Living in the Spirit
September 6, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 7:24-37

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’ –Mark 7:31-37

Ears to hear and lips to speak, or some variation of it, is a phrase appearing often in the writings of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Jesus was well acquainted with it. The compilers of the gospels, I am sure had reasons for picking and choosing the stories included. The healing of a deaf and speech-challenged man following the healing of a foreign child surely has significance beyond the healing of a physical impediment.

There are many issues in our society needing thoughtful discourse and common good solutions, but we seem to spin in time around issues designed to divide, distract, and disillusion us. Could that have been what Jesus saw among the people of his day and time? Is he speaking to us today in this scripture of age old realities of human nature?

As I write this hundreds of thousands of refugees are streaming out of Syria. Some dying in the process including children. They have no hope in their homeland and are only in search of safety and sustenance. We who have ears to hear need to respond to their cry.

Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves requires us to know our neighbors, understand their dreams and their needs, and be the means to the joy of salvation from a war torn world.

Prayer: Over the distractions of our day, help us to comprehend the ministry of hope you call us to do every day. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.