Grace Lutheran Church 14th Sunday after Pentecost, September 10, 2006

The Rev. Evan Gaertner
14^th Sunday after Pentecost "Deaf, Mute, Opened to Praise"
September 10, 2006 Mark 7:31-37

Today’s gospel lesson explains why evangelism can be so difficult.

The crowd brought to Jesus a deaf and mute man and they begged Jesus today his hands on him.

Jesus does not intend for the healing activity to become a spectator event and so he ushers the man away from the crowd. Jesus does not intend to offer up some sort big tent show more suitable for the carnival. The crowds brought to Jesus a real man and not just a prop to be used in a stage show and so Jesus treats this deaf and mute man as a person.

Jesus is not about marketing and self-promotion through demonstrations of his power. Jesus is about making a difference in the lives of people through his life, death, and resurrection.

I know that Jesus' command for people to keep silent always confuses people when we talk so much about proclaiming Jesus. Why the silence? Because the sight, hearing, resurrection are physical cures that can only be spoken about with full understanding after the death and resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus brings sight and hearing and raises the dead he is pointing forward to the spiritual changes that will be ushered in through his own resurrection. The command to go and tell comes after the resurrection.

As Jesus commanded the crowd to be silent even more so they kept talking about what they witnessed. With an echo of Genesis ch. 1 when God declared all that he had created was good, the people said, "He has accomplished all good things." They then said, "And he makes the deaf hear and the mute to speak." They tell the truth as witnesses even if they have not captured the full meaning of what they have seen.

What did they see?

They saw a man who was deaf and unable to speak healed by Jesus. The man's ears were opened and the chains around that man's tongue were broken.

You might consider the details of how Jesus healed the man as bizarre. The man could not hear nor could he speak so Jesus placed his fingers into the man's ears. Then Jesus spit and touched the man's tongue. I was perplexed by Jesus' actions but found a helpful answer in some Bible commentaries. Nowadays healing is a very hands-on activity. We expect a doctor to use a tongue depressor, needles, to listen to your heart. Perhaps Jesus' movements were intended to indicate to this man what he intends to do for him. Jesus communicated to the deaf man by showing him the healing work that would be accomplished. Jesus groaned in prayer to his father in heaven and cried, “Ephphatha” and so that we may know that this is not a magical incantation St. Mark translates to us the Aramaic words as the command, “Be opened.”

What does this story of a deaf and mute man mean for our congregation's evangelism? Why is evangelism so hard?

Consider a few points with me.

One: This man was brought by the crowd to Jesus, while still deaf and mute to receive the healing touch of Jesus. The crowd was certainly amazed at the healing power of Jesus. The deaf and mute man that Jesus healed could not just try harder and be better. He was deaf. He could not choose to hear or not hear. He could not choose to speak his tongue was bound. He needed Jesus. Without Jesus the man would have remained deaf and his tongue tied.

Beyond the physical healing the spiritual healing that Jesus brings is even more important. To be deaf and unable to speak in this world certainly is a problem and the physical healing that Jesus brought to this man immediately changed his life. But to be deaf to the promises of the kingdom of God is deadly. To not be able to praise God because our lives are in bondage to sin is disastrous.

The prophet Isaiah spoke to Israel's failure to hear and see in Isaiah ch. 42, writing, "He sees many things; but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear."

Our spiritual life is dead without the work of God. Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 2, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."

The promise of scripture from St. Paul in Romans is clear, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved"? But how will he believe unless someone preaches to him. The people that we want to bring the good news of Jesus to are deaf. They have not heard the promises of Jesus. They have not been able to praise him because their tongue has been tied by sin. We make the first step to bring a person who is dead in her trespasses to Jesus. We cannot wait for a person to walk into this congregation to begin sharing with them the good news. Jesus commanded his followers after his resurrection, "Go and tell."

Second: The man was deaf and mute. Jesus showed him what he was going to do by placing his hands in the man's ears and the spit on the tongue. Then Jesus prayed to the Father in heaven and asked for this man to be opened. It was only by the power of God that this man was healed. The central point of this entire story is that it was not the strength of human power that brought this man to hear and speak, but only and always the mercy of God. We do not need to rely on gimmicks or try to convince people to believe. It will never be by human power that people are brought faith but only and always the mercy of God.

Why is it then that when we tell someone about Jesus, by sharing the Word of God, he does not always believe? An expert on reaching out with the good news to the unchurched said that Evangelism is so hard because honestly of the church. There are so many false promises and gimmicks in the world offered by hucksters that a person does not always hear what we say. We do not compromise our message but we do show to the person our desire to bring healing. Just as Jesus touched the man in a way that communicated what he desired to do for that man, we reach out to people in a clear and honest way so that they know we are bringing the healing mercy of Jesus.

Third: The people could not stop from telling others about what they had seen.

As the Holy Spirit works you sharing Jesus the words of Isaiah ch. 50 become a reality, "The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.”

The story of the deaf and mute man who ears are opened and his tongue loosened is a perfect illustration of the reality of the spiritual condition of the human will. The heart of the matter is that the human will is not free, but bound.

We need the real, physical, hands-on healing of Jesus. Our relation to God occurs through the real, physical, hands-on healing of Jesus. We receive this touch through the Word and the Sacraments. Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 10, "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heart? And how are they hear without someone preaching?"

Evangelism is hard. By sin and evil we are deaf to the promises of God. But by the power of the Holy Spirit working through you as you bring Jesus ears are opened and tongues unchained. Trust the promise of God. We have been promised that the Holy Spirit will work the life-saving message of Jesus Christ through the proclamation of the word and the Sacraments, the Lord's Supper and Baptism.

Soli Deo Gloria

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