Lord, Have Mercy
Matthew 15:21-28

Pentecost 13, 1999

Trinity, Urbana, IL

8-22-99

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." 25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

"Help me!" Those words, or the Turkish equivalent, have probably been heard more often in the last few days in Turkey as workers continue to dig out the rubble of this past week's earthquake. Cries for help tug at our hearts, don't they? That's why it's hard to understand why Jesus seems to ignore the Canaanite woman in our text who said these same words. She also cried for help. Her words, however, were, in Greek, Kyrie Eleison, which we know translates to "Lord, have mercy."

"Lord, have mercy." Those should be familiar words. We find them several times in the New Testament. Two blind men hear of Jesus coming along and they cry out, "Lord, have mercy." They wanted to see. The man with the demon possessed boy cries to Jesus, "Lord, have mercy." He wanted his son to be free of the demon. The ten lepers cried out to Jesus, "Have mercy." In each case, people calling out "Lord, have mercy" are calling out for help.

"Lord, have mercy." We use these words quite often in the worship service. But like a lot of words that we use often in the worship service, maybe we don't think much about what they mean. Do you? Do you just simply mouth the words? Or do you think about what they mean?

"Lord, have mercy." It's a call to Jesus for help. It's a confession of faith. It's a request, made by a person who knows that Jesus has the ability to heal, to make well, and that Jesus, using God's power, is the only one Who can grant the request.

These words appear early in the service in that song called the Kyrie. Today, we sang them as part of the Vajda Hymn Service as a hymn stanza. We need God's help, don't we? We need God's help to overcome sin, to live as He wants us to live. [Sunday: Today, we're going to start our prayers with a traditional prayer called the Litany, which has the congregation repeatedly singing, "Lord, have mercy".] At such places in the service, we are basically saying, "Help us, Lord." Let's turn to the story in the text, and look at the circumstances and outcome of this Canaanite woman's cry for the Lord's mercy, the Lord's help, and see how that applies to us.

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Notice here that this Canaanite woman, this "outsider" uses Jesus' title, "Son of David". By this, she indicates that she believes that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Those who would call out for Jesus to help them by calling Him "Son of David" would do so as a way of stating that they didn't simply want Him to pat them on the head and say, "That's okay". They knew He had the power of God to do whatever they asked.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be in Turkey right now? Over 12,000 people known dead, and thousands still buried... friends, loved ones, business associates. Death estimates run as high as 35,000. That's nearly the population of Urbana.... dead. They need God's mercy -- God's help... and it's very hard to understand why this has happened. Maybe you are dealing with a situation in your life and you are having trouble understanding why it is happening, and why the Lord seems to be ignoring you, or at least slow to answer you.

What's the value of reading about Jesus' miracles in the Bible? Well, these miracles of Jesus are demonstrations that He is God's mercy on us all. Titus 3:5 says, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, These situations where Jesus healed someone or Jesus raised someone from the dead or Jesus gave someone sight or whatever are simply small pictures of God's mercy on all humanity. Jesus is God's mercy in this world. Just as trapped as those thousands are in Turkey, all people are born trapped in sin. Just as helpless as the thousands trapped in collapsed buildings, so all of us were born helplessly under the control of the devil's power. Jesus, God's mercy on us all, came to show that mercy on all people by offering His life as our substitute, to free us from being trapped in sin, to release us from the devil's power. Jesus is God's mercy in this world and this woman knew it, and so even though Jesus seems to ignore her, she continues to call out to Him, to pursue this God of mercy in the man Jesus Christ.

The story continues, 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." The disciples are not simply saying to Jesus, "tell her to get lost!" but rather, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave and stop bothering us! You've healed so many! She wants a miracle. Give it to her, if for no other reason than to get her away from us!" Ever been bothered by someone that you really didn't want to mess with? Ever made a contribution to a charity just to get rid of the person asking for the money? That's the way these disicples felt. They want Jesus to help, just to get rid of this woman.

Jesus continues to surprise us. 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Jesus says, "I can't help her. I can't give her what she wants, even to get rid of her, because I was sent to the Israelites first." Jesus says this loud enough for the woman to overhear what He says. This is very curious. Jesus had healed other non-Jews. He had helped other Gentiles. Why does He take such a curious approach?

