Theme: The Lord who does all things right
Text: Isaiah 35:4-7; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37
For the past two decades a lot has been said and written about accountability, probity, and integrity, yet corruption continues to dominate the headlines. Every section of the society including the Churches have discussed the subject and made recommendations, which were meant to deal with the problem. This last week the subject again hit the headlines because of comments allegedly made by the Deputy British High Commissioner, Craig Murray. So much has been said on this subject that we really need to ask ourselves why this problem cannot be brought under control. Either we do not hear what is being said at all, or when we do hear we do nothing about what we hear. We cannot really do anything about what we hear because our sinful nature will not allow us to do anything about it. The only way to deal with this problem is to deal with our sinful nature. And the only way to deal with our sinful nature is to allow the Lord to transform us and renew our minds. The Lord who does all things right has made the necessary provision. It is, however, not enough to know this truth; we should also live this truth. The way we behave reflects who we are.
A few years ago it was announced in the Accra Ridge Church, that a deaf and dumb person wanted to sing to praise the name of Christ. We all thought that there was a mistake in the announcement but we were assured there was not. None of us knew what to expect when a deaf and dumb man came to the front of the altar and through sign language indicated that they should play the song ‘Great is Thy faithfulness.’ As the song began he began to praise the Lord not by singing with his vocal cords but by singing with his whole person, the arms, the legs, the expression on his face, his body movements and his whole attitude. He indeed sang to the glory of God in a most unique way. It was the best rendition of ‘Great is Thy faithfulness’ that I had ever seen.
Hearing and speaking is a very important part of our lives and the reason we have two ears and one mouth. It has been said that we should see and hear more and speak less and that is why we have only one mouth. Hearing and speaking is essential to receiving the gospel and praising God and the ear serves as a direct link to our soul. What we hear with our ears goes deep down into our hearts and into our souls. Whether they are words of love, words of joy, laughter, music, or cries for help we are stirred up within. Listening to songs of God’s faithfulness is one of the best ways to deal with sorrow.
There are different forms of deafness and we are normally confronted with the form of deafness that is due to a problem with the ear. Deafness and dumbness often go together since you cannot learn to speak what you cannot hear. A deaf and dumb person is no doubt handicapped. A person who cannot hear or speak finds it very difficult to communicate with others. Unable to express their thoughts and feelings they become isolated, cut off and shut off from society. Far worse than being cut off from society is being cut off from God and this happens when we are deaf to the voice of God. We are all born deaf to the voice of God because of sin. But thanks to Jesus Christ, who died to pay the penalty for our sins, we have been healed and can once again hear the voice of God and respond by praising Him. But this ability is something that has to be cultivated with care. The world today is full of many voices that demand our attention and if we are not careful we will not hear the one voice that is important - the voice of God.
Jesus was always listening to God and relied totally on Him and did not do anything by Himself. The way He dealt with and related to the deaf and dumb man is an illustration of what Christian ministry should be. In this encounter, Mark records in detail each action - Christ looked toward Heaven, sighed within Himself, touched the man, and spoke to him. Everything that Christ does serve a purpose and each of His actions are significant. As Christ began to minister to the deaf and dumb man, He looked up to Heaven. This is symbolic of the relationship or communion He had with God. It was as if he was saying to the deaf and dumb man that the source of His power came from God. Communion refers to an intimate relationship and Jesus maintained this communion with God through prayer. Prayer is the foundation of the Christian life and Jesus Himself modelled the importance of prayer by always making the time to pray. Before every major decision, He would spend hours, sometimes all night, in prayer. He was in constant communion with God. Through prayer, we are able to draw close to God, to discern His will, to receive instruction from Him, and to be filled with His power. We can do much after we pray, but nothing before we pray. John Wesley said, "God does nothing on earth save in answer to believing prayer." We must pray if we are to live the Christian life. Prayer acknowledges our need and dependence on God and equips us for ministry. Martin Luther spent the first three hours of each day in prayer because according to him without those three hours he would not be able to make it through the day. And Paul Youngi Cho, when asked how he is able to manage the largest congregation in the world replied, ‘I listen and I obey’.
We cannot do anything apart from prayer. Unfortunately, we do not consider it important enough to spend more than a few minutes in prayer each day if at all. It is only by spending time with the Lord in prayer, spending time reading and studying His Word, and obeying His commandments that we can feel what He feels, see what He sees and know what He wants.
