In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. I want to take you back for a moment
to the day of the crucifixion of our Lord. Two
criminals. One of them. Angrily shouted at Christ.
And said if you are really Christ. If you are
really the Messiah. Then save yourself. And save
us. The other criminal. In a pleading voice.
Said Lord. Remember me. When you come into your
kingdom. And Jesus said to him, this day you
will be with me in my kingdom. Two condemned
criminals hanging on a cross, slowly dying in
an excruciatingly painful way. Both of them had
something to say. To Jesus. One. In a fit of
blasphemy. Asked. Why? If you. Are the one who.
You claim to be. Then why. Are we suffering?
And the second criminal. whom the church calls
the wise thief, admitting his sins and his failure
in life, cries out with this prayer of hope,
Lord, Lord, remember me in your kingdom. Now
it's important To notice that Jesus. Did not
respond to the question why. But he did reply.
To one. Who said. Lord remember me in your kingdom.
If there is any meaning to be learned from today's
gospel. The prayer of the wise thief seeking
mercy is compared to that woman in coming before
the Lord. And I've heard this often. Do we tend
to question God's providence and love or do we
submit to God's will? I'm convinced that to spend
time questioning God is listening to one's own
voice. To spend time in offering prayer in humility
leads one to a better understanding of what is
happening. The Bible from the beginning to the
end teaches that God Is not some far off distant
impersonal force. Like the philosophers tell
us. The ground of all being. Whatever that means.
Intellectualism will never satisfy the soul.
Because God is a God of mercy and love above
all. A God whom Jesus teaches us to say, our
Father. And in our worship services, again and
again and again, we hear the phrase, our help
is in the Lord. And as a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities those. Who fear him. And here
the word fear. Should be translated awe. We stand
and kneel before him in awe. There are those
who never. Pray except. When they are in difficulties
and their problems and their sorrow and there's
grief. Some time ago I asked a young college
student if he prayed every night. No, he said,
I don't pray every night. Why not, I said. Well,
because there are some nights when I don't want
anything from God. My dear people, prayer is
not an attempt to get what we want from God.
Because God is not an errand boy. We pray, and
this is the very meaning of today's gospel. We
pray not to persuade God to change his mind,
but rather to give us the grace to change ourselves.
In the Lord's prayer, we say, thy will be done,
not my will. As often as I would like that to
be sometimes. I confess that. God, not my will,
but thy will be done in my life. Today's gospel
reading from Matthew, the 15th chapter, as it's
also found in Mark. is a very interesting story
because it tells of a woman who was deeply troubled
with the burden of a sick child. And the Bible,
the New Testament, makes it clear that she was
of non -Jewish nature or ethnic background. And
she approached Jesus. And ask him for help. And
I want to read this because it's so powerful.
Lord, she said, my daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. And what did Jesus do? And Jesus
answered her not a word. Most uncharacteristic.
Most unusual. Because Jesus always gave a response.
But in this instance, no response was given.
But she remained intent. On her and in her wish
for Jesus to help her daughter. And what did
the disciples do? I quote, send her away. They
were annoying Jesus. So the disciples, lacking
all compassion, said, stay her away. She's bothering
us. And it's important to remember that why Jesus
went into tired Sidon. Because he knew that his
days were numbered. And he wanted to be with
his disciples. To teach them. Because the days
were numbered for him. Again she asked. But she
was not discouraged. Because the driving motive
of her heart was love. And there is nothing more
powerful, stronger, more meaningful to us and
to God and nearer to God than love. She never
asked, why don't you help me? But she pleaded,
Lord. And he answered her finally in this way.
Listen, I can't help you because I am sent only
to the lost sheep of a house of Israel. And then
what does she do instead of being discouraged?
She came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help
me. And Jesus, to that answer, Jesus said, I
can't take the bread from the... and cast it
to the doggies. The dog here in Greek is a house
pet. And what did she respond? And how did she
respond? She says, yes, Lord, I know that. But
yet even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from the master's table. Jesus said to her what
he said to the centurion on two occasions. Jesus
said to her as he said to the centurion, great,
great is your faith. There was simply an outpouring
of love. And this Power of love drove her. To
say Lord have mercy. And in the light of. This
expression of trust and faith. And surrender
to Jesus. Again I want to say to you. What the
Lord said to her. Woman. Great is your faith.
And let it be done to you. And we are told at
that moment her daughter was healed. I want to
ask you to reread this miracle. Because there's
so much more involved than I could possibly tell
you. But as you read, note a couple things. When
she approached Jesus, she called him the son
of David, which was a political title with him.
But she never ended that way. She did say, Lord.
Jesus. Second thing. She approached Jesus from
a distance. Because the disciples wouldn't let
her come any closer. But it ended in this way.
She ends up on her knees before the Lord. With
a humble plea. Jesus. Have mercy. For this woman
prayer. Was no presumptuous questioning. No empty
ritual. Not some kind of Aladdin's lamp. Her
prayer. Was a confession. Lord, I cannot always
understand life. Life sometimes can be brutal.
And I can never understand this idea why I am
suffering. But Lord, I know that you have the
power. You have the mercy. And you have the love
to do. Not my will, but your will. This woman's
recognition was this. That she implicitly realized
that Jesus was a healer. Prayer is never based
on the question of why. But it is based on the
intimacy of faith, of love, humility, and awe.
You know, some time ago, I quoted to you a prayer
that was found under... The dead soldier. He
was a young man. And it's obvious. During his
life. He kind of. Let God. Or put God. In the
shelf. And when he needed him. He'd pull out
the shelf. Now listen what he wrote, and it's
very meaningful to me. Dear God, I have never
spoken to you, but now I want to come closer
to you. You see, God, some people told me you
didn't exist, and like a fool, I believed all
this. But last night from my foxhole, I saw beyond
the sky. I realized at that very moment, that
very moment, they told me a lie. Had I prayerfully
taken time to see the things you made, I would
have known they weren't calling a spade a spade.
Please, Lord, please, take my hand, and I know
you'll understand. Sorry I had to come to this
hellish place before I had time to see your face.
The signal, the signal has come. God, I must
go. But I have faith that I want you to know.
This night might be a horrible fight. Who knows?
I may come to your house tonight. Though my faith
in you was weak before. Dear Lord, Receive me
at your door. I cry with faith, repentance, and
tears. I wish, oh how I wish I had known you
these many years. Well, I have to go now, God.
Goodbye. Since I met you, I am not afraid to
die. Glory be to Jesus Christ.