Tag Archives: Mark

Jesus is the Suffering Servant

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on September 6, 2015
Tags: Mark   

“A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot” — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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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

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on September 5, 2015
Tags: , Mark,   

The Words of Jesus — Rev. David J. Schreffler

 

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September 5, 2015

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:28-31

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” The civilization of antiquity was the whole world; and men no more dreamed of its ending than of the ending of daylight. They could not imagine another order unless it were in another world. The civilization of the world has passed away and those words have not passed away. In the long night of the Dark Ages feudalism was so familiar a thing that no man could imagine himself without a lord; and religion was so woven into that network that no man would have believed they could be torn asunder. Feudalism itself was torn to rags…had passed away, and the words did not pass away. The whole medieval order….wore out gradually in its turn; and here at last it was thought that the words would die. Today it stands once more in our path; and even as we watch it, it grows.” The Everlasting Man G. K. Chesterton
(1874 – 1936) “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 789)

The words of Jesus continue to stand against the world with power — though there are so many who want to think that it should carry no more weight than another discarded parchment found in a cave. Recently I read a blog posting from a woman who had decided in her mid seventies to end her life because she had “done” all that she had wanted in her life, and though her health was still relatively good, she did not want to grow into a burden to her children in the remaining years. Here is a quote from her blog:

“I do not promote this action for anyone who does not want it. I do not want the right to euthanize the mentally ill or physically handicapped. I ask that the Lawmakers should listen to, and respect, the views of people like me, and I am not alone in holding this view. We are being ignored by the law, which originates from a god in whom we have no belief, and which is upheld and enforced by people who have no proof of the existence of any god at all and yet still seek to impose their views on everyone else.” (Bovvering Books — My Last Word, by Gill)

Though her lack of faith is apparent, I ask you this question: “Is it that we are “imposing” our Christian views on everyone else, or is it that the words of Jesus continue to stand against an increasingly faithless world?” I believe that we are seeing signs of change, as the parable of the fig tree reminds us we will see, but to what end those changes will take us, I have no idea. But I trust in one thing, that the words of Jesus will continue to stand for all time.

Pastor Dave