[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, September 8, 2024, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
[00:00:23] This week's episode is entitled: Hearing God's Message, and in these readings, we'll ask ourselves whether or not we are willing to listen to what God is telling us, especially when it's uncomfortable.
[00:00:38] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: Do we judge just by appearances or are we willing to look deeper?
[00:00:50] Let's begin with prayer. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:00:55] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of this day, for the gift of this time together, for the gift of your word, and for the time that we are devoting to learning more about it, to knowing your will, understanding your will, so that we can use that to be the people that you intend for us to be. We ask that, above all, you help us to hear what you are saying to us and understand what you mean when you speak to us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:38] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us this week in the Scriptures. So, this week the Gospel is from Mark 7:31-37.
[00:01:50] “Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decap’olis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hands upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looked up to heaven, and sighed and said to him, ‘Eph’phatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”
[00:02:47] This doesn't follow immediately on the heels of our Reading from last week, we actually miss a short section of Mark's Gospel, and it's where Jesus encounters the Syrophoenician woman, and she asks Jesus to heal her daughter, who is possessed by a demon. And Jesus basically says, you know, I've come to the chosen people; and she says, well, Lord, even the dogs get scraps thrown from the table. So she shows us that example of persistence. You know, St. Paul tells us to be persistent in prayer, while the Syrophoenician woman was certainly persistent with Jesus, and he recognizes her faith and he rewards her persistence by driving the demon out of her daughter. So that's when we come to this section. Now, this healing, specifically as it is written, is only found in Mark's Gospel. There is mention in Matthew's gospel and in Luke's Gospel of Jesus healing many who were lame or blind or mute, but none have this level of detail.
[00:04:00] Another thing that's unique in this… well, there's a couple more things that are unique in this… one is that most of these - the healings that Jesus undertakes - are done publicly… they're done with witnesses around them but, you'll notice Jesus says he takes him aside privately… so this is also unusual. And then the third thing is in - one of the words that are recorded here in the – Gospel… there are only three instances where the Gospel writers have preserved the original Aramaic word that Jesus used… and one of them is here in this section, the word “eph’phatha.”
[00:04:45] That is an Aramaic word which means be opened.
[00:04:50] And they're all Mark, I should say. They're not all in the Gospel writers; they're all in Mark. So here in Mark 7 is” eph’phatha.”
[00:04:58] In Mark 5, there are two Aramaic words: “Talitha koum” - which means little girl, arise; Jesus brings a young girl back to life. And the last one is in Mark 15…
[00:05:14] (and these are words that Jesus speaks on the Cross) and they are: “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani” - which is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We'll get to that when we get to Passion Sunday or the Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion. That's not Jesus expressing despair… that's Jesus quoting the Psalms. We'll spend a little bit more time on that when we get there.
[00:05:41] Now, let's start here at the beginning. “Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee.” If you know the geography of Israel, this journey just seems to be tremendously confusing. Jesus is essentially traveling in a big circle.
[00:06:00] And it's all in primarily Gentile territory: Tyre, Sidon, and then through the region of the Decap’olis. So what is the Decap’olis?
[00:06:12] We hear that term a number of times in the Gospels. So let's… let's dig into this a little bit. The Decap’olis… Decap’olis literally is a Greek word - it literally means ten cities. They were a group of ten different small cities/large villages (however you want to term them) but they were kind of loosely allied to each other. They were independent of any sort of governmental oversight - or overlord - to the extent that they could mint their own coins. But they also answered to, if anything went horribly wrong, they answered to a Roman governor who was in Syria. So, they’re kind of loosely allied and kind of independent… they're kind of free states, but they're also kind of beholden to the Roman Empire… and most of them are east of the Jordan River. The fact that Jesus is spending so much time going through Gentile cities is to remind us - or to serve as a sign - that the blessings of the kingdom… the blessings of the kingdom of God are being extended to Gentiles as well. And the fact that this follows immediately after the story about the Syrophoenician woman who says - Lord, even dogs get scraps from the table - is a good reminder to us, too, that Jesus did not come strictly for the Jews. Yes, salvation comes from the Jews - he says that, and it's true, because he himself is a Jew. So, he is the one that presents salvation, the message of salvation, the message of… of God's kingdom. But it's also for Gentiles. Remember, Jesus himself, the Resurrected Jesus, chose St. Paul to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. So clearly the message is to go out to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews, the chosen people. So, he's traveling around here and a group of people brings to him a man who was deaf and had, they say, a speech impediment. If you've ever encountered a deaf person, someone who is fully deaf - because they do not hear the spoken word, it's very difficult for them to understand how to speak words, how to pronounce them, what to say, how to say it - so being deaf and having a speech impediment… we're not sure - the Scriptures are kind of silent here - about what type of speech impediment it might have been. It may have just been that he didn't know how to speak, or it may have been that he may have had some sort of physical ailment that prevented his clear speech. Either way, this group brings the man to him, and they begged Jesus to lay his hands upon him… to lay his hands upon the man.
[00:09:00] Now, this paragraph, this description of this healing is very visceral… it's very intimate… it is very intense, very personal. And remember, most of Jesus healings are done publicly. But what is the first word… what are the first words here? “And taking him aside from the multitude privately” - in other words, he's taking him aside. Now, remember, Jesus knows each and every one of us, so he knows what we need, not just what we ask for… Jesus knows what we need. And he knows how best to help us, even when we don't know what we're really asking for… he knows what we want, he knows what we need, and he knows how to help us. My guess is that taking this man aside, taking him away from the multitude (taking him someplace private) gives this man his dignity. It gives him the opportunity to walk away as the man they always knew that couldn't speak or may have spoken funny, because he couldn't hear how other people spoke and couldn't hear.
[00:10:09] He may have been an object of ridicule… he may have been someone who was on the edges of society. It doesn't say who brings him to Jesus… it may have been other homeless people, we don't know. It just says “they brought to him a man.” THEY… they brought to him… they brought to Jesus a man. We don't know who brings him. We just know that he brings this man to Jesus. It may have been crowds of onlookers that just saw this guy and said, oh, here, let's throw him up front and see if the miracle worker can take care of him… can fix him. We don't know what their motivations were… we don't know who they were… but we do know that Jesus takes this man aside, he takes him someplace private, and he gives the man the opportunity to return to the crowd (whoever those people may be) restored and with his dignity intact. I think that is a beautiful detail that we sometimes can just kind of skip over, can kind of brush past, without really understanding what's going on there. And that's part of what I offered in that question at the beginning. Are we more willing to judge by appearances, or are we willing to look deeper? So, we've looked a little bit deeper into that. Okay, so after he takes him aside, has him in a private space where there's just the two of them, he takes his – Jesus - takes his fingers and puts them into the man's ears.
[00:11:35] And then he spat, and using the spit, he touches the man's tongue…. So, he touches his ears, then he touches his tongue, and then he looks up to Heaven, to his Father… to his Heavenly Father… and he sighs, he groans (remember, the Holy Spirit groans with inexpressible longing) - he groans and says to the man, “Eph’phatha,” which means be opened.
[00:12:04] So beautiful. Sometimes we're just kind of turned off by the… we're like, ew! Ew! He stuck his fingers in his ears… what's he giving him, a wet willie? No, no, no, no, of course not! Or ew! He spat and then touched the guy's tongue. What the heck? All right, let me address that just a little bit here because in the ancient world, saliva was thought to be therapeutic. So, for all of us moms who at some point in our lives (and anybody who's a mom or a dad for that matter) has possibly stuck their finger in their mouth, licked it, and then wiped some dirt off your kids’ faces (we've all done it, parents. Admit it! We've all done it!) In the ancient world, saliva was healing. Mark tells us Jesus “charged them to tell noone.” This points to what is often called the Messianic Secret in Mark's Gospel.
