The Gospel reading this week (Matthew 15: 10-28) challenges us to consider who is in and who is out. On the outset it appears that this woman is out and Jesus came for the Jews, but as the story continues we see that she has enough faith to challenge the norms and with great respect for that faith Jesus heals her daughter. She is moved to the ‘in’ side.
In the Lord’s prayer, we ask for God’s kingdom to come. If we truly believe what we pray then we must expect that God will invite whom God pleases into his kingdom. This means that we will be challenged to accept people as ‘in’ that we would not normally be comfortable with. It means that we need to allow people in so that they can be healed. We cannot expect them to have it all together when they arrive but must provide the safe place where God can feed them.
Take a look around our worship centers’; observe people’s behaviors pretending to be one of the ‘out’. Then ask yourself what do we need to continue doing, stop doing, or start doing to make sure that all God’s people are welcome to God’s kingdom through our doors.
Prayers, Linda
