Be Opened! – sermon on September 6, 2015
Mark 7: 24-37 Jesus traveled on to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Sermon: Be Opened! By Reverend Doreen Oughton
At the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC back in June, they invited people to tell “clay jar” stories. One woman, a pastor, told a story of being called on to make a hospital visit to a former parishioner. This man had left the church because he didn’t like the idea of a woman in the pulpit, let alone a woman who had a wife. The pastor had heard him scoff about it at her candidating Sunday, and, stung by his hostility, wasn’t really all that sorry not to see him in the pews after she was called and began her ministry there. But then, several months later, she got this phone call from another member of the church, reminding her of the man’s long-term connection with the church, and could she go see him in this time of need. She did not want to go, but she went. She hoped the man’s wife would be in the waiting room. A chat with her there would count, wouldn’t it? But no, the waiting room was empty, so she moved on to the hospital room, praying that he would be asleep and she could just say a quick prayer over him and get out of there before he stirred. After all, did he even want her there? The visit request was made by someone else. He didn’t think women belonged in the pulpit, maybe he didn’t want one praying for him in a hospital room either. These thoughts passed quickly through her head as she approached the door and peeked in, and he looked up, right at her, and gave a stony little nod. She mustered all the calm she could and went in. She asked if she could pray for him, and again, got the stone-faced nod. Now I know this woman, and she can pray. She has a heart for Jesus, and a heart for people, and is an amazing conduit for the Holy Spirit. When she finished her prayer, she looked at the man, who now had his eyes closed, but that same stony expression. He moved his lips, let out a breath and rasped… “wrong.” She hung her head and turned to go when he spoke again, a little louder, “I … was… wrong.” She turned back and they looked at each other, hearts opened up, souls connected.
I thought of that story as I pondered this morning’s gospel reading. Jesus’ words to the Greek woman are so harsh. He not only says he will not help her seriously ill child, but he insults her while refusing her – calling her a dog. It is clear that this is someone that Jesus just does not want to deal with. Have you ever experienced that sentiment? I told someone else’s story, I know, but not because such a thing has never happened to me. There have been plenty of people I would have preferred not to deal with – not here, of course! There was the client, when I worked as a therapist, who was always dirty and smelled so bad that he stunk up my office for hours. I worked in addictions treatment, so you can also imagine the manipulators. And I did some work with court-ordered clients, where the hostility level could run very high. And it was so tempting to look for the loophole that would let me send them back out the door, so that I would not have to deal with them. Jesus had his loophole here – she was not Jewish. He had come for the Jewish people, to lead God’s chosen people back to right relationship with God. His teaching and preaching were for them, his healing and feeding were for them. This woman had no claim on him, and he told her so. Why he had to insult her, I don’t know. And scholars generally agree that he probably really did say this. The made up things are usually made up to make someone look good. And though Mark tends to portray Jesus as fairly grumpy, this is over the top even for Mark.
I have decided that this is a story that I hate, and this is a story that I love. Jesus starts off just so wrong here – my Jesus! The same one who eats with sinners, touches the lepers, and challenges those in power. Here he is, now the one with all the power, standing there untouched by a woman kneeling at his feet begging for healing for her daughter. And how I love this woman, bowed but not broken, begging, but fierce. She doesn’t challenge his assessment of her as a dog – she rolls with it, and, like a great ju-jitsu master, turns it back on him. And now he hears it – the words he said. He feels it – the pain of his denial of her. He hears and sees and feels her – a person, a child of God – and he is changed. And that is what I love.
I can relate to that, too. The smelly guy – one of the most endearing persons I worked with – emotional, loving, just a gift. He changed me. Some of those court-ordered people – some of the most satisfying work I did – watching them move past their defensiveness and hostility, begin to take responsibility, see themselves differently – amazing! Even the manipulators – the things I learned about life and survival from them. These things changed me, even as they were changing too. And I wonder how the unnamed woman was changed, besides having her daughter healed. How did she see herself or her life differently after that? Because I know that something changed for her, just as it did for the man in the hospital bed and his pastor. Just as it did for me and my clients. Just as it did for you and whoever that was that you really just did not want to deal with, but did, and were changed by it.
You know how when something in your understanding shifts and you have this new lens you are looking through, and you are looking at everything through it? I think this is what happened to Jesus here. He experienced an opening, and knew it brought him closer to God and so he started proclaiming this way. Be opened! When another group of people came to him, again begging for help for someone else, Jesus didn’t hesitate. He did a little ritual and proclaimed to the deaf man with a speech impediment the very thing that had happened for him – Be opened! It is in the opening that our souls find one another, find the kindom, and find God. Jesus learned it, and maybe so can we. May it be so.
