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The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art
always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than
either we desire or deserve; Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy;
forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those
good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and
mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen
The Gospel Text for today
from the King James Version
Mark 7:31-37
31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre
and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of
Decapolis. 32 And they bring
unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they
beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him
aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and
touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to
heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha,
that is, Be opened. 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the
string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they should tell no
man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published
it; 37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He
hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to
speak.
TWO SPIRITS THAT DRIVE THE CHRISTIAN
The Seeking Spirit
Our
text opens today following the visit of Christ to the coast of Tyre and Sidon
where, we are told in Verse 24, “He could not be hid.” Because He
was SOUGHT out by a Syro-Phenecian woman who had HEARD of
Him, came and fell at His feet pleading that He cast out an unclean spirit from
her precious little daughter, her prayer was answered. This Christ did. The
lesson, of course, is this: Christ can in no wise be hidden from those who seek
Him. How may the “Light of the World” be concealed in the
wilderness desert night? Moreover, He delights at being found by those who seek
Him. As our Prayer of Collect says: He is “always more ready to hear than
we to ask.” So Christ deliberately desires to give us that for which we
ask – as long as we ask for those things that it is His will to grant. One of
the characteristics of the spirit of a Christian is that of a SEEKER. “Ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” (Matt
7:7-8)
No
man comes to Christ if he has not sought Him out. So first and foremost, we
must have a Seeker spirit. There must have been a great guilt that has impinged
upon our consciences at some point, evoked by the Holy Spirit, to cause us to
feel and know our absolute depravity and sin. Even a dying child, or
a dreadful disease, may awaken us to our great need – ‘the soul’s sincere
desire.’ Some, like the lost sheep, know not where to seek; so they bleat and
scurry to and fro in the wilderness rocks until their cries are heard by the
Good Shepherd who comes to them in their loneliness and fright. Shouldn’t we,
if able, be like those Greeks who came to Philip at Bethsaida, and desired of
him, inquiring: “Sir, we would see Jesus!” (John
12:21) But, like the lost
sheep of the parable, are not able to go to Him, so they cry out where they
are. Some are blind, cannot see, and are BROUGHT to Christ so that the scales
may be removed from their eyes and they may see. How does such faith come? So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(Romans 10:17) Have you both heard and believed from the
Word of God? Someone must have TOLD you. Have you told others?
Now,
in order to share good news, one must be the recipient of Good News – the Good
News that is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! Knowing a truth of
imponderable benefit to others must compel us to speak out. Have we remembered
the Lord’s very last prayer before His ascension? Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world. Amen. (Matt 28:19-20) Have you gone to those who have not heard,
who cannot see to come to Christ?
Now
Jesus returns the shore of the Galilean Sea – to Decapolis. We are told that,
without the news of His coming being published in the newspapers or broadcast
on radio, men brought a fellow to Christ who could neither see nor speak. How
did they know that Christ was coming? Perhaps bad news does travel rapidly, but
Good News travels with the speed of light – the Light of the World. Every place
that Christ went, healing and doing good, the witnesses heralded his name and
movements everywhere. The news was simply too good to keep silence. It is impossible
to know Christ and keep silent. There are no secret Christians!
The Missionary Spirit
Once
we have seen, heard, and known Christ, there is a second spirit that must
evince itself – the MISSIONARY SPIRIT! So how is Christ
greeted on His arrival at Decapolis on the coasts of Galilee? Men bring to Him
a friend who was both deaf and had a speech impediment. Such impediments of
speech are common to those who have not, and cannot, hear. All who have not
heard the Gospel are also handicapped from speaking it to others. These men who
brought this deaf man to Christ had already heard of Him and knew that He was
able to heal. So they put feet to their faith and brought a man who could not
have heard of Christ. Faith is like a newborn babe – it cannot lie still. It
must exercise itself and cry out and, thereby, GROW! Our own
faith is increased when we share that faith with others and observe the
resulting miracle!
32
And they
bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they
beseech him to put his hand upon him. Men, who were able to know
of Christ by HEARING of Him, now bring one to Christ who had no such benefit. I
love the spirit of love and compassion that is generated in a heart full of
faith. Please note that these men ask nothing that would be shocking of Christ.
They do not make demands in their prayer such as the modern church advocates.
They besought (pleaded) only that Christ “put His hand upon” the
deaf and dumb man. Why were they not more specific? Do our prayers have to be
specific in detail? Not at all! In the Lord’s Prayer, we simply ask that His
will be done. If the will of Christ is done in our lives, it will be enough!
