Pentecost 16 924/06 Text: Mark 7:31-37 Title: Be Opened
Pentecost 16
9/24/06
Text: Mark 7:31-37
Title: Be Opened
Today, marks the third Sunday of our fall Christian Education program. We have a wonderful staff of volunteer teachers who are eager to teach. They know their material and that they are not here to just entertain those in their classes for about an 50 minutes or so, but to teach their students the truths of the Bible, especially the truths of Jesus; his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection.
I have three young people in my first year confirmation class this year. I thank God for them and look forward to walking alongside them and their parents as they learn more about their Christian faith.
We have, besides my Sunday morning class on the Gospel of John, another adult class meeting that is discussing what a Christian’s response should be concerning a particular news event that happened the previous week. I call it a “rubber meets the road” Bible study, for it helps those in attendance to discuss in a small group setting their reaction to the event, while seeing what guidance God’s Word might give them.
Every Wednesday evening at 7pm, a group meets here at the church to discuss the Bible readings for the next Sunday. We have a lot of fun as we explore the texts, digging out the meaning of God’s Word for us today.
There is a group that meets on the first Monday of every month to study Luther’s Small Catechism. They meet in the members homes.
There is another Bible study on Romans that meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Hesselgrave home. It starts at 7pm.
On the second and fourth Monday of every month at the Hamm home, a group meets at 2:30 in the afternoon to study Revelation. That particular study is almost through and then we will start studying another book of the Bible. Watch for further information.
On the first and third Tuesday of every month there is a group that has just started. It meets at 10am in Mary Gohlke’s home. They are studying the book of Proverbs.
On the second and fourth Wednesday of each month the youth group meets in different homes. You will find times and places in the newsletter and service folder. If you are interested in joining any of these, please do so.
Are you excited to sit at Jesus’ feet to listen to his Word? Or is your reaction to God’s Word sort of ho hum? What were you thinking while I was listing off all the different Bible studies we have going? Did your ears perk up because there was a Bible study you were interested in? Or did you hear really not hear anything?
This past week while I was attending the symposium on Jesus’ bodily resurrection and its meaning for us, I started thinking about the text I was going to preach on this morning. I agonized over the problem of spiritual deafness. It is a problem, for it clearly shows that God’s Word, his life saving word is just not being heard or taken seriously, by many who consider themselves Christians.
Our Gospel reading for today addresses the problem, for just like that man who was born deaf, we too were born spiritually deaf and will remain so, as long as we continue to cling to our old self.
Before we get into healing words of our Gospel reading for this morning, please join me in prayer. “Lord, Open My Ears!” Amen.
God’s Word tells us that a man was brought to Jesus who could not hear and who could hardly speak. He was probably born deaf and because of that his speech was affected.
Jesus healed the man with touch and a command. But, as we are all aware Jesus for the most part does not work that way today. Sometimes there are the miracles of healing, but usually Jesus only gives us the strength to bear whatever burden we are carrying. Now I, as well as I am sure you would, would prefer that he heal our bodies, but when he does not, we are not greatly troubled, for we know that in the resurrection, we will be permanently healed and made whole again.
Physical healing, even thought that is what took place, is not what our Gospel reading is about. It is about Jesus having the power of healing us of our spiritual deafness, the deafness that we were all born with, the deafness that will not allow us to clearly hear him speak to us through his Word and Sacraments.
You do not think you were born spiritually deaf, or that you are not spiritually hard of hearing? Think of your own reaction to God’s Word as you listen to what God tells us through Saint Paul in 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.” “They are foolishness to him and they cannot understand them.” You see it is not our physical ears, even though some of us have physical hearing problems, that need to be opened. It is our spiritual ears, that do not want to listen to God’s Word.
Let us take a moment to see how our spiritual deafness shows itself. First, our sinful deaf self says, “I do not need to know anymore than I do.” Or, “I don’t want to hear.” Or, the one that Satan really loves, for he knows that it causes hard feelings and hardness of heart, “I don’t like what I am hearing.”
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Next month and part of November our congregation will have an emphasis on Christian stewardship. It the past holds true, at least one person, and probably more, will tell me, “Pastor, I don’t think you should talk so much about how every thing we have actually belongs to the Lord, so we should be giving more for the work of the church. I work hard to buy the things I want and people are going to stay away if you keep talking about stewardship.”
That, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ is being spiritually hard of hearing. It really should not surprise anyone if people get upset, for if you are a young person you don’t like to hear sermons about obeying your parents. If you have, or are committing adultery, you do not like to hear what the sixth commandment says. If you are a gossiper you don’t like to hear about the eighth commandment. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. We do not like to hear God’s Word when it strikes our conscience or asks us to go outside our comfort zone.
You see our sinful self likes to practice selective listening as it hears only what it wants to hear. It says, “I don’t need to hear this because I learned all these stories in Sunday School?” Or, it might say, “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, and to be honest it does not make much sense to me now. It was boring then and it is boring now.” That is being spiritually deaf to God’s Word.
That is not what God wants. He does not want you to be spiritually deaf. He wants you to clearly hear his words to you. He wants you to grow in faith. He wants you to live your faith. You know all that, don’t you? But for some reason or other you do not see the benefit of studying God’s Word, at least right now, and like I said earlier you might be thinking that it is just plain boring.
You say you would like to start going to a Bible class, but it will be embarrassing, and the guilt hangs heavy. You say you don’t know how to get started, how to open up your spiritual ears and you are afraid that you might be beyond help. The good news is that you have a Savior who not only can open your ears, but is standing right before waiting to do so. He is ready to say, “Be opened!”
Just look at the miracle Jesus did in our text. “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!")”. At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. You cannot question Jesus’ power. The man who never heard a sound could hear clearly. One who only talked in garbled syllables could suddenly speak clearly. You cannot doubt Jesus’ power or the reason for it. Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Savior, who came to restore the human creation to God and undo the terrible results of sin.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are spiritually deaf or spiritually hard of hearing Jesus can and will open your ears, too. Those 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!” he opens with the very Word which we study in our Sunday School, in our catechism classes, in our Bible classes, and in God’s holy house as we hear his Word and receive his Sacraments.
If something inside you is telling you that studying God’s Word is not needed, or that it is boring, that something is not from God. And if it is not from God it is from Satan.
Silence Satan, let God say to you, “Be opened”. Let him open your spiritual ears. Listen to your living 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 awe before God.
Before I close this morning please pray with me a prayer that we all need to pray, “Jesus, open my ears! Never let me be bored by your teaching. Never let me think that I already know enough. Never let me ignore 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.
9/24/06
Text: Mark 7:31-37
Title: Be Opened
Today, marks the third Sunday of our fall Christian Education program. We have a wonderful staff of volunteer teachers who are eager to teach. They know their material and that they are not here to just entertain those in their classes for about an 50 minutes or so, but to teach their students the truths of the Bible, especially the truths of Jesus; his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection.
I have three young people in my first year confirmation class this year. I thank God for them and look forward to walking alongside them and their parents as they learn more about their Christian faith.
We have, besides my Sunday morning class on the Gospel of John, another adult class meeting that is discussing what a Christian’s response should be concerning a particular news event that happened the previous week. I call it a “rubber meets the road” Bible study, for it helps those in attendance to discuss in a small group setting their reaction to the event, while seeing what guidance God’s Word might give them.
Every Wednesday evening at 7pm, a group meets here at the church to discuss the Bible readings for the next Sunday. We have a lot of fun as we explore the texts, digging out the meaning of God’s Word for us today.
There is a group that meets on the first Monday of every month to study Luther’s Small Catechism. They meet in the members homes.
There is another Bible study on Romans that meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Hesselgrave home. It starts at 7pm.
On the second and fourth Monday of every month at the Hamm home, a group meets at 2:30 in the afternoon to study Revelation. That particular study is almost through and then we will start studying another book of the Bible. Watch for further information.
On the first and third Tuesday of every month there is a group that has just started. It meets at 10am in Mary Gohlke’s home. They are studying the book of Proverbs.
On the second and fourth Wednesday of each month the youth group meets in different homes. You will find times and places in the newsletter and service folder. If you are interested in joining any of these, please do so.
Are you excited to sit at Jesus’ feet to listen to his Word? Or is your reaction to God’s Word sort of ho hum? What were you thinking while I was listing off all the different Bible studies we have going? Did your ears perk up because there was a Bible study you were interested in? Or did you hear really not hear anything?
This past week while I was attending the symposium on Jesus’ bodily resurrection and its meaning for us, I started thinking about the text I was going to preach on this morning. I agonized over the problem of spiritual deafness. It is a problem, for it clearly shows that God’s Word, his life saving word is just not being heard or taken seriously, by many who consider themselves Christians.