[00:12:55] And of course, it's the worst kept secret of all time. The underlying reason for the Messianic Secret - and the Messianic Secret is basically that Jesus tells everyone he encounters… everyone he heals… every person that he's driven a demon out of… every person whose sins he has forgiven… he always tells them: tell no one what happened - the purpose there, the real reason behind all of that, is not because Jesus really doesn't want anybody to know he's the Messiah, he does! Because if he didn't want anybody to know he was the Messiah, he certainly would not travel all around and heal people and drive out demons and cure people and have the lame be able to walk and forgive sins, right? So, clearly, he wants people to know that he is the Messiah. However, and this is where the secret part comes in… Jesus doesn't want people following him simply because he's a wonder worker… simply because he can heal people… simply because he can feed large groups of people. He doesn't want those kind of followers.
[00:13:59] He wants people that follow him to be truly willing to follow him wherever he goes. And let's face it, we know that his journey back to the Father goes straight through the Cross. He doesn't want followers that are going to see that and then run away. He wants followers that are going to stay with him and are going to, once he returns to the Father, grow the church he establishes. “He charged them to tell no one” - that whole idea of the Messianic Secret – “but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.” It wasn't just one, individual man who was healed… this man can also represent the Gentiles. Remember, Jesus has been traveling through Gentile territory. This man stands, allegorically if you will, for the Gentiles… for non-Jews… for those who are not part of the chosen people. And think about it… before Jesus, the Gentiles were deaf to God's word… they were deaf to God's message. So not just one man was healed! The Gentiles were healed... the Gentiles… the ears of the Gentiles were opened so that they could hear, listen, accept, and act upon God's word.
[00:15:25] So now that their ears are opened, now they hear his voice. And then in response, they sing his praises. “The more he charged them” not to speak “the more zealously they proclaimed” their encounter with this person who is both human and divine, who has healed them, who has taught them how to live, who has taught them how to truly listen to what God is telling us, even when it's uncomfortable. And he's taught them how to look deeper and how to hear, how to listen, and how to live.
[00:16:03] “And they were astonished beyond measure” - the Scripture tells us, “saying, ‘He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” And of course, that is alluding to the reading from the prophet Isaiah, which actually we will hear… it's our First Reading for this week. So, making the deaf hear and the mute speak - those deeds in scripture - are reserved for God. So again, Jesus isn't really trying to keep the idea that he's the Messiah… the anointed, the Christos, the chosen one… he's not trying to keep that a secret, because everything he says, everything he does, all of his actions, proclaim his divinity clearly and unequivocally. What he's doing is he's trying to build faithful disciples, people that will stay with him throughout everything.
[00:16:57] We should really extend the allegory, right? It's not just - the deaf man wasn't just - an individual… he didn't just represent the Gentiles… the deaf man actually represents all. Even in modern times, everyone who does not or cannot - for whatever reason - hear God's word. Either because they haven't yet heard it (so, no one has ever tried to teach them God's word… they're isolated or they just don't have anyone around them that can help them or can teach them) or… (and this is the more insidious one, because this is where we have to look at ourselves) or are they people who have heard God's word but have grown deaf to its message?
[00:17:52] Have we heard the Gospel but have we ceased to live it? Have we heard God give us… Jesus give us… this example and have we ceased to act upon it? That's the more insidious option… and this is where we have to look at ourselves. Are we really willing to listen to God? Especially when it's uncomfortable! When we've stopped listening, are we willing to open up our own ears? Are we willing to let God plug into us and help us be the people he intends us to be?
[00:18:34] So let's move on to our First Reading, which is from Isaiah 35: 4-7a. “Thus says the LORD: Say to those who are fearful of heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For water shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.”
