EMBRACING CHILDREN

 

When I was a small boy, we visited our aunts quite frequently. These were my mother’s sisters. Mom was the youngest of 8 girls so all of my aunts were older than she. When my aunts greeted us, they always gave us a big hug and a kiss. As little boys, we were not always thrilled with this greeting.

I mention that because in our Gospel (Mark 9:30-37), Jesus took a child in his arms and said to his followers, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Those were shocking words to his listeners. In Jesus’ time, small children were not treated with the same kindness and respect that adults gave one another. They were not able to function for themselves like adults. They needed constant care. At times, they were a bother. They were often sent as spies by their parents to get gossip on other families. They were not greeted with the same enthusiasm and love my aunts gave me and Jesus gave the child.

Yet, Jesus said, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” Perhaps there are children in our world who are not embraced in our arms the way this child was by God.

God embraces you as His children. How does it feel to be embraced by God? Can you imagine how it must really feel to be embraced by God? Doesn’t God’s hug feel wonderful?

In Jesus’ name, we should embrace God’s children of all ages, shapes and sizes. When we embrace God’s children, we embrace Jesus. We embrace His Father. We embrace God. With that, let us pray.

Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dumb Disciples Deliver

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon title is Dumb Disciples Deliver. My focus is our Gospel (Mk 9:30-37). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Dumb Disciples Deliver. You may never hear another sermon entitled Dumb Disciples Deliver. As I unpack the definition of the words and relate them to the Gospel and our lives, you will agree that dumb disciples deliver.

First, definitions. We define dumb as mute or lacking the power of speech or temporarily unable to speak. Humans consider animals dumb because they cannot communicate as we do. Gabriel struck dumb Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, because he doubted.

In Old German thumb meant both mute and stupid. The latter meaning made its way into Modern German. Subsequently, in Modern English, the German word dumm became synonymous with our word for foolish or ignorant.

Disciples. Disciple comes from the Latin word discipulus, meaning pupil or follower. Its root word, discere, means to learn. We define disciple as one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another. We refer to those who belonged to Jesus’ inner circle as disciples.

Early in his public ministry, Jesus called his disciples. In Mark, we read, “Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew … casting a net into the sea. … Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Later, James and John followed him. Many people became disciples of Jesus, and many disciples turned away and no longer walked with him.

After Jesus called his first disciples, he “went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

Jesus’ method of choosing disciples differed from the ways of Jewish rabbis or Greek philosophers. In his day, Jewish students sought rabbis, and Greek teachers enticed students. Jesus alone chose these twelve from among his followers. No patrimony or politics here.

Note that Mark wrote, “that they might be with him.” Jesus primarily chose these Twelve disciples for fellowship, indicating his human need for a support group. Secondly, they witnessed Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God through their preaching, teaching, miracles and martyrdom. In short, disciples witnessed to the world Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom.

We move to deliver. Many restaurants will deliver food to your table. UPS, FedEx, Amazon and the Post Office deliver to our doorsteps dog food and dietary supplements, prescriptions and packages large and small. I once worked as a delivery driver for a catering company. Indeed, sending something to a recipient is the primary definition of deliver.

Deliver has other meanings. Doctors and nurses delivered us, our children and grandchildren into the world. We hope our candidate can deliver a speech; our team delivers a championship or our new car delivers on gas mileage.

Deliver comes from the Latin word deliberare, specifically from two words: de meaning away and liberare meaning to free. Christ delivered us from Satan, sin and death. He taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil.” Enough for defining dumb, disciples and deliver. How do these words relate to our Gospel?

Today’s passage opens on Jesus’ turf, Galilee – from which he called disciples to follow him, through which he led them to Jerusalem, and where they returned after he rose. The journey through Galilee was secret. Because Jesus was teaching his disciples, he wanted to escape attention.

This passage was the second of three passion predictions. Each prediction varied slightly. If we examine the differences between the first and second, we notice what’s gone and what’s new.

What’s gone? The emphasis on the necessity of the passion and the resurrection, and references to the suffering of the Son of Man and his rejection by elders, chief priests and the scribes.

