Proper
15 Year A (Pentecost 10)
17
August 2014
Isaiah
56:1; 6-8; Ps. 67; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15:10-28
St
Stephen Lutheran Church
Pr.
Maurice Frontz
Watch
your mouth!
How
many of us have said this to our children?
How
many of us have heard this from our parents?
It
might be heard when you let your tongue slip,
and
use a word that you may not be supposed to use.
But
we might also hear ‘Watch your mouth!’
when
we are saying something a bit ‘saucy’ to someone with whom we are
angry;
a
parent, a spouse, someone who deserves more respect than we are
giving them.
We
may hear it from a parent when we show disrespect to others.
It
is a quick and sharp reminder
that
we are being overheard
and
that our words matter.
In
the verses immediately preceding our Gospel lesson,
the
Pharisees confront Jesus,
asking
why his disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat.
This
might be a little confusing.
We
have been taught since our childhood to wash our hands before we eat.
However,
this is because we know about bacteria.
They
didn’t back then.
This
was a religious ritual,
a
temple regulation which the Pharisees believed all Israel was to
follow.
In
Jesus’ refusal to tell his disciples
to
follow the tradition of hand-washing,
the
Pharisees perceive a direct threat to their religious influence.
And
so they question Jesus, either trying to discredit him or bring them
in line.
Now
it may have been more expedient,
more
diplomatic for Jesus to show the Pharisees some respect,
to
show them that he really wasn’t a threat at all;
at
least when the crowds or the Pharisees were around
to
observe the tradition.
Jesus
is no diplomat when it comes to the truth.
What
he says, he means, and what he means, he says.
Watch
your mouth! Jesus
says to the Pharisees.
Not
what you put into it,
food
that is touched by ‘unwashed’ hands,
but
what comes out of it,
words
that come from unwashed hearts.
Words
matter.
What
we say reveals what we believe.
The
first commandment teaches us to have one God, the true God.
The
second commandment,
You
shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain,
teaches
us that our speech about God
reveals
whether we indeed have that one God.
Martin
Luther teaches in the Small Catechism,
‘We
are to fear and love God,
so
that we do not curse, swear, practice magic, lie, or deceive using
God’s name;
but
instead use that very name in every time of need
to
call on, pray to, praise, and give thanks to God.’
Do
we love God with our whole heart?
Watch
your mouth! – it will tell you.
In
the explanation to the eighth commandment,
You
shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,
Luther
teaches this:
‘We
are to fear and love God,
so
that we do not tell lies about our neighbors,
betray
or slander them,
or
destroy their reputations.
Instead
we are to come to their defense,
speak
well of them,
and
interpret everything they do in the best possible light.’
Do
we love our neighbors as ourselves?
Watch
your mouth! - it will tell you.
For
many people, their understanding of whether they are good or bad is,
‘I
haven’t killed anyone,’
But
do we speak in unrestrained anger?
‘I
have not committed adultery,’
and
yet have we spoken of others as sexual objects,
and
with our words cheapened them?
‘I
have not stolen,’
and
yet do we speak enviously of the rich
and
speak lovingly of our possessions
and
what we will do when and if we get some money?
‘I
don’t lie about other people,’
and
yet do we tell tales,
dwell
on other’s faults when we think no one is listening,
and
talking about the failings of the famous in order to justify
ourselves?
Words
matter.
We
must watch our mouths
so
that we may truly obey God with everything we say.
And
yet Jesus’ words are more than simple moral direction.
They
point us to the wanderings of our hearts,
which
our words reveal.
Our
words reveal that our hands are not defiled,
but
our hearts are;
that
we need not be concerned with food that is touched by unwashed hands,
but
with words that come from unwashed hearts.
Our
words reveal us as sinners in need of God’s grace.
By
watching our mouths,
we
are led to confess with our mouths,
‘We
have not loved you with our whole heart;
we
have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.’
And
these are words that lead to faith.
For
we can only confess these words
if
we have heard from God’s Word, which is trustworthy,
that
we needy ones have a gracious God.
The
Canaanite woman has nothing;
no
status as belonging to the people of God;
no
status as a scrupulous keeper of the law.
And
yet she cries out with truthful speech,
using
words that the scrupulous Pharisees cannot and will not use:
Lord,
Son of David.
I
have nothing to recommend me,
I
am no keeper of the law, I am not one of the people of God,
but
you are God, you are gracious,
you
can heal, you can help, you can save.
Exchange
your fullness for my emptiness.
Exchange
your greatness for my lowliness,
and
do for me what I cannot do for myself.
Even
a crumb of your mercy is good enough for me.
Words
matter,
for
they reveal the heart;
the
faith of a mother, the faith of a foreigner,
the
faith of a seeker of God.
And
Jesus listens to the words of her mouth
and
answers not according to her status,
but
according to her faith.
The
daughter is cleansed from the demon
and
God now claims her heart
as
he has already claimed her mother’s.
Jesus’
promise is to cast out evil,
to
grant forgiveness of sin
and
deliverance from eternal death
and
life everlasting.
It
is faith which claims God’s promise,
faith
that looks not at oneself and one’s lack
but
at Jesus and his mercy.
‘This
woman, this unknown Canaanite woman,
not
only becomes for us Gentiles the forerunner of our faith,
but
her reply to Jesus teaches us how to speak..
Faith,
it seems, is exemplified by our willingness to beg.’
or
to pray when we ‘have time’ or when we ‘feel like it.’
We
don’t think that our words, our daily words, matter.
But
it is the regular worship of our lives,
the
words that we speak over and over again,
that
express the heart of faith.
‘Lord,
in your mercy, hear our prayer.’
‘Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
And
of course, these words must not be mere ritual repetition,
but
come from a heart that claims God’s promises.
And
so, may God grant us the grace to ‘watch our mouths,’
to
refrain from speech which lacks love for God and neighbor,
to
recognize in our rash words the sin which separates us from God,
but
to call out to God in every time of need,
with
our words confessing our faith
to
him who looks with favor upon all who seek him,
through
the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
