Untitled Sermon (5)

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity - August 18, 2024

Mark 7:31-37, Isaiah 29:17-24, 2 Corinthians 3:4-11

Pastor Loder

The sixth verse of Psalm 135 reveals the following truth: “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.” Through the pericopes before you this morning, you’re shown practical examples of how the Lord works in His will, way, and time. Specifically, the focus this morning will be upon the Lord’s work of that which has been closed - that which sin has caused to be opposite of its intended, created purpose. In doing so, consider the following three points: first, sin has closed that which is intended to be open. Second, the Lord works opening when and how He chooses. And third, as children of God, you use what has been opened for the sake of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving as you love God and love others.

First, sin has closed that which is intended to be open. Sin is evil. It’s the work of the devil. And you must understand who the devil is and why he does what he does to understand the damage to one’s soul sin inflicts. As you know, the Word of the Lord spoke into existence the blessed creation that is this world. Into this open residence of holy purity, God created and placed mankind. It’s the closest image we have to life in heaven. Man and woman, made in the image of God, working within the Divine provision that is the Garden of Eden, tending to the creatures and crops, in a relationship with the Lord who had looked at all things and said that it was “good.”

Only, as you know, that wouldn’t last long. Slithering into the perfection of life with God was the devil’s narcissistic need to ruin mankind. He did so because the devil is a jealous and callous being who suffers his just consequence of being removed from heaven - removed from the eternal bliss of heavenly dwelling. Having rebelled against the God of all beings the devil was removed from heaven. His eternal reality is dead before him, and the devil sees the opportunity to ruin the perfection of mankind’s relationship with their creator.

The sin of pride displayed in the desire to be like God is what brings the fall of man. And it’s been the sin that is foundational to all sin since. Pride cometh before a fall, you may have heard a time or two. And if you’re really truthful about examining yourself, you’ll find that some sort of display of pride is what lands you into every need to confess your sin. It’s simply nasty. It’s the gross, totally corrupted nature with which you will wrestle from now until the day you take your last faithful breath upon this earth.

And so the devil, as he thought, had gotten back at God. Only he underestimated the Creator’s love for His children. It’s for sure that the love of God for His dear creatures has been tested throughout their being - even to the point that the Lord expresses sorrow and regret for creating them. Nonetheless, the Lord is gracious and saw to it that the damaging wage of death brought into the depths of humanity’s heart would not be the final reality that claims them. God promises a Savior.

Yet though mankind would find eternal peace through the eventual opening of the one and only Son of God the Creator, they had a consequence to face. God had given a command and a consequence. The command? Don’t eat of one particular tree. The consequence? Death. And here’s where you see the initial display of God’s mercy and grace. The death required of Adam and Eve is laid upon another. They are covered with the first shedding - opening - of flesh for the sake of supporting life - for the sake of covering what was now tainted. And that wasn’t all. They could no longer dwell in the presence of the Lord. Sin had done its damage. The garden - heaven - would be closed. Sin has closed that which is intended to be open.

The second part of the sermon this morning: the Lord works opening when and how He chooses. From God’s grace and mercy toward sinners His love is shown in the sending of His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. This is the great reversal of the damage sin brought upon your soul which you’ve inherited from Adam and Eve. As the garden was closed to Adam and Eve, so is heaven to the sinner who refuses to repent and seek the salvific absolution of the Lord.

This is one of the ways the Lord works when and how He chooses. It’s a point of contention for many who wish to be Christian or even say they are but want to claim the title and not live within the true confession of what it means to be a Christian. God’s work among His creation is out of necessity to reverse the closing of sin’s evil. And for you to be included in that Holy work of salvific grace, your heart must confess that you are, indeed, a poor miserable sinner. Further, you must recognize that the blessed words, “you are forgiven of all your sin,” is a regularly stated confession of truth that points you to the assurance of God’s work.

But for you to be able to make this confession, you must have faith. And faith is not something you can have on your own. Faith is a gift from the Lord. In fact, outside of this gift, you’re dead and have no ability to do anything faithfully. But in another way in which the Lord works when and how He chooses, He comes to you through the blessed means of His Word and Sacraments for the sake of healing your corrupted eyes and ears for the sake of making you able to hear and see the means of grace that have returned you to Him as His child.

