Sermon: Syrophoenician Lives Matter. September 9, 2018

Click here to read to the sermon from Sunday, September 9, the 16th Sunday after Pentecost at Grace Lutheran Church. We’re still working on our AV issues and equipment – hang in there!

Who’s in and who’s out? Where do the boundaries fall? Who matters? Desperate to help her daughter, a Syrophoenician woman seeks out Jesus, transgressing boundaries to do so. Jesus calls her a dog and tells her he’s come first for the people of Israel. But she boldly takes Jesus’ metaphor a step further, correctly assuming that even crumbs will be enough for her if they are the crumbs of grace that fall from the table of God’s abundance. Jesus’ mind is changed. He experiences a new, divine opening to this person. Who matters to God? Everyone. But not in a generic “all lives matter” sort of way. No, better to say that each life matters. Each person, in their glorious uniqueness and in their common, sinful brokenness. Each life matters to God. You matter, and so does the person next to you. So much so that this Jesus is crucified and raised, given out as capacious crumbs of grace for you this morning.