Pentecost 22A

14 Pentecost, Proper 18

September 6, 2009

Rev. Ken Wratten at St. Stephen’s, San Jose

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, = 22-23 God cares for the poor and weak.

Psalm 125 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; The Lord shows goodness to the good.

James 2:1-10, 14-17 Faith= by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Mark 7:24-37 &= nbsp; Jesus heals a blind man with a speech disorder, saying “Be opened”.

Some friends brought a deaf man with a speech impedime= nt to Jesus, hoping beyond hope that Jesus would heal him. Jesus took this deaf m= an away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears. He spat and touched= the deaf man’s tongue (with the spittle). Then looking up to heaven, he sigh= ed and said to him, “Ephphatha”, which in Aramaic means, “Be opened”.

Jesus didn’t say: be well; you are healed; hear = again; speak plainly. He said to the= man “be opened”.

Jesus’ choice of words shows that there was anot= her purpose happening here. There= was a message being delivered through this healing. There was another healing goi= ng on besides what the witnesses could see. And Jesus wanted people to underst= and the deeper meaning to what he was doing.

Jesus had left the familiar Jewish town of <= st1:place>Capernaum, and went to Tyre and = Sidon, then on to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, = in the region of the Decapolis. Most of that trip was through Gent= ile territory. Sidon and Tyre were very affluent cultural centers on the Mediterranean Sea, strongly influenced by Hellenism (the emperor’s drive for Greek culture to dom= inate the Roman Empire).&= nbsp; These cities had both been sites of Canaanite pagan worship. The Decapolis was a Greek settlement. =

The deaf person Jesus healed was very likely a Gentile= ; somebody who didn’t know God. But people there had gotten word of Jesus’ power to heal, so his friends decided to try visiting Jesus, for the sake of their friend. I believe that = what Jesus said to the deaf man was about “opening” his spirit to see who God is, and to see that God loved him.= In scripture “the inability to hear” is used to describe= the inability to understand who God is. Jesus often said, “Let anyone with ears listen!”

In Isaiah 42:18-20 God says to His servant Israel, “Listen, you who are deaf; and you that are blind, look up and see! Who is blind but my servant, or de= af like my messenger whom I send? Who is blind like my dedicated one, or blind like the servant of the Lord? He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.”

Being called blind and deaf symbolizes being ignorant = of God, or being unable to understand what God is trying to teach. Jesus’ ministry was meant to= open our minds, and bring us a fresh understanding about God.

This healing Jesus performed on the deaf man was certa= inly a physical transformation. The deaf man was able to hear and to speak. Think about that miracle. If this man was born deaf, he had = never heard the spoken word. But when Jesus “opened” him, he could not only HEAR, but he could UNDERSTAND perfectly. He didn’t need language lessons. He was given the gif= t of hearing, but also of understanding.= You and I see physical transformations happen all the time. You and = I have experience or witness miraculous healings in health, or attitude, or commitment, or relationship, or understanding. That is God doing physical transformation.

The healing by Jesus of the deaf man is also a spir= itual transformation: “be opened”. The people in this Gentile land we= nt away praising God. Their spir= itual lives were transformed. They = felt God first hand. They knew God first hand.

A personal example of spiritual transformation is the = love among my brothers and sister and me. We grew up without any hugging; no kisses from mom and dad when we said good night. But after I had moved away from home, and had experienced my new bir= th as a brother of Jesus Christ, and a son of God, I moved back to my home tow= n. I brought a lot of hugging with me. I’ll never forget the first time I hugged my dad. It was a big fat bear hug. His eyes almost popped out of his head; either from how hard I hugged him, or from the shock that any of us W= rattens would hug each other. But that day started a new age of us showing with hug= s that we love each other; We even say out loud that we love each other! We guys e= nd every one of our phone calls saying, I love you, brother. That was a spiritual transformation. We put God in= our relationship.

Jesus’ healing of the deaf man describe describe= s how our physical senses (hearing, seeing, speaking) are gateways for spir= itual wellness, but only if we are open to God. It’s very easy for us to bec= ome numb to the natural beauty of this region of California we live in; or the beauty and priceless gift of our children, or our spouse, or a true friend. It is easy to be deaf= and blind and speechless about God’s hand in all of that. It’s easy to be so distracte= d by heavy traffic, long hours of work, urgent deadlines, and worry over money, that o= ur senses miss that God wants more for us, and more from us.

Jesus wants our physical senses used to see and hear a= nd share with others how God loves us unconditionally and without limits; how = the most precious thing in our life is our relationship with the God who made u= s, because without that relationship being active and healthy, nothing else works right. <= /p>

Jesus didn’t say to the deaf man; be well; you a= re healed; hear again; speak plainly. Jesus told the man to “be opened”. Jesus is sending us that same mess= age; “be opened”.

If you never open yourself to look for God, you are li= kely to never see God. If you cons= tantly look for God, you are likely to see God at work everywhere, all arou= nd you, in ways you never imaged possible.

Jesus didn’t settle for healing of ailment or disability. He requires that = you and I look within ourselves and make an assessment and a decision.

Where are you closed in spirit;
from giving of yourself in relationships
from honesty in your friendships
from looking for God at work in your life
from feeling God’s love for you
from trusting God to care for you
from openly risking love from others?

Our Christ says to you, “Ephphatha; Be opened.&#= 8221; Amen.