Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 9, 2018
In first grade I was diagnosed with dyslexia. I was a slow reader. Even today, when I write, I will flip letters. Mrs. Goffmann came to my classroom several days a week and pulled me and a few others out of class. Mrs. Goffmann had us read exercises to one another. I did this for all six years of elementary school. My grades were not terrible. But they were nothing to brag about either. What I remember most is how exhausting and frustrating it was to read and write. It felt like a disability.
In our Gospel today, several friends bring a man with two disabilities. He is deaf and he has an impediment of speech...although his speech is no doubt related to his deafness. How can somebody produce sounds they have never heard? The fact that Mark calls it an impediment means that he tried to speak with some success. What warms my heart is the anonymous “they”—whoever they are who bring this man to Jesus. What a gift and a blessing to have friends like that who love their friend enough to introduce him to Jesus. Mark is the only Gospel writer that includes the details of how Jesus heals this man. Jesus pulls him aside, sticks his fingers in his ears, spits, touches his tongue, tilts his head back, breathes out, and says, Ephphatha which means “Be opened.” What is truly amazing about this is the genius of Jesus’ approach. Before he even heals this man, he already overcomes his disability. Jesus does not treat him with any disrespect. Jesus knows he is capable and an intelligent person.
Jesus uses the senses of touch and sight to communicate clearly with this man. Jesus knows he has developed the skill of lip reading. When Jesus looks up toward the sky he is showing him the tablet upon which Jesus writes his message. Jesus raises his bottom lip to the top front teeth and held there, then he extends his tongue forward to stick out between his exposed teeth spelling out this Aramaic word in all three of its letters. Jesus makes his Word and his ministry accessible to all. In Jesus, there are no disabilities—only opportunities to creatively bring the Gospel to people according to their strengths. It is well documented that people who do not have (or are weaker in) one sense will develop much stronger and keener other senses. In the case of the deaf man, Jesus knew that he was strong in his sense of touch and sight.
God calls us to view those around us with the same kind of empathy and wisdom. How can you and I learn how to better communicate the love of God to those around us? Do we as a church make God’s Word accessible in the fullest sense? Do we see inability in others or potential to share the Gospel in creative ways? Are we like those anonymous friends of the deaf man? Are we looking out for our friends and family and introducing them to Jesus? Are we okay not making a name for ourselves but simply serving and loving our neighbor? The authenticity of these friends and the help Jesus brings are astounding.
My freshman year in high school I took Spanish. To my own surprise, it was not difficult for me. I excelled in Spanish. I loved how consistent and phonetic Spanish is. What you hear matches perfectly with what you see—unlike our friend English. I discovered that I am an auditory learner. I learn best by what I hear rather than what I see. Most people are visual learners. Others are more kinesthetic learners—they learn best by physically doing something. A combination of all three is ideal. It explains why I had no problem learning how to read and write music. And why I did much better in school when I stopped taking notes and just listened. To this day I can devour audio books very quickly. Maybe these differences in the way we learn and grow are not so much disabilities but discovering our strengths.
As we enter a new school year, that would be a great challenge for us students—to love ourselves by finding the best way we learn. And then to learn to love each other in ways that it can be best received and understood. Be opened! Open up your hearts and minds to the rich variety of God’s creation and his creatures. Open yourself up to the multi-sensory Good News of Jesus Christ!
I believe in Word and Sacrament ministry. I believe God blesses us and strengthens us spiritually through the Word of God that is read with the eyes but also received into the ears through the spoken word as well as through the fingertips of Braille. I believe God works through the splash of water, Word, and Holy Spirit. I believe that God assures us of—and gives us forgiveness and grace through the eating, chewing, tasting, swallowing, drinking, and warm flow of wine down our throats in the giving of his Body and Blood. I believe in Word and Sacrament ministry because that is what Christ commands and institutes in the Scriptures. But I also believe in it because it shows that God is relentless in bringing us the Good News of him who died and rose again for our forgiveness and eternal life through sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.
Open your eyes, ears, mouths, nostrils, and hands. Experience the love of God in all your humanity. Open your arms, minds, and hearts to those around you. Be opened to what the Lord promises to do—what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”
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