What’s new? Instead of repeating that the Son of Man would suffer, Jesus declared that the Son of Man would be delivered into the hands of men. Like his earlier expression of suffering many things, to be delivered alluded to the suffering servant in Isaiah, showing that his passion was according to God’s plan and purpose. Because “delivered” was commonly used to describe the fate of the prophets, Mark employed it not only to describe Jesus’ suffering and death, but also the arrest of John the Baptist and the betrayal of Judas.

Early Christians understood delivered as an expression of the divine necessity of Jesus’ death, and of their own inevitable experience in the service of the gospel. Paul wrote in Romans that God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all. Acts recorded Paul’s words to his brothers in Rome, “I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” In short, we understand that God delivered Jesus into the hands of men.

We understand that God delivered Jesus into the hands of men, but the disciples failed to understand. The phrase – “they did not understand” – normally meant ignorant, but here it meant incomprehension and fear. Frightened by Jesus’ remarks, the disciples did not even ask him what he meant.

The irony is clear in the next segment, when Jesus caught his disciples jockeying for position in God’s kingdom by debating who was the greatest. The Great One said that the route of self-sacrifice, not self-aggrandizement, is the way to go, but the disciples headed full speed in the other direction. Jesus spoke of passion; they discussed leadership succession.

When asked to explain their discussion, the disciples were struck dumb with embarrassment. They were not only dumb, but also blind. Jesus fixed his eyes on his rejection and martyrdom, while the disciples cast theirs on status and leadership. Failing to understand Jesus’ vocation as Son of Man and how this involved them, they continued their discussion down the road when James and John boldly asked what each disciple desired – to sit at Jesus’ left and right in his glory. In today’s passage, Jesus challenged the point of their discussion – the true nature of Christian greatness.

Jesus did not despise the desire to be first, but in God’s kingdom, his definition of greatness stood the world’s ordering of it on its head and radically challenged a fundamental assumption about achievement.

Because it was vital for the Twelve and Mark’s fellow Christians in Rome to understand Jesus’ teaching, he recalled all the important details. The setting was Capernaum, Jesus’ adopted home. The house – where teaching in intimate privacy between Jesus and the Twelve could occur – conveyed that Jesus directed his words primarily to committed disciples.

Finally, as he pulled close the Twelve, Jesus sat down. Sitting indicated important teaching. In Matthew, we read, “Jesus said to the crowds and his disciples, ‘The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do whatever they tell you.” Jews understood that sitting while teaching meant one was making a serious point.

His teaching was so radical that it needed constant repetition to the Twelve and early Christians. Jesus characterized greatness in God’s Kingdom through lowliness and service, like that of a domestic servant.

Jesus identified himself with the child – the lowliest, least and servant of all. A child ranked lowest on the social scale. A child had no self-determination and was not concerned with greatness; nor was Jesus. On the other hand, his disciples were preoccupied with greatness.

Here, Jesus did not instruct the Twelve to become like the child, but to welcome the child as they welcomed a friend or guest. His teaching reversed the ancient protocol where slaves and children, indeed all subordinate members of the household, were to serve the male head of the family. Jesus not only identified with the helpless and most vulnerable family members so that they may be helped, but also taught his closest disciples, the Twelve, to rid themselves of the usual hubris and power struggles for dominant positions, and serve even a child, a humiliating task in the minds of some.”

So, how do the words relate to today’s Gospel? … Eventually, Jesus’ dumb disciples delivered. They delivered the Good News of salvation by preaching Christ crucified and practicing his teachings. Like Jesus, they were delivered up for the sake of the Gospel. Although it took the Resurrection and Pentecost, the disciples delivered the Gospel and were delivered up because they followed the Risen Lord. Called out of Galilee into Jerusalem to witness his suffering, death and resurrection, on Pentecost the Holy Spirit impelled them to deliver the Good News of salvation.

Now that we unpacked each word’s definition and related them to the Gospel, we ask how my phrase relates to life today.

A few years ago, I attended the Global Leadership Summit. Apart from the barrage promoting speakers’ books and the Summit’s app, I took away one concept – Pastor Albert Tate’s dumb ideas.

Tate said you never know when God is going to put His hand on a dumb idea. For example: Before Pharaoh, Moses insisted upon freedom for his people. It’s a dumb idea for a fugitive to stand before the nation’s leader and insist upon freedom, but God put his hand on this dumb idea. Against Goliath, the shepherd boy David felled him with a slingshot. It’s a dumb idea to face a giant outfitted in armor and battle gear with only a strap of leather and a few smooth stones, but God put his hand on this dumb idea. Tate then reminded us that Jesus specialized in using dumb ideas.

