“EXORCISED IN HIS MERCY”
Saint Matthew 15. 21-28
Reminiscere - The Second Sunday in Lent: 20 February Anno Domini 2005
Fr Watson
Jesus traveled to Tyre and Sidon for the same reason His Word traveled to Rome, Germany, England, Indonesia, and North Eastern Kansas. Jesus went to where He would find the Canaanite woman for the same reason that He has come to you today, here, now, at this place.
Demon possession is all relative. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All sin is but a symptom of a deadly disease; the disease of demon possession. Some are fully taken over by the old enemy: the pagans, heathens, atheists, agnostics, secular-humanists and the false-teaching sects. Even cute little babies are born enslaved to sin and dead to God. That is why He washes them + clean of the satanic filth that clogs their air-ways and clots their hearts. In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism the devil is exorcised, driven away, and banned from re-entering the young (or old) body of the new-born saint. This is why you take such great comfort and joy when you remember, and daily activate, the present on-going power of Baptism. This you do whenever you invoke the Triune One's Name, your New Name, Father, Son + and Holy Ghost. It chases the demons away.
As long as you stay in Christ, and Christ stays in you, (by Word, Washing, Eating & Drinking) you will never become demon-possessed as was that tragic little girl. Tragic but also blessed, in that her mother loved her dearly. A parent taking a young child to the Lord, it's what we do with our own demon possessed. Don't let the terminology confuse. The enemy is a liar from the beginning said the Lord. His biggest lie is that he doesn't really exist, that we're all born good, deep-down inside. The serpent is cunning and doesn't like to reveal himself with histrionics, and Hollywood special effects, especially in a land filled with his enemy, Christians. But in the early First Century, in Israel, and the surrounding regions, paganism was rife. Back then, Satan did show forth his tortures and cruel dislocations of men's lives. And he did it in grand and obviously public ways. The little girl was demon possessed. Because you now love others with the love which Christ has first loved you, you can feel a mother's anguish: "Have Mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."
Lord have mercy, Kyrie Elieson, is what you cry out as well in the Holy Liturgy. You understand. The Savior came into your flesh precisely to show you mercy.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing, by the Word of God. Whether the Lord is standing there visibly speaking, or whether He is standing off-stage, so to speak, and talking through His Scriptures, Servants, and Sacraments, it is still Him. Faith comes by hearing, not seeing, not feeling, and not wrestling with works. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith produces endurance, perseverance and patience. Faith, by the Word, because of Jesus' Grace, produces saints such as this un-named Canaanite mother; this fellow Gentile. She knows that this Nazarene is the Son of David. She knows He is the promised Messiah of God. She truly believes He is what His name says He is: Jesus---Savior. She believes by the power of the Holy Ghost that He is God, and that He is good, no matter what her eyes and feelings may tell her. She is a role model for your daily walk. She needed help, rescue, and peace. She went to the only One Who can give it, and she wasn't going to stop, let-go, or leave Him till He did what He has always promised in His Word.
When the text says that this woman "worshipped Him, saying 'Lord, help me!"' it means literally that she fell at His feet. Her faith was such that if she could have wrapped her arms around the Lord's legs and tackled Him she would have. Learn to pray with that kind of intensity and tenacity.. .over and over and over again...until you die, if need be. You're to cry out "Lord, help me!" and then let the Savior help you when and where it best suits His perfect will for you.
After exercising her faith, the Lord then exorcises her daughter. The clean One cleanses the girl of her demon. It's as if He baptized her. It's as if one of His pastors baptized her; same result. The demons are sent packing and the Holy Spirit makes His abode in the flesh of the believer; by bringing in the Flesh of the Son of David, the Son of God.
Now, did this mean that the woman and her child never again had any problems? Hardly. Did it mean that they were never again tempted by demons, attacked by sin, the world, their flesh, and yes, Satan? No. This is what I meant when I said, demon possession is all relative. Though you and I are baptized and free from the guilt, stain, and lasting death of original sin; though we are forgiven our daily actual sins, we are still here---daily. And that means until the Lord returns you will daily have to do battle with demons and their sulfurous assaults. But you fight not with efforts, actions, programs, and self, you fight with the Word that is the Incarnate Christ. You vanquish the foe with the same Bodily Jesus that chased away the cowardly snake that day in the region of Tyre and Sidon.
It is Jesus your Lenten Lord Who battled Satan tooth and nail (or should I say crown of thorns and spikes). The real, final and total exorcism took place on that bloody tree. He strove with the devil for 40 days in the Desert to start His own Lent. He met the beast of sin; all sin, your sin, on Calvary, and there crushed the head of the head demon. There He completed Lent!
Today, or tomorrow, or later this week, when you again are "one" with the Canaanite woman; when you yourself feel powerless and overwhelmed with your own demons, and those who are attacking your loved ones, Invoke Him! Invoke the One Who has mercy because He is Mercy. Call in that invincible "air strike" to your "fire-zone," which is the Spirit Himself. By the Lord's Grace; by the Sparkling Garments which cover you +, by the Living God which is in your ears, mouths and souls; smoke, toast, annihilate, and vanquish all the demons who are trying to surround you. They're done, the deed is done, One little Word fells them. Invoke the One Who has washed you, and Who feeds you from His very own table. Invoke Him...
In the Name of The Father and of The Son + and of The Holy Ghost