2026 08 16 - Pentecost 12
Genesis
45.1-15 Psalm 133 Romans 11.13-32 (33-36) Matt 15. (10-20) 21-28
Our Gospel reading
reminds me of a lady with whom I play basketball. She is known by some as The Bulldog. She is a good and fair player, but where some
are more timid or more just waiting for an opportunity to have the ball rather
than go out and get it, she, more than anything she is strong and reliably
single minded on the court. This
Canaanite woman was also strong and single minded. She knew what she wanted and she assertively
would not be put off by anyone else’s opinions.
Probably, she was also desperate.
A mother with a child who was suffering.
She wouldn’t rest until Jesus heard her request.
We hear the story of
this woman in other Gospels, and in the Gospel of Matthew it comes at the end
of Jesus’ message about things that make a person clean or unclean. The connection being that those who were with
Jesus would have considered that Canaanite woman to be an unclean person. In all of Jesus’ words to the woman, we see
him echo the thoughts of those people around him, and then show them and her
that clean and unclean is something different to what they had thought… in fact
he tells them that what comes out of the heart is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions,
murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Joseph , son of Israel and former owner of a multicoloured dream coat, is one who
bore the brunt of what came from the heart.
His brothers had evil intentions to murder him, but they sold him into
slavery instead and then lied to their father that a wild animal had killed
him… false witness… Then the wife of his
master wanted to be sexually immoral with him and also lied about him, so that
the master had him thrown into prison.
The saying goes; “to
er is human, to forgive, divine”. What
do you think about Joseph forgiving his brothers? I feel like we should pause here to
contemplate where this echoes into our own lives.
By the time Joseph
was leader in Egypt the brothers had grown and changed. They knew that they had done a great wrong to
Joseph and he now had the power, as leader of Egypt to do them great harm.
As much as the Bible
contains mankind’s struggle with God, it also contains our struggle with each
other and where we all stand in God’s eyes.
For example, I know what my relationship with God is, and that he loves me
and that Jesus died to redeem me, but what about that person that actually hurt
me… that person who spread false rumours about me… that person who manipulated
me and caused me trouble… that person who was abusive… What about all these people? Where do they stand with God? And what will
God do about it?
My hairdresser is a
very genuine Christian lady, and we discussed this dilemma last time I saw
her. She was upset that people can
commit horrible crimes and then accept Christ on their deathbed. “Surely God will punish them, even though
they’ve turned to God”, is what she said.
There are people who have committed horrible crimes. Another point she made is that in some
countries they receive the death penalty, but if they knew they were about to
die, but then turned to Jesus, what happens to them then?
So many questions…
have you pondered them too? Before we
answer these questions, we need to be prepared to accept God’s answer, even if
it is something we don’t like, because God’s answer is the truth. Rest assured God’s truth is good news. We – can tie ourselves in knots trying to make
a way for justice when people are hurt by another, while still being
compassionate to the one who did the hurting, and this is evident in the mess
of our justice system, but God’s way is a way of both Justice and mercy.
The answer is what we
see here in Joseph. We need to forgive. End of story.
We need to forgive because God has forgiven us. None of us is perfect and all of us to
varying degrees have fallen short of perfection. ALL of us have been forgiven by God… but not
just that. Imagine the absolute worst
crime in the world… the penalty is death.
Figuratively the name of that worst criminal is Barabas. Barabas is the man who was set free and Jesus
died in his place. Jesus died in our
place. In the eyes of God’s justice, the
penalty for all sin… little and big is death… separation from God the father. Jesus deliberately took that penalty.
This means that all
can be forgiven and redeemed. CAN – if
we accept it and turn to Jesus to be saved.
That includes those who sin the least and also the very worst of
sinners. Even that person who hurt
you. The evidence of this is that there
was a thief on a cross who said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your
kingdom.” Do you recall Jesus’ response?
“Today, you will be with me in paradise.” And as for us… we need to forgive, because
otherwise paradise is gonna be a little uncomfortable for us.
