August 14,
2016
Mark 7:31-37 – Healing of Mute Man
Jesus has pity on even the least of these, including us!
Mark 7:31-37 – Healing of Mute Man
Jesus has pity on even the least of these, including us!
If you have ever had a child who was sick,
a parent who was ailing, a friend who was dealing with sickness, whether
cancer, long term sickness or even the frailty of their body, have you ever
prayed for them or someone you know to be healed? I’m not just talking feeling better, but
their complete healing?
This morning we have heard from our Gospel
the story of Jesus healing the deaf man who also had difficulty speaking. All of us have encountered individuals with
similar challenges. Jesus clearly not only
had the power, but also the authority to heal this man of his malady, both of
hearing and speaking.
Could you imagine this man being led to
Jesus by his friends? His family and
friends had probably carried him when he was younger and taken him to many
healers throughout the land and his lifetime.
For some today we would be willing to drive or fly across the country
for a glimmer of hope. Yet, for that
young man, the healers and their practice upon this man was to no avail. Every person they had brought him to did not
change his condition.
Yet, as we have heard today, Jesus during
His lifetime and ministry on earth simply had pity upon the least of these, especially
this deaf and mute man. It may not seem
like much when we are healthy, but for a man, who had for his entire life,
never heard the birds sing, been able to speak plainly and be understood or be
welcomed because he was not ‘normal’, this change was radical. Jesus gave this man his life back in a way
that is utterly profound, but it wasn’t an herb he used, nor a new treatment
that had gone through the trials that we are so used to hearing about
today. Jesus did something radically
simple.
Simply, Jesus not only laid His hands upon this
man, but took this poor man’s hands in His own and gave him the freedom he had
never experienced. This same offer of
freedom Jesus offers to each of us today.
Unlike the man who was freed from the shackles and prison of the lack of
speech and hearing, we who gather here today are offered a greater freedom from
something far more sinister. Today, we
are offered freedom from the binding of sin in our world into the life giving
world of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
During these uncertain times, whether from
a world that is at war with ISIS, global climate change where the experts tell
us the ocean is rising or so close to home of the uncertainty of the elections
in the fall or the price of wheat and corn being at a low not seen in our
collective lifetime, we who gather here today want, need and desire stability. As Christians our uncertainty can find
balance and freedom in only one source and one surety, our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
When the deaf and mute man took the hand of
Jesus Christ his reality radically changed.
It wasn’t like the hope we sometimes find sitting in a medical office or
surgery waiting room when a surgeon comes out and says, “we got it all” like
with cancer surgery or an emergency procedure that saves one’s loved one’s life. The reality that changed for the deaf and
mute man was of his taking Jesus Hand and a clear and profound healing that
gave his life to him like he had never known.
This morning we are offered this same chance
when we come and take Jesus Holy Hand offered for each and every one of us. It isn’t about our being healed from sickness
or disease, but Jesus wants to take our hand and release us into the world to
tell others what a life of eternity looks like with Him. Jesus wants to take our hand and help us
enter into a new relationship with Him and it be a relationship, not of empty
promises, but of fulfillment made in and for each and every one of us. Jesus wants to take our hand and escort us
into the reality found not on the streets of Goodland, but in our being
welcomed into our heavenly home when we go to be with Him for eternity.
Jesus wants to help us like the deaf and
mute mans friends and help us help others to take Jesus hand. Hence why our sermon hymn this morning is
“Precious Lord, Take my hand”.
All of us have probably heard and have sung
this song numerous times. But the story
of this song has a deeper and more profound meaning. Thomas Dorsey, penned these lyrics in 1932
after his wife Nettie died in childbirth and soon after Thomas lost the child they
were bringing into this world. Steeped
in the loss of both the love of his life and the child they were planning on
raising, Thomas, with these lyrics gives us the greatest gem in understanding
what it means to take Jesus hand.
The simple prayer this hymn prays is a plea
by a man who has lost everything, but clearly understands what is to be gained
when Jesus takes our hand. The question
we need to ask and answer this morning, will we remain in our self-imposed
prison, or will we be liberated like the deaf mute man and believe Jesus sure
promise when we sing “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”?
It is my prayer that each of us take Jesus
Hand and feel the freedom from that which binds us which is found in the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ has
pity even on the least of these, including each and every one of us gathered
here this morning. So let’s firmly,
faithfully and fully believe the words that we sing and respond with our simple
plea “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”!
AMEN.
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