Mark 7:24- 37
Theme: Healing Miracles of Jesus
Title: Open Ears, Open Hearts and Open Praise
This sermon centers on the deaf man (verses 31 - 37). Mark shares with us that he experienced 1. Open Ears 2. An Open Heart 3. Open Praise
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD who came to take away the sins of the world!
Her full name was Jeanette Stamper Spencer. Some of her closest friends called her "Nettie". I called her "granny" - "Granny Spencer". She was my Granny on my mother's side.
For quite a number of years she lived in a small trailer about a tenth of a mile from our house. For more years than I can remember one of my siblings or I would take her a meal. We would walk out to granny's trailer, bring her a meal and spend some time talking with her.
At first granny was a lot of fun. She was a little hard of hearing and couldn't see very well but she was able to make the best popcorn you could ever eat. She had this amazing laugh and was just as plain and country as cornbread. She never had a radio or even a T.V. But when you visited her she could shared some of the best stories about life you could ever imagine. I loved to hear her tell her stories.
Towards the end of her life, everything got to be a little more complicated . The last few years she could barely make out shadows and her hearing was all but vanished. She was practically blind and deaf. Looking back now I realize how much strength and courage it took for her to live alone in that little trailer.
It was during this phase of her life that we had to start communicating with her in a rather unusual way. The only way you could get her to come to the door was to knock hard enough so that she could sense the vibrations of door coming through the floor. And she would have to feel your hand or pick up the smell of your clothes or cologne to know your identity. At times she could see some light and shadows but on a cloudy day she couldn't make out basic shapes at all. She was dependent on others being compassionate, honest and sincere.
The only way to talk to her was to have her sit down in her rocking chair while you sat in the little chair that was right beside it. You would take her hand, turn it over palm side up and very slowly spell out letter by letter the message you wanted her to understand. Granny didn't know Braille so this was one of the only ways to communicate with her.
This whole process was time consuming and at times very frustrating. Even simple things like "How are you" "Are you feeling well" "Are you hungry" and "Do you need anything" felt like your were pouring molasses on a piece of bread. At times she would get confused and you would have to start all over again. Both sides - her side and your side needed the patience of Job.
But as exasperating as it was for us - it must have been even more exasperating for her. Slowly and surely her small world was getting more minuscule and minute. She had left a big old house in the country with all this land to live in a tiny old trailer on a small plot of land.
Sadly, in time she lost the ability to be able to walk around the outside of that little trailer because she couldn't hear or see well enough. Then she lost the freedom to maneuver comfortably around the inside of that trailer along with the ability to prepare her own meals. Finally, she had to depend on someone else for practically everything - the cleaning of her clothes, her home and towards the end basic hygiene.
"Granny's" life had been a difficult one. Earlier in life she had lost two husbands - both as a result of tragic circumstances. She had lost a child by way of disease and for a period time because she didn't have the money or means to take care of all her children, she had to watch some of her precious little ones go off to live with other family members. But through it all she held fast and did her best to survive.
The more she lost the ability to see and hear the less she trusted people. She began to experience anxiety attacks constantly believing that people were talking about her and judging her. At times she would get angry because she just knew that if more than one person came to see her that they were saying bad things about her or thought bad things about her. Not being able to see or hear caused her to experience great anxiety and angst.
I miss her. I miss her stories and I miss her homemade buttered popcorn. But I am so glad that today she is with Jesus. And I am glad that when I see her again that she will have perfect vision, perfect hearing and perfect health. I am glad that her heart will no longer be broken over the death of her loved ones and that forever she will be able to live on God's New Heaven and New Earth.
The story we have before this morning has always spoken to my heart. In some ways this man was like my "granny". While he did not suffer blindness, he did have to deal with not being able to hear and not being able to speak very well.
It's not that unusual for someone who has been born deaf to have problems speaking. After all they can only feel the vibrations of their own sounds and when you can't hear it's very difficult to learn how to talk. It's really amazing that he was able to make intelligent sounds at all. Perhaps what had happen was that his deafness came after he had at least learned to talk a little. At least that is what most Bible Scholars believe.
Whatever happened by the time we get to his story here in the Gospel of Mark, his is pretty much living in his own isolated world. He is having to deal with a world that has no sound to him and a world that is frustrated both with his inability to hear and his inability to be able to communicate fully.
