(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, this week comes courtesy of The Vine at Home and Twelve Baskets
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Opening Prayers
The light shines in the darkness,
The joy comes in the morning,
The hope rises, each new day.
As I turn to meet with you today,
As I lay down my burdens for a moment,
As I ask forgiveness for my mistakes,
And find acceptance in your love,
Help me to see you here, alongside me, I pray,
And help me to hear your call on my life,
As I seek to follow you,
God of all grace.
Amen.
You may now wish to say the Lord’s Prayer in a version or translation with which
you are familiar.
Reading
Matthew 15: 21-28
Responding to the reading
Some passages in the Gospels comfort us immediately, today’s passage probably isn’t
one of them…
A Canaanite woman approaches Jesus, desperate for help for her daughter. She cries out
for mercy, she is persistent, courageous, and full of hope. At first, Jesus says nothing.
Then, when the disciples ask him to send her away, his reply seems painfully exclusive: “I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Even more difficult are the words that follow, comparing the children at the table with the
dogs beneath it. If we’re honest, these verses make us uncomfortable.
Perhaps they should.
Too often, Christians have rushed to explain away Jesus’ words, but maybe this passage
invites us to do something deeper: to stay with the discomfort and watch what happens
next.
Because the woman refuses to leave, she does not argue with anger. She answers with
remarkable courage and wit: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from
their master’s table.”
She refuses to believe that God’s mercy is so small it cannot include her, and in that
extraordinary exchange, something shifts.
Jesus responds: “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her
daughter is healed.
The story begins with boundaries, but it ends with grace overflowing those boundaries.
For many scholars, this encounter marks a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel. The mission
that seemed focused on Israel begins to open towards the wider world. Whether we
understand Jesus as revealing this truth for the benefit of those watching, or as allowing
himself to be challenged by the courage of this remarkable woman, the outcome is the
same: the circle grows wider.
That is good news, for us, and for all people. Sadly, every generation has created new
boundaries around God’s love. People have been told they are the wrong nationality, the
wrong race, the wrong gender, the wrong class, the wrong sexuality, the wrong theology,
the wrong kind of believer.
Again and again, someone has stood outside the circle asking, “Is there room for me?”
And again and again, the Gospel stretches the circle wider.
This woman reminds us that faith is not passive acceptance. Sometimes faith means
refusing to believe that exclusion has the final word. Sometimes faith means trusting in the
abundance of God’s mercy even when others tell us there is none left.
For those of us seeking to follow Jesus today, this story asks searching questions:
- Where have I assumed the boundaries of God’s grace are smaller than they really
- are?
- Who might still be standing outside the circles that I have drawn?
- And where might God be inviting me to listen to voices that challenge my own
- assumptions?
The kingdom of God has always been larger than our imaginations. Its table always has
another place, its bread is never exhausted, its grace is never rationed. In fact, there is an
endless abundance of it.
May you have the courage of the Canaanite woman, the humility to let your understanding
of God keep growing, and the confidence to trust that the love of Christ is always reaching
further than we imagined.
Song -109 STF – In the darkness of the still night
Blessing
May you go from here, with the love of Christ in your heart.
May you head out into whatever this week has in store for you, with the guidance of the
Spirit at work in your life, and the lives of those around you.
May you face the challenges and concerns you are carrying, with the creativity of the
Creator in your mind.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
