Preached by the Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford, Senior Minister of the Sunshine Cathedral, Fort Lauderdale, on Sunday, July 13, 2003 

The Written Word

The Light of the Ages
Isaiah 35:3-6

³They may be barely clinging to hope, scarcely able to stand. ⁴Give the fearful this good news: "Be strong, fear not! Your God will come to make the wrong right; the Eternal will come to your rescue." ⁵Then those who have no sight will see, and those who cannot hear will hear. ⁶Those who cannot walk will leap like a dear, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness: streams in the desert. 

The Light of a Teacher of Truth 
Healers on Healing (Stephen Levine) 

Real healing never stops. It cannot, for it is our birthright, our essential nature. It is the continuing expansion of the "big bang" of birth, constantly creating universes to be explored and merged into. To discover this inner grace in each moment is to become healed. It is to discover the human divine within, the very source of healing, the essence of the deathless, the ever-healed. 

The Light of the Master Teacher
Mark 7:31-37

³¹Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre, walking through Sidon and on down to the Sea of Galilee. When he arrived in the region of the Ten Greek Towns ³²some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak to him. They begged him to lay a healing hand on him. 

³³Jesus quietly took the man off by himself. He put his fingers in the man's ears and put some spit on the man's tongue. ³⁴Then, with a groan that welled up deep from within him, he commanded, "Ephphatha! Be open!" ³⁵And that's exactly what happened! The man could hear, and he began to speak clearly.

³⁶Jesus told the crowd to keep this incident quiet, but they just couldn't do it. The more he did, the more they talked! ³⁷They were just too excited and amazed. "Why, there's just nothing he can't do," they said. "He even heals those who can't hear or speak!" 

The Confessed Word

The grace of our Master Jesus -- the love of God in the community of Spirit -- be with you all. 

Fountain of Truth: You've never held back a blessing or kept a secret from us. You have revealed yourself in us, and called to us through prophets and seers, wise women and men of old. You spoke eloquently in the life and words of your Beloved Jesus. Your Spirit continues to speak in us and to us and through us and as us. 

Open our eyes, that we may see life as you see it. Lord, have mercy. 
Open our ears, that we may hear Truth as you speak it. Christ, have mercy. 
Open our minds, that we may think your thoughts and speak your words. Lord, have mercy. 

The only limitations we face are the limitations we conceive. Open us to the possibilities we face, the opportunities you place before us. We've come too far to turn back now. We'll do it all in the power that is in the name of Jesus. And so it is! Amen! 

The Proclaimed Word

The story goes like this: Stevie Wonder met Tiger Woods at a celebrity party. Wonder mentioned that he, too, is an excellent golfer. Tiger was a bit skeptical that the blind musician could play golf well, but he was too polite to say anything. 

"When I tee off," the Stevie explained, "I have a guy call to me from the green. My sharp sense of hearing lets me aim." 

Tiger was impressed, and Stevie suggested that they play a round. When Tiger agreed, Stevie asks, "How about if we play for $100,000?" 

Tiger insisted he wouldn't play for money, but Stevie argued until Tiger finally relented and said, "So, when do you want to play?" 

Stevie laughed and replied, "I'll play on any night you choose."¹

You see, Stevie Wonder isn't handicapped, he's 'differently-abled', and he was just leveling the playing field, stayin' open to the possibilities. 

I'd give a lot to get a chance just to walk from green to green with Tiger Wood myself, even if I'm not a golfer. I think he's quite attractive, and I admire--maybe even idolize-- him, if that's not too strong a word. 

People idolized Jesus in his day, too. I guess most folks still do. He was always reaching out to help those who felt less fortunate, and he was always calling out the best in those who were willing to take a chance, to be open to the possibilities. 

Which brings us to today's 'Jesus story': Here was a man who couldn't hear. But his friends heard that Jesus was coming their way, so they grabbed him and pulled him along until they stood before Jesus. 

Note something here: It was not the man who asked for healing, but his friends who begged Jesus to heal him! 

I wish that every one of my friends wanted the very best of health for me, don't you? Wouldn't it be wonderful if your friends would pray for you--I mean, really pray--and believe God for your very best? 

When we gather around this altar to pray for one another at our anointing time, it's a whole lot like this story. We pray for the friend or the stranger on our right and on our left and all around us, and miracles happen because our friends are praying for us and we're praying for our friends. Together, we're open to the possibilities of healing power. 

Let's look at the story some more. Jesus took the man aside to pray for him. They got in a quiet space, and the man knew that something marvelous was about to happen. I can imagine that he was getting pretty excited when Jesus put his fingers in the man's ears and then put some spit on his tongue. Now how he did that brings up a lot of conjecturing, let me tell you. Some say that Jesus kissed the man, but I think maybe that's taking conjecture quite far. Or is it? We're not afraid to kiss each other, even as friends. 

The Jesus said the most remarkable thing. Note that Mark captures the word in Aramaic, even though the Gospel is generally written in Greek. He records that Jesus cried out: "Ephphatha!"which means: "Be open!"

What opened, the man's ears and mouth, or his consciousness? I would suggest that first he opened himself to the possibility of healing. He could read Jesus' lips, no doubt. And when he saw Jesus say "Ephphatha!" his mind and heart, his consciousness and all his emotions, burst open, and the floodgates of wellness came rushing out. He ran to his friends who were praying, and they began to cry because he could hear! He could speak! 

The word that Jesus cried was still echoing in their ears--"Ephphatha!"--as they ran from the place. Jesus had told them to tell no one, but they couldn't stay quiet. Their lives had all changed, and they had to tell someone. 

What does this story tell us today? "Ephphatha! BE OPEN!" Don't let life's discouragements dissuade you from being open. Don't let things shut you down. 

Be open to every possibility the universe opens, for health, for abundance, for success, for accomplishment, for blessings now and throughout eternity. 

Do you want health and healing? Open yourself to the possibility, live in that openness, eat in that openness, drink in that openness, don't open your lungs to smoke but rather to fresh air--breathe it in!! And be open to the work of Spirit in your life to bring you health until the very day you lay down your body and move on to the next dimension. 

Do you want prosperity? Then open yourself to that possibility, give in that openness, share in that openness, budget with openness without foolishness or without the limitations of a poverty consciousness. And, friend, tithe! Give ten percent of everything you receive back to God, and then do you now what your openness will bring about? Here's what Malachi speaks on God's behalf: "'Test me in this,' says the Heavenly One, 'See if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that you will not have room enough to receive it.'" Malachi 3:10

That's God's Open Window Promise when you are open with your generosity and when you tithe. You can try another plan with less benefits, but this plan is God's best plan! "Ephphatha! Be open!"

Want to accomplish what God has planned for you to do? Be open to the possibilities of success. God will lead you into all sorts of possibilities if you will simply live in openness and anticipation. 

This church is faced with yet another possibility to create more office space, classroom space, and parking. Members of the Board of the Cathedral, the Foundation, and SunServe: "Ephphatha! Be open!" Don't let fear cloud your judgment. Be faith-filled and faithful to your responsibilities. Pray for the right decisions, and be open to possibilities. 

God wants to open our eyes and ears, our mouths and our hearts. Jesus, quoted in the Gospel of Thomas, said: "Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."²

Above all else, be open to let the light shine from within, and the possibilities for health, abundance, and accomplishment with literally radiate from you. 

Say it with me: "I am open / to God's possibilities / for my health, / my abundance, / my accomplishments, / my church. / I am open / to every possibility, / and God's windows / are open / for those I love / and for me!" 

And that's the truth! 

^{1"Laughter, the Best Medicine," Reader's Digest, Nov. 1999, pp. 120-121}

^{2The Gospel of Thomas} 24