Sermon
” Be open and be opened.”
‘Open’ is such an expansive word.
Think of open waters, open air, open arms, open-hearted.
You can be open to new ideas, open a conversation, open negotiations, and bring things out in the open.
You must even open your mouth to sing, speak, laugh and eat.
Openness allows ideas, resources and feelings to pass from one person to another without hindrance.
Openness speaks of new beginnings, free flowing energy, transparency, trust and endless possibilities.
And as we learn in this Bible passage, openness is where humanity, healing and community it to be found. And it is where the true church is found in openness.
To be a Church built on the teachings of Christ and the commandments to be good Servants and faithful Stewards in the world, - also requires openness.
We cannot be and should never be a closed, locked up church. Only for the few. Only for the ones that we like. Only for the ones we know. Only for the ones that think of church like we do.
We cannot be and should never be a closed locked up church as the first disciples were gathering behind closed doors, in darkness and despair, because they were afraid.
A church should always be founded on hope.
Hope charges us and changes us. To be church is to be open and to be opened.
Just think about when Jesus was giving his sermon on the mount: up the mountain, in God’s free nature, with the grass beneath the feet, the blue skies above, the birds flying, the dogs barking, the flowers blooming and the fresh air blowing.
Jesus did preach in synagogues and temples, but even more so often on the mountains, on the plains, in the villages, in the homes, at the sickbeds, in the gardens and on the road.
Jesus was not confined to one place of worship and sacredness. Jesus spread his words like the wind catches the leaves of the tree or the seeds of the flower.
We do like our churches and buildings. We do love our Danish Church and its history and heritage, its calm and serenity, its sense of home and belonging.
But it is indeed only a building, if not filled with words of wisdom and hope, filled with moving spirit and divine presence. It is indeed only a building if not occupied by Christ and us, his followers and believers.
We are the church. Not the building itself, but everything that is said, proclaimed, preached and heard forms us to be the church.
Be open. Be opened.
When we come to church, when we need encouragement, when we are stuck or paralyzed, when we an incapable to listen or see or feel, when we are without hope or directions, we need to listen to Jesus saying: Ephphatha – be open.
I have been reflecting on the times in the gospels, when we come across Jesus’ original Aramaic words being kept instead of being translated into Greek, the original language of the gospels. Instances where Jesus’ original words in his home tongue of Aramaic are used include Ephphatha, Abba, Talitha Koum and Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachtani. Retaining these words, the gospel writers wanted to emphasize the original power of Christ’s original utterance.
A short and sharp word or phrase to express an emotion that welled up from within his depths and divine wisdom.
Ephphatha, is the word that fascinates me. It means be opened, and is used by Jesus, when he heals the deaf man in Mark’s gospel. This man, being deaf and unable to speak resulted in virtual isolation from the community. He was cut off from hearing others and from speaking with others. So, when Jesus healed him and spoke the words, be opened, he tore down the walls that kept this man from the fullness of life. The way to life was opened by God. Now, he could hear the laughter, the conversations, the sacred stories after having been blocked from doing so. Now, he could hear Jesus speak of God’s love for him.
Ephphatha. Be open and be opened.
As a church we should always be open.
As a church we should always be opened.
Open to our neighbors, our friends, our enemies, the stranger, the lonely, the visitor, the weird and the lovely.
Open to the holy spirit blowing freely among us to inspire, to renew, to challenge, to change, to transform and inform.
Open to be opened to new ideas, new ways, new places and new concepts of church.
As a Lutheran Church born out of change and renewal, we should remember Semper Reformandum – always reforming. When the church becomes unmoving it becomes a museum or even a mausoleum.
How will we be church in the years to come…… how will we bring Good News to the world, what will be the most pressing tasks of the church, how do we reconcile with the past to have hope in the future?
As you contemplate about that…… please be open and be opened to listen to a little story about hope.
There once was a bird who lived in a tree.
The bird was named Faithful. From the time she was a tiny hatchling, her parents used to sing a song every morning. The song was called “Home,” but Faithful thoughts Home was the name of her tree.
Even after her siblings fledged and flew away, Faithful never ventured far from the nest. It was all she had ever known through the spring and summer of her life. To her, it was Home.
Fall came. The leaves changed from green to amber, rust, pumpkin, and scarlet. “Home has never been more beautiful!” Faithful thoughts. “I am so glad I stayed!”
One day, gusty winds blew, and a hard cold rain fell. One by one, the eaves flew off the tree. After the storm, Faithful became worried. “Home has never been so ugly,” she said.
She looked up and saw other birds flying. She wondered if she should join them. Would it be safe? Would her tree survive without her? Would she survive with the tree? What would her parents’ think after providing such a beautiful nest in the tree called Home?
To stay or to leave… it felt like the biggest choice she would ever make.
One morning, one of her brothers, Adventure, flew in and perched on a branch beside her. “I have been looking everywhere for you, “he said. “It’s time to migrate!”
“I don’t know what to do,” Faithful said. “I don’t know if I should stay Home or leave.”
Adventure cocked his head. “Faithful, I think you are confused. Home is not the name of our tree. Home is the name of your song. Wherever you sing, your song, that is your home.”
This is a closing story from Mac Claren books “Do I stay Christian….” And he continues.
“For many of us Christianity is the name of the tree in which we were raised, or it is the tree in which we sought refuge later in life. But the season has changed. The tree has changed. The longer we stay the more disappointed, disillusioned, frustrated and even trapped we feel.
We need to discover that Christian faith want meant to be our tree. It was meant to be our song. Wherever we sing with love, joy, peace, and patience, whenever we sing why kindness, gentleness, generosity and justice, then we manifest what being human means to us. Our song is our gift to the world.
Trees grow. Trees change through the seasons. They mature, decline, and die. The new trees grow where the old trees once cast their shadows. What matters most is not staying faithful to the tree but staying faithful to the song, our song, the song only we can sing.
What Jesus was about want which tree to perch in but how to sing your song in the symphony of creation.
May our lives sing.”
(Brian McLaren “Do I stay Christian? A guide to the doubters, the disappointed and the disillusioned.”)