Open, Loosen, Use -Ears, Tongues, Lives --Mark 7, 31-37, Photo by Putz ...

Photo by Putz Adrian on Unsplash

Mark 7:31-37

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward 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 his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

Then Jesus 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."

Psalm 146
A Model for Leadership that Lasts

In contrast to trust, dependence, reliance and subjugation to human leadership that always dies, even our own leadership with its termination date in the future, God models leadership that lasts.

Do you want to leave a legacy? Check out the priorities of God from Psalm 146. To the extent that our leadership, and any sphere of influence, reflect and honor these, something lasts when we are dead.

These are the things God does:

God made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. (We cannot add to that, but we can respect it and respect His creation.

God keeps faith forever. (We can be leaders of integrity.)

God executes justice for the oppressed. (He is always for the "underdog.")

The LORD sets the prisoners free (America leads the world in mass incarceration.).

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.

The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down.

The LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the sojourners.

God upholds the widow and the fatherless.

God brings the way of the wicked to ruin.

Here is a model for people/leaders who want something to survive after their plans perish with them.

In Tragedy and Travesty

We get numb to the news and tragedy overload overwhelms us into dullness.

It is complicated. We cannot blame this group or that group for this manifestation of evil or desperation or delusion or all of those things wrapped into a moment of very bad choices ... yet many courses are now altered by one man's issues whose issues intersect and overlap with the issues of others and of all of us.

It is not easy stuff to handle, but that is why we are up right now ... in fellowship with one another, some of us in prayer and in fellowship with The Other.

All of us are here in common compassion and concern. Let us lift our hearts together.

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” ― William Wilberforce

There is no hope intrinsic in our political system or in any system of human power. There will be seasons of righteousness, but they cannot command our ultimate trust and confidence. Good people come and go and represent various political philosophies, but they are and shall remain, human.

We are admonished not to put our trust in princes.

This is from the Psalms. The founder and first sponsor of the Psalmist Institution was, himself, a prince. So, he ought to know the limitations of power as well as the responsibilities of power.

His successors would also know that, for they would live to see princes who, unlike God and those who do have a heart for God see every plan of their lives perish with them. They do not create something out of nothing.

Evil, earthly princes, who lust for power, have no power to save.

Nor do they keep faith forever. Human powers are always beset with integrity issues. Even David struggled with serious character flaws.

They do not execute justice for the oppressed.

They do not give food to the hungry.

They do not set prisoners free.

They have no concern for opening the eyes of the blind.

They do not lift those who are bowed down.

Ungodly, human princes have no bias toward the righteous, but expediently align with those who can help them achieve their own ends.

God is a true independent. He is not swayed. He loves righteousness and aligns with the righteous because the righteous align with righteousness.

Evil, earthly princes have no regard for sojourners (AKA: foreigners/aliens).

They do not uphold the fatherless (AKA: those without a guardian/spokesman/protector - the powerless).

They do not thwart the ways of the wicked.

God, on the other hand, can be trusted to do the right thing and to win!

Hear the Word of the LORD and let us model our leadership after His example.

"Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.''

''Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.''

''Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.''

''The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.''

''The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!''
- Psalm 146

Trusting in Princes

We either treat our leaders with blind trust and awe or with disrespect, contempt, and disgust. It is hard to find the middle ground where we honor them, recognize their limitations and humanity, and see them as temporary occupiers of a role that they will one day surrender to another.

FDR did not finish the New Deal; LBJ did not complete the architecture of a Great Society; Nixon did not give us a Just and Lasting Peace; they all left office, dead or alive, with unfinished plans.

So will we.

So will every leader. Our plans perish when they depend upon us.

On the other hand, to the extent that these and others offered plans that were part of a larger plan of God and invested in other people who caught a vision and took them to the next level with God's help and guidance, they survived.

It was not about faith in humans, but it God who guides, leads, and brings to pass.

Even, and especially, Jesus, understood and modeled this. He spent most of His ministry teaching His plan to the "next generation" of leaders and then, completed His work by dying and rising. He returned from death, gave His final lessons, and commissioned the church to take His plan and vision to all future generations.

He commissioned only a church, not a government, prince, or corporation, to execute, propagate, and lead His not-of-this-world kingdom of grace.

That is how plans survive.

"Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish."
Psalm 146:3-4

Trust in Princes or ...

Trust on God

God can be trusted to do the right thing and to win!

And Jesus does all things well.

Hear the Word of the LORD and let us model our leadership after His example.

How God Helps

Here is a review.

What kind of helper is God in whom we invest our hope?

His track record is creation and His ongoing record is faithfulness. He demonstrates His faithfulness by His actions:

* Executes justice for the oppressed.
* Gives food to the hungry.
* Sets the prisoners free.

If we read the rest of the Bible, it indicates that those three tasks are, to some extent, delegated to us as His agents on earth.

"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;"  Psalm 146:5-7 (ESV)

Application for Living by the Royal Law

James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17

Faith without works is dead

"My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality. For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here in a good place, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

"Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor person. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

"If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.

"But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

"So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

"For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

"So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.