Jesus' problem was disciples who tried to show him how to do things correctly. In Mark 6, we read that after Jesus taught the 5,000, his disciples said, “Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” Then Jesus said something very dumb. “You give them something to eat.” They had five loaves and two fish. Then, without consulting his staff, Jesus commanded everyone to sit, took the loaves and fish, looked to heaven, said a blessing, and gave them to the disciples who set them before the people. All ate and were satisfied.

Like the disciples, we, with our worldly wisdom and street smarts, would have suggested a better plan. … So, how do I take Jesus’ command to welcome a child in his name? How do I fulfill his lesson to be last and servant of all? How do I apply his teaching regarding greatness in God’s kingdom? How do I dedicate myself as a dumb disciple and deliver the Good News of Christ crucified?

Folks, maybe you are a leader in your community, maybe you sway opinions or execute authority, maybe people count your vote and consult your voice. Maybe not. Being Christian is not so much about leadership, but discipleship. Be a dumb disciple of Christ Jesus and you will deliver the Good News through the actions you speak. Those actions feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, visit the sick and imprisoned. Welcome the unwelcome and unnoticed in Jesus’ name, and you welcome the one who sent Christ.

When you do, do not think highly about yourself, but pray Martin Luther’s prayer posted in many churches. Lord God, You have appointed me as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as Your instrument - but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, imitate Luther’s humility. Devote your heart to our Triune God so that he can use you as his instrument, and when you do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Help my Unbelief!

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon title is Possession, Pistis and Prayer. My focus is our Gospel (Mk 9:14-29). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

The word possess means to have and hold as property, or to have as an attribute, such as knowledge or skill. It also means to seize and take control. Its root is the Latin word possidere, most likely a compound of potis, meaning powerful, and sedere, meaning to sit.

Here, we’re not talking about knowledge, skill or real estate, rather, we’re talking about demonic possession. Of course, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes in the existence of Satan and demonic beings, and individual pastors have participated from time to time in rites of exorcism. Yet, the Synod has no official position on demonic possession, nor does it subscribe officially to any formal rite of exorcism.

There are no Lutheran exorcists, however, there are a few accounts of Luther being involved in exorcisms, apart from the exorcism found in Baptism. For example, in his “Letter to Severin Schulze, June 1, 1545”, Luther simply advised the exorcist to lay hands on the possessed, recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, a Collect for Deliverance, and Mark 16:18.[1]

More recently, Pastor Robert Bennett chronicled a fascinating first-hand account of the spiritual warfare found within the Lutheran Church of Madagascar in I Am Not Afraid. However, if we want to learn more about demonic possession and exorcisms, we have to go beyond Lutheran circles and review more universal literature, but for now, we will stick to our passage.

In today’s Gospel, a father brings his son, possessed by an evil spirit, to Jesus that he may expel it. This is not the first time Jesus encountered demons. He faced them in the desert where he prayed and fasted for 40 days; and throughout his public ministry, he drove demons from men and women, sons and daughters. Most demonic encounters occurred in Mark, and while Matthew and Luke added similar or parallel accounts, John recorded none.

We see how demonic possession took over the personality of an individual, rendered him incapable of voluntary action, and propelled him into bizarre, destructive behavior.[2] Jesus healed these people using the same method for both individuals suffering from recognizable illnesses and those possessed by demons: presence, touch, word and authority.

Today’s account occurred immediately after Jesus and his three Transfiguration account companions rejoined the other disciples embroiled in an argument with scribes in the midst of a crowd. On catching sight of Jesus, the utterly amazed crowd ran and greeted him. The father answered Jesus’ question about the argument. He rightly expected the disciples to expel the demon since they had success after Jesus delegated them to do so. We read in chapter six, “They went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” (Mk 6:13-14) This case, however, proved to be too much for them.

Skipping ahead a few verses, the boy’s symptoms suddenly worsen. He falls, rolls around and foams at the mouth. Perhaps this was an attempt to dampen the fragile faith of the bystanders, and clearly, the evil spirit intends to destroy the innocent boy. After a brief discussion with the father, the crowd swelled and Jesus commanded the spirit to leave the boy. While most thought him to be dead, Jesus raised him up by the hand and returned him to his father.

