Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

In the creation account of Genesis 1 and 2, we read that God spoke and it was so. Only God can do this. Only he can say, “Let there be light” and there was light. Moses records that God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. Thousands of years later, when the fullness of time came, the same God who created the universe became man and walked among us. And as God, Jesus spoke, and it was done. He spoke, “Ephphatha!”, “Be opened!”, and it was so (Mk 7:34). By healing the deaf-mute, Jesus demonstrated that he was the very same God who had created the world from nothing. Only God can make a deaf man hear or a mute man speak. The people recognized the power of God, saying, “He does all things well.” Indeed, everything that Jesus made or did was very good.

By healing the deaf mute, Jesus also showed us how it is that God has chosen to deal with us – with words. The people thought that Jesus would heal the man by touching him. But they were wrong. They brought the man to Jesus and begged him to lay his hand on him. Jesus did heal him, but not by touching him. Jesus put his fingers in the man’s ears, but this didn’t heal him. It was sign language to show the man that Jesus was going to heal his ears. Jesus spat and touched the man’s tongue to show him that he was going to give him the ability to speak. Then Jesus sighed and looked up to heaven to show the man that the power to heal comes from God. But none of these things healed the man. Then Jesus spoke, and instantly the man’s ears were opened and he began speaking clearly.

The inability to hear and the inability to speak go together. You learn how to speak by listening. In recent years great advances have been made in teaching deaf people how to speak clearly, but it’s a long and difficult task. What is amazing about Christ’s miracle is that the deaf man could speak clearly immediately. Jesus not only gave him the ability to hear. He gave him a skill that is acquired over a long period of time, and he did so instantaneously. And how did Jesus do this? With words. Jesus is the God who speaks and it happens.

Perhaps, like the people who brought the man to Jesus, we might expect Jesus to work in some other way. Many people go to church looking to “feel the Spirit” or be touched by God is some mysterious way. There are many ways that we might wish that God had chosen to give himself to us. Some people want to have their emotions stirred. Others look for God in nature. Many people search within their own minds and hearts. But Jesus didn’t promise to meet you in those ways. He didn’t promise to come to you in the garden alone, or to meet within your own heart. God has chosen to deal with you through his Word.

Unlike our words, which are often empty and ineffective, God’s words perform what he says. And that’s a good thing, because you had a problem worse than being born ears that didn’t work or a tongue that couldn’t speak. The Bible says that you were born into sin, spiritually dead, incapable of hearing or responding to God. In Luther’s explanation of the Second Article of the Creed, we confess these words: “I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him.” Think about that for a moment. “I believe…that I cannot believe.” What a bizarre statement. But it confesses the truth about every one of us at birth. And why were you unable to believe? Well, because you were spiritually dead. Dead can’t people can’t make a choice for God. Dead people can’t hear. They can’t believe.

But that’s not a problem for Jesus. Listen to his words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (Jn 5:25). You see, when God speaks, nothing else matters. Jesus said to deaf ears, “Be opened,” and they were. And to you, dead in your trespasses and sins, the Creator of the universe spoke these words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” At the speaking of these words, the dead heard and lived. You were born again into the kingdom of God. You were marked as God’s own child, your sins were forgiven, and you received the Holy Spirit. All of this happened immediately, just as it did for the deaf mute. When Jesus speaks, it doesn’t matter if you are deaf, if you’re dead, or even if you have ears. God’s Word always accomplishes what he sends it to do.

So you see, your life depends on the Word of God. This is how our Heavenly Father has chosen to deal with his children – through words. In heaven you will see God with your eyes. But here on earth, you won’t find God with your eyes, or your heart, or your feelings. In this life we walk by faith not by sight, and faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Perhaps this isn’t the way that we would have chosen for God to relate to us. We often have different ideas about what God should do. The crowd wanted Jesus to heal the man by touching him. Perhaps you’d rather that Jesus gave you $100 bills instead of words. Many Christians judge a church service by the number of times they got warm fuzzy feelings. And that’s why so many people end up frustrated and leave the church. They were looking for Jesus in places where he has not promised to be. So where did Jesus promise to be? With his church. And where is the true church? It can be found wherever the Word of God is preached in truth and purity and the sacraments are rightly administered.

Why did Jesus pick water to be the instrument of new birth? Why did he attach the promise of forgiveness to bread and wine? I don’t know. There’s nothing particularly special about plain water, but with the Word of God, that boring old water becomes a life-giving flood that drowns the Old Adam together with all sins and evil desires and raises you up to new life in Christ. According to the Word of Christ, he is truly present in the bread and wine. It is his Body and Blood which actually does forgive your sins. And when your Pastor declares that your sins are forgiven, these are not his words. Oh no, these are the words of Christ who speaks and it accomplished. Your sins are forgiven because the God who created the universe with his words declares that it is so. Not only that, but his words are backed by his blood poured out upon the cross for you. By the power of his Word, Christ has opened, not just your ears to hear this Gospel, but also the gates of heaven, which stand ready to receive you. You, who once were deaf, now hear. You, who once were dead, now live. You, who once could not believe in Jesus Christ, nor come to him, now have the Holy Spirit, who has called you by the Gospel, sanctified and kept you in the one true faith, and will raise you to eternal life on the Last Day. “Truly… the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” Amen.