These men could not demand that Christ restore the man’s tongue and loose his
ears. So, they knew that the mercy of Christ would do all things needful. We
never inquire or suggest the means by which Christ should answer our prayers,
we should settle always for the happy result and not the means. We might
properly remember that His ways are not OUR ways, and our ways are not
His ways.
There
is no secret formula or incantation whereby the miraculous works of God are
produced. The simple and mysterious manner in which Christ healed this man
could be replicated precisely a thousand times by mere men with no such result.
The power was not in the MEANS, but in the LORD! 33 And he took him aside from the
multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his
tongue. The
example here is one of intimacy. We would sooner drink from
the same glass as our child than that of another’s. When we are healed, it is a
matter between the one being healed and the healer. So Christ took the man away
from the multitude. Our greatest healing from sin is ALWAYS a matter of our
coming face to face with Christ and apart from the multitudes. Christ touched
the man by placing His fingers in his ears, and spit and touched His tongue.
The man was not repelled by this intimate touch. His great need was to speak
and hear – not to worry about the means. Many of my own prayers have been
answered in amazing and surprising ways – almost never the way I expected.
Jesus is a Lord of surprises. He will answer our prayers in ways that will
result in our greatest benefit and in ways that we could never have imagined.
When we pray, we must expect to be touched by Him, and we must expect to
receive Him into our innermost being.
Christ
did all things in perfect fellowship with the Father. When we undertake to
serve God with a great work, even though our intentions may be commendable, we
must first look to God. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and
saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten
of the Father, looked to His Father in all of His works and miracles. He did so
because, first, He wished to have His Father’s concurrence in all things; and,
secondly, He desired to glorify the Father in all that He did. So must we! Do
we boast of our success at organizing a worship service that attracts man, or
our success at Bible studies that attract many? The glory is not ours, but
belongs to God. In healing, Jesus ALWAYS took compassion on the person who
sought it. The Good Samaritan was the only one who took compassion on the poor
Jew who lay dying on the Road to Jericho. He felt the pain of the Jew. Jesus
feels our pain as if it were His own. He makes Himself One with whomever He
touches to heal and forgive.
What
was the results of the Lord’s command of Ephphatha!? 35 And straightway his ears were opened,
and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. When Christ speaks a single word to our
hearts, the response is immediate – just as immediate as Paul’s being struck down
on the road to Damascus. The mystery of god is at work
in opening eyes that they may see, or even in blinding the eyes that we may
KNOW Him as Paul was blinded on that Road. Once our eyes have been opened to
the beauty of the Lord, our tongues shall also speak plainly of Him - ….the
string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
The
counsel of our Lord in the next verse may seem a bit strange, but it has a
great lesson secreted in its heart. 36 And he charged them that they should
tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they
published it. Please
tell me: was this not a bit improbable that a man could be healed of speech and
hearing and should remain silent about it? Do you really believe that Jesus
intended that they MUST not tell anyone? Remember the young man, blind from
birth, whose sight Jesus restored and commanded to tell no one? Or do you
remember the leper that Christ healed whom He commanded, Tell no man!
What profound truth was Christ conveying with such counsel? I believe the
answer to that question is apparent based on what I know of the loving Lord.
How can a man who has been unable to speak keep silence after having his speech
restored? It is natural and irresistible that the first thing such a man will
do is practice his speech, and tell every soul how he recovered it. The same
with the blind man who was healed. How can he go home to his parents and not
tell them the obvious – that once he was blind, but now he sees? Or the leper,
who was forced to separate himself from friends and family, not tell all that
he no longer has leprosy and why?
Jesus
is making this point: Once the power of God has worked a marvelous work and a
wonder in your soul, how can you keep silence even if commanded by God Himself!
Jesus is saying to us, Though I command your silence from telling others
all that I have done in healing your guilty soul and your body, you cannot bear
to keep silence. Once you have known Christ and His Gospel, it will be
IMPOSSIBLE for you to keep that secret! You must proclaim the good news from
the roof tops!
When
Christ has forgiven your sins, and received you by adoption into the family of
God, all people will see the change and wonder of that marvelous work come over
you. 37 And were beyond measure astonished,
saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the
dumb to speak. When
Christ works a miracle in your life, it is seldom solitary – it is a healing of
all ills the first of which is your deadly disease of sin. He practices ‘triage’
in addressing our most serious affliction first – and that most serious
affliction is always sin, for its end is eternal death and darkness.