As you see in the Gospel lesson, the Lord responds to the man brought to Him who was deaf and unable to speak. And notice what the Lord does first, He takes the man aside. The Lord takes you “aside” every time you are in His Word. Taking the man aside removed them from the distractions of the hubbub that was following Jesus. Taking you aside through regular devotion and hearing of the Word gives you time away from the hubbub of the world, time away from distraction, time set aside for you to be in private conversation with the Word of God - with Jesus.

This act of taking the man aside is followed by Jesus putting his fingers into the ears of the man. This is connected to your devotion to God’s Word. For it is the Word of God that is the finger of God that opens your ears, penetrates your conscience, and bursts the hardened sin from your heart. As Jesus would use the same “finger of God” to cast out demons, thus revealing the Kingdom of God, he casts out the demonic in this man who has shut his ears.

The opening of the ears is an absolute necessity for this man as it’s by hearing that one comes to faith - hearing the word of the Lord. It’s the work of the devil that creates the manifestation of sin upon the bodies of humanity. Many and various handicaps plague the human race. And the only means that one overcomes those handicaps is the grace and mercy of the Lord.

In faith, one recognizes that they’re not defined by the temporal reality they must live within while a pilgrim upon this earth. Instead, they look in faith to the eschaton when they will rejoice in the blessing of things made new - including their bodies. In the meantime, you rejoice in the Lord’s finger touching your ears, opening your soul, and filling you with the truth of His Word.

Being able to hear the Word of God is foundational to your faith. Being able to confess that faith flows from that foundation. Thus the man is further touched by Jesus upon the tongue. As the soul of man is opened by the Lord’s touch upon the ears, the tongue is loosed - is opened - also by His touch. A necessary touch it is, as in sin one’s tongue is closed. It must be loosed for it to function in its intended role of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving as one loves God and loves others. And in all of this you're given front-row seats to the display that shows how the Lord works opening how and when He chooses.

Now, the third part of the sermon: as children of God, you use what has been opened for the sake of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving as you love God and love others. With open ears and a loosed tongue, the man before Jesus has one more need. With an open soul and the ability to speak, it still can’t and doesn’t happen until evil is removed completely. Jesus speaks “ephphatha,” that is “Be opened.” Upon the Word of Jesus, “his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.”

A note about this word “plainly.” A more in-depth translation of this word is that the man spoke correctly. The word is “orthos.” Think orthodoxy. What we have here is not simply a man who started speaking so that everyone could understand him in “plain” language. What we witness is the miracle of God’s Word - the Word - Jesus - speaking this man’s soul to be opened and then the response of truth flowing from his tongue. That which was closed has been opened for the sake of speaking faithfully.

And that leads to the direction of Jesus to not tell anyone. Seems counterintuitive. But it’s good to recognize that, for one, the time wasn’t right. Jesus didn’t want or need more attention than He was already getting from those who didn’t like Him or were threatened by his popularity. Secondly, as is made evident in various interactions and expressions throughout the Scriptures, people aren’t ready to receive the full truth of who Jesus is. As we would learn, it’s not until after His death that many begin to recognize who Jesus is and what His overall purpose is.

You have the benefit of being touched through the ears and tongue regularly. You have the Word of God available to you in many and various means, there’s no excuse to not be in the Word daily and often. It’s through that being in the Word of God that your heart, mind, and soul will be opened from the closing of the devil’s attempt to keep you closed from the eternal realities of your faith.

Further, as often as you disregard the many attempts of Satan to keep you from coming to this place, you will be reminded of the washing of your rebirth that opened the blessing of heaven for you. Drawn from the water grave you were given life. And in that life, you’re now regularly nurtured through the peace that surpasses all understanding - the peace of Jesus' body and blood given for you. It’s through Jesus' flesh, opened in bloody torment, shed for your sin that in His death you have life and have it abundantly.

In response, you give prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to your Creator. Further, you view all people as fellow creatures of God and strive to love them as you would be loved - to love them as God loves them. By no means does that remove the necessity to admonish and hold one another accountable or offer praise and thanksgiving for others' gifts.

The Lord does as He pleases. And instead of being threatened by such a truth, find peace in it. It’s a treasure of the faith to recognize that the Lord has reversed sin’s curse in ways in which He found best to do so for the sake of giving sinners the faithful expression of orthodox, true, confession of who God is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do. As you’ve been here this morning, dear Christian, rest assured that your ears and tongue - your soul - have been opened as the finger of God has touched you through His Word. And may that Word of God assure you this day that you are forgiven for all your sin. Amen.

Now dear Christians, take what you’ve heard this morning and test it against the Word of God.