Before I move to my second point, I leave you with this question: Do you turn to Jesus to conquer evil when you see its spirit possess not only innocent young people, but also mature men and women, societies and institutions? Do you turn to him when you find yourself powerless to rid your world and your life of gluttony, addiction, anger, avarice and other such sins? Do you recognize him today as the person with the power to conquer sin in your life, in your world? Have you asked him for the power to overcome evil? Ponder that as I move to my second point, pistis.

In Greek mythology, Pistis was the personification of good faith, trust and reliability. In Christianity and in the New Testament, pistis is the word for faith. Pistis’ Roman equivalent was Fides, a personified concept significant in Roman culture.

The Latin word for faith means trust, confidence, reliance, credence or belief. In the early 14^th century, it meant assent of the mind to the truth of a statement for which there is incomplete evidence, especially belief in religious matters. Faith is neither the submission of reason, nor is it the acceptance, simply and absolutely upon testimony, of what reason cannot reach. Faith is the ability to cleave to a power of goodness appealing to our higher and real self, not to our lower and apparent self.

Returning to our Gospel passage, at the moment Jesus heard that his disciples were unable to heal the boy, he exasperated, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”

Even though they witnessed many signs and miracles, these people lacked faith. He echoes the words his Father spoke to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” (Num 14:11) And while his words were aimed directly at his disciples, Jesus also included his contemporaries and indeed all of humanity, that is, you and me, stubborn and unbelieving in the face of God’s mercy.

At this point, his disciples were indistinguishable from the unbelieving crowd. Recall the great power Jesus displayed when the sea storm threatened to perish them. As soon as he calmed the forces of nature and the danger passed, Jesus chided his disciples for their feeble faith. “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Certainly, they turned to him in their moment of terror and dismay; but they did not yet grasp who he really was: sovereign lord over all creation. Here, in a less perilous moment, their lack of faith was a concern for Jesus since his time was running short. The result of their lack of faith and unbelief led to his sufferings.

I would hope that we are more like the father than the crowd. Like us, he brought his son to Jesus through his followers, that is, the Church, and said, “if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us,” to which Jesus rhetorically retorts, “If you can!”

You see, we should stand in the place of the father, who expressed a cautious, tentative hope that Jesus might be able to help somehow. For there is no question that Jesus can help. The accent here is not on what Jesus can do, but on the human capacity to open the door to God’s mighty works through the boldness of faith. The question is, what limiting barriers have you placed before Jesus when requesting his assistance?

Upon hearing Jesus’ reply, the man stretched his faith in Jesus by crying out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24) The man was humble enough to admit that he needed Jesus to reach into his heart and transform him into a believer that bringing his son to Jesus meant that he could heal him.

So, before I moved from pistis to prayer, ponder this. How often do you bring people to Jesus through prayer? Like a good doctor, do you inquire from the patient what the root problem is? Do you bring the person to Jesus in prayer and fasting? Folks, when you bring people to Jesus through prayer and fasting, whether or not they are healed in body and in spirit, they experience the living presence and power of Him in their hearts.

And now, my third point, prayer. Our passage concludes by telling us that when Jesus entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mk 9:28-29)

To me, it makes no sense that the disciples, already empowered with authority to cast out demons and heal the sick, were ineffective this time. One Biblical scholar wrote, “Jesus’ reply suggests that they must have lost sight of the need to depend completely on God and have imperceptibly taken on an attitude of self-reliance, as if exorcism were a mere formula. … Their ministry of healing and deliverance will bear fruit only through a reliance on God as they bring all the needs to the feet of Jesus in prayer. It is a lesson in humility in preparation for their ministry in the Church.”[3]

Throughout his life of ministry, Jesus encouraged his disciples to pray earnestly to the end. Luke recorded that when Jesus was in the Mount of Olives, he was in agony but prayed more earnestly. In Acts, when Peter was in prison, the church prayed earnestly to God for him.

So, what is prayer? Prayer is the necessary foundation of our work as church and individuals. It is communal and personal. We pray in our sanctuaries and rooms. To paraphrase one holy person, prayer is God looking at me, and me looking at God. It is from the heart, but it is also vocal. We speak the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught it to his disciples. Prayer also involves reading Scripture. By now you know that my wife and I read aloud the Psalms and other Biblical passages on a daily basis. Like you, we make time for prayer.

However, my friends, we all take time away from prayer. This summer, many of us took time away from work and home. We vacated our businesses and residences. We went on vacation.

Unfortunately, for some, vacation means time away from Word, Sacrament, public worship and private prayer. We become spiritually lazy. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints.” Another spiritual leader once wrote Christians who do not pray are Christians at risk. So, let me offer some advice to lessen your risk.[4]

There are two aspects to our prayer life. The first one involves making our whole lives a conversation with God. Daily, in a simple and familiar way, we should turn our hearts and thoughts toward him often, believing that he is always looking at us with love. Everything that is part of our lives can nourish this conversation: beautiful things help us give him praise and thanks, difficulties help us to ask for his aid, and even our faults help us ask him for forgiveness! Everything, good and bad, can become an opportunity to talk to God and to draw closer to him.

The second one involves taking breaks to regularly spend time just with God—to disconnect ourselves for a moment from the demands of our lives in order to be in his presence. For example, we can start with just fifteen minutes a day, and then periodically devote a longer amount of time. In these times, God can pour out his grace upon us. He can bring us strength and hope, and in his presence, our hearts can change.

To pray is not to perform but to welcome God in our poverty, in our powerlessness. It is not about being effective, about producing a result, but about being with God. God does not need our works, but he thirsts for our love.

For prayer to really make us touch God, and to allow ourselves to be touched by him, it only needs to be faithful and persevering, a sincere act of faith and trust, and an expression of our true desire to love.

Although prayer does not have to lead to insight and wisdom, it sometimes does. I know God’s enemies are active. Some are obvious and others subtle: evil powers and “good” people promoting lifestyles contrary to the Gospel and God’s Law whether they are the seven deadly sins compiled in Proverbs or vices in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. Some promote personal sins and others modern social sins –trafficking drugs and humans, violating fundamental rights of human nature and other sins.

As Jesus’ disciples, we must not only be aware of God’s enemies and the temptations they sow among us, but also awaken society to them. Prayerful Christians take their faith to the town square and the political sphere, to school and work, to family gatherings and on vacation.

Finally, it is important to remember that ultimately all creation is of God and in its origin is a blessing. Sin, division, destructiveness and death are part of our lives, and have their source in the devil. Yet, despite the sin we see in our lives and world, we remain hopeful, knowing that we are nourished by what God gives us: Word and Sacrament. We know that evil will ultimately be vanquished and complete unity with God will be realized.[5]

Friends, prayer means that you take your faith from these walls into the world. Place yourself at the feet of Jesus, and ask Him to free you from whatever spirit possesses you and prevents you from giving yourself totally to Him and the abundant life he offers. Pray that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Did you bring your lucky charms for the exorcism?  Oh, never mind, you’re Lutheran. Posted on November 22, 2010 by Pastor Joshua Scheer, www.steadfastlutherans.org.

[2] Demonic Possession, The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Richard McBrien, ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1995, pp. 407f.

[3] Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark. p. 180.

[4] Jacques Philippe, “Prayer during Times of Crisis,” The Word Among Us, September 2021, pp. 5ff.

[5] James A. Schmeiser, “Demons, Demonics, Devils,” The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, Michael Downey ed. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press, 1993, pp. 259f.

Boundaries

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is entitled Three B’s and my focus is our Gospel (Mark 7:24-37). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

My Three Bs today are Boundaries, Be Opened! and Beyond Measure. First, Boundaries. There are many different boundaries. Some of us think there are too many and some of us think other people don’t have any. The word boundary means that which indicates the limits of anything. It is a visible mark indicating a dividing line, a bound being the limit or furthest point of extension of any one thing. Boundaries mark our property. Before we could have our new house built, surveyors had to find and mark property boundaries.

Physical and political boundaries separate people into different regions. Down the road from our house the Ohio River separates West Virginia from Ohio. The Pyrenees mountains form the boundary between France and Spain. The Andes separate Chile from Argentina. Not all boundaries are created with concern for physical or cultural differences. Geometric boundaries are drawn using straight lines. One of the longest geometric boundaries is the border between the United States and Canada, but could you really tell the difference between a person from Minnesota and one from Manitoba?

