May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
Let
us pray! Lord, Jesus Christ, outside of
Decapolis You removed the impediment of a deaf and mute man. From that moment he spoke plainly not only to
be understood, but accepted by society and his family. May our mouths have the impediment of sin
removed from our lips so we speak and hear the Gospel of Your salvation for all
of mankind, including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this
morning. AMEN.
In
a moment life as we know it can change.
Whether at the hands of a driver who falls asleep at the wheel, a
surgeon who accidently nicks a blood vessel during surgery, or an accident with
a piece of machinery that we make our livelihood from or a plane that crashes
whether into a remote field or into a skyscraper in New York City. In the blink of an eye our lives can and do change. All of us have experienced this kind and type
of change whether directly with our own family or indirectly in our country or with
our relatives, friends or members of the Body of Christ we know as the
church. Events that radically change our
lives have the potential to make us very mad with God, or as in our Gospel
tells us this morning with the man it can make us astonished at what God can and
did do through His Son Jesus Christ.
For
the people outside of Decapolis, they were astonished when Jesus put His
fingers in the mans ears, touched his tongue with His Holy saliva and prayed,
the man’s reality radically changed.
Previously, this deaf mute was only known probably as the village
idiot. Someone who wasn’t seen as having
any influence, didn’t have many friends and probably pitied more than anything
else by everyone in town. Then with
Jesus touch and prayer, the man’s life radically changed.
There
are times where we want our lives to radically change as well. Whether from a drought to plenty of rain,
from no crop to an abundance of a crop, for a relationship to change from one
of anger and deceit to care and concern.
Our desire whether at work, school, church or especially in the home is to
have peace. But we live in a world that
knows no peace. All because of sin in
our world that entered when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. In that one moment the perfection created by
God in the world and manifest in the Garden of Eden forever changed. Sin entered into the world and became
manifest in Adam and Eve knowing they were naked, for the man outside of
Decapolis who was deaf and mute and we today here at Emmanuel realizing that we
are sinful creatures.
But
thanks be to God for Adam and Eve, the man in Decapolis and for all of mankind
including you and me for what Jesus Christ has done and continues to do for us
today. In that moment when Jesus put His
fingers in the mans ears and touched His tongue He changed the trajectory of the
deaf and mute mans life. No longer would
the man be deaf, but because of Jesus Christ he would now be known as the man
healed by Jesus Christ. But the healing
was not just the physical or what was seen.
Jesus offered Him and each of us the greatest gift of eternal life.
The
gift of eternal life is offered through our belief in the Cross of Christ and
His death for all of mankind, including the man outside of Decapolis as well as
Adam and Eve and for all of us gathered here at Emmanuel today. Jesus came and did heal the man from being
mute and deaf, but in Jesus death on Calvary offered the greatest
sacrifice. His sacrifice not only was
manifest of His great love for us, but was so that our lives could be radically
changed for all eternity.
Our
lives are radically changed for all eternity because of and through our baptism
into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.
We through baptism have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb and
our lives are forever changed. When
Water and Word are poured over us we are new creatures in God’s eyes. Though we still sin, when we come confess our
sins, hear God’s forgiveness and receive His precious Body and Blood as we do
today, we are again made new creatures created in God’s image and for His
Glory. And our lives are radically
changed where we are not only renewed by the Blood of the Lamb of God, but
enabled to forgive one another and work for and with God in His Kingdom.
This
radical change and ability to work in His Kingdom is what God is calling us to
do today. For the man who was healed,
the people were amazed, but I bet his life was never the same. He left Jesus presence and no longer was he
seen as ‘the village idiot’, but he was rebranded as the person the Jesus
Christ had impacted the most with giving him a new lease on life. This is the same opportunity we have this
morning. We with our receipt of Jesus
Christ precious Body and Blood are changed and renewed in Jesus Christ image and
can forever for our community, church, family and each other show how Jesus
Christ has changed us, renewed us and returned us to being His disciples made
in His image through our baptism into His life death and resurrection. This is the promise fulfilled for all of
mankind, but for all of us saints today as we gather around the table of the
Lord here at Emmanuel as brothers and sisters in Christ, radically changed and
renewed by our partaking of Jesus meal for each and every one of us. Come and eat His Body and Blood for the
forgiveness of sins, life, salvation and our lives being radically changed by
God for all of us saints gathered this morning here at Emmanuel. AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment