Trinity
12 – August 18th and 19th, 2018 – Mark
7:31-37
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
There's
so much crazy talk in the world today about what love is. And I know
intellectually as a historian and a theologian that folks in this
sinful world have always been messed up on what love is; this is why
Paul and John in their epistles constantly have to spell out for us
what love actually is. But it seems today our society and culture
uses “love” to describe every sort of weird desire or lust folks
might have. Over and against that, over and against what you might
hear from the world about love, in our Gospel lesson today Jesus
gives a tour de force demonstration of what love actually is. Let us
listen to what Jesus does, and learn of love.
“Then
He returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea
of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought Him a
man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged Him to
lay His hand on him.”
First, the set up. This is the point in Mark's Gospel where the
scribes and pharisees were so hounding Jesus that He ended up
wandering around the gentile lands. Right before this lesson you
have the Syrophoenician woman - “yes, LORD, but even little dogs
eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.” And then
right after today's Gospel lesson you have the feeding of the 4000,
because everyone hears about this miracle even though Jesus tried to
keep them quiet. So Jesus is there, surrounded by strangers,
foreigners, non-jews. You know – folks that He'd be expected not
to like, the sort of people that the good Jerusalem folks wouldn't
dare associate with. And these people have heard rumors about Jesus,
so they bring up a fellow – and they want to see a miracle. Go on,
lay a hand on him and show us something cool!
I have great sympathy for this deaf fellow, not just
because he had a speech impediment and I don't exactly have the
cleanest speaking voice myself, but because he must have been utterly
confused. What Mark describes here is not a calm, polite scene. The
word here for “brought” is literally “carry”. It's not that
they coaxed a shy volunteer forward, they wanted to see a miracle, so
they grabbed some guy who was messed up. Hey everybody, whose the
most messed up person in town – oh, it's that deaf guy – oh yea,
quick, go grab him. And so a crowd rushes up and grabs the fellow –
and he's deaf, he can't hear. If you can't hear, you don't
understand what's going on around you as well as you might – like
as some of you are finding out more than you'd like. So boom –
they dump this guy in front of Jesus and say “lay hands on him.”
Come on Jesus – we brought you someone, now go do that thingy with
your hands and the waving and power and might.
Jesus
doesn't give the crowd what they want. Instead, Jesus decides to
love the poor deaf man. Listen. And taking him
aside from the crowd privately....
Did you note that? Before there's any healing, Jesus gently pulls
him away from the crowd, gets him out of that mass of confusion. And
then, when the guy is calmed down a bit and things are less chaotic,
Jesus moves into action. “He put His fingers
into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.”
But that action isn't healing yet. The guy is deaf, so Jesus acts
out for him what He's going to do. Your ears, I'm going to pop them
open. Can't get stuff out of your mouth because your tongue is tied
– well, I'm going to shake that tongue loose. Then one more
pantomime - “And looking up to heaven, He
sighed...” See,
I'm praying here – and then, only then, does the healing take
place. [Jesus] said to him, 'Ephphatha,' that
is, 'Be opened.' And his ears were opened, his tongue was released,
and he spoke plainly.
There's a lot of hay we could make out of this. This
is indeed creation restored – the Word of God who spoke all
creation into existence restores creation by speaking. All things
are done well, they are good again because of Jesus. And this also
is a great depiction of how faith itself works – we who were deaf
to God, dead in sin and trespasses have our ears opened by the Word
and Spirit and we are given life.
But for today, let's focus on this. This is what love
is, this is how love operates. This miracle stands out like a sore
thumb in Mark's Gospel. See, Mark's Gospel has this incredible pace
to it. The word “immediately” gets used over and over. It's the
shortest Gospel, everything happens quickly. And then you get this
miracle described – and everything just slows down. Everything
becomes slow and deliberate. And that's what love is. When Jesus
comes across this fellow, He shows Him deliberate care and service.
He doesn't just lay a hand on him while the crowd goes wild, but
instead Jesus takes the time to care for him individually as He knows
is best.
This
is Christ's love for you. To be in the Church is to be one whom
Jesus has called, whom Jesus has pulled away from the rush and sin
and chaos of the world, called out of darkness into His marvelous
life. And over and over in His Church, Jesus deals with you gently
and directly. You were baptized by name, you yourself were. God
claimed you and washed away your sins. He places His own Body and
Blood upon your tongue in the Supper. And yes, we do many things
together, for we together are the body of Christ, yet there still
remains that individual care for you. While we do confess our sins
together and receive forgiveness together – if there is some fear
or doubt or guilt that messes with you – I'll forgive you
individually and specifically, because Jesus doesn't want you
miserable and afraid and guilty. And if you want and need the Lord's
Supper, give me a call, I'll bring it. Because Jesus wants you, yes
you, to know His love and forgiveness and mercy is for you. Jesus
doesn't lose you in the crowd – I might, I'm a sinful human being,
so please do let me know when you need something – but Jesus wants
you forgiven and cared for.
This
is also how all our vocations work. Vocations are those special
relationships we are given by God in which we are to love and serve
people. Our vocations set up and show us people for whom we are
specifically to care. And each of us have many of these that God has
given us. I will use myself as an example. I'm not the pastor for
every church in the world; I'm preaching here at Trinity because God
has called me away from every other place and to this specific
congregation and to you here. I don't supervise every single vicar
in the vicarage program; I supervise vicar Weideman. God did not call
me to be everyone's husband, He gave me to and joined me to Celia.
I'm not everyone's dad – just two people. And so on and so forth.
And this is not accidental – this is deliberate on God's part,
shaping and forming the ways in which I am to show love – these are
the good works which God prepared before hand for me to walk in. And
likewise you – in order to see that His love and care for His
creation is shown, God places you into relationships with other
people – husband and wife, parent and child, teacher and student,
employer and worker, neighbor, citizens, all these things – so that
you may care for these specific people, and also be cared for by them
in return. These are your vocations – and if you want to consider
them, I'd recommend finding the Table of Duties in the Catechism,
because it goes over specific Scripture passages dealing with all
sorts of vocations. But remember, these relationships are gifts to
you from God, opportunities for you to care for and serve others.
Yet
we know how things so often work. We are attacked by sin and Satan –
and do you know what sin does? It deafens us; it binds up our
tongues. All too often we don't listen to the people God has placed
in our lives, all too often instead of speaking words of love and
care for them we say nothing or shout nonsense. And often we are on
the receiving end, where folks don't listen to us, where they don't
speak rightly to us. That's really what Satan is trying to
accomplish with sin – Satan is trying to wreck and ruin the
relationships of love and service that God gives us. And this is
why, over and over, again and again, Christ Jesus comes to you with
His Word of life. This is why He opens your ears with His Word and
gives you faith. This is why He fills you with His love. This is
why He opens your lips so that you mouth may declare His praise.
Because He is a giver, because He loves you and wants you to enjoy
your gifts that He has given to you. And so, He arms you with
forgiveness and mercy to fight against sin – your own sin and the
sin that is done to you. Satan would isolate you; Christ is with you
and gives Himself to you and centers all your relationships and
vocations in Him, in His love.
And the world doesn't understand this. The world keeps
rushing on in its chaotic mess, the world keeps on rolling along in
its selfish conceit, looking out for number one. But Christ Jesus is
your Lord, and He has given you ears to hear. He frees you to love
generously because you know with certainty how much He loves you.
And should you ever forget it, should your own love ever flag –
come here and hear again His love for you, for you are God's own
baptized child, and He will never forsake you. In the Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.