Life was no picnic for him or for those around him. In an age that had no hearing aids, no international sign language, no universal health care or governmental support this man had an uphill battle to say the least. He either had to beg for his basic needs or have a tremendous support group around him. Thankfully, the Bible tells us that at the time of this encounter with Jesus, he had the later. Let's take some time to look at this passage in more detail. Let's look at how this man experienced Open Ears, An Open Heart and a time of Open Praise.
I. Open Ears
It is important for us to fully understand that this man could not hear Jesus. He could not hear Jesus' teaching or his sermons. He had never heard Jesus tell some about the Kingdom of Heaven or about how much His Heavenly Father loved them. In fact, unless he could read or write he probably didn't really know very much about Jesus at all. Once again, his world was a quiet world. While there may have always been a great deal of noise around him that noise had passed him.
Granny's world was like that. I wish I could say that I was always supportive, always caring and always understanding with her. I wish I could say that her daughters and sons and friends were always understanding, kind and supportive.
But at times it was frustrating and right on the edge of being maddening. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. We couldn't get our point across and she couldn't understand us and communicate with us at times. Messages that should have taken micro seconds took minutes. Messages that should have been quickly understood at times vanished into the thin air.
Things you could get across with a certain look were useless. Things you could get across with the inflection of your voice were meaningless. You were reduced to holding a hand, writing one letter out at a time and waiting to see if she got the letter, the word, the sentence and the meaning.
At times we would try to just short cut the process and do things for her expecting her to just welcome it all. Sometimes she did and then again sometimes she saw it as an intrusion. At other times we would just do our best to talk around her and avoid bringing her into the conversation. It just took too much time and energy to include her.
But it was amazing how she could sense what was going on around her. She knew at times that her daughters were trying to move her stuff, collect her stuff to get it washed or whatever. She seemed to have a second sense about all of these things and she didn't want to be left out. Her world was already getting smaller and smaller and she didn't want to be left out completely.
I believe this morning that this man was in a similar condition. He needed help with life. He didn't have the means to do everything for himself. How could he hear directions to go somewhere? How could people understand fully what he said? How many times was he misunderstood? How many times did people just avoid him, talk around him or wave him off? How many times did he feel alone, abandoned and forgotten? How many times did he feel rejected? How many times did he want to scream out for everything to just stop, to pay attention to him and to be patient?
Mark reminds us how important it is for us to slow down and just be with people. To make a conscious and concentrated attempt to go at their pace instead of always trying to make them go at our pace. To take some time and remind ourselves that we all need to do our best to practice some patience and show some consideration and compassion. To take some time and understand that we all move at different paces, we all have to deal with our own brokenness and that we all need to be there for one another.
Did you happen to notice where all of this took place?
Mark tells us that it was not very far from that pig place. Remember that area that Jesus healed the demon possessed man and sent the demons into those pigs? Apparently, that man had done a great job telling everyone about Jesus. Perhaps it was through his stories or perhaps he was in the group of people that brought this deaf man to Jesus. If he was what a great story of being redeemed and helping other people find redemption.
One of the greatest aspects of this story is that it shows us how much we need one another and much we need to be looking out for one another. We need to be looking after one another - physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. We need to take the time to slow down and help one another. We need to go out of our way to include others in our conversations and life.
This man would have never experienced healing without the help of his friends. They were the ones that Mark tells us that begged Jesus to heal him. They were the ones that took the time to lead him, direct him, pay his way and use their voices, their resources and their time to get him to Jesus. They put themselves on the line for this deaf man. Their love, respect and care for him is inspirational.
Today, we need to pray that the LORD will put boys and girls, men and women in our lives that we can do the same thing. People that are broken - either by life, by themselves or by circumstances. People that cannot find their own way. People that suffer from all kinds of conditions. People that need to find Jesus. People that we can cover with prayer, that we can share our resources with and that we can share the love of Jesus.
II. An Open Heart
Mark lets us know that Jesus understood this man. He understood him in ways that those around him didn't. He understood that that he didn't want to be the center of attention. He understood that if He really wanted to help this man he needed to get him alone and so Jesus took him away from the multitude. Jesus went away to spend some one on one quality time with this man. Jesus went to work not only on his ears and his tongue but his heart as well.
Verse 33 tells us that once they were alone Jesus slipped his fingers into the man's ears. He spit on his fingers and touched the man's tongue. Then looking up into heaven Jesus sighed and said - EPHPHATHA (ef-fä-thä) - the Aramaic word that means - BE OPEN. Immediately, the man's ears were open and he was able to speak without any barrier or impediment.
