August 14, 2005 - 13th Sunday After Pentecost - Father Al Murray

FIRST READING: Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8
PSALM: 67
SECOND READING: Romans 11: 1-2a; 29-32
GOSPEL: Matthew 15: 21-28

(Audience participation will be noted in bold print and italics)

Good morning! It is good to be home!

I would like to begin by thanking Father Andrew for giving me this opportunity to break the Bread of Life with you this morning. We talked several weeks ago, before my coming here, because my father had died. My dad had passed, and, as many of you here present this morning have experienced, I needed someone to talk to; and who better than to call my friend, Andrew. He was readily available to talk with me. It was a very tough experience, a very traumatic experience for me, and I thank God for you, Andrew; God Bless You. I thank God also for this Church family.

My name is Alfonso Murray, and I am rector at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Ohio. You may ask, and I have been asked many times, "How could you leave Palm Springs to move to Cleveland?" And my response has always been, "Well, I did not read the fine print". It gets very cold, as many of you know, in Cleveland. This is where I was ordained, and, as I stand before you this morning, I see my dad and my mom sitting here, and many of you that were there for that ordination on that great day, and I thank God for you and ask for your continued prayers. AMEN? AMEN!! Thank you!

The setting of our text this morning, in the region called Tyre or Sidon, was the most famous of the three ports in biblical times, and it was known for its arts, its silver, its gold, and for the development of the color purple. Matthew writes to us this morning, in this Gospel out of Matthew, for the sole purpose of identifying Jesus as the Messiah. A key word in the entire Book of Matthew is "fulfillment", and another key word is "kingdom". Jesus, the Messiah, came to fulfill the Scriptures that God's Kingdom might be inherited in each and every one of us. And then Matthew introduces us to many discourses and incidents in the Book of Matthew. For example, you may recall the Sermon on the Mount. You may recall where Jesus feeds some 5,000 people with fish and bread. You may recall where Peter walked on water. In today's Gospel, we see Jesus casting out evil spirits. We see Him casting out demons around this seaport - fulfillment, the Messiah, His authority to cast out demons.

This woman approached Him in this region - this Canaanite woman, this bi-racial woman, this woman of many cultures, this woman of many races - saying to Him, "Have mercy on me, Lord. Have mercy on me, Son of David, for my daughter is vexed with an evil spirit." And the Bible says that Jesus did not answer her. And the disciples said to her, "Go away! Send her away!" And then Jesus answered, "Am I not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel? Am I not here just for the Jews? Am I not here for God's Chosen people?"

Just then, as Jesus said that, this bi-racial woman, this Phoenician woman, this Canaanite woman, full and filled with many cultures and disparities, began to worship Jesus right there on the spot, and, in worshiping Jesus, she said, "Lord! Help me! Lord, help my daughter. She is vexed with an evil spirit."

Jesus didn't stop there. He began to test her faith, and, in testing her faith, He said, "Is it that the children's bread should be cast to dogs? In other words, the Jews are the Chosen People; should this bread be given to you?" The lady responds by saying, "Yes Lord, that is the truth. You are here for the Jewish people, for the Chosen People, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Can you allow just a little bit of that blessing to fall on my daughter? Lord! I need help!" And Jesus answered her, "Oh woman! Great is thy faith, and, because of your faith, your daughter is healed".

Oh, that speaks volumes to us this morning, for many of us have been waiting a long time. Many of us have cried out, "Lord, help me!" Our blessings feel like they have somehow been delayed. You know what I mean. There are those of us here this morning that have asked God for a child, that have asked God to either adopt, or they have been trying to bear a child for the longest time, but are waiting.

Say Amen, somebody. AMEN!

There are those of us, perhaps, that have been waiting on a career or a job for the longest time, or, because of our loneliness, have asked God for a relationship - a healthy relationship. There are those of us who have asked God, who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or some kind of sickness, "Lord, help me! I am waiting! Heal me! God, restore peace to my home".

And, for some of us, we have missed our blessing because it isn't packaged right, "Lord, I said I wanted a blonde, not a brunette!"

There is a wonderful story about a man who said, "God, speak to me." The story goes on to say that the man whispered, "God, speak to me." The story goes on to say that, just then, a meadowlark sang, but the man did not hear. Then the man yelled, "God, speak to me!" Thunder rolled across the sky, but the man did not listen. Then the man looked around and said, "God, let me see you." And the stars shined brightly, but the man did not notice. Then the man shouted, "God, show me a miracle!" And a child was born, and the man did not know. So the man cried out in despair, "God, touch me! Touch me right now! Let me know that you exist." And a butterfly touched his cheek, and he brushed it away.

It is important that we not miss our blessing

Say Amen! somebody - AMEN!

­just because it isn't packaged quite the way we think it should be packaged.

