Running with Mark 54
Day Fifty-Four – February 20, 2020
Read:
This is an interesting miracle story. This is the only time in all the gospels in which Jesus’ attempt to heal someone was not immediately effective.
Did you catch that in the story? The first time Jesus touched the man, putting saliva on his eyes, that the man’s vision was restored, but not perfect. The man says he can see people, but they look like trees walking around. Jesus lays his hands on him again and this time his sight was restored.
What do you make of the two times? Was Jesus’ miracle ineffective the first time? Was it incomplete? Is there a meaning behind the partial healing the first time?
Some scholars think that the two-stage healing was intentional to show that the vision of the disciples is still incomplete. Even though he has been telling them who he is and that he must suffer and die, they do not yet fully understand. They are still unclear about the kind of Messiah Jesus will be and what the kingdom of God on earth looks like. Like the blind man, the disciples need a second touch.
I think we are a lot like the blind man and the disciples. We need a second touch by Jesus. God will teach me a lesson that I don’t quite understand, and then God will expand on it. This can lead to an “aha” moment, when I finally catch on (and I’m oh so glad that God is patient with slow learners like me!).
Can you think of a time in your life when it took you awhile to learn a new skill like driving a car, riding a bike, learning to knit? Why would we assume that our faith would be different than that learning process? We want faith to be instantaneous and for us to immediately know and understand God. I think faith is much more like a two-step process, or a hundred-step process.
What lessons are you learning during this season of your life? How is God reinforcing and expanding on those lessons so that you truly understand?
Music:
Make Me A Captive Lord – by George Matheson
1)Make me a captive Lord and then I shall be free
Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand
Imprison me within Thine arms and strong shall be my hand
2) My heart is weak and poor until its master find
It has no spring of action sure. It varies with the wind
It cannot freely move till Thou has wrought its chain
Enslave it with Thy matchless love and deathless it shall reign
3) My power is faint and low till I have learned to serve
It wants the needed fire to glow. It wants the breeze to nerve
It cannot drive the world until itself be driven
Its flag can only be unfurled when Thou shalt breathe from heaven
4) My will is not my own till Thou hast made it Thine
If it would reach a monarch’s throne it must its crown resign
It only stands unbent amid the clashing strife
When on Thy bosom it has leant and found in Thee its life
Prayer Focus:
Talk with God about what you learning, and what you want to learn.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running with Mark 53
Day Fifty-Three – February 19, 2020
Read:
Mark 8:14-21 New Revised Standard Version
The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread and had only one loaf of bread in the boat.
I also wonder if Jesus meant that the thinking and the attitudes of the Pharisees and Herod are like bad yeast that can get into us. Bad yeast can slowly dissolve our values and beliefs. Bad yeast can make us hard hearted. Bad yeast can make us judgmental.
Music:
Prayer Focus:
Take a few moments today to eat a piece of bread. Savor each bite. Ask God to be as real to you as that slice of bread.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running With Mark 51
Day Fifty-One – February 17, 2020
Read:
Mark 8:1-10 New Revised Standard Version
This story is also found in Matthew 15:32-39.
Another day, another miraculous feeding, this time of 4000, with seven baskets of food left over.
The feeding of the 4000 is important because of where it took place. The feeding of the 5000 took place near Bethsaida, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. This is the Jewish side. The feeding of the 4000 took place near Decapolis on the south side of the Sea of Galilee. This was the Gentile side.
In the feeding of the 5000, there were twelve baskets of food leftover. Twelve represented the twelve tribes of Israel. In the feeding of the 4000, there were seven baskets leftover. In Judaism seven is the number of “completeness” or perfection. In the creation poem found in Genesis, God creates the world in seven days.
I’m hungry .
Have you ever known hunger? Not the, “I haven’t had a snack since breakfast and it’s 11:00 am hunger”. Have you experienced that deep hunger that makes it hard to concentrate? A hunger that can leave you without energy?
Spend a little time learning about food scarcity in Minnesota. Here are a few websites:
http://www.hungersolutions.org/
https://www.2harvest.org/our-impact/hunger-facts/
https://www.thesheridanstory.org
https://www.joyceuptownfoodshelf.org/
How are you being led to help fight hunger and food insecurity in Minnesota?
Music:
I Am the Bread of Life – Notre Dame Folk Choir
Let Us Be Bread – sung by children
Prayer Focus:
- Those who are hungry
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
[1] http://www.hungersolutions.org/data-posts/2017-usda-food-insecurity-data/
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Running with Mark 49
Day Forty-Nine – February 15, 2020
Read:
Mark 7:31-37 New Revised Standard Version
Ephphatha – be opened
Our son Michael is 25, almost 26 now. When he was in kindergarten we discovered he was having hearing difficulties. At first we chalked it up to ear infections and hoped it would resolve, but it did not. So we began a journey that many of you have taken, of working with an audiologist and an ENT doctor. Michael’s hearing loss is caused by both a conductive issue (bone problem) and a neurological problem. He has had some surgery on his “bad” ear. When he was in elementary school the audiologist discovered that he had a hole in his “good” ear drum. It was surgically repaired, and sadly a hole remained. Michael needed yet another surgery.
Michael has always had a good sense of humor about his hearing loss. We would joke that he was the only teenager who could truthfully say, “Mom, I didn’t hear you tell me to take out the trash!”. He was always given a choice of what color his ear mold would be for his hearing aid. When he was young he always chose wild colors, or school colors and proudly showed them off.
Technology changed with each new set of hearing aids he received. This photo was taken on the day he received new hearing aids. I remember him making sounds “ssss”, “ffff”, “ppppp”. He would say to me, “Can you heart that?” He was hearing those sounds for the first time. I hadn’t understood what he was missing. He also received a wireless FM unit that allowed him to hear his ipod through his hearing aid, and also hear phone calls. He was talking to his dad on the way home from the audiologist. He kept saying, “Dad, I can hear you on the phone for the first time in my bad ear.” Ephphatha – be opened. Technology allowed Michael’s ears to be opened and it was miraculous for us.
In the story from Mark the man is unable to hear and his speech is difficult to understand, which makes sense because it’s hard to know how to make the word “sounds” when you cannot hear them. After Jesus heals him, the people can’t help but tell the story of the miracle, even after Jesus tells them not to tell.
Ephphata – be opened.
Our hard-of-hearing-ness isn’t always a physical issue. Sometimes we are hard of hearing because we are just too busy. We may be caught up in our own lives and miss the opportunity to really listen to another. There are so many people who are lonely and aching for someone to spend time with them and listen to their stories.
Ephphata – be opened.
Sometimes our ears are closed to the message God has for us. Some are so bound up in shame, that they cannot hear God’s message of love and grace. Some are so prideful that they miss the call to repentance and humility. There could be a sin, usually an unconfessed sin, that we want to cling to, a sin we want to keep committing. When this happens, we plug our ears with our fingers like a little child trying to ignore their parents.
Ephphata – be opened.
This could be a powerful prayer. Ephphata – be opened. Open my ears to hear your voice O God. Open my heart to feel your love. Open my mind to the new things you would teach me. Open my hands to the ways you are calling me to serve. Open my feet to walk the road of discipleship.
This week, challenge yourself to be more of a listener than a talker. Allow others to speak first. Don’t jump in quickly when there is a moment of silence. Allow those who are more introverted to speak without being rushed or talked over. Consider going out of your way to spend time with someone who may be lonely and need a friend. Pray that you would be opened!
Music:
Speak to Me (from the Color Purple) sung by the Argentina Gospel Choir
Prayer Focus:
Ephphatha – be opened.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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