The Outcasts of Israel

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are conditioned not to like outsiders or strangers. It is instinctually uncomfortable to encounter someone you don't know, and even more so to actually interact and get to know the person. Each of us has his circle of friends and acquaintances, and we don't like that bubble being invaded. We train children to avoid unknown people, using phrases like “stranger danger!” to ward off the wayward inclination to talk to someone new. For vulnerable children, this may be good advice, but when do we outgrow such a maxim?

Acceptance of outsiders is the basic theme of the movie from a few years ago “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. In the film, a girl from a large, very traditional Greek family falls in love with a non-Greek man, and many comic episodes ensue in the quest to mesh their worlds. At one point in the movie, the girl's father goes on a rant about his daughter's intended: Is he a good boy? Is he from a good family? Does he have a good job? Does he love his mother? I don't know! He's not Greek! Why couldn't she find a nice Greek boy?!

It can be difficult to adjust to new people. When you meet someone new, you don't know his background, his beliefs, his perspective, his history. You don't share common experiences. You don't share common understanding or language. Things are awkward.

In Genesis 12, the Lord called Abraham out of his homeland and promised to make him the father of many nations. The Lord said, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Through the covenant with Abraham, all the world would be blessed. This is because the covenant with Abraham entails the birth of the Messiah, the savior of the world. From Abraham would come the people of God, the nation of Israel, and also the Messiah, the Holy one of Israel, who would save His people from their sins. In Him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed, because He who called them all into being would call them all together as His own.

However, this news was all-too-often taken hostage by the foolish pride of the Israelites. The Lord said, “this promise is for you and for your children”, and so it could not be for anyone else. Israel exalted herself over the nations, because she was the favored of the Lord. Who can bring a charge against God's elect? We are children of Abraham! The promise is for us, and not for you. Soon, wrapped in their cocoon of superiority and proud self-serving piety, the Israelites thought that they deserved all the blessings of the Lord.

However, the Lord says plainly in Deuteronomy 7 that it is “not because you were the greatest” that Israel was chosen, but because God loved her, despite being the least among the nations. In Hosea, the Lord calls her Not My People, but yet promises to make her His people. He chose the people of Israel to be His treasured possession because He love them, not because they deserved it more than anyone else. Because of His great love for them, the Lord made the children of Israel His precious children. The nations around them became as dogs, barking up the wrong idolatrous trees and desperately in need of even the scraps from the children's table.

In our Gospel lesson, a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus, who was out of His territory anyhow, and asked Him to heal her daughter, who was sorely oppressed by a demon. Jesus says to her, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus came to Israel because they were the chosen people of God. However, they rejected Him and His preaching. They preferred their own brand of legalism and proud tradition. But heaven forbid that He should save the Gentiles, either! The Messiah was promised to Israel, after all – not to those dirty heathen nations outside the bounds of the twelve tribes. What was given to the children should not be thrown into the dirt and cast to the dogs. Children deserve good gifts, but dogs can fend for themselves.

The Lord declares in Isaiah, “I will gather yet others to Him besides those already gathered.” He promises that the people of God will come from all walks of life, from those of every stripe, including you. He has stretched out His hand and gathered you to Himself. He has made you His own.

But yet you fail to believe. Your heart, corrupted by sin, does not want to believe the Word of the Lord or come to Him in faith. You would just as soon run the other way and try to make it on your own, under your own steam. But you don't want others to have the gifts, either. You would be just as happy to sit by and let the grace of God sit in your lap as share it with anyone, or to let it penetrate your sin-infected heart.

Whose job is it to provide for the poor and needy? Is it the government's job? Or is it your job? Well, setting aside the fact that that is a false question in a government of and by the people, it is your job as a Christian to care for your neighbor. The Fifth Commandment compels you to look after the bodily welfare of those around you. Jesus instructs you to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, and pray for those who suffer. It is not someone else's job to do all these things – it is your job to see that they are done. The government exists to ensure that we live peaceably with one another and to punish evildoers. It does not exist to absolve you of the obligation to care for your neighbor.

Likewise, the Church does not exist to absolve you of your responsibility to give witness to the Gospel to those around you. The Office of the Ministry is given to the Church that the Gifts of God may be given to His people, but the Gospel is a gift given to all believers, and must be shared. Alas, you have failed at this also. You have failed to provide a witness to the hope that is within you. You have failed to give in support of those whom the Lord has sent into the fields to do His work. Your prayers and support of those in the Office of the Ministry have faltered. You have delegated this responsibility to someone else, whoever that is.

The children of Israel became dogs by their pride and unfaithfulness to the covenant given to their fathers. Likewise, you have been unfaithful to the gifts given to you. Repent and receive the Gifts of God.

However, the Canaanite woman does not let Jesus dismiss her so easily. She says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” As Isaiah promised, those who believe the Word of God, even among the outcasts and undesirables, are gathered to Him. Sinners are received by a sinless God. Unworthy children are adopted and sanctified by a loving Father.

Jesus Christ died for all people, even you. He died for the sins of all mankind, each and every one of us. He died for the elite and the untouchable. He died for the most trivial slight and for the most grievous transgression. Jesus died because your death would not have been enough. He accomplished the salvation of your soul when you could not. His blood cleanses you from all your sins. His resurrection brings you from death into life. No one is beyond His forgiveness and love. No sin is too great for Him to forgive. The free grace of God is given freely to all who believe – to Jew and Greek, slave and free, upstanding and barely standing, young and old.

St. John tells us “... for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten son” for us. The Father of all nations sent His Son to die for you and for me, that He might call us out of our darkness and into His glorious light. He has called His people together from the ends of the earth into one great people. He promises that you who are called by the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit are forgiven of all your sins and delivered from the hand of the enemy.

The Lord declares, “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord... these I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer.” You were all once foreigners and strangers to God, but He has called you by the Gospel and enlightened you with His gifts. He has washed you with the water of rebirth and has fed you with His Body and Blood. He has chosen to give salvation to you, and to all people on earth. “Salvation unto us has come by God's free grace and favor” (LSB 555:1). It has come to you and your house, and it has come to the greatest and the least in the world.

The Lord chooses to give His gifts freely, to all whom He loves, and He gathers the sons and the foreigners and the aliens and the sojourners all together under one covenant of grace. He gathers His people from every walk of life into one people of God. We may not see this here on earth, but it is as true as St. John's vision: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'”

Rejoice, O pilgrim throng!

Rejoice, give thanks, and sing;

Your festal banner wave on high,

The cross of Christ your king.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice, give thanks, and sing! (LSB 813:1)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.