September 6, 2009   Cycle B

Isaiah 35:4-7    James 2:1-5   Mark 7:31-37

Let’s set the cultural scene from this Marken Gospel:

Today we find Jesus entering in to a country that was previously under Jewish control, but had now become Gentile territory.  Jesus’ interaction is with a man who had likely been the butt of jokes and unsympathetic mockery as he stuttered his life away in this small isolated world. 

This is a world in the First Century that was not filled with computerized hearing aides or bionic ears.  It is a world in which everything was passed on by an oral culture.  There was generally little written words yet, and so to be a deaf person in such a culture was a severe disadvantage. 

Jesus speaks to this man in the only language that he can understand; it is the language of touch.  As we see Jesus takes him from the crowd and even from his helpful companions.  His actions are also unusual and described in great detail.  Instead of simply taking him by the hand and laying a hand on him as we see miracles worked in other areas of Jewish territory, here He touches the man’s tongue with His spittle, His fingers go into the man’s ears, He looks up to Heaven and sighs in prayer.  Then He speaks a single word to him in Aramaic “Ephphatha.”  The word translated by Mark is “Be opened!” 

The fact that the Gospel retains the original Aramaic adds a note of privilege and respect to the human words of Jesus.  It would not have been such a non-intelligent word, or a magical incantation in the ten cities where many spoke a kind of Aramaic dialect.  But more important that not only the deaf man hear this word; but all who come to Jesus recognize this as the command to us to be open to God’s will, to be open to the healing of the suffering of our sisters and brothers around us. 

After Jesus heals him, He orders him to be set free and the crowd responds with superlatives.  There are several lessons on different levels to learn from this teaching.  Let me reveal one from a story about two friends.

Susan and Sally were walking down a crowded city sidewalk in the midst of a busy noisy rush hour.  People were bustling, horns were honking, engines were roaring.  Vehicles of all sizes rumbling and the sirens were blaring.  Amid all this noise, Susan says quickly to Sally, “Listen, a cricket.”

Sally shouts back at her, “Come on.  How can you possibly hear a cricket in the middle of all this noise?  Are there even crickets in the city?” 

“But I did hear a cricket.”  They both stopped to listen again.  Then they crossed the busy street to a big cement planter.  Gently pushing aside the petunias and the other vines, Susan revealed a little brown cricket.

Sally said, “That’s amazing.  How could you have possibly heard it?”  Then Susan explained, “That’s no secret.  Watch me now.”  She then reached into her pocket and pulled out some loose change and she dropped a handful of quarters on the sidewalk.  Despite the deafening noise around them, everyone within thirty feet turned their head to see where the sound of the money was coming from.

Susan turned to her doubting friend and said, “See, it’s all a matter of what you’re listening for.”

Besides the miracle of Jesus healing this deaf man, it is a further reminder that amidst the busyness of our lives and our noise that we have created around us, it is possible for us to become “deaf” to the presence of God in our very midst.  Isn’t it true that fear and ignorance have often distorted our ability to realize the good in the midst of bad.  The reasons to hope in the wake of despair; the ability to find compassion in the ashes of anger and hatred. 

The simple word that Jesus speaks to the deaf man, “to be open,” is a reminder for all of us to experience God’s compassion in the love of family and friends.  It is as we begin a new school year, an opportunity to realize God’s presence in all times and places, to embrace God’s grace despite our difficulty to trust, to hope, and to understand. 

It is true that among the lessons we learn, that discipleship to Jesus is centered in the Christ Spirit of openness to the presence of God, both in times of sorrow and joy.  It is an openness to becoming for others the realization of Christ’s healing and His life for those unable to sense it.

Amen.  Amen.Msgr. Tom, Pastor Christ the King