The Lord wants us to know that He has made full provision for our healing. The resources of God are sufficient to supply our most demanding needs if they are in accordance with His will. How effective we are depends on how much we rely on God. If Jesus Christ relied totally on God as the source of His strength so we also must rely on Him and we do this by living by faith. We cannot help those in need without love and compassion, which seem to be extremely rare these days. Those who are deaf and dumb find it very embarrassing because their disability is often not even noticed. You can easily tell that a person is blind or lame and take the necessary precautions when dealing with them. But you cannot do the same with the deaf and dumb. Because they can go unnoticed they can be exposed to very embarrassing situations at times. It was out of consideration for the situation of this man that Jesus led him aside from the multitude to deal with him privately. Over and over in the New Testament, we hear how Christ was moved with compassion as He looked on the lost and hurting multitudes. He ministered to people because He cared about their needs. Christian ministry is the result of a loving and compassionate heart.
But love and compassion is not enough, we need to also rely on the Word of God and act in faith. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The deaf and dumb man needed to hear the Word of God and since he was not able to hear Jesus acts out what he wants to convey to him. He puts his fingers into his ears, to indicate to the man that he intends to heal them so that he can hear. He wets his fingers and touches the man’s tongue to indicate that he is going to heal the tongue so that he can speak. He looks up into heaven to indicate that the power for his healing comes from God. He is actually speaking to the deaf and dumb man using sign language. This is a lesson in faith. Suffering is part of the reality of life and God promises to deal with them but He can only deal with them through faith. A major problem we face, however, is that we do not attach much importance to the real problem that is facing us. We often attach more importance to what is insignificant than to what is significant and thereby miss out on the real solution to the problem. Many people fail to receive Christ’s solution to their problems because they have the wrong priority. It’s as if you are driving a car, and you have lost control. You see the accident in front of you and can do nothing to prevent it. Suddenly Jesus is beside you and asks to take over the wheel to prevent the accident. Your reply, however, is yes you can take over the wheel but can you first fix the radio. This may sound unbelievable but this is the way many of us behave. We need to keep our priorities right as we seek healing from the Lord. We should seek healing for our major problems with the same eagerness that we seek healing for minor problems. So many people are entreating Jesus, begging him to heal their trivial problems while ignoring their more urgent needs.
The Lord who does all things right has healed and restored us. His actions are proof that He is the Messiah because according to the prophesy of Isaiah 35:4-6, the Messiah “will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer. And the tongue of the dumb sing.” Not only does Christ restore, He becomes involved in restored lives. It is not good enough to minister from a distance. Praying to meet the need of a person is important but equally important is being involved in meeting that need and being involved in the life of that person. Very often our involvement is only through the laying on of hands. Certainly as we pray for people, there is the biblical precedent to lay our hands upon them. But the laying on of our hands is not some magical thing. It is symbolic of our involvement in their lives – an involvement that imparts a blessing in the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was always involved with the people He ministered to. We cannot simply pray for someone who is cold and hungry to be warm and filled. We have to do something about his or her condition and this is what involvement is about. We are involved because we are Christ’s ambassadors. In a very real way we are His hands, His mouth and His feet, ministering for Him with the same loving concern He had for the world. We stand before a watching world in His place as His representatives, no longer speaking for ourselves but for Christ. Our service should win the respect of the world and bring them to Christ. No ambassador can fulfil his mission without regular consultations and no major decision is ever made without their government’s approval. As ambassadors of Christ we can only fulfil our mission by spending time with Him and His Word. It is the Word of God that the Holy Spirit uses to awaken conviction and a response of faith.
We can only fulfil God’s divine purpose when our lives are transformed. The first step to take is to acknowledge our need, then seek and come to the Lord and then to finally respond to His Word with faith. The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. Just as the deaf and dumb man was healed because he acknowledged his impediment and longed for healing so we too can be healed when we recognise our need, come to the Lord and act in faith. Our healing always brings a transformation that will result in praise to God and advance His Kingdom. When Jesus healed the deaf and dumb man he experienced a complete transformation. He immediately began to hear and speak. This is the more amazing because those who recover their hearing after a long period of silence usually cannot speak and first have to learn how to speak. This is the goal of ministry. It is confronting people with the life-changing power of God in its fullness. We need to care because others need our care, but we also need to care because caring is evidence of a denial of our own selfish nature. We need to care because Jesus cared, cared enough to die for us. God has done all things right and is relying on us to fulfil His mission of healing and transforming lives. Amen!
