"Simple Saving Signs" Mark 7:31-37

The 12th Sunday After Trinity                     27-August-2023
Sermon Text: Mark 7:31-37
Sermon Theme: “Simple Saving Signs!” by Rev. Nathan J. Rusert

I.N.R.I. “Pro 20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made them both.” Wise King Solomon marvels at the miracle of seeing and hearing. Evolutionary biologists cannot explain how cells gained the information to differentiate into the complex structures of the ear and eye. We take the miracle of seeing and hearing for granted, until they begin to fade away in old age or are suddenly lost through illness or an accident.
      King Solomon, one of the greatest natural scientists to ever live, teaches the Lord has made our eyes and ears. Echoing this truth with Dr. Martin Luther we confess, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. “
      In the historic narrative assigned as our Gospel lesson for this day, a man is brought to Jesus with ears that don’t hear. Unable to hear from birth this man can’t speak clearly. The sounds that he utters make no sense to those around him. Deafness has isolated him away from the hearing world. He is cut off, imprisoned inside of himself, he can’t understand others and no one else can understand the noises he makes. If the Lord makes the hearing ear and seeing eye then why are his ears defective? Didn’t the Lord God declare everything in His creation “very good” with the creation of mankind in His image, male and female, blessed with marriage, blessed to procreate children filling the world?
    Evil corrupted this once pristine Creation. Satan, an angel created without sin with free will, chose the path of evil. Rebelling against our Creator he was cast out of heaven with his demons, fellow rebellious angels. Cast down to the earth, Satan sought to destroy that which our Creator proclaimed, “very good” on the sixth 24 hour day of creation about six millennia ago. Satan came to our first parents masquerading as a serpent. Hissing his lies to deafen them to the truth of God’s Word and loving care. The rest is history, God the Holy Spirit testifies, Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—“
  Sin has corrupted creation. Sin has corrupted every human being naturally born into this world in Adam’s image. We are conceived and born in sin, captive under Satan, sin, corruption, death, and hell - children deserving only God’s wrath. Try to deny original sin, explain it away as a psychological malady, death lays claim on all for all have sinned. All fall short of the glory of God. We are deaf to the truth of God’s Law calling us to be honest and turn from our corruption. We are deaf to the healing voice of Jesus, our Creator, forgiving our sin, healing our wounds with His stripes.
    Our Compassionate Creator doesn’t abandon us to the devil. He comes seeking to save us poor miserable lost and condemned creatures with His “Simple Saving Signs!” I. He Comes To Us!(Mk.8:31). II. He Bares Our Corruption In His Flesh!(Mk 8:32-33). III. He Speaks The Healing Word!(Mk. 8:34-35) IV. Tongues Loosed Show Forth His Praise!(Mk. 8:36-37)
I.   The final Passover pilgrimage will dawn the next spring. Jesus leads His disciples away from the Judean crowds into Gentile area for rest and a time for intensive instruction preparing them to be His apostles. Journeying to the port cities of Tyre and Sidon, modern Lebanon, He is followed by a Canaanite mother whose daughter is severely demon possessed. She will not stop pleading to Jesus for her daughter, and for herself. She is happy to be a little dog getting a crumb dropped by the children onto the floor. Jesus frees her daughter from the demon.
    Now history records (Mk 8:31) Jesus and the twelve are heading back towards the Galilee - Jewish territory. Earlier in His ministry, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in the area of the Gadarenes, a man possessed by a Legion of demons had met Him. Jesus freed that man from demon possession. When that man, now in his right mind, wanted to follow Jesus history records, “Mar 5:19-20 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." (20) And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.”
    Learn that you don’t seek Jesus. You don’t find Jesus. He finds you. He comes to you. He sends His Word to be proclaimed to you. How? St. Peter explains, “1Pe 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” God the Holy Spirit opens our lips to tell others about Jesus, as He draws near to us through His Word. “Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Faith isn’t your work, it is the ongoing gift of God the Holy Spirit in you through the Good News of Jesus.