God gives us the opportunity to stand with Him this morning, and that is what that mother in our Gospel lesson did. She stood with God. She realized that it was "time for me to clean my house". God gave her the discernment of the negative. She said, "No more sexual immorality in my house. My daughter is practicing the occult. She is participating in adultery and despair and anxiety and fear. She has even had suicidal thoughts. I am going to remove that computer out of my house".

Say Amen! somebody - AMEN!!

She went to her closet, and, no doubt, she threw away her daughter's clothes; went to the cupboards and threw out all of the liquor; took the pictures off her walls and the books from the bookshelves. She took her daughter by the hand and said, "Get up from here. You are going to Church with me this morning!", shaking her head with her hand on her hip, "Get up from there! I am taking you to see Jesus. I am taking you to see a man that can make people walk on water. I am taking you to see a man that can feed 5,000. I am taking you to see someone who says, 'Come unto me, all of you that are laboring and heavy laden, and I will refresh you.' This morning, we are going to purify our souls for the reverence of God. I have tried an extreme makeover with you, my child; I have tried taking you to therapy. I have tried locking you out. I have tried loving you. Now, I am taking you to Jesus, and it is time for us to clean out the house".

" Jesus, help me!"

In the final analysis, Jesus truly did help her because of her faith, and, it is in that instance that that mother became that daughter's hero. She saved her life. Jesus saved her life, and, as a result of that, she became a hero.

Don't miss this! Jesus calls all of us this morning to be heroes and to make us heroes, but the way that a hero is made is that a hero must first be touched by the Holy Spirit. You see, when we have been touched by the Holy Spirit, God gives us the ability to accomplish great things for God in the same way that Gideon accomplished what he accomplished, and Samson and Samuel, and in the same way that Dr. McKinny accomplishes what he accomplishes with the poor.

Say Amen!, somebody - AMEN!!

Dr. King and Andrew Green, who said, "Come on, Al; let's get you ordained!"

AMEN!!

I had an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

This daughter, this morning, represents to us, invisible people of the world. This girl, this morning, who was healed from this vexed spirit, represents for us the poor, the oppressed, those who are hungry, and those who are orphaned, and those who are homeless.

We have to understand this morning that God has a heart for the invisible people. And God reaches out with God's hand, with justice, and says to us, "Let justice roll down like a river and righteousness like a stream, never failing". This is about righteousness. God expects us, as heroes, as people who have been touched by the Holy Spirit, to have a quietness and a confidence in our walk.

There is a story about two twins who went to school; and they weren't dressed quite as nice as the other kids, and they smelled bad.

Say Amen!, somebody - AMEN!!

Their shoes were dirty, and there faces were dirty. They went to school, and the teacher spanked them in front of the whole class and sent them home. Word spread throughout all the community, and one of the communicants approached the teacher and said, "What have you done? What right do you have to spank these children because of the way that they look?" The teacher said, "What business is it of yours?" The man responded, "I am making it my business".

Talking about righteousness. Oh, that is why I admire the lady that is sitting out in front of Bush's place this morning.

Say Amen!, somebody - AMEN!!

I am making it my business! God calls us to make it our business, righteousness and compassion. A simple act of compassion is merely not looking away, or merely recognizing each other as humans and as human beings. There is an old Zulu greeting, or an African greeting, that says, "I see you", and the proper response is, "I am here".

There is a story about a young boy that was born disabled, and his father was upset and sitting in a Church meeting. They were talking about the perfection of God, and he said, "What do you mean, the perfection of God? My child does not even understand. He can't even read or write. How is that the perfection of God? Where is the perfection of God in his disability?" Someone in the audience responded by saying, "Well, maybe the perfection of God is in our recognizing who he is, by not looking away, and by showing compassion".

God is speaking to us this morning. God invites us this morning to extend the right hand of justice, righteousness, and compassion. He invites us this morning to release the past, to begin to forgive those have failed us, and, for those we have failed, to confess our sins to God. God is speaking to us this morning. He speaks to us and calls us and invites us to live in obedience - to live by God's rules - and, in doing so, it brings us closer to God. God is speaking to us this morning. God is inviting us to be delivered from whatever sets us apart or separates us from God, to recognize who the enemy is, to become whole, as God has created us to be. God is speaking to some of us this morning to seek restoration, to refuse to accept less than what God has to offer, and to find wholeness. God wants us, this morning, to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, to be filled with the gifts of hospitality and wisdom and healing and speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues and all of the gifts and blessings that God has to offer. God wants us to stand strong, to stand up and be like that woman and say, "Lord, I need your help. I am not giving up. I am standing with You, God."

I share that with you this morning, as many of us are waiting and feel that our blessings have been delayed, and, for some of us, it is time to clean our house. For all of us, God has called us to be heroes, to be filled with the Spirit, and to let justice roll down like thunder, in a stream.

"Jesus, help me. God, speak to me."

"Come to me, all of you who are heavy laden, and I will refresh you."

"God, let me see you."

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

"God, show me a miracle".

"If anyone sins, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ".

"God, touch me".

"Take, eat; this is My Body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me".

AMEN