12th Sunday after Trinity, 5 Sep 1954"
5 September 1954, St. John’s Chapel
Mark 7:31-37: “And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightaway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak”
The Gospel for today is the healing of the deaf mute. The healing wrought by the touch of our Lord brings home to us the fact that those who have never been in touch with God in their lives need a complete change. There are many whose hearts and minds are closed against God and any influence from Him. They need a radical change. That complete change can be effected only by Christ Himself. Only a touch of His hand can break open the barriers that shut out God.
But the Epistle reminds us that this is now accessible to all, and the Christian faith is no longer the old faith of rites and ceremonies. This is a new covenant of the Spirit and the Spirit giveth life. So we pray today that our whole personality may be opened to the influencing of the divine life and power, remembering in the words of today’s Epistle that our sufficiency is from God.
We shall also remember in prayer today all who are deaf and dumb, particularly those in our country, and pray that whether they actually speak and hear or not, their hearts and minds may be opened to Christ their living Master.
Let us pray: that our hearts may be opened to the Divine Life.