Over the last one hundred years, political boundaries have been redrawn throughout Europe. Poland, Germany, the former Soviet states and Yugoslavia come to mind. Berlin itself was once controlled by four different nations outside Germany. There are also boundaries that we cannot control and cannot change. We learn to live with tectonic boundaries under earth’s surface.

Personal boundaries are the limits and rules we set for ourselves within relationships. People with healthy boundaries can say “no” to others, and are comfortable opening themselves up to intimacy and close relationships. People who always keep others at a distance have rigid boundaries. Alternatively, someone who tends to get too involved with others has porous boundaries.

The appropriateness of boundaries depends heavily on setting. What’s appropriate to say when you’re with friends might not be appropriate when you’re at work. Some cultures have different expectations when it comes to boundaries. For example, once when we introduced ourselves to new neighbors in Illinois, I shook hands with the husband, but the wife refused telling us that she did not shake hands with other men because of her religious beliefs as a Muslim. Same neighborhood, different cultures, different boundaries.

I mention this because boundaries play an important role in the Scriptures. Most Bibles illustrate the Land of Canaan from Abraham to Moses, from Joshua to Saul, the United Monarchy of David and the divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Later we see how the land of Jesus looked as it was occupied by Assyrians, Persians and Romans.

After Jesus completed teaching his disciples about what defiles and does not, he crossed boundaries when he went to the Mediterranean coast – the region of Tyre and Sidon. From there Jesus travelled to Decapolis, the ten cities southeast of the Sea of Galilee. We see Jesus crossing boundaries all the time. His travels have little to do with geography but more to do with evangelizing Jews and Gentiles. The places mentioned in chapters six and seven show us how Jesus reached out not only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, but also to Greeks, Romans and Syrophoenicians. The point is that while Jesus recognized that his first responsibility was to feed and help God’s chosen people, the Good News is that he was prepared to help others who came to him in faith no matter what boundaries were crossed.[1] That brings us to today’s passage and my second point. So, we move from Boundaries to Be Opened.

When Jesus arrived in Decapolis for his second visit there, his reputation as a healer had grown stronger. Recall that he had been there to expel the demon from a man in Gerasene. (Mk 5:11ff) After that healing, the people begged Jesus to leave. This time the reception was different. So, allow me a moment to speak about similarities and differences in Jesus’ healings.

This healing was different. People brought to Jesus a man who was both deaf and dumb. Now, many of Jesus’ healings took place in full public view. Here the healing was private. Jesus intuitively understood the unique needs of each person.

And although it was private, the method is described in more detail than usual. In previous healings Jesus’ touch is described only in general terms. Here he touched specifically the affected organs. Saliva was also used. And this is also the only place in Mark where Jesus groans.

Now, the Bible has a profound respect for the body as a vehicle of divine grace. The body has the ability to be a visible sign and an instrument of grace. We read in chapter one of Mark how Jesus took Peter’s mother-in-law by the hand. Several verses later, Mark recorded the account of the leper and how Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, “Be clean.” He touched others he healed: Jairus’ daughter and a few people in Nazareth.

Physical touch came into play in the baptismal rite of the early Church. In the Ephphatha Prayer, the minister touched the ears and the mouth of the baby and said, “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father. Amen.” The Church Father, St. Gregory the Great, once said, “The Spirit is called the finger of God. When the Lord put his fingers into the ears of the deaf mute, he was opening the soul of man to faith through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”[2]

The crowd reaction also differs. Their reaction suggests that this was a particularly impressive form of healing. There was no demon possession here as in some other healings,[3] and the command was spoken not to a demon, but directly to the patient.[4]

After being presented with the man, Jesus took him aside and put his fingers in the man’s ears, and then spat and touched his tongue before he looked to heaven for help as he offered a deep heartfelt prayer.

In Jesus’ culture human spittle was a healing agent. Without expounding on all of the details, we should notice that it is not the spittle itself that heals. Jesus did not spit directly on the tongue. Rather, he spat and then touched the man’s tongue. This physical contact is clearly appropriate for a man who was unable to hear the spoken word.

Furthermore, it is not just the spittle and the touch that cured. Jesus’ word accompanied both.[5] Jesus did not utter gibberish, but plainly spoke his command not to the ears, but to the man. Yet, in effect the ears were commanded to hear again.[6] Although the man was deaf, Jesus spoke the command and the effect was immediate. Deafness and dumbness are cured at once.

