Scripture
Mark 7 31 - 35
Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward 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 his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
Reflection
I have often wondered about these healing stories, and in particular one’s such as this. I have a good friend/ministry colleague, whose first language was ASL as both his parents were deaf. If you were to tell him that deafness is something that needs to be healed, he would have a big problem with that, but in reality I do not believe that that is what this story is about. This story is more about the community than it is the deaf person. It is about the community focusing on another so that they don’t have to focus on themselves and what might need to be dealt with in their own lives. Where do I see this in this story? Firstly Jesus takes the deaf individual away from those who brought them to him and privately engages with this individual. Secondly, Jesus does not speak of demons, or healing, what Jesus does is to simply say, “Be opened.” Jesus doesn’t speak to deafness being healed, he just sighs and speaks, “Be opened.” To be open is to accept where we are in our lives and to be opened to what life might bring us and where we might end up. It is about being open to change in our lives, because sometimes healing is actually about change.
I remember when I was skating, all those years ago, my hometown did not have a heated and insulated arena. If it was 40 below outside, it was 40 below inside the arena. We would spend hours on the ice, and by the end of that time it was usual for me to not be able to feel my feet. Now the thing is, I knew that when I went in and took my skates off, in short order, my feet would begin to burn as they warmed up. It was going to hurt, and sometimes I wondered if maybe it would be better to not go in, but rather stay on the ice for a bit longer. Well, I usually went in and my feet would hurt and I would be okay. It was the fear of that pain that made me think that maybe it would be better to stay out on the ice, but I knew that that would not be good for me and for my feet. So I would bear the pain so that my feet warmed up, and I knew that that pain was best for myself and my feet. In some ways staying on the ice would be to refuse to see what I needed to do for myself, and focus on something else. I wonder if that is why the community brought forth that deaf person, because for them it was easier to focus on another, and what they saw as an issue, rather than face their own lives and what might need to be healed in their own lives.
Nadia Bolz-Weber, the American pastor, has said, “It can actually be more comfortable to allow parts of ourselves to die than to feel them have new life. Because sometimes healing feels more like death and resurrection than it feels like getting a warm cookie and a glass of milk.” I am wondering if to be healed has less to do with repairing something that others might see as wrong, and more about opening ourselves up. Jesus did not say to the deaf person; “hear,” rather he said to be open. Once again Bolz-Weber says, “But Jesus says to us, be opened. Open to knowing your own brokenness doesn’t need to be hidden behind someone else’s. Be open to the idea that you are stronger than you think. Be opened to the idea that you aren’t as strong as you think. Be opened to the fact that you may never get what you want and that you will actually be okay anyway. Be opened to the fact you are not what other people have said you are.” To allow ourselves to be open to what comes, to be open to becoming more, to be open to healing, even when that healing might be difficult, is what I believe Jesus means when he says to the man, “be opened!”
It is not always easy to be opened to all of who we are. It is not easy because that forces us to look at those places in ourselves where we might just need healing. It can be far easier for us to look at where others need healing, what others might need to work on in their own lives. But for us to be opened, means that we don’t shy away from those difficult places in our lives. It means that we are honest with ourselves and with each other about our struggles. It means that we hear Jesus’ voice asking us to be open so that we might just change and be healed, even when that healing feels more like a death than what we think healing should feel like. But when we do, we become more than we were and in being open, we can truly heal and continue to move forward. It is a a challenge, I wonder if that is what this life is all about.
Prayer
God of infinite challenges, give us the wisdom to see when we are focusing on another’s healing rather than looking at where we might need to be healed. Give us the courage to face our lives honestly and look at the difficulties and challenges, so that we might open our hearts to you and the call to be more than we are today. Give us the strength to go through those times of healing that feel less like healing and more like a death, knowing that you will always go with us. We ask this in the name of the one who says to each or us, “be opened,” your son, Jesus. Amen.
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