It's interesting to see how Jesus worked so calmly and patiently with this man. There is so much compassion in his passage. There is so much understanding. Jesus takes the time to let this man know that He understands what he needs by way of touching his ears and his tongue. Jesus sighs not as a sign of being upset or in pain himself but as a way of letting the man know He feels his suffering and pain. Jesus wants the man to know that his needs have touched his own heart. It is a wonderful story of love, gentleness and compassion. It's a wonderful story of healing and wholeness.
But what is rather odd about this whole story is that word - EPHAPHATHA (ef-fä-thä) - Mark includes it instead of merely using the common Greek word. Now, we know that Jesus mainly spoke to his crowds in Aramaic but when Mark wrote his Gospel he did so in Greek translating Jesus' Aramaic words into Greek words.
Mark was largely writing to a Gentile audience so it would have made little sense to write them a Gospel in a language that they would not have understood. But here he leaves the world Jesus used in its native tongue - Aramaic. That could not have been by accident and it wasn't.
You see there were actually two major healings going on in this story. It's the reason why Mark choose to use Jesus' original Aramaic word instead of going with the normal Greek word. EPHAPHATHA (ef-fä-thä) not only meant "Open Up" but it also contained the idea of "Connect" as well. Ephaphatha meant the opening up of something so that there could be a connection/a relationship. Ephaphatha meant that a barrier had been removed that separated two things from one another. It was the word commonly used by Jesus' people to command how someone would open a window so that the air from the outside could come inside a house. One would "Ephaphatha" the window so that the outside and inside could be connected.
Jesus was very interested in bringing a physical healing, an opening, a connection to this man. He, His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit did not intend for anyone to be broken physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Our Good Creator God did not breath His Life into us for us to suffer in such fashions.
All the disease, the brokenness and the pain we suffer in this world is a result of humanity, of us giving the Devil (evil) power over our lives when we sin. All the disease, the brokenness and the pain we suffer here on this earth stems from the effects of sin - idolatry, pride, selfishness, greed and the like.
In Isaiah chapter 35 the Prophet speaks of what will happen when the Messiah arrives. In verses 4 - 7 (cf. v. 5) we read where "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped". When all of this begins to happen Israel was to understand that the Kingdom of Heaven was breaking in and that God's plan to rescue and redeem mankind was underway.
They were to understand that the LORD God Almighty would be rescuing and redeeming in all ways - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Wholistically. Jesus wanted this man to be able to connect with hearing the words of other men and being able to speak with other men. Jesus knew that was vital for a person to exist in this world and experience an Abundant Life. But alongside of all of this, Jesus knew that a deeper healing and a deeper connection was needed. This man needed to be able to hear, connect and speak to His Heavenly Father.
Jesus knew that what this man needed was a healing that went beyond the body and the mind. Jesus knew that this man needed a healing that touched down to the very parts of his spirit. Jesus knew that this man's deepest need included both his body and his spirit.
You see, it would do little good to return this man to his friends and to life in general with a mere physical healing that in time would once again fail. For not matter how many physical healings we enjoy in this present life the reality is that "... it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
There will come a day when these bodies of ours - these skins of flesh that presently house our spirits will one day cease to function. These "skins of flesh" will cease to be able to house our spirits. They will return to the earth from which they came. We all know this. But for now we need them. For now our physical bodies are our spirit's address. If you want to deal with our spirits right now, you have to deal with our physical bodies as well. And when our physical bodies are out of whack it can cause us great problems, concerns and heartaches.
That's one side of the coin. The other side of the coin reminds us that all of this can also enable us to experience some deep insights as well. There are questions that we ask ourselves and God when we find ourselves facing surgery, having to deal with intense pain and having to deal with bodies that are failing, growing old or that are suffering from an accident, a disease or an chronic condition. There are things that happen to our bodies that can even help us better connect to God if we are open to such connections. There are things that happen to our bodies that enable us to Be Open to God in whole new ways.
Jesus knew the importance of both our physical flesh and our spiritual reality. After all God in Flesh was living in his own physical housing unit. He understood the value of a physical body. He knew the joys and sorrows that comes with having your spirit housed in a temple of made up of blood, bones and muscles.
That is why he compassionately takes the man away so that they can talk about his flesh house and his spiritual soul. Both are vital. One will waste away and if the other one has been reborn ( the spirit) then one day that spirit will get a resurrected housing unit that will last forever. One that will never feel pain, sorrow or suffering.
Mark lets us know that this man received a wholistic healing. He not only experienced a physical healing of his ears and his tongue but he experienced a healing of his spiritual ears and tongue as well. Now this man could hear and speak without an impediment to his family, friends and others.