[00:19:20] This is a beautiful passage from the prophet Isaiah. This passage is often used during the season of Advent, which is a time of preparation. And let's talk a little bit about the prophet Isaiah. So, Isaiah is broken into three parts, right? There's First Isaiah, Second Isaiah (or Deutero-Isaiah), and third Isaiah (or Trito-Isaiah). First Isaiah is chapters 1-39; these are the Book of Warnings and these are attributed to the actual historical person of Isaiah. Then Second Isaiah is chapters 40-55; those were written in exile in Babylon, most likely by a follower of Isaiah, and written during the Babylonian exile. And most of that book is written giving comfort to the exiles and the promise of what will happen upon their return. And then Third Isaiah is chapters 56-66; and those chapters were again probably written by yet another disciple (so, the next generation)… a disciple of the disciple of Isaiah. And they were written after the exiles had returned to Israel. Now, right before this passage, this, by the way - if you've kept track of the chapters - we're in chapter 35 so, this is First Isaiah - this is the actual prophet himself. And right before this passage, the Lord has pronounced judgment on the land of Edom, and it returns to a wild state. In other words, it reverts to being completely wild… lawless, wild animals, wild plants, no human habitation, nothing good for humanity… and this is a judgment on the land of Edom. In this passage, then, which immediately follows upon that, nature is transformed to make the restoration of Jerusalem possible. Remember, in the Book of Warnings of First Isaiah, Isaiah is saying: hey, listen, guys, we need to be faithful to the covenant or something terrible is going to happen… and if it does - remember, even if it does - God will take care of us… but it's best to avoid that happening… kind of the message of Isaiah! So, there's a lot going on politically at this time.
[00:21:54] Isaiah is prophesying… he is speaking God's truth to people in a world that is in political and social upheaval.
[00:22:07] He tells the people they must be strong and fearless, right? That's the beginning of the passage…
[00:22:13] … be strong and fearless - amidst all of this uncertainty, amidst all of this chaos, amidst all of this fear - and no matter what, demonstrate your belief in God. Tall order… difficult to do. Nevertheless, that's what Isaiah is asking them to do. So, let's delve into this. “Say to those who are of a fearful heart,” the Lord says through Isaiah, say to those who are fearful, “Be strong, fear not!” That's helpful. Think of - if you know… personally, I love thunderstorms! My dad and I would (when I was a little girl) we would go sit on the front porch and watch the thunderstorms; my sister, however, would cower under the bed. So, if anyone else knows someone who's afraid of storms, you can understand. I could have walked in and drug her feet out from under the bed and said, oh, hey, don't worry about it, don't be afraid! Wouldn't have made a darn bit of difference, right? So, while it's fine to say, be strong, fear not…
[00:23:14] … that's a tough one to accomplish. Okay, then the prophet, speaking for God, goes on to say, “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come to save you.” So, these words are intended to encourage the people - in the midst of this chaos, in the midst of their fear - it's intended to encourage them. He will come to save you. God's plan for Zion (for Israel) transcends history. So, don't worry about it. You are the chosen people. You will always be the chosen people. Again, tall order! Easy for us to look at now and say, oh, gosh, yeah, sure, whatever. But think about… think about people in Ukraine… think about people in Sudan… think about places that are torn by war, by violence. It's one thing to say to people, sure, God has a plan and it transcends history. But you know what? When you're in the middle of it - when you don't know if you're going to be alive tomorrow… when you don't know if your children are going to be alive tomorrow - it's a lot harder to trust that that's what Isaiah is asking the people to do, however. Then he gives some concrete examples:
[00:24:32] “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”
[00:24:42] What Isaiah is trying to say here is that God's actions - in their lives - will be just as miraculous as these actions would appear to be. God has a plan… he will follow that plan… he will execute that plan… you will follow along with his plan, and it will be miraculous. Now, how God's plan - unfolding - will appear to those who view it kind of depends on who those people are! Israel will see their deliverance; Israel's enemies, on the other hand, will see God's vengeance. So that's basically what Isaiah is saying in this passage. And remember - right before this passage - I told you that the Lord had pronounced judgment on the land of Edom and the land had reverted to a wild, undeveloped, untamed state. So that's God's vengeance on the land of Edom. And the idea here is, God will execute his plan… the enemies of Israel will see that as vengeance, but Israel itself will experience that as deliverance.
[00:25:58] And remember in the first part, “behold, your God will come with vengeance” for your enemies, “with the recompense of God” for you… deliverance - for you.
