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Lectionary for Aug. 16, 2026
12th Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8; Psalm 67;
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: [10-20] 21-28
Regrettably, astonishingly and shamefully, much of the national dialogue in the United States is couched in terms of the alleged “uncleanliness” of foreigners. Elected and appointed officials talk about our Somali and Haitian neighbors as “filthy, dirty, disgusting.” They say beloved children of God come from “shithole countries” (PBS News) and are “poisoning the blood of our country” (NBS News). The lectionary passages this week specifically address living with foreigners.
First, and foremost, Paul’s words in Romans 11 are essential framing for our discussion. In the kingdom of God (our only lasting and truly important citizenship), almost all of us reading these words are foreigners. God’s people are the Israelites (1). And, while Paul wrestles with rejection and remnants, stumbling and salvation, let us not get it twisted—we are the wild olive branch (17-24), we are the Canaanite woman of Matthew 15, not the other way around. So, if we wish to be received and welcomed graciously into eternal citizenship, how much more should we graciously welcome our human siblings into temporary citizenship that most of us did nothing to earn or deserve?
Second, we need to consider the intentional way the Gospel of Matthew presents the story of the Canaanite woman. Chapter 15 opens with a discussion on cleanliness, foreign objects and washing. Jesus’ disciples were eating bread without washing their hands (gross!). Some Pharisees complained that this made the disciples ceremonially unready to encounter God in the temple. After engaging in some whataboutism, Jesus replied that unwashed hands don’t disqualify people from encountering God. Instead, the disqualification comes from evil thoughts and actions: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false oaths and slanderous statements like those listed in the opening paragraph.
Handwashing is a great idea for keeping bacteria away, but it has nothing to do with whether a person may come into God’s presence or not.
In the kingdom of God (our only lasting and truly important citizenship), almost all of us reading these words are foreigners.
Immediately after this discussion of what disqualifies a person from encountering God safely, Jesus traveled so that he could encounter a Canaanite woman in the environs of Tyre and Sidon. The woman called out to him, asking Jesus to exorcise her daughter. But Jesus didn’t respond. Eventually his disciples asked him to send the woman away because she kept shouting behind them. The Canaanite woman was shouting from a distance up to this point. Even that was too much for the disciples.
The woman couldn’t be rebuffed by silence. She went to Jesus and performed the verb we talked about last week: prosekynei (Matthew 15:25). She worshiped by prostrating or by kissing his hand like a dog (the Greek word is a compound of “to/unto” and “dog”). It is in this context of dog-like worshipful action that Jesus and the woman traded barbs about who is a dog and who is a crumb. Jesus was impressed by the great faithfulness of the woman, and her daughter was healed instantly.
Given Matthew’s emphasis on cleanliness and readiness to encounter God in purity, how is the Canaanite woman judged? The Gospel writer was inspired to tell you this story so that you would know! A Canaanite woman touching and kissing Jesus’ hand and then giving a verbal back and forth is a perfect example of faithfulness that leads to driving out demons.
Centuries earlier, the scroll of Isaiah records that God will bring foreigners to God’s own house. God insists that Soloman’s inaugural prayer (1 Kings 8:41-43) will be answered. God’s temple will be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). The psalmist declares that all peoples and all nations will praise God.
For me, it’s heartbreaking to see U.S. Christians support the violent removal of peaceful foreigners (siblings in Christ, for heaven’s sake!) or policies that place their lives at risk, simply because of where they were born or because a change in the law has rendered their presence illegal. The thing about the kingdom of heaven is, it didn’t agree to be separated into only one of two kingdoms that govern the lives of the faithful. Instead, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoffer and so many others rightly saw that evil must be confronted because of God’s grace.
Evil that specifically targets foreigners is particularly repugnant to our Lord and Savior. In Scripture, we are commanded 36 times to love the foreigner, and Jesus says he will base judgments on the nations (that’s us!) on whether we welcome other foreigners or not (Matthew 25:38, 43-46). So, while some use horrible language to describe foreigners, the words that you and I are to use are “friend,” “sibling” and “neighbor.”