But that was not all. Mark lets us know in his own way this man was now connected to God in a whole new way. Ephphatha (ef-fä-thä) was not only an opening of the physical man but an opening of the spiritual man as well.
III. Open Praise
Thirdly, Mark lets us know that every time someone is truly touched by Jesus they can't keep it quiet. They just have to praise the LORD. They just have to share the Good News. They just have to stand up and tell someone.
This man had been changed - physically and spiritually. His whole life had been opened up. He was no longer the same man who had come into their midst just minutes before. He was no longer the same man that had been brought to Jesus by his friends. He would go back home forever a transformed man physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. When he got back from his little one on one encounter with Jesus everyone around him knew that something miraculous had happened.
He could hear. He could hear the birds sing. He could hear the wind blow through the trees and the grass. He could hear the voices of the children playing. He could hear his own voice. He could hear the voice of his friends. He could hear the voice of Jesus.
He could speak. No longer did he have to wonder if people understood him. No longer did he have to stay quiet. Now, he could freely join in conversing with his friends. Now he could say exactly what was on his heart and mind.
But it was more than that. Jesus had opened up a whole new world for this man. He had been touched by God Himself. His life had received a divine healing - Body, Soul and Spirit. Now he was able to connect with God in a whole new way. He could speak to God, hear God and communicate with God.
Now, we all know you don't have to physically be able to hear or speak in order to communicate with God. We know that God's ear is open to us whether we can hear or not. We know that we can speak to God through our hearts, minds and spirits. But all of this was new to this man. A whole new life had been given to him.
And he was going to praise the LORD, his friends were going to praise the LORD and all of the community around him was going to praise the LORD. Not just for this man's healing but because they saw right before their eyes that God's Kingdom was breaking forth. The words of the Prophet Isaiah was coming to pass right before their eyes. God was doing a new thing all around them.
What appeared to be private couldn't be kept private.
When St. Mark wrote his Gospel and urged his readers to follow Jesus, he saw a life full of miracles, anointings and blessings for them. He did not envision a life of conventional religion. He did not envision Jesus' disciples being bored or apathetic or half committed. Instead, he envisioned a life in which a community would come together and experience things that would make those who saw them astonished. He envisioned a community that would come together and spend some quality time in praise and worship. He envisioned a community dedicated to providing a place of comfort and peace. He envisioned a community that would spend their time sharing all that God was doing in their lives among one another and with others.
He envisioned a community that would experience the ability to hear God in new ways. A community that would experience the ability to hear one another in new ways. He envisioned a community of Christ followers that would make it their mission to:
+Reach out to others with compassion - to do all they could to meet people's physical, mentally, emotional and spiritual needs
+Take time to be with really be with each other - allowing the fruit of gentleness, compassion, patience and kindness to be displayed
+Reach out to others in evangelism - to have as a one of our primary purposes to help someone come to faith in Jesus. That we would do all we can through prayer, fasting, inviting, sharing and being salt and light for those around us to come to Jesus.
Mark's words here cause us to pause and to think why we have church in the first place. Is it more for us or does it allow us to have this sacred time and space so that others can find Jesus? Is it a time dedicated solely for us to experience praise and worship or is it a sacred opportunity to reach out to our friends, family and community so that they might hear and experience the presence of Jesus?
We may not be able to speak well or to hear everyone around us but we can decide to be a prayer warrior for the lost and the unchurched. We can decide that over the next period of time we will go to the LORD daily for the spiritual needs of others. We can decide that when given the opportunity we can share how much we love Jesus and how Jesus has transformed our lives. We can decide to do all we can to bring people to Jesus.
+Reach out in praise. Our Lord is doing all kinds of things all around us if we will only see it, hear it and experience it. God is healing, blessing, comforting, anointing and watching over us. God's House is to be more than a house of Biblical Innformation, insight and knowledge. It is to be a House full of both Praise and Prayer. It is to be a House full of burdens being lifted, lives being freed and chains being broken. It is to be a House full of testimonies. It is to be a House where people are "astonished beyond measure".
This morning as we close let us do so by asking the LORD to help us find those who are spiritually deaf and cannot speak. Let us ask the LORD to help us have open ears to receive His words. Let us ask the LORD to help us be able to use our tongues to bring Him praise, glory and honor. Let us ask the LORD to help us be a Church full of people who are praising Him, living for Him and doing our best to bring others to Him.
Closing Song - He Touched Me
Open Altar/Prayer/Blessing
