July 19, 2026
READINGS and MESSAGE
GENESIS 28:10-19a
The first reading of the day deals with Jacob’s dream of a ladder… and who among us here doesn’t dream? And in our dreams, quite often, they have a subliminal message to them which we quite often must pay attention to. Well, Jacob pays attention and is visited by the living God who was giving all the ground from East to West and North to South to Jacob and his future descendants. Jacob knows that this God was in this place where he was sleeping and the stone that he was resting his head on overnight, now becomes a bit of a memorial and he anoints it with oil, called it ‘Bethel’ which means “God’s House”…
ROMANS 8:26-39
This passage this morning emphasizes the love which God has for all of us and that God’s Spirit is right alongside us in everything which we do and everywhere we are. And the life of Jesus is what exemplifies exactly how we are to live, and we see the original and intended shape of our lives through his life. And then each person receives a name, a child of God, and God’s plan is gloriously completed…too cool!
MARK 7:31-37
Jesus’ earthly life was filled not only with miracles and sharing in parables but so often, he was the healer – the doctor – the ‘holy physician’…and with this passage from the Gospel of Mark this morning, he makes the deaf hear and the speechless to give voice. This passage involves a deaf man who has trouble with his speech and he becomes cured – because of his friends who believed beyond all bounds to have their friend whole again. It’s a story of persistence…of advocacy and a willingness of Jesus to walk outside of the boundaries – miracles happen you know!!
BELIEF BEYOND BOUNDS
So this morning I’m going to begin my message with a short poem written by a woman by the name of Jan Richardson (and not the Jan Richardson who is now one of my retired colleagues) and this poem is entitled: “And You Said…”
“When there was no wine…there was you…and you said, drink,
and there it was…startling and sweet.
And where there was no bread…there was you…and you said feed
one another…and there it was…filling and strong.
And where there was no love…there was you…and you said
touch…and there we were…our hands looking like yours.”
And miraculously, these sorts of things happen. And Jesus says to the man who is deaf…”Ephphatha! Be Open!”, and the man hears.
Miracles happened then…and they still happen by the millions today…the miracle of baptism, the miracle of falling in love, of medical breakthroughs, the miracles of the changing seasons and of the opportunity of sitting out here for Sunday worship…belief beyond all bounds…
And here’s a story for you of a man in Iowa who was one of the unchurched in the small town and he was suspected of being one of the ‘heathens’…I don’t think that we use those kinds of words anymore…or do we? Anyway, this fellow owned the local grocery store, and the minister went up to him one day and asked if he could provide and donate some food for a local evangelization committee which provided outreach for those who were ‘unchurched’…
The grocer took the order for the cold cuts and the sliced cheese and the buns and the cookies and the fruit and the minister picked it up on the next day…
When the minister unveiled the large platter in the church basement with all the committee folks around, he was startled!
For there in the centerpiece was a cross…constructed totally out of slices of bologna…
You know…how do we open ourselves sometimes to the wisdom of God? Why are we afraid sometimes to cross the boundaries?
And just a reminder that our neighbours, and possibly the grocery store owner, play an important part in hearing the voice of God spoken to us in quite a different way…
Ralph Milton had shared this story of a trip that they had taken to Brazil – to Rio de Janeiro to be exact…the city that has the huge statue of Christ up on the mountain…the people live in utter poverty and there are slums all over but down on the beach, this is where the wealthy people live…Ralph spoke to one of the poor folk who lived on the side of the mountain and asked this person how it felt living on the side of the mountain, with the Christ up at the top and the wealthy people down below…
“Well,” she said, “They have to go though us to get there.”
Interesting thought and quite profound in that our neighbours sometimes speak the word of God to us without us even knowing.
And this brings me back to belief beyond boundaries…
Boundaries can enfold…providing places of sanctuary…but boundaries can also divide…separating persons from one another…and from God…if Jesus would have used the usual boundary lines which were socially constructed, the healing would never have taken place…in fact, the Jesus movement might have just stayed as a certain sect of Judaism and might haver fallen into antiquity…thank God for us that boundaries were broken! God did not become exclusive but became inclusive…and this means that God is for all and that there are no walls or dividers to separate us from this love…
Something that really spoke to me about the Gospel passage was that the friends of the deaf man all pleaded on behalf of someone else…and very strongly I’ll have you know…it wasn’t for themselves, it was someone they loved and cared for and believed in…Miracles happen when a community gets involved and backs a certain project, or a certain belief…boundaries generated by wealth or poverty possess the capacity to disrupt communities whereas seeking a place of equality, brings us into the presence of God…we do this one step at a time – together.