[00:26:09] And then Isaiah goes on to say, “for” - this is that transformation of the land - “for water shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.” That's a pretty impressive idea… pretty impressive thought. “The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.” For anybody that's ever been to Death Valley, especially in recent years, that seems to be something that is just completely unimaginable. If you've been to Israel, follow the Jordan river all the way to its end - the lowest point on the earth (which is the Dead Sea) - you look around, there's desert all around. And the water is unpotable… it is salt, it is dirt. It is… it is so dense that you cannot go underwater. I always thought that was crazy.
[00:27:07] But when we went - I put on my bathing suit, I trudged my little way out there…
[00:27:13] …and all you have to do is - you stand and you lay back - and guess what? You do not sink! You literally float on the surface of the Dead Sea… the water is so dense. I'll put that on my Instagram feed this week… you can see the picture of me floating in the Dead Sea. But this is a very vivid description… a wonderful promise. God will make the desert bloom! He will bring water, he will bring plants, he will bring (eventually) nourishment to you, he will restore the land, he will restore the people. You have to remember, too, Israel does not have a robust river system like other countries in the Middle east do… think of the Nile in Egypt… think of the Tigris and the Euphrates in [ancient] Mesopotamia… there are no vibrant river systems in Israel. There is basically one river - it is the Jordan river - it starts way up north. Three springs feed into (eventually) into the Sea of Galilee… the Sea of Galilee exits into the Jordan river… the Jordan river goes down further and further south… and it ends up in the Dead Sea. That would be a very difficult promise for people accustomed to this type of environment to accept. But that's the whole point of this passage. It describes a transformation of the land from a life-threatening desert to a fertile paradise. And that is then extended - for the people - from being in this chaos… and this fear… and these potential wars… and this potential exile… and potential captivity… into restoration as a free nation of God's people - from chaos to restoration. The other thing here is, God is telling the people - through Isaiah - that the desert will - the wilderness, not just the desert, but the wilderness - will no longer be a dangerous place. It'll be a place where you can grow and you can - not just survive, but thrive. Because the God who judges nations, that God who will come with divine recompense, also cares about the quality of life of each individual person.
[00:29:33] Are we willing to listen to God's message when he tells us that? That he's there… that he loves us… that he cares about us as individuals (as a single man, a single woman, a single child, a single adult) … he cares about each and every one of us… are we willing to listen to that? Are we willing to accept that from him? And are we willing to base our actions, our lives, on that?
[00:30:00] Our Psalm this week is Psalm 146; the response is: “Praise the LORD, O my soul.”
[00:30:06] And here are the verses: “The God of Jacob 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. The LORD upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The LORD will reign for ever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.”
[00:30:43] This particular Psalm is a hymn of praise. It is one of five - what are called Hallelujah Psalms - and those are the last five Psalms in the book of Psalms (146-150). And each of these - their name - Hallelujah is derived from Hallel, which is praise, and Yahweh, which is the name of God. So Hallelujah - praise God. And the reason that these are called the Hallelujah Psalms is that 146, 147, 148, 149, 150… every single one of them… begins and ends with the words: “praise the LORD.” The response is actually from verse 1, and it's: “Praise the LORD.”
[00:31:32] Those are also the last words of this Psalm: “Praise the LORD.”
[00:31:36] Now we're going to our last Reading, which is a reading from the Letter of James 2: 1-5.
[00:31:51] “My brothers and sisters: show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘Have a seat here, please,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘Stand there,’ or ‘Sit at my feet,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?”
[00:32:43] James is all about actions, and the actions in here are pretty telling when you think about it. I said last week that we will have five passages from James, this is the second of the five. And remember, James is writing to a Christian community that is still way too heavily influenced by the world's standards, by what the culture is telling them is important rather than listening to the Gospel message. That is at the heart of this passage. And let's just kind of jump into it because right up front he says, “show no partiality.” Discrimination of any kind - of any kind - is incompatible with faith in Christ. It doesn't matter if you look at someone and see the color of their skin… it doesn't matter if you look at someone and judge them by their gender… how a person is dressed… or what they're driving… or where they live… that's incompatible with faith in Christ.