25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. Now the woman comes and make petition before Him again. This time, she addresses Him as "Lord," even bowing as a sign that she is not worthy to ask or to have her request granted. Yet she asks in faith, knowing that Jesus can and believing that Jesus will grant her request.

26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." Did you ever wonder why Jesus would say this? Maybe you even wish He hadn't said it. He compares this woman to a dog! Yet this woman will not be deterred. She shows faith. She is willing to bow down before the Lord. She is willing to show her unworthiness before Him. She acknowledges Him as Lord. And now, she goes one step further to indicate that she is willing to be considered very lowly just to be included in the kingdom.

27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Basically, she says, "Okay, Lord, consider me a dog, if You want! I don't care. In fact, I'd rather be a child's puppy in the master's house rather than being anything of any status outside the house of God." That reminds me of Psalm 84:10: 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. I'd rather be considered least in God's kingdom rather than a king in Satan's! What a great faith this woman had.

Jesus seems so insensitive, doesn't He? He seems cold, uncaring. His response is odd! Yet what Jesus is doing is testing her faith. Earlier, Jesus had a debate with Israelite unbelievers, Pharisees and people with great social standing in Israel who were actually the "lost sheep" He just mentioned. Now, He is testing the faith of this outsider, this Canaanite woman, as an effort to have her witness to the lost sheep of Israel just what great faith is. At any point in this testing phase, the woman could have simply turned away from Jesus, at which point she would not be showing great faith. Yet she is persistent.

Have you ever prayed for something... something that you wanted really badly, and not received it? Have you ever been put off by God, made to wait, or made to deal with circumstances very different than you really desired? You hear the cancer diagnosis and cry out, "Lord, have mercy" but the treatments don't seem to work. You are told of a loved one taken to the hospital by ambulance and you pray, "Lord, have mercy", but He seems not to be listening as you watch you loved one die. You hear of terrible calamities in far off places, the earthquake in Turkey where thousands Ð think of it, thousands! Ð of people die, and you say, "Lord, have mercy" but there seems to be no end to the nightmare. You are at home when suddenly a knock at the door tells you that your son has been killed in an auto accident and you scream "Lord, have mercy" but saying so won't bring him back. Testing, Lord? I've had enough of Your testing! I'm fed up with it! What's the use? Why do you do this to me? Why me? Such times in our lives can be times when we turn away from God in anger. And many people do. Or, they can be times when God's power strengthens you beyond your wildest imagination, so that you continue to show your faith in a powerful way, like the Canaanite woman did. Where Jesus encountered a lot of people in His ministry, like Pharisees and other religious leaders who had no faith, or disciples who had weak faith, this woman displayed a faith that would not be shaken.

28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. There is more to this story than having a demon removed from this little girl. The whole incident served a greater purpose. The woman, of course, finally got what she wanted. She finally had her daughter healed, rid of this terrible demon. But even more... her faith was strong, even stronger than before. And she displays to us a wonderful example of strong faith. What a great thing! Strong faith! Just think of it! Everyone who reads Matthew 15:21-28, in whatever language over the past 2,000 years has been able to be a witness to the great faith of this woman.

Now, if you had been this woman, if you had undergone the test, would you have passed? I hope so! But think about it. At what point would you have given up, dropped it, and gone away? When Jesus seemed not to listen? OR when He seemed not to care, as when He was telling His disciples that He was sent to the Lost Sheep of Israel, and that meant YOU weren't included? Or maybe when he compared you to being a dog! How do you handle trials and troubles? How is it with you when your prayers seem not to be answered, when someone doesn't seem to get well, when things aren't going the way you want in your marriage, when your children aren't turning out the way you hoped and prayed? Do you give up? Do you walk away from God? Or do you continue to cry out, "Lord, have mercy", confident that Jesus really will help, and really will give you what you need.

Lord, have mercy. It's a cry for help. It's a plea for help to the Only one who can provide the help. "Lord, have mercy." It's a confession of faith. "Lord, have mercy." It's looking to God to do what is best, knowing that He knows what is best, and that He will do what is best, and give you the strength to deal with whatever it is that is best. Because He does. Amen.