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This Week's Sermon The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost 17 August 2008 "At the Master's Table" Matthew 15:21-28 LSB Series A Vicar Gerald D. Heinecke Soli Deo Gloria!

God, why aren't you listening to me! I prayed that you would take this cancer away from me. Why does it keep coming back? Am I not good enough for you? Haven't you told me I am supposed to pray to you? If you do this I promise to...

Sound familiar? Now imagine seeing the Son of God, our intercessor to the Father, face to face, and yet get not one response. The Canaanite woman has come to Jesus as God bids us to come, in prayer. For that is what she is doing she is on her knees, saying "Lord have mercy." He tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.

There are two problems though. First off, she's not worthy of God's time, she is not part of his children. In the Israelite society she's lower, she's on the level of a dog. Secondly, God did not say He would answer prayers the way you want Him to.

Fortunately God does not leave us in this predicament. Even though she is considered as low as a dog, she will be fed. She can trust in God's promise that He will answer her petition. In this we can place our unwavering trust.

The master's table is a rich meal meant for all, bringing you salvation and all his promises.

In the verses before our text the Jews, especially their leaders, have started to become more hostile towards Jesus. So our text finds him purposefully withdrawing from Israel and entering foreign lands for the first time. This is important to note for Jesus did not spend much time outside of Israel, He rarely even entered Samaria. Then, in our text, He also tells us why He rarely left Israel, for He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

The Jews were God's chosen people and the Jews do not let Jesus forget that little tidbit. They remind him often as we see in John 8:33 "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone." Paul takes care to say this several times in our Epistle text. That God has not rejected his people whom He foreknew. Jesus' reminder in our text that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel is a reminder enough, but we can also think about him forgiving the sins of Zacchaeus and then declaring that salvation has come to him a child of Abraham. One can also think of the calling of this gospel's author, of Matthew, the tax collector. The Jews today are still continually called by God to believe in Jesus despite their rejection of his Son.

Jesus in our Gospel not only calls the Canaanite woman a dog, but He calls you a dog as well. The story of the Canaanite woman should sound very familiar to you, not just as a story but as to your real life right now. You are not worthy to eat the food from the master's table. You should be lucky that He even considers you to be next to the table. You are not family, not even a distant cousin. For most of you are Gentile.

You are not worthy of the daily food, the very Word of God that Pastor holds up in front of you. You certainly are not worthy of the explanation of the Word. You are not worthy to digest the stronger foods, to be given the understanding of the Parables, to have prophecies explained to you. You are not worthy of his sacraments, You are not worthy of your sins being washed away. You are not worthy to be able to speak to God in prayer. You certainly are not worthy of Salvation.

You are unworthy because you continually reject what He has given you because you are continually sinning. You are unworthy, because you would rather dig in the slop of pigs, wallowing in your sin. You could care less about what God daily gives you, all of it without any merit or worthiness on your part. You care not that He suffered on the cross for your sins committed before Church, or maybe the lustful or angry thoughts you have now, or your sins after church. That is what your daily sinning says. You deserve nothing. She deserves nothing.

It is at this point that the woman realizes that although she deserves nothing, she also notices that the Master, Jesus Christ, has thrown down the scraps, the crumbs, and she willingly takes them up, just as a dog is willing to take them up. The desire for the master's food now that she has seen what He offers is great. This also is when we see Jesus give recognition of her faith.

Despite the fact that He was not sent to the Gentiles, He is still the savior of the Gentiles, for Jesus Christ has come so that all may believe and come to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus is their Lord and Savior. Don't forget that Jesus has already worked with a gentile. He had already healed the Centurion's servant back in chapter 8. And He also remarked of the centurion, "no where in Israel have I found such a faith." Even the scraps He gives are no more or less than the saving promise of salvation that is for you and for your children.

Jesus came to the Jews, just as the Apostles went to the Jews first. But, when the Jews rejected what was offered to them, namely the meal that is Jesus Christ, given to us through his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, it was then handed to the gentiles. The Jews rejected that relief of the law, the full, sweet, succulent Gospel; the salvation from the bondage of slavery; the joyous news of the inclusion of being in God's family; a rich feast meant for, but rejected, by many of God's chosen children, the lost sheep of Israel, the Jews.

