Ephphatha (Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

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You may remember from studying world history that in the early 300s BC, Alexander the Great conquered most of the Mediterranean basin, extending through what is today parts of Turkey, Egypt and parts of Iran.  It was a massive empire that spread Greek culture and the Greek language throughout all of those areas for the next several hundred years.

One of the results of Alexander’s conquest was that Greek effectively became the international language throughout all of those places.  Even when the Romans later conquered all of those areas and more, Greek had become so ingrained as the international language that Latin was rarely used in the Mediterranean region and in the Middle East, except for official business. This is why, for instance, that when Pontus Pilate writes the charge against Jesus, he writes it in Latin (because he has to as the official language); in Hebrew (because it was the local language);  and in Greek (because it was the language most people would understand if they didn’t speak the local language)…

And so in those days, if you wanted to write something that you knew could be understood by a wide audience, you wrote in Greek.  And this is why every single one of the 27 documents in our New Testament is originally written in Greek.  This is even true when Paul writes to the early Christian community in Rome – he writes in Greek, not in Latin, even to them!

And while everybody couldn’t read or write Greek, if you wrote in Greek the chances were very high that there would be many people in the community you wrote to who could read and translate the Greek into whatever the local language might be. And so it was a waste of papyrus and ink (both of which were very expensive) to spend time transliterating foreign words that most people wouldn’t understand anyway. Just write it out in Greek.

Mark’s Gospel, also written in Greek, is the shortest of our four Gospels. And Mark is often short on details – he’s in a hurry to tell a story, and doesn’t want to waste time or paper.

And yet, in today’s reading, Mark does something he only does 4 times in the entire book – he transliterates an Aramaic word used by Jesus and takes time to translate it into Greek.  It happens as Jesus is presented with a person who can’t hear.  And Mark says Jesus sighed, and said to him “Ephphatha.”  It’s an Aramaic word (which is a dialect of Hebrew) which Jesus would have spoken.  And it’s a very basic word which simply means “open up.”  It’s not unusual or otherwise associated with mystical powers to do anything.  But Mark records that particular Aramaic word and takes time and space to translate it, even though there’s really no reason to do so.  He could just as easily have written, “Jesus sighed and said, “be opened”.  And indeed, that’s what Mark does most other places.

But here he takes time to remember that word, “Ephphatha.”  Why?  There is no sure answer to that question, but I suspect that this story came from people in Mark’s community who somehow remembered this particular healing event and whenever they heard that common word, “ephphatha”, they remembered Jesus and what he had done. And so that word became an essential part of the story.

It was just a simple word. And it wasn’t an uncommon word.  Jesus himself probably didn’t use it thinking anyone would remember that word (and indeed, he told people to be quiet about what he had done immediately after this healing!)  But that word, “ephphatha”, continued to have meaning for people in ways that made Mark include it in this story – a story, by the way, that is unique to Mark and is not picked up by either of the other Synoptic Gospels.

And as I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that sometimes when God does something with us or through us, people remember what God did because of a word, or a thing or even a simple action that doesn’t seem all that significant to us at the moment.  

For example, it’s happened in my life, and perhaps in yours too, that somebody has told me that something I said to them really helped them through a difficult moment.  And they tell me what it was I said, but I don’t remember saying that thing.  In fact, I may not even remember the conversation at all!  And it’s almost always the case that when the person tells me what I said, it’s nothing profound or deeply insightful. 

But it was a simple word like “ephphatha” that helped that person through a hard time.  And it’s OK that it’s not a profound thing, and even that I don’t remember saying it.  God used something I said and the person who needed it remembered that they found help and healing through it. And it’s what God does with our words – especially the simple words – that are what’s important.  And so remember that, even if you don’t find out about it, sometimes a simple word you speak to someone can be the “ephphatha” that God uses to help and heal someone who, like this person suddenly thrust in front of Jesus, you may not even know…

And sometimes, “ephphatha” can be a simple thing that forever brings to mind an event of God’s help and healing in your life or in someone else’s life.  A “thing” can have a big impact. 

I’ve told a funny story before about when I was a little kid at my grandmother’s house and I remember her always having a big bowl of Hershey bars, and always being able to have one when I went to my grandparent’s house (which differed significantly from the reality my grandmother told me in my 30’s…!)  It happened only once. But she said, “it clearly had a big impact on you!”  Which it did! 

But I wonder if the same thing may happen for folks who get a simple bar of soap, or a towel from these Care Kits we’re putting together, or one of these quilts that are hanging here in the sanctuary.  They’re basic stuff we all have in our houses, and these are not the quilts that win awards at the County Fair.  But probably for some folks, forever after a bar of soap or a quilt may be the “ephphatha” that reminds them of what God did for them through others in a time of great need…

And sometimes, “ephphtha” can simply be your presence in somebody’s life.  You showed up at a time when they needed it.  You didn’t “do” anything special.  And there was nothing you could say.  But you were there. 

One of the last things I did when I was on internship was to visit one of the congregation’s shut-in members, who had been in a nursing home the entire year I had been there. The Pastor and I would go to visit and we would talk and say prayers, but this lady rarely opened her eyes and never spoke.  We weren’t sure if she was even aware of what was happening around her.  And that was particularly the case when I went to see her when she was clearly dying just before internship ended.  I prayed with her, but she was completely unconscious.  A couple of days later, she was still with us, and I went back over one more time, and I said, “Hi Alice!  It’s Vicar Steve – I was here a couple days ago, too, I don’t know if you remember it.”  And she opened her eyes, and for the first and only time she spoke and said faintly, “yes, I don’t remember much but I remember that.”  And so my final learning of internship was that sometimes just being there, even if you think it isn’t noticed, and even if you’re not “doing anything” can be important. 

And many of you have been people who have been there for others in difficult times – where there was really nothing you could say or do.  But sometimes, just your presence was the “ephphatha” in somebody’s life that reminded them they weren’t alone, and your presence helped them through that moment…

You know, sometimes a simple word doesn’t seem all that important.  And sometimes, as in today’s Gospel reading, it can be easy to want to pass over it as just another difficult to pronounce word in the Bible.

But sometimes, it’s a simple word that God gives you to speak that makes a difference in somebody’s life.  Sometimes, it’s a simple thing you share that makes God’s presence known in a way that you can’t image at the moment.  And often, it’s simply by being present that you open yourself to becoming God’s “ephphatha” in the life of another person who needs God’s presence.

Amen.