Mark 7: 31-37 (From the New King James Translation) p. 1542 in the pew Bibles
31 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32 Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. 33 And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
This story begins with an incredible journey. I love to hear about incredible journeys. Do you remember the story of “The Incredible Journey”? It’s about Luath, a Labrador retriever, Bodger, a bull terrier, and Tao, a Siamese cat who travel together for 300 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their owners. It’s a fictional story but there are incredibly true stories of pets who have travelled enormous distances to be with their owners.
A triple pawed cat named Clementine was left by her family with neighbors. The Lundmarks moved from Dunkirk, NY to Denver, CO and since Clementine was heavy with kittens, they didn’t want to force her to travel so she stayed behind. After the kittens were weaned, Clementine disappeared. Four months and 1600 miles later, Clementine appeared on the Lundmark’s doorstep, hungry and ready for a nap.
And then there is the well authenticated case of Bobbie
Sometime in August 1923. Bobbie, a collie, sheep dog mix, got lost while vacationing with his family, the Braziers. The Braziers owned a restaurant in Silverton, Oregon and were enjoying their vacation in Indiana when Bobbie somehow got separated from the family. They looked and looked but to no avail. What could they do, they had to return home to the business.
Six months later, after swimming across the Missouri River, crossing the Rocky Mountains, and traveling 3,000 miles, Bobbie jumped on Frank Brazier’s bed and woke him out of a sound sleep.
That is an incredible journey.
The incredible journey that starts off today’s scripture was made by Jesus. Jesus was to travel almost 150 miles to meet with one very special person. Like so much else in scripture, we are told about this journey in only one quick sentence. That sentence is verse 31: Jesus left Tyre went through Sidon and then down to the sea of Galilee. That’s all it says. In that one little sentence, Jesus covered an incredible distance on foot, mind you and some scholars think he took as much as eight months to do so. All to be there to meet this very special person.
We don’t know this person’s name. We don’t know what they did for work. We don’t even know what town he was from. We just know that to Jesus, he was very special. Jesus had made it a point to be in the right place at the right time to meet this man. And we know that this was an important meeting because Mark, the gospel writer, totally skipped over 8 months of Jesus Life to get to this moment. Jesus had an appointment with the man though I’m sure the man didn’t know it. Some people, his friends maybe, family, brought him to Jesus. We do that every week don’t we. We bring people to Jesus every week when we pray and we hold up people before Jesus in prayer. Just like the friends of this deaf man, we are looking for Jesus to touch those we are praying for. We are looking for Jesus to make a more incredulous journey than the one recorded here in Mark yet Jesus makes that journey every moment of every day.
Think of your own life. Think of the ways and times that Jesus has touched you. Think of the times that Jesus has made an amazing journey, just to be there at the right time and place to meet you, to be there for just for you, to be there just to touch you. Jesus makes that special journey over and over again just for you. I cannot help but think of my friend Mary Lou Hall who we prayed for in this chapel just a few short weeks ago. I don’t know if you remember but her very trusted doctor had given her a serious diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Incurable cancer of the blood and we started praying for her. Within two days, her diagnosis had changed to kidney stones. Now, one could say the doctor made a mistake or one could say that she was healed. Faith is like that. With faith One is never really quite positive but the touch of Jesus is unmistakeable.
And so it was for our deaf man with the speech difficulty. We know now that his speech problem was as a result of his deafness. He could make noises because his vocal chords were fine but since he could not hear the noises he was making, he could do nothing but make sounds. He could not make words. He could not communicate with his voice. He could not hear himself and he could not hear anyone else. His world was completely silent. There was no such thing as sign language and there wouldn’t be until the 18th century when Abbe Charles Michel De l'Epee invented it.
What is that like, I wonder? To hear absolutely nothing. Did this man even know that others could communicate in ways that he could not? What was it like to be surrounded by such a wall of silence? What is it like not to hear but want to be able to hear? How do you describe hearing to a deaf person? How can a person who cannot hear, know what they are missing?
One of my dogs is pretty deaf. She sleeps very soundly these days. You have to scratch her head to get her to wake up and then you have to motion to her to get her to respond to you. She used to be afraid of thunder but she’s not afraid anymore. The flashes of lightning get her attention but she doesn’t panic like she used to because the thunder does not exist to her. Yet there is danger for her. When we’re walking in the woods or in the cornfield, if she is out of my sight, she is unable to respond because she cannot hear me. If she gets lost, she cannot find her bearings by the sound of my voice. If she gets lost, she really is on her own without the voice of her master.
What would it be like if we could not hear God’s voice? And we get lost in the corn and God is out of site? And we cannot hear the voice of our Master? How will we find our way? What would it be like if there was something wrong with out spiritual hearing?
During a revival an evangelist had people come forward and he would pray for them. As each person came before him, they would ask for what they needed. One man's request was for his hearing. Having just read this scripture passage, the evangelist was inspired and so he spit on his finger, put it in the man's ear, and prayed for him The evangelist then asked the man, "How's your hearing?" "I don't know”. The man replied, It's not until next Tuesday."
Well, the first thing Jesus did for this deaf man, was to make him able to hear. Whatever was wrong: whatever kept the sounds from getting to this man’s brain, Jesus fixed it. Jesus also gave the man something more. You know all those months of therapy you get after the knee operation. Jesus gave him that, too. It wouldn’t have done any good to fix the ear unless he was also given the knowledge and ability to be able to interpret the sounds of speech, make sense of them, and reply to them as scripture tells us, speaking plainly. Those who heard him, understood what he was saying. This man was not given a partial gift.
I think we are told this story because it is a spiritual analogy. Jesus will go a long way to touch us and break through our spiritual deafness. I believe the voice of God is all around us if we will only incline our ear to it. God’s voice is in the cry of a child and the song of a bird. God’s voice is in the devotion of my golden retriever and the fun and laughter of friends at a baseball game. God’s voice is in the rising of the sun and in the brilliance of a harvest moon. Sometimes God’s voice even speaks in church. Yet, how many times have we gone through the days, the months, maybe even the years and not heard God’s voice. How many times have we left church feeling empty, wondering if God really is there, when it is our ears, our head, and our hearts that need the spiritual healing that Jesus has come such a long to offer just to us.
Today, God would speak to you in this simple table that is set before you. There is a great and wonderful mystery in this tiny feast. It is through the sacrifice represented by these elements that the divine “Ephphratha” has been spoken. Jesus touched your ears, he touched your tongue and he looked deep into your eyes and spoke the word, . . .”Be Opened”. The experience of this table is to bring you to such a place where your ears, your eyes, and your heart are opened to the presence of God. To that place where you are touched by God.
Jesus has come a long way to be here for this very special appointment with you.
