Trinity 12 The Sunday of the Deaf Mute Healed August 19, 2018

Trinity 12 The Sunday of the Deaf Mute Healed
Mark 7:31-37
August 19, 2018

“Be Opened”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Jesus is open to all people. When it comes to people, Jesus is always open-minded. There is no one for whom Jesus is closed. He was open to tax collectors, to prostitutes, to Pharisees, to scribes, to Gentiles, to Samaritans, to demon-possessed, to lepers, to blind, to lame, and in our Gospel reading today, to deaf mutes. He is open to love and forgive all people.

And we, as those who follow Jesus, are to be open to all people as well. We are open to men, women, children, to all races and languages, to all sinners be they addicts, gossipers, thieves, murderers, terrorists, etc. We are open to love and forgive all people.

That doesn’t mean, however, that all people were open to Jesus. Sin closes people. And sin closed people to Jesus. Like some of the Pharisees. Their sins of pride and hypocrisy closed them to Jesus. Therefore Jesus often has harsh words for them such as, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25). He was open to them, but they were not open to Him.

Sin makes us closed to people and to God. If you’re ever wondering why you can’t love someone else or can’t be nice to them, rest assured the answer is easy. It’s your sin. Because that’s what sin does. It closes us to people. It keeps us from loving them and forgiving them. Now that doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with everyone. Of course not. But if you cannot love someone else, but only have hatred, then it’s your sin closing you.

That’s what sin does. St. Augustine, and then Martin Luther, had a term they used to describe this condition of sin—“curved in on yourself”. It literally is the picture of you and me hunched over and staring at our belly button. Like we’re a big curve that is closed to everyone but me, myself, and I. The modern picture today of being curved inward on yourself is us holding our cell phone and staring down at it. Just to give you an example. It’s only having eyes for—ourselves.

The account of Adam and Eve is very descriptive and helpful to see this effect of sin curving inward. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they weren’t curved inward on themselves. At all. They loved God perfectly. And they loved each other perfectly. In other words, they weren’t concerned about pleasing themselves. Weren’t concerned about their own pleasure. But concerned about the pleasure of God and each other. We know this because Genesis tells us they were both absolutely naked. And they weren’t ashamed of it at all. In other words, there weren’t any mirrors in the Garden of Eden. Adam didn’t care how he looked. Neither did Eve. They weren’t curved inward.

But then sin came. And two very important details. What happened first thing when they ate the fruit? They saw they were naked. They looked at themselves and they were ashamed. You see what sin does. It closes us in on ourselves. So they sewed leaves together that they might cover up and close themselves off from each other. And the second thing that happened was they heard God coming and they hid. Now they were closed to God as well. They were afraid of Him. Closed to each other. Closed to God. That’s what sin does.

This is one especially dangerous side to social media today. It amplifies this nature of our sin that curves us inward on ourselves. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat—they’re all built around looking at yourself. We set up a page that’s all about us. And then we study it. How many friends do I have? How many followers? How many likes? How many retweets? And then whenever we’re anywhere around other people that we could talk to—we curve ourselves inward to our phone to look at ourselves. “Who’s texting me? Who’s emailed me? What’s on my calendar? What’s in my news feed?”  Of course, social media isn’t all bad. The jury is still out, in my mind, on the overall benefit of social media. But there’s certainly some good to it.

The point is that we see this curving in effect of sin all around us. We close off to people and to God.  Jesus met many sinners during His ministry that were closed off. Nicodemus, the Pharisee. Jesus opened Him up. The woman at the well who had five husbands and was now living with her boyfriend. He opened her up. Martha who was so busy serving she didn’t care about anyone else but herself. Jesus opened her up. Zacchaeus the tax collector who stole from everyone to make himself rich. Jesus opened Him up.

Today in the Gospel reading it was a man who was deaf and mute. Now, in this case, it’s a little different. The man wasn’t deaf and mute specifically because he had sinned in some way. But he was deaf and mute because the whole world is broken by sin. And in this sinful, broken world, ears and tongues don’t always work like they should. So sin had closed this man off to those around him. He couldn’t hear others. Couldn’t talk to others.

They begged Jesus to lay His hand on the man. Many of you have friends and family who don’t believe in Jesus. Don’t know Him. And you don’t know what to do about it. But one thing you should never stop doing—begging God to open them up. That’s what this man’s friends did. They weren’t ashamed to beg Jesus. And we shouldn’t be either. Bring your friends and your family to Jesus every day in prayer. And beg God to open them up.

That’s what these folks did. And Jesus does more than just lay His hand on the guy. He sticks His fingers into the man’s ears, then spits on His finger and touches the man’s tongue. He is up close and personal. You let your doctor stick things into your ears and mouth all the time. Much better the fingers of the Greatest Doctor, Jesus Christ. And Jesus looks up to heaven and sighs deeply. And says, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

The Good Doctor has opened up your ears and your mouth also. Your eardrums are even right now in this service being touched by the finger of God. He works through His Word to open the ears of sinners and give us faith. Paul says in the Epistle, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” Jesus is touching your ears right now. Opening you. Forgiving your sins and giving you the Holy Spirit.

And your mouth. Jesus touches your tongue with His very body and blood in this bread and wine. Your tongues that before had a speech impediment, are now loosed to praise God, thank Him, and bless one another. Jesus is up close and personal. With every single one of us.

Now you have been opened. It is sad that today people often say Christians are closed-minded. I understand why they might initially think that we’re closed people, but that’s a trick of the devil. It’s a lie. In fact, Christians are the most open-minded of all people in the world. And this is why—Christians know that every single person in the entire world is precious and valuable and important. There is no one anywhere for whom Jesus is closed.

You won’t find that in any other worldview anywhere in the world. Every other worldview says that some people are more equal than other people. But not in Christianity. All people are equal. All people are loved. Women are equal and loved. Children are equal and loved. All races are equal and loved. The elderly and the sick are equal and loved. Those with mental illness are equal and loved. Those who are deaf mute are equal and loved. Those who are still living in their mother’s womb are equal and loved. Those with disability are equal and loved. Those who don’t fit gender stereotypes are equal and loved. Men that are more sensitive than other men and women that are more athletic than other women—all of them equal and loved.

Christians—“Be opened!” Jesus is sticking His fingers into your ears with His holy Word. He’s touching your tongue with His body and blood under the bread and wine. He is “uncurving you” and standing you up straight to love God and love your neighbor. Be open to God. Pray to Him. Sing to Him. Read His Word. And be open to all others around you. Listen to them. Talk to them. Encourage them. Invite them to Church with you to visit the Good Doctor. Forgive others as you have been forgiven. And let no one say that Christians are closed-minded. We follow Christ, the One who is open to all and opens hearts to believe in Him and find salvation.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.