Rev. Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska