For the week of September 8 – 16th Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Prayer: Holy Lord, maker of us all, You call us to love our neighbors as ourselves and teach us that faith without works is dead. Open us to the opportunities for ministry that lie before us, where faith and words and the need of our neighbor come together in name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. (Lectionary prayers)
Opening Hymn: #600 Wonderful Words of Life
- Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life; Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.
Refrain: Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
- Christ, the blessed one, gives to all, wonderful words of life; Sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life. All so freely giving, wooing us to heaven. Refrain:
- Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life; Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life; Jesus, only Savior sanctify forever. Refrain:
Proverbs 11:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
A good reputation is better than much wealth; high esteem is better than silver and gold.
The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both.
Those who sow injustice will harvest evil; the rod of their fury will come to an end.
Happy are generous people, because they give some of their food to the poor.
- steal from the poor, because they are poor. Don’t oppress the needy in the gate.
The Lord will take up their case and press the life out of those who oppress them.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: The local Salvation Army in Bloomsburg is a sponsored mission of this church. They recently finished their back-to-school provisions of backpacks, clothing and shoes. Currently they are preparing to provide Christmas gifts to needy families. The missions team has designated $250 of your offering to the Bloomsburg Salvation Army.
Offering prayer: Loving Creator, we dedicate these offerings with hearts guided by Your wisdom and grace. As we gather on this September Sunday, may our gifts embody the teachings of Proverbs, spreading honor, kindness, and justice to all. Use these offerings to uplift those in need, fostering hope and peace in our community. May we live out Your wisdom in our actions and generosity. This we pray in Christ’s name. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of preparation: #382 Have Thine Own Way, Lord
- Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still. - Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Savior today!
Wash me just now, Lord, wash me just now, as in Thy presence humbly I bow. - Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray! Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine! - Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway. Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
Scripture: Mark 7:31-37
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. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Message: Pastor Becky
The visuals here are worth exploring for a bit. Jesus put His fingers in this man’s ears and touched his tongue with spit. We know or can imagine how that would feel. It is unsettling. We have put our fingers in our own ears or into another’s ear. We have been subjected to a “mom” bath – you know the one, you have something on your face and your mom licks her thumb and cleans off your face.
The encounter to be healed wasn’t pleasant. Jesus has healed folks by prayer, or just spoken healing into being. Jesus has laid hands on folks and they are healed. Why does this healing have to be so intimate? The crowd asked only for Jesus to lay hands on him. But this is next level healing.
For many of Jesus’ healings, He is returning someone to an original condition of wellness. He is healing an ailment. This man has never known hearing, he has never spoken. This is a new life, one with hearing and speech.
And Jesus needed to be physically close at the moment of this man gaining speech and hearing as a comfort to him. Jesus would be able to dismiss the confusion and disorientation the man is feeling before giving him back to his community.
Jesus also sighed deeply to God and that sigh became the prayer to Be Open. Scripture captures this prayer in the Aramaic “Ephphatha”. It is a word that mimics a sigh. It is pronounced ef-FA-tha. It can only be said by sending air out, like a sigh, like a prayer.
We know and hopefully rely on prayers expressed as sighs: Romans 8:26 “In the same way, the Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit Himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans.” Jesus’s prayer is to God to open that man’s ears and that his tongue would be opened. For them to be released to function as they were intended, in the way in which they were designed. Without a way to communicate the man’s world is limited. He is limited to the circle that understands what he needs so that he is able to make his needs known. Without intervention, he is confined to his family and his home. Jesus has changed everything with a sigh – Ephphatha, be open.
The depth of Jesus’s compassion is summed up in a single sigh, a faithful sigh. Jesus knows the God that heals, they are one with the Holy Spirit, a community of healing. Jesus knows confidently this man will be healed. It’s a sigh of compassion, righteousness, a sigh of faith. It brings comfort and hope, in this sigh, this man, a man with no hearing and no speech will be brought into wholeness.
Yet, my sighs aren’t the same. While Jesus’s sigh acknowledges the brokenness, He is able to do something about the situation. My sighs don’t yield the same result. Primarily because my sighs are uttered in frustration and disbelief. My sighs come from exhaustion and usually paired with anger. My sighs reflect my own brokenness. Because of this, instead of opening my ears and bringing me words to offer, my sighs close both my ears and tie my tongue and my heart gets closed as well. The very times I should be the most open to hear God, to be open to God, I’m closed off from God. I find myself stumbling in the dark, which only fuels my anger and adds to my frustration. Anger and frustration only allow me to lose sight of Jesus, who I love, who I have chosen to follow and serve. Does any of this sound familiar? Can anyone else relate?
To pray for a life without frustration is futile. We grow when we are challenged. God doesn’t grant patience, God brings us opportunities to exercise patience. God doesn’t magically give us self-control, but presents us with situations that we must use self-control. And in our frustration, Jesus gives us this one prayer, in the form of a sigh – Ephphatha. Open up. Be open to what God is doing, showing, offering us. It may be for us to become more compassionate. It may slow us down to see another’s suffering, so we can respond faithfully. It may be to give us a new understanding of God’s grace.
In all of our sighs, let us be open. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #526 What a Friend We Have in Jesus
- What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
- Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged: take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
- Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
