[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Sep. 6 (Proper 18B) Mark 7:24-37

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Sep. 6 (Proper 18B). They focus 
on Mark 7:24-37, where Jesus heals the daughter of the Syrophoencian woman 
as well as the man who was both deaf and mute.

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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  Elegance of language must give way before 
simplicity in preaching sound doctrine. (Girolamo Savonarola)


TITLE:  Dare to Listen, Dare to Speak


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  As Jesus' disciples, we need to allow Jesus to open 
our ears to hear the eternal Word and loosen our tongues to give him praise.

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FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:

http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT02_Mark.htm

Scroll down to Mark 7.  There are five sermons on this text posted there.


TRUE STORY:

Speaking of miraculous cures, Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert 
cartoon series, found himself afflicted with an odd disorder called 
spasmodic dysphonia, probably caused by a malfunction of the brain, which 
made it almost impossible for him to speak.

I said that spasmodic dysphonia is an odd disorder, and it truly is odd.  In 
some situations, an afflicted person can find it impossible to speak, while 
in other situations he or she might be able to speak quite clearly.  In 
Adam's case, he was able to use his public speaking voice -- but he couldn't 
carry on a normal conversation.

But one day he experienced a breakthrough.  He was helping his child with 
homework, and found that he could speak in his normal, conversational voice 
when reciting a poem.  He could say, "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. Jack 
jump over the candlestick" without a problem.  He concluded that speaking in 
rhyme was "just different enough from normal speech that (his) brain handled 
it fine."

When that happened -- when he found that he could recite poetry -- Adams 
experienced another, even greater, breakthrough.  He was healed of his 
affliction.  He said that he felt like a car starting its engine after 
sitting through a cold winter night.  He guesses that reciting a poem 
awakened a portion of his brain that had lain dormant, enabling him to speak 
normally again.

Can you imagine not being able to speak with your normal, conversational 
voice?  The man in our scripture lesson had it even worse.  He could neither 
hear nor speak.  Can you imagine living like that?  But Jesus put his 
fingers in the man's ears and "spat and touched his tongue" (v. 33).  Then 
he said "Ephphatha" -- that is, "Be opened" -- and suddenly the deaf and 
mute man experienced the greatest breakthrough of his life.  He could both 
hear and speak.  Can you imagine what a life-changing experience that would 
have been for him!

Jesus still changes people's lives.  Sometimes he heals them of disease. 
Sometimes he makes it possible for them to quit drinking or taking drugs. 
Sometimes he helps them refocus their lives so that they can move in a new 
and better direction.  Sometimes he helps them to deal with their 
infirmities in new and positive ways.

What is the healing that you need for Jesus to bring to your life?  What 
breakthrough do you need in your life today?


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

God doesn't always smooth the path,
but sometimes he puts springs in the wagon.

Marshall Lucas

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

There are three ways that prepare us for life's trials.  One is the Spartan 
way that says, "I have strength within me to do it, I am the captain of my 
soul.  With the courage and will that is mine, I will be master when the 
struggle comes."  Another way is the spirit of Socrates, who affirmed that 
we have minds, reason and judgment to evaluate and help us cope with the 
enigmas and struggles of life.  The Christian way is the third approach.  It 
doesn't exclude the other two, but it adds, "You don't begin with yourself, 
your will or your reason.  You begin with God, who is the beginning and the 
end."

Lowell R. Ditzen

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I am quite happy to be called an optimist,
but my optimism is not of the utopian variety.
It is based on hope.
The optimist is a person who has the conviction
that God knows, can do, and will do
what is best for mankind.

Father Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  To fully appreciate the significance of Fr. Arrupe's 
comment, it is helpful to know something about his life.  Serving as a 
missionary to Japan at the outbreak of World War II, he was arrested and 
imprisoned on the day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  Later, he was 
freed and allowed to continue his ministry.  He was living in Hiroshima when 
the atomic bomb exploded there, and he used his medical skills to help the 
wounded and dying.  On August 7, 1981, he suffered a stroke that robbed him 
of his ability to speak.  He lived his last ten years with very little 
ability to communicate.  He was a man who knew suffering and was "acquainted 
with infirmity" (Isaiah 53:3), but whose faith was undiminished throughout 
his long life.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

God does not offer us a way out of testings of life.
He offers us a way through,
and that makes all the difference.

W. T. Purkiser

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Many of us have experienced healing miracles without ever knowing it.  Dr. 
Karl Menninger, founder of the Menninger Clinic, said:

"If all families were loving,
our national health would improve to the point
where we might have a surplus of physicians."

So if you were raised in a loving family or live in one now, it is quite 
possible that Christ has given you the gift of healing by helping you to 
avoid getting ill in the first place.

Richard Niell Donovan

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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HYMN STORY:  Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

The author of this hymn, Joachim Neander, was born in Bremen, Germany in 
1650.  In his early years, he lived a lusty, immoral life.  Then he and a 
group of friends decided to attend a service conducted by a visiting 
preacher, Pastor Under-Eyke, and Neander was quickly converted.  He was then 
influenced by Philipp Jakob Spener, a Pietist who sought to return vitality 
to the Lutheran church, which in his opinion had become staid and barren. 
The Pietists emphasized individual piety, and instituted small groups for 
prayer, scripture study, personal accountability, and good works.  They 
believed that trust in Christ rather than correct theology constituted the 
core of the faith.  This de-emphasis on theology brought the Pietists into 
conflict with the more traditional Lutherans.

In his mid-20s, Neander became director of the Latin School of Dusseldorf, 
where he served for several years.  He experienced considerable opposition 
there because of his pietism, and was eventually dismissed from that 
position.  He then suffered declining health, and died at age 30.

Neander's life was tragic in the classic sense -- a life of great potential 
cut short by an untimely death.  However, he wrote 60 hymns -- most during 
his tenure at the Latin School.  Most are hymns of joyful praise, even 
though they were written at a time when Neander was living under 
considerable stress.  Several of his hymns can be found in hymnals today, 
having inspired Christians around the world for more than three centuries. 
Few of us, regardless of longevity, can hope to have a legacy as enduring. 
It seems fair to say that God made more of Neander's life than Neander could 
ever have expected.

"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" is based on Psalms 103 and 150.  It was 
inspired not only by those psalms but also by the beauty of the hills and 
rivers that Neander experienced on his walks through the German countryside.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Catherine Winkworth, who translated this and a 
number of other German hymns during the 19th century.  But for her efforts, 
we would know nothing of Neander or his hymns today.

NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm
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