Sermon for Sunday 16 August 2020, Trinity 10

Lectionary Readings for the Tenth Sunday of Trinity

Isaiah 56: 1, 6–8

Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

Matthew 15: 10–28

Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting 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.’ He answered, ‘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.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Sermon for the Tenth Sunday of Trinity

Do you have a memory, perhaps, of something like this—-there was a party, and you were not invited? You had been going along happily, and then you realised that you were one of those excluded, not part of the party, and you would have loved to have been there?

I certainly do!

I think that this is one of the most elemental fears a human being can have—-to be left out, to be excluded. Not invited to the party.

Why do we human beings, why do we do this to one another? Why do we set up clubs, and inner circles, and hierarchies, and marks and signs of social standing, and say to one another: I am this or that, because I have been invited to this or that?

In these uncertain times, what goes to the very heart of things? What is the essential thing, to remember, out of all that we have been taught, to fix our eyes upon, to recall when we are tempted to give up all hope?

That in the infinite mercy and love of God, all shall be gathered in.

No one shall be left out.

Let me say that again:

The goodness and the mercy of God have no limit: all shall be gathered in.

Our destiny is God. Even if we think that our whole life has been a failure, a grand scheme that was never quite realised, a party we never quite broke into, the reality is that we have always been included in the love, mercy, grace, and providence of God. We have only to see that, and be full of joy.

My house, says God, shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

I think that Jesus’s whole life was a living commentary on the book of Isaiah.

It was a book he knew very, very well.

So the Gospel reading this morning is really just a commentary on the four verses of Isaiah that were paired with this reading for today: let me read those few lines again:

There are no outsiders.

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

I think we already know what to do. I think we already know how to live. The ten commandments, the Beatitudes, the life of Jesus that we take as our model—-I don’t even have to say: do this, or do that. So that when Isaiah the prophet spoke these words 2500 years ago it is the same as if these words were spoken to us today: maintain justice, and do what is right.

I think we just need to be reminded that Christian faith is no club of insiders, but a proclamation of joy to all the world, and we are the blessed messengers entrusted with that good news.

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

There are two parts to the Gospel this morning, two disconnected incidents. Matthew put these together in this particular order. But everything was connected in Jesus’s life: everything was one connected commentary on the book of Isaiah.

What we read this morning, the first part, was a retort to the Pharisees, that it is not rules and regulations but what comes from the heart that matters. They had tried to remind Jesus that he was not invited to their club, that he was excluded from the circle of the holy, but he was reminding them that God gathers everyone in. It is what comes from the heart that matters, not what you eat or drink or wear.

It is the second part of the Gospel that I think shocks some people.

How could Jesus retort to the Canaanite woman

It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.

Are you kidding me? This is not Jesus-like! This is not a nice thing to say!

But she knew what she was asking, and she knew who she was asking it of. And so, shocking as it might be to us, politically correct as we have been trained to be, we who would never say a thing like this, Jesus was deliberately holding back to demonstrate the essential truth that was at stake: all shall be gathered in.

He saw into her heart, he spoke to her, he said, your faith has made your daughter well: and her daughter was healed instantly.

And Matthew follows this event of the healing of an outsider’s daughter with these lines:

Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Jesus’s whole life was a lived commentary on the joyful proclamation of Isaiah:

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

All shall be gathered in.

Listen to another passage from Isaiah, because Jesus had these words in mind when he spoke those words to the Canaanite woman:

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

Isaiah 35

We are the redeemed; we are the ransomed. We always were. Everyone in the world will also be gathered in, at the end of life, at the end of time. No one will be left out of this joyful party—-we will all stand together at the feet of our most gracious God. Our joyful task, in the meantime, is to take hold of this sure promise, with both hands, and share this good news with every person whom we meet. Today, tomorrow, every day, always.

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Thanks be to God for this assurance of his grace.

Amen!

Revd Dana English17 August 2020

Sermon for Sunday 16 August 2020, Trinity 10

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