![]() In 7:31 we discover that from the area of Tyre where he had blessed the Gentile woman and her daughter, Jesus circled north through Phoenicia, turned southeast on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, passed through the region of the Decapolis before going on to the south side of the Sea. Jesus took what Bible students have always considered to be a puzzling trip. There was intentionality in what Jesus did when he was in this mostly Gentile region. When I come across a human being in need, what should I do ? In it, we will see how Jesus entered personally and very physically into the man's life. In these verses, we have what seems like an eyewitness report telling how Jesus healed a man with a hearing disability and a speech problem. In Mark 7:31-37, we get a graphic illustration of this. Jesus always got involved personally in the lives of those he dealt with. Today, on this “Sanctity of Human Life” weekend, I want us to learn from Jesus about how our appropriate response to the Word of God must begin with how we see people (as we saw last week) – but it cannot end there. All people are made in God’s image and are potential recipients God’s salvation and his blessing too. We do so because we are grateful people humbly reflecting the ways of Jesus to all who cross our paths. We who follow Jesus don’t show respect to all people simply out of political correctness or out of laws requiring us to do it. When I come across a human creature, what is the most important thing I see?Īt the end of the message last week, I summarized the message like this: This is something that should be a distinguishing mark of the church of Jesus Christ, i.e., that we believe all human beings are of infinite value simply because they are human. Kingdom Blessings for the 'Wrong Kinds of People' Part 2 Mark 7:31-37įollowers of Jesus believe that there is something sacred about every human life-regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, educational level, religious background, socioeconomic status, or place of birth. In that message, I made this point at the beginning: Last weekend, as we commemorated Martin Luther King week, we looked at how Jesus dealt with a Gentile woman and her troubled daughter – two people who would have been devalued by many, many people in Jesus’ own community. We come back this weekend to think a second time about the value of each and every human life. This Too Shall Be Made Right - Week 16 - Study Notes We will see what that kind of ministry looks like as we come this week, this Sanctity of Life week, to what Jesus did in Mark 7:31–37. Moreover, for us to be involved in reconciliation ministry will demand that we engage in Jesus-like incarnational ministry. For us to be reconciled to both God and one another required painful and sacrificial incarnational ministry by Jesus. ![]() I find this longing for togetherness to be a healthy yearning, what the Germans call "sehnsucht." But, I am also convinced that the shalom the poem hungers for will not be achieved by military might or by political power or by poetic expressions but only through the power of God's gospel at work in human hearts being transformed from the inside out. Like a silent drum tapping on every rooftopĪnd every window, of one country-all of us. ![]() He even goes on to draw upon the poetic image of the great Chinese poet of the 11th century, Su Dongpo, that reminds us that there is one moon at the end of the day-one moon ever reminding us that we should not feel so far apart. All this, it seems that he is saying, should compel us to find ways to overcome the many ways we are divided. ![]() Told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.īlanco forces us to see that each day, there is one light, one ground, one wind or breath, and one sky. One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story Of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truthĪcross the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies. Peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, Blanco takes us through a day and asks us to see the many, many things that should unite us as human beings in this world. Ironically, Blanco read the poem in Washington, D.C., at a time in which many people are saying that our nation is more politically divided that it has ever been. I find the poem to be a heartfelt yearning for the uniting of all things even as we live in a world divided in countless ways. I listened with a shared sense of longing as I heard Richard Blanco read his poem "One Today" at the presidential inauguration, this past Monday, 1/21/13.
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