Title: KYRIE ELEISON
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Blog Entry: Rev. Steven S. Billings Pentecost 14 Sermon 8-17-2008 St. Matthew 15:21-28 21 And Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman came out from that region, and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came to Him and kept asking Him, saying, "Send her away, for she is shouting out after us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. Every once in awhile a catch-phrase makes a hit with people and becomes a part of our everyday vocabulary. Remember these? - “War is hell,” “I’ll be back,” “Can you hear me now?” “Houston, we have a problem,” and the ever-popular: "Would you like fries with that?" There are a number of such phrases that have made this kind of an impact on the Church, one of which is the little Greek sentence: Kyrie eleison . These words ought to be quite familiar to us; we sing them every Sunday, but in English: “Lord, have mercy.” These words appear in Psalms and throughout the Gospels. This is a prayer that has been part of the Church’s liturgy for 1600 years and was first used liturgically in the Office of Vespers. The Church became so enamored with this prayer that it became the first part of the Divine Service. As the Liturgy of the Church developed, the Kyrie became more prominent, so much so that it is one of the Ordinaries of the Service of Holy Communion, which means that it is a regularly occurring component of the service. In other words, we sing it every week. The word Kyrie is Greek for “Lord.” The word eleison literally means “be an atonement cover for me.” In the original sense of the term, Kyrie eleison means: “Lord, cover my sins, that I may receive Your forgiveness. Cover my sins with the blood that You shed on the cross in my place.” We pray in the Kyrie that Jesus’ blood will cover us so that, when our heavenly Father looks at us, He sees not our sin but the blood of His only-begotten Son and declares us forgiven for Jesus’ sake. Keep this in mind as we offer up the Prayers of the Church. Listen to how the petitions end: “Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.” It is in this sense that the Canaanite woman uses these words in calling out to Jesus. She cries out, “Lord, have mercy. Lord, hear my prayer for help!” She, a Canaanite woman, part of the race that God commanded the Israelites to extinguish - which they failed to do - dared to address Jesus, calling Him the Son of David, the Messianic title of the Jews, asking that He heal her demon-possessed daughter. This takes some guts, because most Jews wouldn't even talk to her, let alone consider granting such a request. And at first Jesus didn't respond; He just kept walking. His disciples begged Him to get rid of her. Clearly, she was getting on their nerves. Then Jesus gave a response that we'd probably consider unloving, unfeeling, insensitive, and certainly politically incorrect. He said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v. 24). In other words: "I'm not here to help the likes of you." Now, even though the Jews had already rejected Him, salvation would still come through them, as Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well. As the Good Shepherd, He was seeking those who strayed from the fold, the House of Israel. The woman in our text was not an Israelite; she was a Canaanite. She was not a Jew; she was a Gentile. Jesus pointed out that it would not be right to give the children's bread to her - a “dog,” as He called her. Dogs were not to be fed at the dinner table. Similarly, it was not the Gentiles’ place to take the things God intended for the Jews. Only after His ministry to the Jews would the Church reach out to the Gentiles as well. Paul writes to the Romans that the Gospel “is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and [then] to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16b). But this Canaanite woman knew who Jesus was: the Son of David, the Messiah. So in response to His rebuke, she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). Wow, what faith! She was willing to receive her daily bread even if it came as crumbs falling from the table. She didn't care if she was a black sheep or even a non-sheep. She believed in Jesus and in faith asked Him to heal her daughter. And He did. Jesus heard her prayer and answered it. But not simply because she prayed. He answered her prayer because He saw her faith and acted out of grace and mercy. Dear friends, God answers our prayers, not just because we want Him to, but because He hears the prayers of the faithful, just as He heard the prayer of the Canaanite woman. He heard her prayer on account of her faith - a strong faith! - given to her by the Holy Spirit through the Word of Christ. God has given us His Word as well, and through it, together with the sacraments of Holy Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Word of Absolution, He creates, sustains, and strengthens our faith, so that it may be as certain and solid as that of this Canaanite woman. But is it? Is our faith as strong as hers? Umm, I think we'd have to say "no." Why not? Perhaps because we listen more to our friends than we do to God’s Word. Perhaps because we've fallen into the trap of thinking that if we don't get what we asked for God must not have heard our prayer. Perhaps because we think that if God doesn't give us the answer we want it must mean that we didn't pray hard enough or that God just doesn't care. Perhaps because we get so absorbed with ourselves and what we desire we forget that God already gives us everything we need to support our body and life, and that He gives it to us in His time and according to His good and gracious will. Listen to His Word through the prophet Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:8-9). We forget sometimes our order in creation: God is the Creator and we are His creatures! It is He who made us, and we are His. But we don't like to hear that because it means that we are not in charge of our lives. And then we get stubborn and say: "Well, if God is only gonna feed me crumbs, I just won't have anything at all!" And then we starve ourselves, refusing to be fed, and our faith withers to the point where the slightest breeze can blow it away. Kyrie eleison! God have mercy on us and save us from ourselves! In today's Epistle the Apostle Paul calls us disobedient. He writes: “God has consigned all [Jews and Gentiles alike] to disobedience, that He may have mercy on all” (Rom. 11:32). Mary sings in the Magnificat, “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation” (Lk. 1:50). How has the Lord shown mercy to us? He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to pay the price for our sins. Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, has had mercy on us and grants us His peace. Our heavenly Father has had mercy on us and has given His only Son to die for us and for His sake forgives us all our sins. Paul writes in his letter to Titus: “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7). In other words, He gives us His mercy and forgiveness in Holy Baptism - "by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior." He also gives us His mercy at His Table. He gives us a feast - a foretaste of the Feast to come, His own body and blood, to strengthen us in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another. Yes indeed, God extends to others the love He has first given to us, so that we may forgive others as we ourselves have been forgiven. We heard in today's Gospel about Jesus’ mercy toward the Canaanite woman. But through this reading and the proclamation of this Word we hear about His mercy toward us as well. Beloved, God is not giving us crumbs; it’s the full meal deal. He doesn't give us His mercy in pieces; He gives it all - lock, stock and barrel. So there's nothing crumby about the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation; this is the Feast of His mercy and grace. Come to the Feast, receive His mercy, be forgiven, live from this point forward a new creation in Christ Jesus, our Lord. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
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