Eyes to See, Ears to Hear
Mark 7:31-37
September 16, 17, 2006

God has been in the news this past week! Our Loving Creator made the cover of TIME Magazine. Not only that, last Tuesday God made the front page of USA TODAY. The TIME article was titled: Does God want you to be rich? The USA TODAY article was labeled: View of God Can Reveal Your Values and Politics. The article reported the findings of a study by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion. Strangely enough, both articles used variations of the same artwork-Michelangelo's well-known painting in the Sistine Chapel-the Creation of Adam. You have probably seen the close up versions of this painting that depict the hand of God stretched out to the hand of Adam-finger to finger, almost touching. I really doubt that the authors of the two articles collaborated-it was probably just an interesting coincidence.

But between the two articles, we are presented with five theological options for understanding how God relates to us. One view presents God as an authoritarian figure-the hand of Adam is extended, but God's hand is clenched in a tight fist. Another presents God as a critical figure-the hand of Adam is extended, but God's hand is in a "thumbs down" position. Another option is to see God as being distant-Adam's hand is extended, but God's hand is nowhere to be seen. The fourth option from the Baylor study shows God as benevolent-Adam's hand is extended and God reaches out to Adam. The TIME Magazine drawing offers a fifth option, which is popular in some Christian circles that promote the prosperity Gospel-God's hand is extended to Adam's-and God is passing along a large handful of hundred dollar bills!

And here are some other things to think about. If we profess to be followers of Christ… If we believe that Jesus provides the best picture of what God is like… Which of the options best describes Jesus?

AND WHERE WOULD TODAY'S STORY FIT IN? Coming from a tiring tour of Tyre, Jesus journeys back to the familiar territory of Galilee. He travels to the ten-city region southeast of the Sea of Galilee known as the Decapolis. Here, he is confronted with another person in need of healing-this time, brought by a crowd. The particular ailments plaguing this man might have something to do with this. We hear that he has a "speech impediment," so he may need another person to interpret any words he might try to speak to Jesus. Or, because he is deaf, he may not have been able to hear the Good News Jesus has been preaching. If this is the case, then we recognize the faith of the man's friends. Or, it is possible that he could have seen Jesus' ministry for himself-often in people, when one sense is lacking, other senses are heightened. Anyway, rather than making a big scene, Jesus takes the man aside in private.

The Gospel of Mark is well-known for its sense of secrecy. Jesus tries to keep this matter between the man and him and God. In the previous story, Jesus heals at a distance by simply saying the word. Here, healing is accomplished in kind of a vulgar manner. Jesus uses his own saliva! Can you imagine your doctor doing this to you? Spitting and touching your ears and your tongue? Now, before we get completely grossed out by this-isn't it true that this practice is more common than we'll admit-especially for babies? I appreciate Paul Reiser's perspective. He says, "I saw a kid who had some dried-up food on his face-not since birth-just since lunch, I imagine. His mother took out a tissue, spat on it, and rubbed it into the kid's face. I'm not making this up! You know that if babies could talk, that'd be the first thing they'd say. 'Hey, don't do that-it's revolting!
Would you like it if someone did that to you?'" He says, "It is disgusting, but it sure does work, doesn't it? There's something in a mother's saliva that cleans like nobody's business. All women, once they give birth, their enzymes change, and saliva becomes Ajax. It'll clean anything: a baby's face, a countertop, a Buick. You get enough mothers, you can do a whole car in 30, 40 minutes. And the best part is that it doesn't even have to be your mother. I go up to total strangers: 'Miss, do you have kids? You do? Could you spit on this? I can't get it out.'"

But this healing method of Jesus' still seems rather odd! I went to the doctor last week for my annual physical. While I was talking with my doctor, a nurse knocked on the door. She was working with another patient, trying to remedy a problem with the patient's ear-she needed the doctor's assistance. I can imagine my physician going in, spitting on his hands, sticking his fingers in her ears, and saying, "Poof! You're healed!" But that's what Jesus does. And in some people's minds, the saliva of a teacher or healer has healing power. So this may not be as strange a practice as it seems to us.

Then Jesus proclaims this powerful word ephphatha-be opened! And they are! And the man is healed! And what are the first words that the man hears? Fortunately, it's not like the experience of the elderly man who went to his doctor about his loss of hearing. The doctor prescribed a tiny hearing aid that essentially cured the man's deafness. He came back to the doctor some weeks later, and the doctor asked him if his family was thrilled by his newfound hearing. The man said, "Well, I didn't tell them; I just sat around and listened." "And so far I have rewritten my will three times."

No, the first thing the man hears in the story is Good News! The people are astounded! Jesus orders the crowd not to spread the news of this healing. Right!? The more he orders them, the more zealously they proclaim it. Once again, the situation slips out of Jesus' control. The people can't help themselves. News of his ministry spreads like wildfire. Thousands begin to follow-and a huge loaves and fishes potluck is right around the corner.

EPHPHATHA! BE OPENED! DOES THESE WORDS APPLY TO US? In ancient Greece it was customary for peddlers who walked the streets with their goods to cry out, "What do you lack?" I guess these peddlers were kind of the original door-to-door salespeople? The idea was to let people know they were in the area, as well as pique the curiosity of the people-kind of like the bell on the ice cream truck in our neighborhoods-my son starts salivating at the sound of the first few clangs. People would come out of their houses, eager to know what was available. It might be something they needed, or simply something they desired. As we reflect upon this story, is there something in our lives that needs to be opened, set loose? We may have speech and hearing, but what do we lack? Think about it. Have you found peace and a sense of purpose and direction? Do you feel close enough to God to receive guidance and strength? The man Jesus healed lacked the physical ability to hear and speak. Perhaps some of us lack the spiritual ability to hear? We experience a kind of a spiritual deafness. Or perhaps we can hear and discern God's call upon our lives, but have trouble proclaiming the Good News? One of the messages of the story seems clear-when ears are opened by his love-tongues are loosed in proclamation.

Unfortunately, it seems that too many of God's people are much better at obeying this odd commandment of Jesus in the story-"Don't tell anybody; keep this a secret!" Lots of his commands are hard to pull off-love our enemies, turn the other cheek, forgive seventy times seven… But this one? Easy. Keep the Good News a secret.

Do you believe that God has stopped doing things in people's lives? I don't. As a pastor, one of the wonderful things I get to experience is to hear your stories of faith, your life-changing encounters with God, your holy mountaintop moments, your times of transformation. But sometimes these stories stay inside the walls of the church. In many places the church has ceased to grow because God's people are hard of hearing and slow of speech. It is as if we have this supply of Good News and we feel it is finite. Those who bathe in God's grace know the blessings of salvation and the comfort that faith brings. But there seems to be little urgency for sharing the good news. Some folks act as if sharing God's love will cause it to run out-as if there's a limit to it-like the oil supply.

Friends, there is no shortage of supply in God's love and grace. From what we have heard in these two stories in Mark, Jesus' compassion knows no boundaries. In his words and actions, Jesus tells us about a benevolent God who is willing to reach out and touch people in need. The message of Jesus is not to be hoarded or hidden. It has a home within the church-but it will wither and fade unless people take it beyond the walls of the church.
We are more than recipients of his love and grace-we are also messengers. Our prayer for our lives and for the Church today is the same one Jesus offers when he heals the man in the story today.

Ephphatha! Be opened! And Mark tells us that, "They were astounded beyond measure!" They were saying, singing, shouting, "Jesus does everything well!"

It is our turn… To see… To hear… To proclaim… To be astounded… By the Good News of Jesus.