{"id":5711,"date":"2021-08-31T10:54:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T08:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=5711"},"modified":"2021-08-31T10:54:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T08:54:31","slug":"mark-724-37-psalm-146","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/mark-724-37-psalm-146\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark 7:24-37 \/ Psalm 146"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost Year B | Mark 7:24-37 and Psalm 146| by Beth A. Schlegel |<\/h3>\n

24<\/sup>[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,<\/em>25<\/sup>but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. <\/em>26<\/sup>Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. <\/em>27<\/sup>He said to her, \u201cLet the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children\u2019s food and throw it to the dogs.\u201d <\/em>28<\/sup>But she answered him, \u201cSir, even the dogs under the table eat the children\u2019s crumbs.\u201d <\/em>29<\/sup>Then he said to her, \u201cFor saying that, you may go\u2014the demon has left your daughter.\u201d <\/em>30<\/sup>So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
\n<\/em>31<\/sup>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. <\/em>32<\/sup>They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. <\/em>33<\/sup>He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. <\/em>34<\/sup>Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, \u201cEphphatha,\u201d that is, \u201cBe opened.\u201d <\/em>35<\/sup>And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. <\/em>36<\/sup>Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. <\/em>37<\/sup>They were astounded beyond measure, saying, \u201cHe has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If you go to seminary, one of the basic lessons you learn is that there are two kinds of faith:\u00a0 faith that, and faith in.<\/p>\n

Imagine yourself standing on the bank of a river flowing swiftly and teeming with deadly piranhas. You need to get across the river, but there is no bridge and it is too wide to jump. There is a large tree with a long rope.<\/p>\n

As you look at the rope, you have faith that<\/em> it is long enough to get you to the other side.<\/p>\n

But you need to have faith in<\/em> the strength of the rope to hold your weight and carry you safely to the other side.<\/p>\n

To have faith that<\/em> something is true is based on observable evidence or the evidence of witnesses.<\/p>\n

To have faith in<\/em> something or someone is to have first-hand experience of it.<\/p>\n

As you stand on the riverbank, you can see that the rope is long enough, but you cannot know for certain if the rope will hold you unless you experiment or test it.<\/p>\n

When it comes to God, we want to grow our faith in <\/em>God\u2026<\/p>\n

Notice that when we confess the creed, we do not say, \u201cI believe that God is the Father and creator.\u201d<\/p>\n

We say, I believe in<\/em> God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth; I believe in<\/em> Jesus Christ, his Son; I believe in<\/em> the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

If God is the rope at the riverbank, we want our faith to be such that we grasp that rope firmly, take a good running start, and trust it to carry us safely over the deadly flesh-eating fish and land us on the other side of the river.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, neither the Codorus nor the Susquehanna have piranhas, so we won\u2019t need to make that exact test of faith.<\/p>\n

But we have other challenges that help us grow our faith in God.<\/p>\n

As we read the story of God\u2019s people in the Bible, we discover that human leaders were often substituted for God \u2013 with disastrous results.<\/p>\n

When faith is placed in human beings to provide for us and keep us safe\u2013 be it kings, presidents, governors, legislators, or others \u2013 such faith is subject to corruption, disappointment, and failure.<\/p>\n

When human beings are the rope at the riverside, it is often too short to get us across, or too thin, or frayed to the point of breaking, or rotten at the core.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Human beings are like that.<\/p>\n

As Psalm 146 says:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t put your confidence in powerful people;<\/em>
\n<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0there is no help for you there.<\/em>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
\n<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and all their plans die with them.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is a difference between accepting someone\u2019s leadership and putting our faith in them.<\/p>\n

We put our faith in<\/em> God who works through human beings to accomplish God\u2019s will. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>And we pray for our leaders to be people who seek the will of God as they lead.<\/p>\n

But we do not have faith in<\/em> them \u2013 we have faith in<\/em> God. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We learn more about this distinction from the people who encounter Jesus.<\/p>\n

The Gentile woman had heard that<\/em> Jesus was doing works of God.<\/p>\n

Such works include healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, and raising the dead.<\/p>\n

Her daughter had an uncontrollable spirit that possessed her.<\/p>\n

Such affliction was beyond the reach of human doctors or healers. Only God could change this situation.<\/p>\n

This woman had heard of Jesus acting with the power of God for others. And she went to Jesus with faith in<\/em> God to do for her what had been done for others.<\/p>\n

Her faith was not disappointed.<\/p>\n

Even though she was an outsider, a foreigner, Jesus was the presence of God for her \u2013 accepting her faith in<\/em> God.<\/p>\n

Jesus left there for another area of Gentile influence and gave hearing and speech to a man afflicted.<\/p>\n

In so doing, Jesus not only did works attributed to God, showing himself to be acting with divine power,<\/p>\n

but he showed himself to be the embodiment of the God whose coming was described clearly:<\/p>\n

5<\/sup><\/em>Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
\nand the ears of the deaf unstopped;
\n<\/em>6<\/sup><\/em>then the lame shall leap like a deer,
\nand the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Even though these were Gentile people, they recognized the connection to the Word of God spoken by the prophets.<\/p>\n

These healings happened for those who had faith in<\/em> God and faith that<\/em> Jesus was acting with the power of God.<\/p>\n

This led to people growing faith in<\/em> Jesus as the Savior. They had first-hand experience with his divine power to transform lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what about us?<\/p>\n

How do we see first-hand the activity of God, that we might grow our faith in God?<\/p>\n

The key lies in the gift of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

The same power and life that Jesus demonstrated in healing the sick and teaching the disciples was poured out on the church.<\/p>\n

That power is now present among us just as surely and tangibly as if the 1st<\/sup> century Jewish rabbi were standing here before us.<\/p>\n

We experience first-hand the faithfulness of God in our lives<\/p>\n