[00:33:46] Favoritism of rich over poor - favoritism of any kind - is unacceptable within the assembly of God's people… period… end of sentence… that's really what James is saying here: “show no partiality.” And why do we do that? Because we “hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” And then he gives a very concrete set of examples. The first one is: here this rich (obviously rich), opulently outfitted man, gold rings, fine clothing, comes into your assembly… oh, look at that… you're just… oh my gosh… look how great that person is… oh my goodness… I want to bring him up front. Especially when, right on his heels - right on his heels - somebody who is obviously poor, destitute… maybe homeless, maybe dirty, who knows… but certainly has shabby clothing, comes in right on this rich man's heels, James says, “show no partiality.” Don't accept one and reject the other!
[00:34:55] Don't accept the rich man and reject the poor man… by the same token, don't accept the poor man and reject the rich man. “Show no partiality.”
[00:35:05] Reach out to them and interact with them based on the level of their own need. Who did Jesus go to? He went to the poor, the sinners… he went to the outcast… he went to the lepers. Remember, Jesus said, those who are healthy have no need of a physician. Everybody needs God's grace… everybody needs the Gospel message. James goes on to say, then, “have you not made distinctions among yourselves?” Well, the answer is, of course they have… of course they have. We all do it… we have to try not to! That's the important part… we all have to try not to! This is a gentle reminder to all of us. And when we make distinctions, we “become judges with evil thoughts.” There are plenty of ways that we can help other people. Look around in your community! In my particular parish, we have a casserole program where people get together… they're given an assignment… they're given a recipe… here, take this giant pan home and make a casserole and bring it back… we'll take it to the Center for the Homeless. If your community, or your parish, has a food pantry - donate to the food pantry. Find some way to put your emotions - to put your good intentions - to work. You know, think about things like Goodwill. Go through your closet and donate your old clothes… donate old furniture. There are so many ways that we can help others. We may not - each one of us - be able to go out and help an individual - but there are plenty of ways that we can help that are laid out for us… all it takes is a little effort on our part. Those small gifts, when put together, can make a big difference. So that's what we're called to do. That's what James - James, the writer of actions - that's what James is reminding us we need to do.
[00:37:05] And at the end he says, “Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him?” And the answer, of course, is yes, he has chosen them. Those are the people to whom Jesus reached out in his public ministry… he looked beyond appearances and saw their deepest need.
[00:37:32] He worked to restore their dignity. He worked to make them feel good about themselves, not to put them down, not to be belittled, but to be raised up. That's the example we should follow.
[00:37:49] I cannot step away from this reading without the reminder… remember, we always have to understand the scriptures in the context in which they were written, in the culture to which they were presented. Now, James was writing at a time when this was very much still an honor/shame society and wealth, at that time, was often seen as a blessing from God. So, think about… if you've ever read the book of Job, right? Job is a wealthy man… he's got a wife… he's got riches… he's got children… everything that a wealthy man should have. And then - Satan is the name - but it's really (the idea is really) someone who has the opposite opinion of God, right? And he comes to God and says, you know what? Job only loves you because he has all these blessings. And God says, no, that's not true, Job would love me anyway. And so the adversary says to God, okay, then let me take everything away… and he does. And Job gets angry, certainly. Who wouldn't? But through it all, he loves God, and he remains faithful. And so in the end, spoiler… if you haven't read the book - read it… but in the end, Job gets everything back. So oftentimes, wealth… and children… and property… and goods… and these were all seen as blessings from God, so understand, that point of view is built into this reading. I know I spent most of my time talking about our modern culture because I think that's where we need to concentrate. But it's so important, too, to look at the reading as it was written, because - even in spite of all of that understanding, of that cultural knowledge - James takes even that and turns it on its head… he turns it upside down and says, you know what? I don't care what you think… you need to look at this differently… you need to look at it wronger… you need to look deeper. Are you going to stay at your surface level of understanding? Or are you willing to look deeper? Are you willing to go where God's leading you? Are you willing to do what God asks, even when it's uncomfortable?
[00:39:59] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, please send me an email at
[email protected]. Thank you for listening and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soften and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand. From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions. The content of this show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty Flask. The music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved. Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request. Thank you for listening and God bless.
