St. Andrew Lutheran Church

Dear brothers and sisters, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Today’s sermon is going to be a bit short, because we all know what the real most important part of today is: ice cream! And the wonderful thing about our Ice Cream Social is it isn’t just something we celebrate ourselves, and try to keep other people away from - if we did that, it wouldn’t really be a Social. Instead, we invite everyone in our community and surrounding area, and offer ice cream and everything else we have to anyone and everyone who is willing to accept what we have to offer. Our doors are going to be open to everyone who wants ice cream, and no one is going to be excluded, cut off, or turned away. And, in the process, we get to enjoy friendship with many other people, some who we see almost daily, some we only get to see once in a while, some we maybe haven’t seen in a long time. But we all together, as one group of friends, get to enjoy the wonderful gift of ice cream and refreshments.

Which is almost exactly what we hear in today’s Bible readings: God offers us all wonderful things, and everyone who accepts what He has to offer receives them freely. And everyone who accepts what God offers is united together as one big group of friends. But, looking at today’s Bible readings, let’s admit it: every so often, Jesus throws us a curve ball. How? A lot of the time, the words we usually associate with Jesus are ones of of comfort, peace, and acceptance. But then stories like these pop up, where Jesus not only speaks words which are blunt, but He seems to say that He doesn’t want to help someone - which, again, is completely against how we usually think of Jesus. So what’s going on? Why is Jesus acting like this?

Let’s get a couple things out of the way: first of all, while Jesus does speak a lot of words of comfort and peace, every so often He has to tell things like they really are. He can do so because He is God, and so only He can speak with authority to call people or things out. He, and He alone, also has the power to save and judge, and to decide who is saved. He, and He alone, also has the power to decide who is part of the family of God. In other words, only He gets to decide who is part of His family, and that decision is final with Him.

Second, the reason Jesus has this power is because He established it by dying on the cross and coming back to life. When He died on the cross, He offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all people, removing the separation of sin which separated people from God. Everything we have done has been forgiven and wiped away by His blood, and we can start fresh and new every day, knowing that God gives us another chance to live the life He gives us. Jesus also removed everything which had separated people from each other, especially in the sight of God. Which means that all people, not only a particular ethnic group, are united together as one family through believing in Him.

And, He died for all people, not just a particular group. When He came back to life, He made the promises He made by dying on the cross real, and now that He lives forever, He has the authority to say that what He says is always true. Which means that everyone, literally everyone, who believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord, God, and Savior, and is baptized into His death and resurrection, is now saved and is part of the family of God. There are no other requirements involved: He has already said that everyone who believes in Him is part of His family and is saved. No other laws, rules, or regulations are necessary, whether of denomination, worship style, background, outward appearance, life experiences, personal choices, or anything else: everyone who believes in Jesus is a Christian, part of the family of God, and is acceptable in His sight. In fact, God even promised this long before Jesus appeared in today’s First Reading, where God, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah, promises, that His house will be called a house of prayer for all people. Even eunuchs, who, because they had cut off a certain part of their body, were considered cut off from the family of God, and were unable to enter the temple to worship Him and be in His presence. Also, people who were not Jewish were forbidden from entering the temple, or even going up to the holy mountain on which the temple was located.

But now, God, like He always does, turns everything upside down: He says, “let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, ‘the LORD will surely exclude me from his people.’” God Himself says that everyone who keeps His covenant, which means accepting the promises of forgiveness and salvation He offers everyone, is part of His people, and no one is excluded. Even all the reasons which had previously been used to exclude people from being part of God’s family, whether ethnicity or physical blemishes, are no longer valid. No one is cut off from God for any reason, therefore no one is to be cut off or excluded from God’s family for any reason. If God alone has the authority to decide who is part of His people, and He has already decided that everyone who believes in Him is part of His people, then we are to follow His authority as His people. If He has already decided that everyone who believes in Him is acceptable to Him, then we are to accept other believers just as we have been accepted by God.

But still, having said all that, what’s going on with how Jesus treats the woman in today’s story? Why does Jesus refuse to help her at first, and why does He also seem to call her a “dog”? Like we said at the very beginning, that’s not normally what we associate with Jesus. Well, the answer is probably a lot more simple than we think: He wants to make sure she understands who He really is, and that He’s seeking out His help for the right reasons.

The problem is, while many people, especially Jesus’ own disciples, have already recognized Him as being the Messiah and Savior sent by God, to save the whole world, there are others who simply think of Jesus as being a miracle worker, someone who can fulfill their every desire and fantasy. These people come to Jesus for selfish reasons, asking for Jesus to do them a favor, but then have no desire to commit to Him, believe in Him, or follow Him. In other words, they want Jesus to do something for them, but don’t want to do anything for Him. So what Jesus is saying is that it isn’t right for Him to take the gifts He offers, especially healing, and waste them on people who only want a miracle and nothing more. He also wants to make sure that the woman understands that what He gives is not something that is given out lightly to anyone, but only to those who really know and believe that what He does is real and true.

So He does not want to throw away healing to someone who only wants it for selfish purposes, like throwing food to dogs. Also, He wants the woman to understand who He is: that He is not some mere magician, but He is God Himself, and someone who can decide for Himself who He helps. The woman shows that she does indeed understand and comes to Jesus for the right reasons. She addresses Him as “Lord” and “Son of David,” showing that she recognizes Him as the almighty God and Savior. She asks Him for something not for herself, or for any selfish reason, but for healing for her daughter, someone who is dear to her. She also recognizes that only God and divine power can help her in her situation, because her daughter is possessed by a demon, something only God can conquer. She also counters what Jesus says by saying that even people who seem undeserving for any reason still deserve at least some part of God’s mercy, because God really is merciful to everyone. And, for those reasons, Jesus heals her daughter, and shows her tremendous compassion and mercy.

Jesus also gives us an example to follow as we minister to people: we are to show His mercy and love to all people, without trying to put any qualification on anyone. We are not in the position to judge whether someone has true faith or not: if someone comes looking for something from God, He wants to help them, and so we are to as well. Especially with Baptism and Communion, we are not to question or try to judge anyone’s motives for desiring or receiving them: like with serving ice cream after worship today, we are to offer them to everyone who asks for them, and trust that God is doing a special work in someone’s heart and life, even though we may not know, or even understand, what that might be. We only rely on the promise that God is doing something, however small or slowly, to turn someone’s life around, and that He is using us in that process. And we are to acknowledge that God’s promise is equal for everyone: all are welcome in His house, all who believe in Him are welcome and included in His family, and all who seek what He has to offer receive His gifts.

And, this promise is also for you: you are accepted in God’s sight as one of His family. No matter who you are, what you’ve been through, or anything else, God accepts you as His beloved and treasured family member. He loves you, cares for you, and wants to give you everything good He has. He has saved you and has made a relationship with you, one that will never be cancelled or revoked. As Paul says in our Second Reading, God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable, meaning they can never be taken away. Even though ice cream will eventually melt, or be eaten and disappear, God’s love for you will never disappear. You have been united to Him and His life, and you are fully included in His family.

Also, as we heard last week, the wonderful thing about what Jesus promises and what He does for us does not actually depend on the strength of our faith, or even our emotions: simply that Jesus decides to help us because that is who He is. And who He is is your friend, God, and Savior. Receive what He wants for you, believe in Him, commit to following Him, and be thankful to Him because He is good to you.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.