Welcome & Intimations
Call to Worship:
In the beginning, God was.
Here and now, God is.
In the future, God will be.
God was; God is; God will be.
Let us worship God.
HYMN 19 – Ye gates, lift up your heads – Alleluias – Amens (Ps 24)
(from St. Peter’s Free Church, Dundee – ‘Sing Psalms’ version)
Prayer:
You made the world and called it good.
You made humanity and called it very good.
When we wandered away from you
you sent Jesus to bring us back,
to bring out the good you planted in us.
And so we proclaim: Blessed be our God.
When we were in darkness you gave us light.
When we were angry you offered us love.
When we were lost and weary
you sent Jesus as our guide,
to restore us and renew.
And so we proclaim: Blessed be our God.
When we were deaf you heard us.
When we were blind you saw us.
When we needed healing and wholeness
you sent Jesus to be our salvation,
to make us your image anew.
And so we proclaim: blessed be our God.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Scriptures:
Isaiah 35:4-7
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
Mark 7:24-37
From there he [Jesus] set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
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[c] 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.’
HYMN 463 – Fairest Lord Jesus
(Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California)
Reflection:
I imagine you will have heard of the church mouse; it’s a quiet, poor creature that’s is often unseen. But have you heard of the church elephant? In almost every kirk in Edinburgh today there is an elephant. It may be acknowledged but it may not be. It won’t be seen but it is there. The elephant in the room is the up-coming Plan for Presbytery and all that means for the structures of the Kirk as we look at being more missional in our ways. It’s an elephant that brings about a certain degree of anxiety, of fear. The Bible, though, tells us that “perfect love drives out all fear”. If love is truly a matter of the heart, then is that where the antidote to fear may be found?
In the Bible, “heart” means the inner self – our being, our essence, our spiritual centre. It’s the seat of our thoughts, decisions, and will. For the Bible, the condition of our heart matters as much as anything. The Bible often describes the human heart in negative ways: hard, callous, fat, proud, puffed up, deceitful, made of stone. We could also say “closed heart.”
Every one of us has experienced the effects of a closed heart. At times we may even be proud of having a closed heart. It’s a way to protect ourselves. Early in our lives we learn to separate ourselves and to focus on ourselves – that’s often closing or hardening our heart. Of course, there are degrees of being closed and hard. We don’t all shut off in the same way or to the same extent over the same things.
A closed hard doesn’t have to exhibit itself in extremes. Rather it can mean judgmentalism; insensitivity; self-centeredness; self-interest. These are things with which we can identify. We can begin to see that hearts may be closed in more ways and at more times than we perhaps first thought.
Following Jesus will involve a more open heart. Spiritual growth is about the heart becoming more open. The heart of Jesus – is the open heart, the pure heart, the heart exposed, vulnerable, and available – it’s the compassionate heart.
So what then can we make of today’s gospel? What does it have to say about this matter?
A woman, a pagan foreigner, approached Jesus. She accosts him, ignoring both etiquette and social grace. Women don’t approach strange men. Gentiles don’t approach unknown Jews. She fell at his feet because she wanted something. Jesus seems annoyed by her, but his response is what is shocking. He not only refused her, but he compared her to a dog. That’s bad enough in our world. It was even worse then. Dogs weren’t cute, cuddly, amusing pets; they were filthy scavengers. Jews considered them unclean. It was like calling her a rat, a cockroach, subhuman, Untermensch.
But she didn’t back off. “The dogs get the children’s scraps” she says. Jesus does an about-face. Her heart was breaking over her dying child, and her intelligence, her faith, her strength of character so impresses Jesus, that it makes him re-evaluate his response. Then we get the care and compassion we expect from Jesus. He heals her child.
At the beginning, it doesn’t look like he has an open heart. The way he changed his treatment of her, however, is a sign of an open heart. An open heart can learn, can adjust attitude and behaviour, can break the barriers of tradition and habit. The woman helped Jesus understand his call more fully, what God wanted him to do.
Perhaps Jesus had an epiphany. He seems to have realised that God’s children are all of humanity. God’s care and compassion are for all people. The love of God has no limits, no borders. The first part of today’s gospel is a healing story, but it is also a moment of transformation for Jesus. He has a change of heart, even a type of healing for him and all of us. The healing is not only individual, but communal. From his table God feeds all. All are his children. Everyone has equal status as loved and cherished by God. Some aren’t better than others.
In the second half of the gospel, Jesus heals a deaf man. In the ancient world, many would have attributed his impairment to sin, that in some way he deserved it.. The deaf, the blind, the lame, the poor, the orphaned, the mentally ill, the foreigner were all on the margins; women also had little public status. People on the margins were restricted from community activities, and people feared them. Jesus heals man. He made him a full member of the community. People will be less fearful of him. They won’t avoid him. He’ll have similar status with other people.
Both healing stories today are good news not only because people have been physically healed, but we see God acting contrary to our hierarchies of preference and status. All people are his children. All are to be welcomed, accepted, fully part of the community. Good news.
We are facing a time of great change and challenge. It will mean joining with others, perhaps here, perhaps elsewhere. We will have to learn to accept each other, and the values, traditions and habits that go along with that. Like Jesus in today’s Gospel, we will have to learn. Like Jesus we will have to open our hearts, perhaps even further than we have done before.
Amen.
Prayer:
Let us pray that the Kingdom of God will come among us.
You call us to trust in you through in all things;
show us how to hold on to you and your word
that your kingdom may come in us this day.
You call us to turn from the ways of war;
show us how to be peacemakers
that your kingdom may come in us this day.
You call us not to worry over what to eat or wear;
show us how to share that the world may be fed and clothed
that your kingdom may come in us this day.
Where governments claim your blessing,
may they work for the poor and the powerless
that your kingdom may come in them this day.
Where the church seeks to build a kingdom made in its own image
transform it that it may break down barriers
that your kingdom may come in it this day.
Where people are marginalised because of gender, sexuality, or race
send your Spirit of truth and justice
that your kingdom may come in all this day.
The word declares that the kingdom is in our midst’
may it be made manifest that the whole earth may cry “glory”!
May your kingdom come on earth this day.
Amen.
HYMN 562 Through the love of God, our Saviour
Benediction:
Go from here,
from what you are to what you will become;
from what you know to what you will learn;
from the good you know to the love you will share.
And as you go,
may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
go with you now and always.
Sung Amen.
Acknowledgements:
Bible Quotations taken from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
English translations of The Lord’s Prayer, © 1998, English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), and used by permission. www.englishtexts.org