Mark 7:24-37
Hearing to Speaking
I feel like we’ve all had those moments where there’s something we want to say, but for whatever reason, we can’t seem to get the words out. It’s the common phrase, “Cat got your tongue?” Perhaps we’re looking for a particular word and simply can’t think of it. Maybe we had this brilliant idea, but no matter how we phrase it, it doesn’t come out right. Or we’re literally tripping over our every word, slurring words together, and can’t seem to speak properly. Whatever the case may be, it seems to me that this is fairly common. It’s always awkward when it happens to us in the middle of a conversation. After all, communication breaks down if we can’t… well, communicate. For this isn’t even a small glimpse into the life of those who are deaf or those who suffer from speech impediments. I couldn’t even imagine how frustrating it could be to have something you want to say, but not be able to communicate it in a way that others understand. Now, not to make light of others’ challenges, nor to lessen them… there is much the same challenge when it comes to faith. If you’ve ever had a conversation with someone else about faith, you probably know where I’m going. When we try to speak about our faith, we often find that we can’t always find the right words. We have trouble speaking about faith in a way that others understand. Or we start slurring thoughts and ideas together in a way that becomes nonsensical. For what we commonly see is that our speaking is directly tied to our hearing.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus encounters a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. While we can’t entirely understand his situation, we’ll see one truth that is applicable to us all. For so let us learn today:
LORD, OPEN MY LIPS AND MY MOUTH SHALL DECLARE YOUR PRAISE!
I.
We’ve come a long way in society about accommodating people’s disabilities. They aren’t as crippling as they once were. But understand that this wasn’t the case in Jesus’ day. If you were deaf, mute, lame, had a personality disorder, or nearly anything else, you were assumed to be cast out by God. For such conditions were often attributed to demons and demon possession, unlike today. That’s not to say that we don’t experience the assaults of the devil and his demons, just that we don’t attribute such things to them anymore. For such is the circumstance of the first woman, they Syrophoenician. Her daughter was demon-possessed. She had heard about Jesus and all that he had done, so she goes to him. But so, we heard Jesus say, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” Mark 7:27. Now, many people would be offended by such a statement from Jesus, especially those that think Jesus is always loving. But there’s an interaction here we can’t miss… the woman heard Jesus and responded in kind. She heard Jesus speak and spoke the same word back to him… “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs,” Mark 7:28. Hearing must precede speech.
Yet so we come to us. How often do we actually stop and listen first before speaking? When we get into arguments with a spouse, with family, or with friends, are we actually listening to them before we start forming our retort? How often do we shut our ears, not only to family and friends, but even to God because we think we know better? This is often our issue. We may not be deaf like the man in our reading, yet we can act deaf in many different ways. When people become offended, the first thing we do is shut our ears and stop listening. It’s no wonder that our political rhetoric has reached the fevered pitch it has, because no one is able to truly listen to one another anymore. We’re all too focused on coming up with the perfect comeback to destroy the other side. And this is how our speech suffers. When speech precedes listening, our speech becomes nonsensical. So too with our faith. If we’re not first listening to God, then how can we ever hope to learn the language of faith? We can’t!
II.
Consider then the man who was deaf and poor of speech. As Jesus is passing through the region of Tyre and Sidon, the family and friends of this man brought him to Jesus. He couldn’t talk, nor could he hear to even learn. But so, we read, “And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.” Mark 7:33-34. Language itself is a blessing from God. Because of sin, the weakness of our flesh, people suffer from all sorts of disabilities. For this man who was deaf was also unable to speak… until Jesus opens his ears and releases his tongue. Not only is this man now able to hear, but our Lord opens his lips to speak. And he does! This miraculous healing shows us the connection that by hearing, we’re able to speak. St. Paul shows us this same connection, as he says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10:14-15. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.
This is the gift of our Lord that he opens not only ears but even hearts to believe. Jesus opens our ears to hear his word. He proclaims forgiveness and peace from God so that we may hear him. He teaches us the language of faith through this proclamation. For this is how we came to receive our creed. The creed is the language of faith. “I believe that Jesus was born from God. I believe that Jesus lived a perfect life. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, was buried in the grave, and rose from the dead so that he now lives and reigns to all eternity.” Indeed, we know these words only because Jesus has so opened our ears to hear, and our hearts to believe. And now that we’ve heard, now that we’ve listened to this wonderful word of God, we speak! It’s inevitable. Hearing leads to speaking. So let us tell others. Let us sing of his praises throughout the world, even as we read, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak,” Mark 7:37.
Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise! Open my ears to hear your great love expressed in Jesus. Open my heart to believe his word. Then open my mouth, Lord, that I may tell the whole world of the greatness of Christ! In Jesus’ name! Amen!