Mark 7: 31-37 September 7, 1997
Rev. Charles Degner Pentecost 16
Mark 7:31-37 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Today, we are beginning another fall of Christian education in our congregation. We have some exciting things to offer this fall! We have a staff of Sunday School teachers eager to teach, well trained and capable. They know that their purpose is not to entertain children for 40 minutes, but to teach them the stories of the Savior and their salvation. Every one of them takes this responsibility seriously!
This week we begin our catechism instruction for 7-9 grade in our congregation. Our classes are bulging at the seams, with almost 20 in the 8th grade and almost as many in seventh. My Old Adam cringes at all the extra work that will mean, but my New Man rejoices at the chance to teach so many children what the need to know to go to heaven! I can’t wait for the first class!
This week we also begin an exciting program for adult instruction. We’ve begun a two year course for adults to review the catechism instruction they had when they were confirmed. In this course you will review the promises God made to you in his Word - promises which cannot be broken because God does not lie. You will learn the same truths you learned as a child. Only the experiences you’ve had as an adult will make those truths even more alive and relevant. You will have questions you couldn’t ask, or were afraid to ask, when you were 14. God’s Word will answer them.
Are you excited to sit again at Jesus’ feet to listen to his Word? Parents, when you reminded your children last night that they would go to Sunday School today, did they jump for joy? Or did some of them frown and say, “Do we have to? Sunday School is BORING!” If you asked our spouse if he or she wanted to go to the adult catechism class, or to the Bible class, what was the response? Dead silence? Or a “I’ll think about it”? What response was there in YOUR heart?
I would like to think that everyone of us is eager to hear God’s Word at every opportunity we have. But that is not our not our natural response to the Word. The fact is that we were born deaf and as long as we have our old Adam we will always be hard of hearing when it comes to the Word. That is why our sermon theme today is a simple prayer to the Savior who can open the ears of the deaf.
Lord, Open My Ears!
1. we were born hard of hearing
Our story takes place in a predominantly Gentile area around the sea of Galilee. When I follow in the steps of Jesus’ ministry, it never ceases to amaze me how far Jesus would go and how hard he would work to save a few souls for the kingdom of God!
The Word says they brought to Jesus someone who could not hear and who could hardly speak. It sounds like he was born deaf so that his speech was affected by his hearing loss. He never learned to pronounce words correctly because he could never hear what they sounded like. To an ordinary physician, such a hearing loss is incurable. But we know nothing is impossible for Jesus.
Why do people have to bear such burdens in this life? We know it is because of the consequences of Adam’s fall and sin entering this world. This is why this story is told us. Our God sent Jesus to undo the consequences of sin - whether it be loss hearing or speech or sight or walking, or sickness and trouble and death. Sometimes Jesus cures our weaknesses in this life. Sometimes he gives us the strength to bear the burden. But we know and believe that in the resurrection, all will be made whole again.
But there is another kind of hearing loss that we want to talk about this morning. It is worse than the nameless man in our text experienced. That is the spiritual deafness with which everyone of us was born. The Bible says, [1 Corinthians 2:14] “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” It’s not our ears that give us trouble, but our hearts which do not want to listen.
How does this “deafness” of our Old Adam show itself? It’s our Old Adam that says, “I don’t LIKE to hear this.” When I was in the ministry for a couple of years, several texts over a couple of months talked about materialism and an ungodly love for our material possessions. After one service a member took me aside and said, “Pastor, I don’t think you should preach so much about our material possessions. We work hard to buy the things we want and people are going to stay away if you keep reminding them about this.” That’s hard of hearing!
If you are a son or daughter, you don’t like to hear sermons about obeying your parents. If you are committing adultery, you don’t like to hear what the sixth commandment says. If you are cheating the Lord in your offerings, you don’t like to hear a sermon on Christian giving. Our Old Adam likes to practice selective listening and hear only what it wants to hear.
