Jesu Juva
“Opening Ears, Hearts, and Graves”
Text: Mark 7:31-37; James 2:1-10, 14-18; Isaiah 35:4-7a
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ephphatha! Be opened, Jesus said. And this man’s ears were opened.
Imagine what that must have been like. In my sermon a few weeks ago, I told the story of when my doctor removed two very large and hard plugs of wax from my ears and how I marveled at how much I could hear again. (I guess I should have saved that story for this week!) But for this man . . . imagine all that he heard . . . and maybe for the very first time! A bird chirping. Children laughing. Music playing. Jesus’ voice. Many sounds that we, perhaps, take for granted. No big deal. But a big deal for this man. Life changing.
Just like the first things the man born blind saw after Jesus gave him his sight. Or the first time a man who couldn’t walk could go somewhere by himself and didn’t need to be carried by others. When a leper could return to his family. Or when someone possessed by demons was set free and was an outcast no more. Imagine what those days must have been like. The joy. These were big deals.
I don’t know if we think about them that way, though. Maybe because we hear these kinds of stories so much that we’re used to hearing them and take for granted all that Jesus can do. Or maybe because of all that medicine and technology are able to do for us today. We have eyeglasses and eye surgery for people who cannot see. We have cochlear implants for people who can’t hear. We have knee replacements for people who can’t walk. Medicines that heal sickness and disease. Now, what Jesus did was greater and more complete than anything we can do . . . but since we can do so much, maybe the wonder isn’t there for us anymore.
But these miracles of Jesus were truly life-changing. When you can’t see, when you can’t hear, when you can’t go where everyone else goes, when you’re sick, what also happens is that you get separated from others. You can’t join the group that has gathered to marvel at the eclipse. You’re not part of the group that takes delight in the sound of a giggling child. You miss weddings, graduations, and other important events. There’s an isolation that comes with these disabilities, try as we might to overcome it. Try as we might to be inclusive. Try as we might to make accommodation. Or to pretend that these disabilities don’t exist by saying that people are not disabled, they are just differently abled, and other such word-smithing.
Which on one level is fine. If people don’t want to be called disabled, we can certainly use different words. If that creates a stigma that could be avoided, we should. But on another level, a deeper level, this matters a great deal. Because if we normalize these things that sin has caused . . . and certainly, sin has caused sickness and disease and eyes and ears and legs to not work as they were created to work . . . If we normalize these things that sin has caused, then we are, in fact, normalizing sin. And where we see this is in how things that were almost universally considered sinful in the past, are so no longer. Everything is normal. Everyone is okay. But it is simply not so.
So what Jesus is doing is not just healing people, but overcoming sin and its disastrous effects. Healing people is great, just as medicine and technology today are great. But all those people Jesus healed, including the deaf man in the reading today, do you know what happened to them? The deaf man eventually lost his hearing again, and the blind man later lost his sight again, and the lame man could one day no longer get up and walk - not because Jesus didn’t really heal them, He did! But sooner or later, they died. The deafness, the blindness, the lameness, and the sickness and disease were the symptoms, the signs, of the greater problem: the sin and death that caught up to them, just as it will one day (unless Jesus comes again first!) catch up to all of us.
And sin and death we cannot overcome. The death that separates us from our loved ones, and the sin that divides us from others. The separation of death is pretty obvious. But let’s think about sin a little more . . . Consider how sin has made us deaf to the cries of the hurting, blind to the needs of the downtrodden, or if we hear and see these things, then paralyzed when it comes to actually going and helping others. Sin truly has disabled us. And this sin that has disabled us and the death which separates and divides us from each other also has disabled us spiritually, and separated and divided us from God. And if left untreated, will do so for eternity.
That’s why stories like we heard today are so important. Not just because of the marvel of Jesus healing a deaf man, but because it is a sign of the more marvelous work He has come to do - to not just treat the symptoms or outward manifestations of the disease, but to overcome the disease itself. To not just say Ephphatha to closed ears, but to say Be opened! to sealed graves.
So to do that, God came. In person. In a person. In Jesus. And He saw the separation, He saw the devastation, He saw all that sin had done, and He had compassion. Not that He didn’t know or see before, but He overcame the separation and division by being born a man - God and man in one person. And He took the disease, He took our sin and death, to conquer it. He allowed sin and death to swallow Him up on the cross, that He could swallow them up in His resurrection. And He did. And He promised that all baptized into Him would be baptized into that death and resurrection and be raised in those waters to a new life.
