St. Mark 7:31-37
Dearly beloved,
In the 20th Century an Episcopalian theologian by the name of Francis
Shaeffer wrote a book on the decline of Western Culture. He charted the
history of the world and the church in the midst of it, and he analyzed the
reasons for modern society’s state of affairs and presented the only viable
alternative: living by the Christian ethic, acceptance of God’s revelation,
and total affirmation of the Bible’s morals, values, and meaning. It proved
to be a very important book for the thoughtful theologian living right in
the midst of the modern world.
He didn’t exactly solve the problem, but he presented the
problem in an accurate way. The point Schaeffer was driving home is
basically this: our society today is most concerned about the individual. The
individual lives by a heightened sense of self-importance and
entitlement. Every
man is his own island. What we find, as a result of this, is that a church
community for example is not all that important. The individual promotes
the self, not the corporate body the church. This bleeds into families, as
well.
The family nucleus has been split apart. It is often the
case that careers take over in importance, over and against the health and
cohesiveness of the family. Individuals decide they don’t like their spouse
anymore, so they move on. I can guarantee that if we were to sit here today
and flesh out how we fall into these categories, then we would see
self-serving, individualistic behavior that ends up hurting other people. When
I say that we must live by the Christian ethic, to parrot Francis Shaeffer,
I am saying though we have sin, though we live in this sin-filled world, we
are to live differently. The lections for today bring great emphasis to
this.
We all know how the Epistle of James reads. James likes to
talk about the Christian life in view of faith. In fact, we hear those
famous words of James, “some one will say, ‘you have faith and I have
works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will
show you my faith. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the
demons believe and tremble.” James is not saying that you are saved by
works. What James is saying is that you, by being God’s child, will live a
new life of love. Once Christ comes into us through Holy Baptism, then we
begin to live the new life in Christ. Christianity is not a dead faith. It
is not merely a cerebral exercise.
Once a Christian man becomes a father, then he begins to
exercise his faith by raising his children in that faith. In fact, I want
to draw a parallel to what I read to you from James. The parallel I want to
draw from is in Deuteronomy 6:7. This echoes James, or, to say it
correctly, James echoes Moses. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one
Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you
this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to
your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you
walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Notice the parallel. Both men make the statement, “You
believe that God is one.” This is doctrine. That is not all Moses and
James say. They talk about living the faith. Moses says it a little more
cryptically than James, but it is the same. Moses is saying that the father
is to teach the children all that is commanded. The father is to teach when
they are sitting, when they are walking, when the lie down and when they
rise. In other words, Moses is saying that the father is to teach the
teachings of God all the time. This implies teaching through Christian
service. This is the Christian ethic. This includes the aspect of how we
live the faith.
This applies to you whether you have children or not. We
teach volumes through the things that we do. A pious Christian will
demonstrate his or her faith through acts of mercy and love. On the
contrary, those who purport to be Christians but do not know how to love and
be merciful set themselves up for great disappointments, as James blatantly
spells out when he says, “even the demons believe and shudder.” The demons
know that Jesus exists, but they are full of hate and self-indulgence.
These are tough words and thoughts for the baptized
Christian, because if you are paying attention and reflecting, then you
should be troubled by your own sin. Think how often we have failed to teach
through our actions. How often have we shown hate and a higher sense of
self-importance when others needed us? But isn’t this why Jesus came? Here
comes the beautiful part. This is where St. Mark’s gospel comes in. Jesus
cures a deaf man. The man was deaf and he couldn’t speak. Like most people
who have never heard speech before, he had never learned how to form words
from hearing and speak.
Jesus takes the man aside privately. Jesus spits on his
fingers, places them in the man’s ears and on his tongue and commands the
ears to be opened. There is much to be made here that is of a spiritual
nature. For our purposes today, let it suffice to just say this: Jesus
could have opened the ears of the man and he could hear. In time the man
may have been able to form words and begin to speak, but it would have been
a real struggle. But Jesus doesn’t just open the ears to hear. Jesus
looses the tongue to respond. The reason? Faith does not remain idle. Faith
responds. James’ words remind us that God’s word falls on ears that hear
but do not respond sometimes.
The deaf man is highlighted for us, however. We cannot
speak, we cannot love, we cannot serve, we cannot be merciful unless our
Lord loves us first. Jesus must show us what love is. Jesus must open our
ears to hear first. Jesus must die on the cross for our sins first. There
are two parts to the Christian ethic: Faith which takes hold of the gift and
then living the new life that we have been given.
Jesus is the one who works it, and I want to remind you of
something in this regard. The opening of the ears of the deaf man happened
once to that man, but the spiritual opening of our ears and the loosing of
our tongues to respond must happen over and over again. Because of sin, we
are going to find that we must repent of our sins. We need Christ’s
forgiveness, and we need Him to lead us to live the life of faith. This is
why we gather around the altar, lecturn and pulpit regularly. It is in the
gifts given through the word and sacrament that our ears are opened by
Jesus, and our tongues and hearts given power to speak and act.
Salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone. By His cross
your sins are forgiven and washed away. By His death and resurrection you
are given a new life in Christ that abounds in His love. To God alone be
the glory. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
