September 6, 2015
Sunday

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. Mark 7:31-35

“Jesus touches the man in ways that are quite tactile and visceral. He puts his fingers in his ears, spits, touches the mans tongue and then tells him to be opened. “Ephphatha.” An interesting word that, Ephphatha. Especially considering that most of what seems to go on in the church is our command to people to do the opposite, “Be Closed”, we say. (How I wish I knew the Aramaic for that!) Anyway, Jesus says the opposite, “Be Opened” and the church says be closed. Be closed to anything that does not fit the cultural status quo. You can make your own list of the things we say, “Be closed”, to. I am also intrigued by the sequencing of the healed response. We are specifically told that his ears were opened, his tongue released, and then he spoke.

Could it be that this miracle sequence is a parable that shows that Jesus would have us first listen before we open our mouths to speak?
My late Grandfather used to say, A still tongue makes a wise heart”
My Grandmother used to chime,
“The wise old owl sat on the oak,
the more he listened the less he spoke,
the less he spoke the more he heard,
why can’t we be like that wise old bird?”

Could it also be true that this miracle show that plain speaking can only come as the product and fruit of listening.” (The Listening Hermit blog) Peter Woods

Recently I posted this message on our sign out front of the church:

“A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot”.

One of my members came to me and said “I don’t understand your message.” I explained to her that if we listen more, and talk less, we are less inclined to put our foot in our mouth — to say something that is offensive, or even something that is just plain stupid. All of us can learn something from those who have learned the art of listening. It takes time to be a good listener. If you are a prolific talker, some would say you like to “hear yourself”. If you are a prolific listener, I would say you like to “listen to others”. Which do you think may make you wiser?

Pastor Dave