The Old Adam also says, “I don’t NEED to hear this.” After all, didn’t we learn all these stories in Sunday School? When I went through confirmation class, I had to memorize all kinds of Bible passages. I hated to do all that extra homework. Besides, none of it made much sense to me anyway. A teenager once showed me the Old Adam’s bottom line for not wanting to listen to the word of God. When I asked her why she didn’t want to come to confirmation class, she looked me in the eye and said, “Because its BORING.” Children, is Sunday School or catechism class boring? To think Jesus’ word is boring is a terrible sin!
The Old Adam also says, “I don’t WANT to hear this.” The message of the gospel that Jesus brought us is so simple. This is what Jesus teaches us in his Word. “You have sinned against God and I know what terrible things sin has done in your life. I couldn’t stand to see you bear the hurt of your sin. I came to take away your sins and to save you for heaven. There isn’t anything you have to do to earn heaven. I did it all when I died on the cross and rose again. Just believe in me and you will have eternal life.” Would we close our ears to such a wonderful message? Yes, it’s true. Our Old Adam doesn’t want to hear that message. “It’s too easy,” our Old Adam says. “There must be something I can do, something I can take credit for.” Our Old Adam wants us to believe in ourselves instead of Jesus. But you can’t believe in Jesus and in yourself at the same time.
So if my ears are full of the Old Adam’s ear wax and I don’t LIKE to listen and I don’t think I HAVE to listen and I don’t even WANT to listen, then what benefit will I get from Sunday School? Or Bible Class? Or confirmation class? The good news is that we have a Savior who can open our ears and make us hear his Word clearly!
2. only the Savior can open our ears to hear!
Let’s look at the miracle Jesus did in our text. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. You cannot question Jesus’ power. One who never heard a sound could hear clearly. One who only talked in garbled syllables could suddenly speak clearly - as if he had spoken all his life. You cannot doubt this man’s power or the reason for it. Jesus was the Son of God, the promised Savior, who came to restore man to God and to undo the terrible results of sin.
But why did Jesus go through these strange motions? First he put his fingers into his ears. Then he spit and touched his tongue. Then he looked up to heaven and let out a big sigh and said, “Ephatha” - “be opened!” Jesus wasn’t making lots of motions, like magicians do before they perform a trick. Remember, this man couldn’t hear. Because he couldn’t hear, Jesus did some simple sign language. He was saying, “I’m going to open your ears. I’m going to give you the gift of speech. And it’s going to happen because I will use the power of God in heaven to accomplish this.” In effect, Jesus gave this man words that his spiritual ears could hear!
Friends, Jesus can and will open our ears, too! These ears that by nature say, “I don’t like to hear what Jesus says” and “I don’t need to hear what Jesus says” and “I don’t want to hear what Jesus says!” And what he uses is the very Word which we study in our Sunday School, in our catechism classes, in our Bible classes, in this sanctuary, and in the sanctuaries of our homes.
After Jesus’ resurrection, they were so confused they didn’t know what to believe anymore. When Jesus appeared to his disciples and showed them his hands and feet, he stayed on to teach them. This is what the Bible says. [Luke 24:45] Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. By nature we are hard of hearing and hard of understanding. But these very words of the Bible open our ears to hear, our minds to understand, our hearts to believe!
Do we lack in desire to listen to the word? When the two disciples on the way to Emmaus were joined by Jesus (without him letting on who he was), they listened to this “stranger” explain the Scriptures to them. They were so excited they wanted to hear more so they invited Jesus in. Afterwards they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” [Luke 24:32]. There was nothing boring about their walk with Jesus!
Friends, if something inside you [the Old Adam] tells you that Sunday school is boring, or that you don’t need to hear these same truths again, or that attending Bible class isn’t worth your effort, still those voices! Come listen to the Savior speak! You will not be disappointed. He will tell you about himself, and you will know him. He will show you his promises of life and forgiveness, and you will believe. He will tell you the mysteries of his heavenly Father, and you will stand in the awe of faith before God. But of this be certain. You will not be bored.
Let this be our prayer today as we begin another fall of Christian education. Jesus, open my ears! Never let me be bored by learning of you! Never let me think that I know enough already! Never let me ignore even one little thing in your word because I think I know better. Open my ears to listen, my mind to understand, and my heart to believe! Amen.