II.   What if I can’t hear? Satan deafened my ears with sin. The world’s white noise of spiritual sounding lies deafens my ears to the Truth. My fallen flesh has itching ears that loved to be scratched by the latest lie fulfilling the desires of my flesh and mind. I am deaf to truly hear the thundering voice of God’s Law justly exposing my guilt and sin. I am deaf to hear the healing voice of Jesus forgiving me all my sin through His holy wounds. In short, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him.”
  A man without hope, isolated by deafness, unable to communicate has compassionate friends. (Mk 7:32). Men heard the Good News - Jesus of Nazareth has power over demons, sickness, and death. Trusting the report they drag their confused friend through the crowds to Jesus. Their faith working in love puts many a Christian to shame, for we fear men’s opinions rather than our Savior’s power to help the hopeless.
  Behold the heart of our Creator! (Mk 7:33) Jesus has compassion. He takes the confused man to Church. Where two or three gather around Jesus’ Word trusting in His Promise the Church is found. Jesus now communicates His promise to the deaf-mute. Placing His fingers into dead ears - Jesus promises that He will take this man’s sin and its infirmity into His own sinless body. Spitting and touching the man’s tongue - Jesus promises that He will be led silent as a Lamb to the slaughter to free the man’s lips to sing forth cross won empty tomb certified salvation for sinners.
    Our Savior’s signs promise us salvation through His flesh and blood. Baptism is never our work. It is the Triune God birthing us to new spiritual life through the life giving water that flooded from Jesus’ crucified side and forever drown death, Satan, and hell by His resurrection. Infants are baptized and reborn by God the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus to the Father’s glory. Jesus touches our humanity from the moment of our sinful conception shouldering our burden from the moment of His sinless conception. Trust in His touch and promise.
III. How can water do such great things? How can a Man’s fingers and spit open the ears of man born deaf and loose his tongue to speak? (Mk.7: 34-35). God the Son, humbled Himself to become our Brother by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He intercedes for fallen mankind. He prays for you to the Father in Heaven by the Spirit. He speaks His Word. “Ephphatha!” God’s Word is performative - it does what it says - accomplishes what it promises. Immediately the deaf can hear. Immediately the man who never heard a word learning to speak - now speaks clearly. How? The Lord God is Author of all human language. Adam was gifted with the ability to speak and write from the moment of his creation. Language didn’t evolve, it was corrupted by sin, but it is healed by Christ in His Church - the Gospel unites all tongues as one confession.
    The power is never in us - it is in Christ’s Word spoken! So we confess: “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God's word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying" (Titus 3:5-8).” And again, “Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: "forgiveness of sins."   Trust the Word of Christ spoken within His Church gifting you forgiveness, life, and salvation.
IV. Psa 51:15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.” We learn to pray with forgiven King David. He was guilty of adultery, perjury, and murder. The Lord called him to face his sin. He forgave him, and freed him from sins chains to live a new life. Forgiven we are freed. The deaf man doesn’t stuff his ears with cotton and fill his mouth with pebbles. He rejoices to be freed by Jesus. Forgiveness frees us from sin to live as new creatures in Christ Jesus.
      Creatures that confess. (Mk 7:36-37). The time isn’t yet - Jesus must first go to the cross paying the price for all sinners in full with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Then He will send His apostles to preach the Gospel to all creation baptizing infants and their families into His crucified and risen Body for salvation. The Gentiles cannot contain their praise. They echo the promise spoken by the prophets. Jesus is the Messiah, the King of Creation, He does all things well. He restores the deaf and mute.
      He opens your lips to show forth His praise, not only by opening your hymnals and singing at home and in the pew - He unites your voices with the angels, archangels, and all Christians whose bodies rest in the grave awaiting the day of resurrection. Singing forth His praise. He comes to rescue you - yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.