Scripture Reading: Psalm 125; Mark 7:24 – 30
Scripture Emphasis: Psalm 125: 2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
Let me take you inside a home in the ancient city of Tyre, Lebanon. In following Mark’s narrative of the unfolding ministry of Jesus, we are surprised to encounter Jesus in this non-Jewish home. Perhaps His being there is to seek respite from the neverending demands of inconsiderate fellow countrymen and to get in touch with His own deep Peace. Jesus may be seeking a stay in the endless arguments with the Jewish religious aristocracy. However, His being in the company of possibly irreligious, and most certainly hostile constituents results in His request for anonymity. The brevity of details about these matters could speak volumes. Was Jesus seeking more confirmation and endorsement from these ” Gentiles” than He felt possible from some of His Jewish countrymen?
From this thought-provoking incident, it soon becomes abundantly clear that there are significant human experiences that have no regard whatsoever, for international boundaries, or long-held religious beliefs, or the absence thereof.
One of these recurring experiences is sickness. It makes no difference who you are, or of what ethnicity you are, or what set of beliefs may govern your actions, disease comes everywhere. It respects no boundaries! Its evidence comes inside this home where Jesus, the healer, is hoping that no situation will emerge to violate his request for anonymity.
But if sickness knows no boundaries, neither do the feelings of helplessness that accompany it. Many people are well acquainted with a feeling of helplessness in the onslaught of this present global pandemic.
A desperate mother joins our company at the home in Tyre which Jesus is visiting. The evidence, which slowly confirms that time is not bringing the health she kept hoping for her child, causes hopelessness to rush in! Yet, this mother is certain that her child’s sickness is not bound by geographical boundaries. She has knowledge of cases of “demon possession” in neighboring Palestine. Illness and the accompanying fears know no limits, and neither does a mother’s love. Let foolish arguments over dogma and creed rear their ugly heads. Real LOVE conquers all.
There is one thing more, the profound wisdom demonstrated in this story, by this mother, can transform our present experience. She knows that it is not necessary to be in Palestine to discover the incredible truth concerning God. She believes that the everlasting arms of God embrace the world around, even though her understanding of the Divine, differs from Jewish belief. Consequently, she seeks Jesus to help her further discover the encircling Arms of God.
Now, this is what it means to be a loving child of God, to know that you can realize the embrace of God’s everlasting arms when sickness, disaster or, even death itself overshadows us and ours.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore. Psalm 125:2
A widow living in London during the height of WW 11, became lovingly known to the troops as ‘our angel of comfort.’ Her home became a respite for young men and women, who, while facing the stress of new engagements, felt acutely unprepared. It was within these walls, where expressions of certainty and demonstrations of unconditional faith were found, that courage conquered fear.
One evening a young bombardier, commissioned for a dangerous sortie, questioned “ his angel of comfort” about an image of a pair of ‘ outstretched hands that hung over her living room mantel. On closer scrutiny of the picture, the young man observed names of people carefully printed on both of the hands. He fell silent as his matron explained. You see, son, these are the Hands of God. The names you observe are names of service-people, who like you, were going into battle and had many reservations and fears, so they placed themselves in God’s hands for comfort and strength.” The Angel Of Comfort” witnessed a nostalgic look of longing creep into the young bombardier’s face, and silently stole away from his side. Minutes of intense silence followed. At last, visibly moved, the young man produces a pen, and stretching his hand towards the picture; he carefully prints, on the only remaining space, his own name, MARK GARDNER.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore. Psalm 125:2
A PRAYER TO FOLLOW THIS MEDITATION (see Revelation 4: 1)
Eternal Father, Thank You for leaving Heaven’s door ajar, so that reassuring light from within, may shine upon the world, where the darkness of sickness and death is casting deep shadows. You see, not only the soulless pandemic that slithers its way through the world with, as yet, uncontrolled speed. You see each one of us with our fears, our worries, our concerns, and our brokenness. This is not what You intend for creatures made in the Image of God. Heaven’s open door is the sign that a far greater force than any pandemic is already at work around us. Through the open door, Love Incarnate comes to reign.
May that Love be so interpreted by each of us, that there will be:
Courage for the fearful ones,
Hope for the despairing ones,
Companionship for the lonely ones,
Bread for the hungry ones,
Fulfillment for the laboring ones,
Creativity among the isolated ones,
Wisdom and guidance for the searching ones,
Gratitude for the sacrificing ones,
Strength for the suffering ones,
And Rest Eternal for those who have fallen asleep.
For keeping the door to Your House open to us Father, we remain eternally grateful. In gratitude may we acknowledge as the Psalm writer did, ‘this one thing I shall seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, I pray. Amen.
Hymn: Unto The Hills
Editorial Notes
It is highly recommended that you read the suggested Scriptures at the beginning of the post to lend clarity to the meditation following.
2. All Scripture references are from NIV.
3. The photo is from stock images on the internet.