And that new life in two ways. (1.) Ultimately and finally when Jesus comes again and says “Be opened!” to all of our graves, so that our bodies rise to a new and glorified life that will never end. (2.) But before that day, that we live a new life these days. For in baptism, Jesus opens our ears to hear His Word and to hear the cries of others. He opens our eyes all that He has done for us and to see the needs of others. And He opens our hearts to confess our sins and selfishness and to have compassion for others. But not only that, He also gives us legs that we not only hear and see and feel, but do. To put our faith into action.
Which brings out the irony in the story we heard today. For after the deaf man was healed, Jesus commanded him to tell no one. But he was so filled with joy that he couldn’t help himself - he had to tell everyone! But we who have been raised and healed and given new life, and to whom Jesus has said speak and do and care and go . . . don’t.
Or not as we should, or as much as we should. And not just with strangers, or the panhandler in the middle of the street, but how often with our own families? With those closest to us? Turning away from spouses, children, brothers and sisters, our fellow Christians. How often do we fail to repent, fail to forgive, fail to help, and instead selfishly harbor anger, bitterness, and grudges?
Today we heard from the apostle James, who said that we show our faith by our works. Well . . . what are your works showing about your faith? Is your life like the life of the deaf man who was healed, overflowing with joy in your Saviour and the life and forgiveness He has given you? And if not, why not? What sin is still disabling you? What sin is still separating you from others? What death is gnawing away at your life?
These are the very things Jesus has come to set you free from! First in baptism, but after that, too. To open your ears and hear Him say I forgive you all your sins! and to open your mouths to receive His Body and Blood that won that forgiveness for you and strengthen you to forgive others. And through these open your heart and fill it with His life and love. And this is for you because it is for all. Jesus died and rose for all people - no partiality. He loves you no less than anyone else, even if in this world you feel loved less than everyone else.
And when your life on this earth is ended and the next life begins, think about how you will be like that deaf man. What - and who - will you hear and see for the first time? For the first time hearing the song of the angels! Bodies glorified and without sin. It’s hard to imagine, but a day, a time, an eternity to look forward to.
But maybe we can get a glimpse of all that already here and now. And not just in church, but in all your life. When you serve, when you love, when you forgive, you are showing the love and new life of Christ to others. And showing that they matter. That they are important. That Jesus didn’t just die for some or love some, but all. Deaf people, blind people, lame people, sinner people, failure people, stubborn people. People like you. People like me. His ears and heart are not deaf to us but open to us, and He opens our ears and hearts toward others. And that’s a big deal. And while the healing of this deaf man might just seem like one miracle among many, and your life might just seem like one among many, he wasn’t, and you’re not. Jesus paid special attention to him, and Jesus pays special attention to you. Jesus healed him and Jesus heals you. Sin and death no longer rule you or determine your life - Jesus does. The Jesus who baptized you, the Jesus who said Father, forgive them, the Jesus who feeds you, and the Jesus who will one day say to your grave, Be opened! And it will be. And you will come forth to live before Him in righteousness and purity forever.
That will be a wonder-full day, a day full of wonder. But so is today. Satan will continue to try to blind you to that, deaf you to that, but Jesus opens eyes and ears, that we know the wonder of His love, even in this world filled with sin and death. And if you find yourself a little short in that department - and who doesn’t, right? . . . A little or a lot . . . If you are one with an anxious heart, as Isaiah said today, know this: your God has come. For you. And that man in this story is now you. You are healed. You are forgiven. You have hope. You have a future. Difficulties now are preparing you for a glorious future.
Maybe that’s hard to imagine. Maybe it seems too far away, and you think you won’t be able to make it. And if you’re looking at the difficulties, or looking at yourself, or looking at the sins or the sinners that afflict you or oppress you, then yeah, it’s going to seem that way. So look somewhere else. Look at the cross. Look to Jesus. Hear His voice. His promises. For the joy and hope and love and life you need come from Him. And He will give it. Just as He did to a deaf man that day. A deaf man who received not only hearing, but life. And with life, joy. The joy we want. The joy we need. The joy of Jesus.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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