“Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Mark 7:31-37

“Two American tourists are driving through Wales. They decide to stop for a bite to eat in the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Baffled by the name, one of them turns to a local and asks, “Would you please say where we are—very slowly?” The Welshman leans over and says, very slowly, “Burrr-gerrr Kinngg.”

“Not long after A Long Day’s Dying was published, a man I scarcely knew asked me to have lunch with him. He was one of the ministers who came regularly to preach at the Lawrenceville chapel and whose sermons had a sort of witty, sardonic liveliness to them. Had I ever considered, he said, putting my gift with words to work for—God, did he say? Or the Church? Or Christ? I no longer remember how he put it exactly, and he made no great thing of it but passed on soon to other matters so that I do not to this day know whether this was what he had asked me to lunch to say or not.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

“Be opened”, Jesus says – and the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue released. This healing begs the question: are our ears open to the word of G-d? Yes, if we watch worship or read the bible often, we are opening ourselves up to the word of G-d. But that does not mean that our ears often get “stopped-up”. What do I mean? Well one of the disadvantages to growing up in the church, as I see it, is the danger of scripture becoming “too familiar”. How can this be?

Well, when we open ourselves up to hear the Gospels read just on Sunday mornings, then we run the risk of knowing only snippets of the Gospels rather than really immersing ourselves in the Word of G-d. So, how can we hear the bible in new ways? How can the bible be opened to our hearing so that we might hear them with fresh ears?

The best way to hear the Gospel is to hear it in multiple formats – to hear it preached – to engage it in bible study – to hear different interpretations – and to listen for the Holy Spirit as you seek guidance in understanding the scriptures. As Buechner shares in his story above, sometimes we encounter G-d’s impact and power through others – especially in their scriptural understanding.

Take time in 2021 to read the bible daily – especially those parts that are not that familiar.

Pastor Dave