In Jesus, Scripture was fulfilled. We are reminded of Isaiah’s prophecy, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.” (Isa 35:5-6) But we can also see an earlier prophecy in Exodus when “Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’” (Ex 4:11) There is also this, “Wisdom opened the mouths of the dumb and made eloquent the tongues of babes.” (Wis 10:11)

The crowd’s astonishment is dramatically expressed. The Jewish Messiah is met with wider approval and praise and paves the way for a crowd of 4,000 to follow him to a deserted area where he will feed them.[7] That said, let’s move to my third B, Beyond Measure.

Every once in a while, I ask a friend to comment on a passage. In this case, I asked my friends, Bob and Ruth Sattler, to tell me how they were moved Beyond Measure through their daughter, Liz. Liz was born with Down’s Syndrome and her life had a tremendous influence on their lives – beyond their wildest dreams.

I thought of Bob and Ruth because they once told a story of when they were installed as Eucharistic Ministers at Word of God Parish in Swissvale, they returned to their seats. Up until this point, nothing extraordinary. What happened next was.

Liz stood on the pew, put her arms around both and said, “I am so proud of you.” They went on to mention all the doors that were opened to them and how they met so many people through Liz and Down's Syndrome. My question: How did God astonish you beyond measure through Liz? Here is how Ruth responded.

Yes, Liz certainly has opened many doors for us. I would say I have learned so much about what it means to love someone because of having Liz in my life! Liz has led me to many personal insights and positive changes. We love Liz. She has astonished us beyond measure through her own growth and development. Bob and I have described how Liz “brought us to our knees.” While she was so adorable, she also could be stubborn and resistant to change. Rather than having it be a continual power play, we chose to learn how to work with Liz and guide her to be more and more in charge of her actions and behavior. This is something we continue to do in our relationship with Liz. And we have seen her move beyond her own anxiety and comfort zone. She has grown in her ability to accept change and take on new challenges albeit at her own pace, with our help and the support of others in her life. I know that giving birth to Liz and parenting Liz has given God many opportunities to help me “open my ears” or to Be Opened. God, through Liz, has astonished me beyond measure through my own growth and development and ability to love since having Liz in my life! 

I read you Ruth’s words because sometimes we don’t know why life is the way it is for us. We want to know why a child was born with a disability. Why babies are aborted. Why my spouse was unfaithful. What I did to deserve this. I cannot answer any of those questions for you, and I can tell you that you may not find the answer you want in the Bible, however, you may find insight and solace.[8] And reflecting upon the story of faithful Christians like Bob and Ruth, you may find hope.

So, my friends, I was going to end it there, but then my study provided me with a challenging question regarding the crowd of 4,000 who witnessed this healing and then followed Jesus into the wilderness.[9] Are followers of Jesus in it only for the fringe benefits? The healing stories of Jesus raise this question for anyone who claims to be a follower. Am I a Christian only for the fringe benefits? In a world of instant everything, not all good things can be had immediately, especially when we are talking about healing. God does not provide instant answers to anyone all the time. Even Jesus did not always produce instant miracles on demand – not even for Bob and Ruth. But along the way, wisdom comes to those who remain faithful to God in spite of life’s circumstances. That is why we must cling to Christ, His Word and His Sacraments.

Friends, Jesus crosses every boundary imaginable to help you and everyone who comes to him in faith. God took on human flesh and crossed the boundary from the divine to the human realm. Jesus opened the ears and mouth of a deaf mute and beyond measure amazed others. This week recognize the Good News of how Jesus crosses unfathomable boundaries to offer you salvation, which includes healing of body, mind and soul. We are the ones who need to hear, “Ephphatha!” Be open! Whatever your circumstances, Be open to the Holy Spirit working in your life today, and when you do, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Witherington, p. 252.

[2] Oden, p. 103.

[3] See Mark 9:14-29.

[4] R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Gand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (2002), p. 300.

[5] Voelz, p. 488.

[6] France, p. 304.

[7] France, p. 304. See Mark 8:1ff.

[8] See John 9, Matthew 2:16-18, Hosea, Job.

[9] Witherington, p. 252