Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

 

Call to be inclusive

Bible Reading: Matthew 15:21–28

Jesus steps outside the familiar borders of Israel and meets a desperate Canaanite mother. Her story is a call to move from exclusion to inclusive faith and fellowship
 
DEVOTION

Scripture focus
Matthew 15:21–28 shows:
A woman who is doubly marginalized – as a woman and as a Canaanite – yet she dares to approach Jesus, crossing religious, ethnic, and gender boundaries
Disciples who want to send her away, reflecting our own instinct to protect comfort and “insider” space.
Although Jesus’ hard words that echo the common prejudice of his day, yet the woman’s bold, humble reply stretches the horizon of the Gospel.
Her persistent “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs” breaks open the idea that God’s mercy is only for “our people.”
Call to be inclusive
This passage calls the Church to:
Widen our idea of “children at the table”
Not only our community, language group, or class, but migrants, indigenous peoples, the disabled, religious others, and those who feel like “dogs under the table.”
Listen to the voices from the margins
In the story, the “other” teaches and reorients Jesus’ ministry toward the Gentiles. In our context, the poor, the indigenous, the silenced can challenge and purify our Christology and our practice.
Allow our boundaries to be converted
The woman’s word (her logos) helps “re-direct” the Logos, opening a new phase in Jesus’ ministry. When we truly listen to the excluded, our worship, mission, and structures can be redirected towards genuine inclusion.
 

In our theology:
Let local, marginalized experiences inform how we speak of Christ, so that “the Word becomes flesh” in our history and geography, not only through imported interpretations.


PRAYER

“Lord Jesus,
You listened to the Canaanite mother
and allowed her bold faith to widen the boundaries of your ministry.
Forgive us when we keep your table small
and your mercy within our comfort zones.
Open our eyes to the faith of those we call ‘outsiders’.
Teach us to listen, to make room, and to be transformed,
that our Church may reflect your inclusive love,
where all your children find a place at the table.
In your name we pray. Amen.”

 

An application

For us as a reformed, Eastern, missionary church:
In our parishes:
Intentionally create space in worship, committees, and ministries for those who rarely speak – women, youth, lower-income families, new immigrants, persons with disabilities.
In our mission:
Stand alongside “modern Canaanites” –indigenous peoples, racial minorities, undocumented workers – not as objects of charity but as partners who reveal Christ to us.



Rev. Joel Samuel Thomas
Diocesan /Bishop’s Secretary and Vicar of Ebenezer MTC, New York