Note that forgiving
does not mean submitting to that person.
In fact, forgiving that person is something you do without the person
necessarily knowing. Forgiving someone
who is abusive, absolutely does not mean allowing them to continue to abuse
you. You can forgive, but “draw a line
in the sand”, with that person and set strong, protective boundaries. Forgiving is the thing that happens in your
heart. It is the acknowledgement that
humans are limited and the person who hurt you is limited. Don’t allow them to hurt you again!!! But put the situation in God’s hands and at
least be willing to forgive.
Remember to er is human – we all er, but to forgive is divine and it
takes some divine intervention. If we
are willing, God will help us to forgive.
The brothers of
Joseph had been incredibly wicked to him.
Not only did they cause great harm to him, but they caused incredible
anguish to their father. These wicked
ones were God’s chosen nation. In fact,
it was through the lineage of one of those brothers that Jesus would be
born. Before that would happen, there
would be many in that line who acted wickedly…. Even the Great King David, who
came 12 generations later, would manipulate a situation so that a man would
die, all because David had taken the man’s wife. This was King David who was said to be a man
after God’s own heart.
A linage of such
incredibly fallen and broken humans, yet God still loved and chose them. This is God’s grace. God is so gracious to his people that he
continues his favour regardless of anything they do.
We are told in
Roman’s that God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Saint Paul is explaining this to the Gentile,
non-Jewish, believers because they were realizing their own position of
privilege in God’s Kingdom. And that
position of privilege is one that we all share…. But what does this mean for
the Jewish nation since Christ came?
We know that Christ
died for all. For the Jew and the
Gentile. All are offered redemption by
accepting and following Jesus, and in Christ, there is no difference. Spiritually and individually, there is no
difference. However, the nation of
Israel still and forever is the chosen nation of God – They are the ones through
whom the blessing came and through whom comes the revelation of God, through
the Torah, the law and the prophets. The gift and call of God is irrevocable.
We need to know that
God so loved that incredibly fallen nation so much, because we too are broken
and fallen. One of the questions often
asked by people is, “I once knew and followed God, but then I went and did my
own thing… am I forever lost? Will God
take me back?” Story after story in the
Bible shows us that God is the loving father of the prodigal, always welcoming
back. But more than that, most of us
want to know, will we be welcomed back as second class? No, the gifts and call of God are
irrevocable. Children brought up in the
faith who drift far away, will very easily be grafted back into the family of
God where they already belong… In fact,
God’s family is the natural family of all of us. We were known and belonged to God first.
This includes the Jew
and the Gentile individual and the Canaanite woman. Last week we noted that Peter had a little
faith – and with that little faith he walked on water. This week we have a woman who Jesus says has
great faith. How is that possible, and
what is it that made her faith great and his small? She was an outsider. She was not a Jew, but she knew that Jesus
was from God. She would not be moved –
like the bulldog – a dog with a bone.
She did not let public opinion or supposed divisions of race sway her
from keeping her eyes on Jesus and her request before him. In fact, she shows that she knows God grace
by stating that even the dogs eat the children’s scraps. God’s grace is abundant…. Abundant and
overflowing. This is why she was sure
that there would be enough of God’s favour for her.
The way of faith is
not an easy road, but neither is life on earth.
What we witness in the story of Joseph, is that God has a bigger plan
and nothing is lost. God can and does use
the brokenness in our lives for a greater good, if we will let him. Joseph was hurt and grieved, but he didn’t
allow that grief to sway his faith in God.
Will we keep our eyes on Jesus regardless of our grief and regardless of
what other people think of us?
Our hurt and grief
can make us hard and bitter. Better that
we cry as Joseph did when he embraced his brother Benjamin, and better that we
stay in relationship with God, trusting him and knowing the abundance of his
grace, as both Joseph and the Canaanite woman. Great faith is about knowing,
beyond any shadow of a doubt, that God loves us and that His grace is
abundant. Through all our hardships, God
is God, He loves us and He will save us.
No comments:
Post a Comment