September 6,009,  Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost, All Souls Epical Church

A number of years ago, this Sunday was known in the Church of England as “Ephphatha” Sunday. This was what you just heard Jesus say in our Gospel this morning to the deaf man as He cured him. This Sunday was set aside as a day when those who struggled with speech and hearing impairments were in the prayers of the congregation. This scripture passage from Mark was always read.

 In this story a group of people bring a deaf man to Jesus and beg Him to lay his hands on him and heal him.  It would seem that because the man is deaf he also can’t speak well.  Doctors acknowledge that it’s almost impossible to speak clearly if you can’t hear yourself know how the words are coming out.

 In a very tender, intimate and powerful experience, Jesus takes the man aside, away from the crowd, and communicates with him in gestures. He puts His fingers in his ears, and then putting some of His own spittle on His finger, [ in those days, people believed that spittle had certain curative qualities}, Jesus touches the man’s tongue.  When He has done this, Jesus looks up to heaven and with a deep sigh cries out “ephphatha,” which in Aramaic means, “Be opened”. From Jesus, this sends emotional and spiritual energy to curing this man.  Healing is hard work.

 The man is freed.  His ears are opened, his speech is now plain and clear.  Mark says his “tongue was loosened,” another translation says “his tongue was released” each is an interesting way of expressing his ability to speak well now.

 The response of the crowd is amazement.   Mark says they are “astounded beyond measure.”  They are so excited they go out telling everybody the wonderful thing Jesus has done.

 But Jesus tries to stop them. Why? Well, maybe Jesus doesn’t want their exuberance to slow Him down. Remember when they tried to make Him king at one point? But the more He orders them not to speak, the more avidly they spread the Word. They were obviously so happy and excited     that they couldn’t control themselves! Sound familiar? It should! It’s a very human trait.

 A young couple gets engaged, but because of the situations with their families, they agree that they shouldn’t tell anybody about it yet.  The next day it drives both of them crazy—they have such good news but they can’t tell anyone.  Finally, both of them take aside their best friends and say, “Now don’t tell another soul, but we have good news to tell you.” Of course, by the next morning, everybody knows!

 With perhaps a different twist, but the same theme:

 Do you remember the story about the clergyman who skipped church?  He got up on Sunday morning and it was a gorgeous day—bright, sunny, warm.  He hadn’t had a chance to play golf for a long time, so he did something he had never done before; he called his associate and told him he wasn’t feeling well, and asked him to do the service for him that morning.  The associate agreed.  He quickly got dressed, grabbed his clubs and headed for the golf course.

 Now God and St. Peter were watching all this happen.  Peter said, “That was a nasty thing to do.”  God said, “Yes, we’ll have to get him for that.  I know just what to do.  When he gets to the 4^th hole—you know that tough one with a long dog leg to the left—we’ll have him make a hole-in-one.”  Peter was shocked, “A hole-in-one! How will that punish him?”  God smiled, “Who’s he going to tell?”  Good news has to be told. So this simple story of Jesus’ quiet healing of the deaf man is spread far and wide.

 Now, I would like for you to consider another aspect of this whole scenario. Some of the important people in the story are known only as “they.”  Why are “they” so significant?  Well, my friends, if it had not been for “they”, the healing episode would not have occurred. Think about it.  Jesus was headed through the region of Sidon on His way to someplace else: “toward the Sea of Galilee.”  He certainly had not come there simply to heal this one man.  Had “they” not sought Jesus out on behalf of their afflicted friend, no healing would have taken place.   Jesus would have continued on His way.

 What this “they” detail signifies is that it is hard to get well on your own.  We not only need Jesus or the doctor to bring God’s healing power to bear on illness, but we also need each other.  These are the ones who “fill in the gaps” for us as our lives are turned upside down on occasion by disease or tragedy or misfortune. And, of course, “they” are not necessarily friends and family. Ideally “they” are the community of faith, the Body of Christ. You…….who I see right now! We really do need each other!

 Now,  this account with the deaf man seems to be closely linked with Jesus’ words to His disciples just l7 verses later.  It seems more than a coincidence that very shortly after this experience with the deaf man, Jesus is disappointed with His disciples and says to them, “Do you still not perceive or understand….Do you have eyes and fail to see?  Do you have ears and fail to hear?”

 Well, as Jesus healed the deaf man, so Jesus also cures the disciples.  Very shortly Peter will declare, “You are the Christ!” Peter and the other disciples begin to hear well, they see clearly who Christ is, and therefore they begin to speak the gospel to others around them. Their tongues also were loosened!

 Now….let’s talk about today!

 As 21^st Century Christians, 2000 years after this event, we’re are seeing that hearing and speaking the Gospel is still a problem. We are now living in a time when not only Christianity, but all religions, are being pushed to the side in our society. More so than in years past,  some of our strongest convictions are being watered down with cultural pressure. It’s not so much that churches are persecuted, as they are ignored; not so much that we’re punished as we are put off to one side.

 For example, the Gallup Poll has shown consistently that more than 40% of Americans say they attended church within the last week.  The number may fluctuate a percentage or two each year, but the basic figure stays the same.  But do 40% of the people you see on mainstream television go to church?  Does anybody on television ever speak about church? Not very often!

 Here is part of life that is very important to a huge portion of Americans, and it is largely ignored by the media.  It is almost as if they were trying to pretend the church didn’t exist. By only watching major network television, you would get the impression that in American society nobody ever goes to church (except to get married or buried).  You could easily get the impression that no one is concerned about church.  However, the Gallup Poll (and others polls) have shown that this is not true at all.

 In this situation it is more difficult to speak the gospel, but also more important that we do so! Like the disciples, we may have trouble hearing the gospel clearly in the midst of a society that tries to block out faith.  And we may have trouble speaking the good news when the signals we get say, “You’re not supposed to talk about things like that.” So…..what is the answer?

Well….the answer is that the healing of the deaf man and the release of his tongue symbolizes for us how the Power of God can help us hear, and release our tongues to speak. Within our communities, we must and will find the power of the Presence of God to not only speak the good news but to “live” the Good News……to have our actions speak louder than our words…….or maybe just to have our actions speak!. Of course, this is the ultimate form of articulating our belief. As has been said, “I wouldn’t give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine.” It will become even

more important to say what we believe, and maybe be a lamp that shines.

Are you listening?…..Are you speaking?…..Are you shining?,,,,Are you acting your faith? Are you a “doer of the word” as we heard from our Epistle lesson from James?

At Baptism, each of us received the Power of the Holy Spirit

Jesus Christ’s Power is there to open our ears to hear and release our tongues to speak. Will we allow Him to do so? 

You and I are the arms and legs and ears and tongues of the Body of Christ here on earth!

Yes, He does depend on us……you see, He has no other place to go!

Amen7