Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133 or Isaiah 56:1, 6-8; Psalm 67; Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32; Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28

We gather together to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

In the reunion of Joseph with his brothers, there is a great testimony to the God of grace: ‘Do not be distressed... because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life... God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God... God has made me lord of all Egypt' (Genesis 45:5, 7-9).

Joseph was the pioneer. He went ahead of the others. He paved the way for them.

* Jesus is ‘the Pioneer of our salvation’. He will ‘bring many sons to glory’. He will welcome us as His ‘brothers’ (Hebrews 2:10-12).

* Jesus is also the ‘Perfecter of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2). He is leading us to ‘a better country - a heavenly one’ (Hebrews 11:16).

Let ‘every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Philippians 2:11). Let it begin here on earth.

We gather together to worship God.

God sends ‘His blessing’ when His people gather together for worship: ‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!’ (Psalm 133:1, 3).

Many people like to think of themselves as ‘believers’, yet they show no interest in worshipping together with God’s people.

What does God’s Word say about this? - ‘Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another...’ (Hebrews 10:25).

‘Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the House of the Lord’ (Psalms 133:1; 134:1).

Some people never miss a Sunday morning service - but they always miss the Sunday evening services!

They are missing out on so much of God’s blessing. ‘May the Lord... bless you...’on Sunday evenings as well as Sunday mornings (Psalm 134:2)!

We gather together to pray for the nations.

‘My House will be called a House of prayer for all nations’ (Isaiah 56:7).

God is gathering His people together ‘from every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Revelation 5:9).

‘Salvation comes from the Jews’, but it doesn’t end there - ‘The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (the rest of the world)’ (John 4:22; Romans 1:16).

We were ‘foreigners’. Now, we are ‘no longer foreigners...’ (Isaiah 56:6; Ephesians 2:19). Christ has ‘broken down the dividing wall of hostility’. ‘We are no longer Jews or Gentiles’. ‘We are one in Christ Jesus’. Christ has ‘made the two one’. We ‘have been brought near through the blood of Christ’. We are ‘one body’- Jews and Gentiles brought together ‘through the Cross’of Christ (Ephesians 2:13-16; Galatians 3:28).

We gather together to hear the Word of the Lord.

‘Come and see what God has done’ (Psalm 66:5).

God invites us to look into His Word, to read His Story, the Story of all that He has done for us. ‘Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for me’ (Psalm 66:16).

God invites us to listen to the preaching of His Word, to let His Story become our story, to let His salvation become real in our lives.

We read God’s Word. We hear His Word. This is our journey of discovery. We discover what the Lord has done for us. We discover how much He wants to bless us.

He waits to hear our prayer - ‘May God be gracious to us and bless us...’ He answers our prayer - ‘God has blessed us’ (Psalm 67:1, 6-7). He wants us to ‘be glad and sing for joy’. He wants us to call ‘all the ends of the earth’to ‘worship Him’ (Psalm 67:4, 7).

We gather together to look away from ourselves to the God of our salvation.

‘You stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe’ (Romans 11:20).

In Romans 9:32, Paul contrasted ‘faith’ and ‘works’. Here, he contrasts ‘grace’ and ‘works’ (Romans 11:6).

Grace and faith belong together. ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy Cross I cling’(Church Hymnary, 83) - This is faith, looking away from itself to divine grace.

We do not come to God with our religion in one hand and our morality in the other. We hear the Gospel invitation - ‘O come to the Father through Jesus the Son’. Trusting in Christ, we say, ‘To God be the glory! Great things He has done’(Church Hymnary, 374).

It is only when we bow at the foot of the Cross that we are able to say, with Paul, ‘To Him be the glory for ever!’(36; Galatians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

We gather together to confess our sins and receive Christ’s forgiveness.

The Pharisees were preoccupied with washing the hands (Matthew 15:2), yet they missed out on the most important thing - the cleansing of the heart.

They were obsessed with ‘correct’ religious ritual, yet they sent Christ to the Cross. They honoured God with their words, yet in their hearts they were far from Him (Matthew 15:8).

We must pray for the cleansing of the heart: ‘Purify my heart, Cleanse me from within And make me holy. Purify my heart, Cleanse me from my sin, Deep within’ (Songs of Fellowship, 475).

When Jesus was buried, He was wrapped in a ‘clean linen cloth’ (Matthew 27:59). This was followed by His mighty resurrection.

Without lapsing into hypocritical obsession with outward appearances, we make this simple comment: the ‘resurrection’ of God's work among us will come as we pray earnestly for the cleansing of our hearts.

Above all Jesus’ miracles, we celebrate His mighty resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:5-7).

This miracle is referred to in Matthew 16:4 - ‘the sign of Jonah’: Jonah was raised from ‘the belly of a huge fish’, Jesus has been raised from ‘the heart of the earth’ (Matthew 12:40).

We are to ‘remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead’ (2 Timothy 2:8).

In the girl’s healing (Matthew 15:21-28), we see the risen Lord’s great triumph over evil - evil men tried to put Him down, but He did not stay down (Acts 2:23-24).

In the feeding of the crowd (Matthew 15:36-37), we see the risen Lord’s ongoing ministry of feeding His people. Here, we compare Matthew 15: 36-37 with the Lord's Supper: (a) He took bread; (b) He gave thanks; (c) He broke it; (d) He gave it to the disciples; (e) The bread is shared with the people; (f) All are satisfied.

All glory to the risen Lord!