From afar the LORD appears: With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will build you, and you shall stay built, virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with merrymakers. Jeremiah 31:3-4
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| Reprinted from Icon:Visual Images for Every Sunday, © 2000 Augsburg Fortress |
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. Matthew 15:25-28
Piety
Lord, help me!
Study
Have you ever been to the grocery store with a four- or five-year-old child? What part of the grocery store is the worst place? For me, it was the checkout line. The gauntlet lined with candy on both sides and soda at the opening.
“Please, Dad. Can I have some M&Ms? I promise to eat my dinner and do all my chores.”
When do we lose our persistence?
Have you ever been shopping for a car? You know what you want and how much you will pay but the salesperson continues to come back to you with a higher price, less money for your trade-in, and more features and accessories. You are about ready to give up and walk out when they finally agree to your latest terms. From the beginning of the conversation to the end, you have ended up spending hundreds if not thousands more than when you started.
When do we lose our persistence?
The people of Israel have been exiled twice. They have repeated rejected the covenant with the Lord. Yet, God never turns away. The notes in the New American Bible set the scene in the Hebrew Bible:
Jeremiah describes the exiles of the Northern Kingdom on their way home from the nations where the Assyrians had resettled them (722/721 B.C.). The favor they discover in the wilderness is the appearance of the Lord (v. 3) coming to guide them to Jerusalem. Implicit in these verses is the presentation of the people’s return from captivity as a second exodus, a unifying theme in Second Isaiah (chaps. 40–55).[i]
From afar the LORD appears: With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you. Again I will build you, and you shall stay built, virgin Israel; Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with merrymakers.
The Lord never loses his persistent love and mercy.
The woman with the tormented daughter also has not lost her persistence. When Jesus walks by, she prays for him to help her. She forces the encounter. Jesus tries to keep walking past. She will not allow him to escape calling after him, to shame him into helping her. She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”
She sought to be consoled.
She sought to be understood.
She sought to be loved.
Jesus responded with an age-old love.
The Lord Himself would not deny His promises.
Action
When do we regain such persistence in our prayer-life?
Jesus has taught us how to pray. Jesus has taught us how to study sacred scripture. Jesus has taught us how to act. Yet at the least temptation, we retreat to the comfort zone of our independent lives. Our televisions. Our swimming pools. Our computers and Internet Machines and Smart Phones. Our Pokémon Go. Our Chianti.
When do we regain our persistence? Do we have to wait until tragedy or near tragedy? Or will we re-discover the favor of the Lord before we are lost in the wilderness of physical, mental or emotional loneliness?
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