Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. — Matt. 15:28
This is the story of the Canaanite woman coming to Jesus begging for healing for her daughter. She was the outsider. The disciples wanted her sent away. She wasn’t “in.” Surprisingly, Jesus had another idea for this “outsider.”
“The old teaching of exclusion cannot fully protect us from God’s pull to be a neighbor. We are neighbors to foreigners and to eunuchs and to mothers of tormented children who yearn for healing. god calls us out beyond our comfort zones to be surprised by the fact that ‘her daughter was healed instantly.'” (Walter Brueggmeann, A Way Other Than Our Own
PRAYER:
Gathering God, draw us out beyond our cramped circles of care. Draw us toward the neighbor, the other, the outsider, the hurting one. May we practice compassion. Amen.
Apprentice 2 Jesus 