Our Gospel reading for today addresses the problem, for just like that man who was born deaf, we too were born spiritually deaf and will remain so, as long as we continue to cling to our old self.
Before we get into healing words of our Gospel reading for this morning, please join me in prayer. “Lord, Open My Ears!” Amen.
God’s Word tells us that a man was brought to Jesus who could not hear and who could hardly speak. He was probably born deaf and because of that his speech was affected.
Jesus healed the man with touch and a command. But, as we are all aware Jesus for the most part does not work that way today. Sometimes there are the miracles of healing, but usually Jesus only gives us the strength to bear whatever burden we are carrying. Now I, as well as I am sure you would, would prefer that he heal our bodies, but when he does not, we are not greatly troubled, for we know that in the resurrection, we will be permanently healed and made whole again.
Physical healing, even thought that is what took place, is not what our Gospel reading is about. It is about Jesus having the power of healing us of our spiritual deafness, the deafness that we were all born with, the deafness that will not allow us to clearly hear him speak to us through his Word and Sacraments.
You do not think you were born spiritually deaf, or that you are not spiritually hard of hearing? Think of your own reaction to God’s Word as you listen to what God tells us through Saint Paul in 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.” “They are foolishness to him and they cannot understand them.” You see it is not our physical ears, even though some of us have physical hearing problems, that need to be opened. It is our spiritual ears, that do not want to listen to God’s Word.
Let us take a moment to see how our spiritual deafness shows itself. First, our sinful deaf self says, “I do not need to know anymore than I do.” Or, “I don’t want to hear.” Or, the one that Satan really loves, for he knows that it causes hard feelings and hardness of heart, “I don’t like what I am hearing.”
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Next month and part of November our congregation will have an emphasis on Christian stewardship. It the past holds true, at least one person, and probably more, will tell me, “Pastor, I don’t think you should talk so much about how every thing we have actually belongs to the Lord, so we should be giving more for the work of the church. I work hard to buy the things I want and people are going to stay away if you keep talking about stewardship.”
That, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ is being spiritually hard of hearing. It really should not surprise anyone if people get upset, for if you are a young person you don’t like to hear sermons about obeying your parents. If you have, or are committing adultery, you do not like to hear what the sixth commandment says. If you are a gossiper you don’t like to hear about the eighth commandment. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. We do not like to hear God’s Word when it strikes our conscience or asks us to go outside our comfort zone.
You see our sinful self likes to practice selective listening as it hears only what it wants to hear. It says, “I don’t need to hear this because I learned all these stories in Sunday School?” Or, it might say, “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, and to be honest it does not make much sense to me now. It was boring then and it is boring now.” That is being spiritually deaf to God’s Word.
That is not what God wants. He does not want you to be spiritually deaf. He wants you to clearly hear his words to you. He wants you to grow in faith. He wants you to live your faith. You know all that, don’t you? But for some reason or other you do not see the benefit of studying God’s Word, at least right now, and like I said earlier you might be thinking that it is just plain boring.
You say you would like to start going to a Bible class, but it will be embarrassing, and the guilt hangs heavy. You say you don’t know how to get started, how to open up your spiritual ears and you are afraid that you might be beyond help. The good news is that you have a Savior who not only can open your ears, but is standing right before waiting to do so. He is ready to say, “Be opened!”
Just look at the miracle Jesus did in our text. “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!")”. At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. You cannot question Jesus’ power. The man who never heard a sound could hear clearly. One who only talked in garbled syllables could suddenly speak clearly. You cannot doubt Jesus’ power or the reason for it. Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Savior, who came to restore the human creation to God and undo the terrible results of sin.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are spiritually deaf or spiritually hard of hearing Jesus can and will open your ears, too. Those 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!” he opens with the very Word which we study in our Sunday School, in our catechism classes, in our Bible classes, and in God’s holy house as we hear his Word and receive his Sacraments.
If something inside you is telling you that studying God’s Word is not needed, or that it is boring, that something is not from God. And if it is not from God it is from Satan.
Silence Satan, let God say to you, “Be opened”. Let him open your spiritual ears. Listen to your living 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 awe before God.
Before I close this morning please pray with me a prayer that we all need to pray, “Jesus, open my ears! Never let me be bored by your teaching. Never let me think that I already know enough. Never let me ignore 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.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 1:35 PM
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