+In Nomine Iesu+
Pentecost 15St Mark 7:31-37
9 September 2012
I have sometimes thought that if God had hair there would be times
He would be pulling it out by the roots. Let me explain. In the
gospel this morning, what does Jesus command the people to do? “And
Jesus chargedthem to tell no one.” Be quiet. That’s a command.
Don’t tell anyone what you have seen. Not a word to your spouse,
your children, your neighbors. No talking. Keep silent!
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So what happens? “But the more He charged them, the more
zealously they proclaimed it.” No matter what Jesus said, the people
wouldn’t shut up. Like so many Paul Reveres, they spread the
message far and wide.
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Now, think ahead to the end of Jesus’ ministry. In Matthew 28
– just before His ascension – Jesus gives instructions to His
church concerning the future. The Church – primarily through the
apostles and their successors – is to busy itself in making
disciples from all peoples. How? By baptizing and teaching. In other
words, by speaking. By speaking the Gospel in Word and Sacraments.
And over the years this command has created a lot of “ho-humming”
among Christians. When Jesus orders the people to be quiet, they
won’t shut up. And when He orders them to speak, they either
can’t bring themselves to do it, or else they don’t know how. If
God had hair, I think He would be pulling it out by now.
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Fathers especially – and I include myself here – are often
delinquent in regard to speaking the things of God. Fathers will
teach their children many things. How to fish and hunt. How to
whistle. How to make a stubborn lawn mower work. How to drive a
pickup or tractor. How to balance a checkbook. But, very often, when
it comes to teaching their children the “fear of the Lord” – in
other words, the proper worship of God – then fathers go silent, and
absent. It falls to mothers to teach Bible stories at home. To teach
children how to pray. To a large degree fathers abdicate their
responsibilities as Christ’s priests in and for their families.
Why?
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I think often the answer lies in perceptions. Perceptions of what
is manly, for instance. The crowds grew excited as they watched Jesus
deal with the deaf mute in our text. Why? Because of what He did.
Jesus physically attacked this individual’s problems in a manly way.
He stuck His fingers into the man’s ears. That was a very obvious
action on the part of Jesus. The crowds could see that Jesus was going
to the “heart” of the problem, so to speak. Then Jesus spit.
Real men spit. All over the place, sometimes. Another physical action
from Jesus. It’s only after the physical actions are complete that
He speaks to the deafness and the muteness. Words come last.
“Ephphatha.” “Be opened.” The old adage certainly seems to
apply in our text: “Seeing is believing.” And the response of
the crowd seems to bear this out. “He has done all things well.”
There the reference is more toward Jesus’ deeds than to His words.
Here was physical action that bore immediate physical results. And as
a result the people couldn’t be kept from blabbing all over the
place.
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But in Matthew 28 – in what we call the ‘Great Commission’
– the reverse seems to be the case. In baptizing and teaching, the
actions are minimal and words dominate. We don’t baptize with
super-soakers or fire hoses. There’s no spectacle. We Lutherans
don’t even insist that people be immersed – preferably in a river
somewhere. We’re convinced that the biblical texts make no such
demand. While others will say that when the Bible speaks of Jesus
coming up out of the water after His baptism, that this indicates that
He was totally immersed – and by implication so must we be if ours
is to be a valid baptism – we will say “no.” We will simply
point to the fact that Jesus was baptized in a river, and to come up
out of the water is nothing more than a description of coming up out
of the river, since – by definition – a river must be lower than
the surrounding land. In other words, if one is going to get out of a
river, that person must come “up.” It’s as simple as that, and
nothing more.
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In Matthew the actions seem rather minimal. It’s the words that
count. Words teach. And it is precisely at this point that people
– men especially – fall silent. Maybe, if in a baptism the water
in the font stood straight up as it did when Moses led Israel through
the Red Sea – maybe then our tongues would be loosed and we would be
speaking to anyone who would listen. Maybe if the bread and wine in
the Lord’s Supper mysteriously combined into one substance before
the eyes of the congregation – maybe then we would no longer remain
quite so mute.
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But let’s go one step further this morning. The crowds stand in
awe of Jesus and declare, “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute
speak.” Notice the word “even.” It’s like the crowd is
keeping score. They have been keeping track of Jesus’ miracles.
“Here’s another one,” they are thinking. ‘Even this’ –
the return of hearing and speech – ‘even this’ Jesus can do.
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But isn’t this exactly what has happened to you as well? Even you
are able to rightly hear and rightly speak the praise of God. And not
simply because of some physical gift involving Jesus’ fingers and
spit. No. The gift you have received has involved the entire body of
your Lord – the entire body of the “only begotten Son of the
Father.” Jesus has given himself into death for you. Bound –
willingly bound in your sins He has offered himself to His heavenly
Father as the sacrifice for your redemption. And His offering has
been accepted. How do we know that? By His resurrection. By being
raised back to life Jesus has been vindicated. And you with Him.
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Now that very death and resurrection is constantly being given into
your mouth for the forgiveness of your sins – and for the unloosing
of your faculties. Jesus opens your ears to hear His words of
absolution. The promise of forgiveness delivered, permeates –
should permeate – all preaching, all sacraments, all liturgy. In
the Church and her worship, forgiveness surrounds you.
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What was the order of the miracles in our text? First the ears,
then the tongue. So it is for you. And since I have been rather rough
on fathers this morning, I must especially say – so it is for you.
First your ears have been opened so that you can properly hear the
voice of your Savior. And, secondly, your tongue has also been loosed
so that you can not only repent of yourself, but also confess Jesus as
the Way, the Truth and the Life. And in that act of confessing Jesus
in your home, you will teach Him in your families.
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Such mercy our Lord has for us that He will not allow us to be
either un-hearing, or incapable of proper speech. Truly, He has done
all things well. All things – for you, my friends.
Amen
+Soli Deo Gloria+
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