These Jews didn't want what Jesus had offered. They threw it away only to have it jumped upon by the dogs, by the gentiles, by you. Then there are those Jews, including the Apostles and others who followed Jesus who have eaten the feast, who wish also to share with all around them. They want others to taste and see that the Lord is good.

It reminds me of our dog when we were growing up. Katie was an adorable beagle. But she was a dog, and she did not sit at the table, but at our feet. Now she did not deserve to eat our food. She had her dog food. Plus we were a big family, five kids, two foster kids, plus my parents. You just couldn't feed the dog what we were going to eat for dinner. It was too valuable.

But, when we kids rejected the meal and started feeding it to Katie she ate it up. She went right for it because it was good even though we had rejected it. Then on the other hand she would also eat from us if we fed her pieces of the meal. She was fed bits from the table because she was loved. Even though she was not human she was still loved. She would go around to all of us, eating a piece or two from all our dishes, what could be called the crumbs, but still the same substance and also quickly eaten by our dog. She would eat it, whether rejected and thrown down or if it was handed to her because either way it was good food. So, likewise the woman eagerly awaits the food to fall from the Master's table to be eaten up, so likewise you.

You, who salivate for the means of grace, who sit here eagerly awaiting God's goodness, you have begun to partake. When you entered the sanctuary the first thing you saw was the font, where God has made you his. You who were once considered dogs are no longer dogs, no longer outside the family, but through these baptismal waters He made you his, his very precious children. You have had your sins deliciously forgiven. The rich words of the Old Testament, the Epistle, and the Gospel have been delivered on a gleaming plate of gold. You hear, right now, the delicious meat and potatoes of the text delivered for you. And the feast of this service will culminate in the sweetest, most satisfying dessert ever made for man. His precious body and blood, shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins.

Some of you may remember the first bone thrown to you, that first hint that the Master's table is there. You remember the desire to eat of that table and be part of that family. Then there are those of you who may have shared some of that food of the master's table, namely that sweet Gospel message, with others who did not know it. The gospel message, that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world, is meant for all to hear right now. It does not take anything special, just a simple invitation to your neighbor to come to church. This food at the Master's table is meant for all.

All are now invited to come to the table of the word and sacraments. God moved the disciples to preach the good news to all people when He told Philip to go talk to the Eunuch; when He told Peter to eat the unclean food in his dream; when He told Paul that He would be sent to carry His name before the gentiles; and when Jesus told the Apostles at His Ascension that they would preach of His name to all the nations. You were included. You are given the opportunity to speak to your friends, to your neighbors, to your family to invite them to hear the Word, and to lead holy lives here bearing witness to all the good things Jesus had done for you.

God's Word is meant for all. He wants all to be baptized into his family, from that newborn child to the elderly woman. There is only one part of the feast that takes time to receive, that is the sacrament of Holy Communion. This one part of the feast is also meant for all, but it requires teaching. It requires understanding. It requires discerning. This one part of the feast is temporarily withheld in great loving kindness so that the unprepared person does not eat and drink in an unworthy manner thus bringing judgment upon him or herself as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11. Our Lord does wants all to partake in the Lord's Supper, His greatest gift to us, but only when they have been taught about it. He wants all people to know and have the promises He has laid out.

When you call on His name you have His promise that He will hear you. He gives you prayer so that you may come before Him. That is what the Canaanite woman essentially does. She comes to Jesus praying for help. She invokes His name, have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David.

You also have the promise of eternal life and the promise that good works are preordained for you to do. Our Lord baptized you making you His child. He bestowed on you the Holy Spirit to do good works, to be holy, to help you fight the temptations of the evil one. And in that promise of eternal life, is also the promise to forgive your sins. Jesus did die and rise again. He died for that Canaanite woman, He died for you, and He died for me. The children's bread is no longer thrown to the dogs. For there are no dogs. You are all His children and He wants all to know and come to the feast. For the master's table is a rich meal meant for all, bringing you salvation and all his promises.