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This Week's Sermon THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 06 September 2009 "Divine Spit" Mark 7:24-37 LSB Series B Vicar Jeffrey M. Dock Soli Deo Gloria!

In the name of Jesus + Amen.

You know what doesn't seem to make a lot of sense? A child getting baptized. Think about it. A tiny baby gets brought to that basin of water over there and has some water poured on him along with some words being said and then suddenly the child is saved. His sins are forgiven, he's rescued from death and from the devil and is now a child of God. Normal baby. Normal water. Normal words, and yet somehow something miraculous happens. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. You know what else doesn't seem to make a lot of sense? In our Gospel reading today, someone who is deaf (so he cannot hear) and dumb (so he cannot speak) is brought to Jesus. And of all things Jesus could do in this situation, and of all the things we might expect, He first chooses to stick His fingers in the man's ears. He then spits upon his fingers before placing them into the deaf man's mouth and touching his tongue. And then Jesus speaks the word Ephphatha, and the man is healed. His ears were opened, his tongue released. Normal man. Normal saliva. Normal words. And yet something miraculous happens.

At first glance baptism and Jesus actions here seem quite different, and yet they're really not. This man could not hear or speak, and frankly that's a pretty good description of sinful man. Oh sure, in the earthly sense most of us can hear and talk just fine. Some of us run into problems from talking too much. But in God's eyes, we are deaf and dumb. Without God's action on our behalf, we are trapped. We can hear God's Word read to us, but we cannot produce our own faith to receive it. We can say the words of the Creeds, but cannot believe that Jesus is Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The deaf mute is a reminder to us that, even if we can hear and speak, our main problem is still with our ears and our tongue. Actually it goes even deeper than that. As we heard Pastor preach last week, the true problem is with our hearts. Our hearts are evil and opposed to God. And therefore by nature, we don't listen to God. We're tuned out. We prefer to hear other more entertaining voices, or the voice of the culture around us, or the voice of our own personal wisdom or gut instinct, but not God's voice. We're deaf to His Word. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them." (1 Cor 2:14)

Like a deaf man cannot understand someone speaking to him. And with faulty hearing comes faulty speaking. Instead of praying to God without ceasing as we should, too often our tongues are mute and silent, or what they speak is garbled and faithless. Our hearts are corrupt and that affects our ears and mouth. By nature we are just like the deaf and mute man.

So what does God do? To the deaf man in today's reading, Jesus places His fingers into the man's ears. Quite an intrusion (especially since Jesus cannot explain to the man what He is about to do), but in a way Jesus does the same to us. In our case, He does it by using His words "You are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." These words enter, indeed force their way, into our ears much as Christ's fingers in the Gospel reading. And these words open our ears, freeing us from sin and allowing us to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd¹.

Facing a man who cannot speak, Jesus spits upon His fingers, and touches the mute man's tongue. So also, it is with us. For what is Christ's saliva but water which is consecrated by the Word of God? The Word which comes forth from His very mouth. And what is Baptism? Just plain water? No it is not just plain water, but it is water included in God's command and combined with God's Word². The plain water in that font becomes life-giving water that forgives sins because this water is consecrated by the Word of God. It is made into a holy water, and set apart, for the purpose of freeing our tongues and opening our ears.

At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther wrote a service for baptism that retained some ancient practices that we'd probably find pretty superstitious. One of those practices came right out of this Gospel. The pastor would spit on his fingers and touch the ears of the child. He would also touch the child's tongue. Sanitary it was not, but it taught something. For in Holy Baptism, Jesus is putting His fingers into our ears and putting His fingers onto our tongues that we might believe and confess Him as Lord. As gross as it may sound, baptism is divine spit. To the deaf mute, it was water consecrated by the Word of God for it came forth from the Incarnate God's very mouth. To us, it is the water consecrated by the Word of God in and with the water that does these things³. The Word of God is as inseparable from the Baptismal water as saliva is inseparable from the mouth which it comes from. To paraphrase Luther's Small Catechism: it is not the spit or the saliva that that works this miracle, but the Word of God in that spit or saliva that works this miracle.

Trapped in sin, we could neither speak prayers to God nor properly hear His word. But then we were baptized. We came away from that font opening our lips that they might declare God's praise⁴. We came away with ears that would hear the Word of God and belief in our hearts that would receive it. We came away from the baptismal font with faith which absorbs God's Word through our ears and speaks back to him in hymns and prayers through our mouths. These words of prayers and hymns may seem similar to the words we use on a daily basis, but there is a crucial difference. These are words of faith, brought forth from us by the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. St. Paul tells us that "no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). Being able to enter into God's presence and speak to Him is accomplished only by passing through the blood which cleansed us from the cross. It is possible only through "the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5) that occurred at that font.

Most of us can hear and speak just fine where faith is not required. But even if our hearing is gone, it is the divine hearing and speaking which really counts. It is the Word which God speaks to us, and then His words spoken back by us in faith. No Toastmaster's meeting or college public speaking course can bring this about. This hearing and speaking is worked only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the mute man from the Gospel reading was alive today, medicine might have been able to help him. Science has made great strides in restoring hearing and overcoming speech impediments. Nerve ending can be replaced, surgery can restore the speaking function of tongues and lips, and stuttering children can take speech therapy. But hearing the Gospel so that we can believe is a miracle only God can perform.

Too often we fall into the trap of seeing a disconnect between what Christ did while He was upon the Earth, and what the Church does now. We think the two are different, but really they're much the same. Christ gave words to the mute, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and that is what happens here. That is the miracle performed at that baptismal font. That is the miracle performed in this pulpit as your pastor opens his mouth and speaks to you the Word of God. A word which goes forth and creates, nourishes, and sustains faith in your lives. A word which gives you the forgiveness of sins. A word which declares you righteous in God's sight. A word that opens our ears that we may hear and our mouth that we may confess.

For over 150 years now, this miracle of faith has been worked in this church. People have heard the Gospel and believed. God has opened ears. He has done this with entire families, and with strangers. From the very beginning, Jesus has been placing His fingers into your ears that you may hear the message of the forgiveness of sins. He has freed your tongues to praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in our liturgy and hymns. He has given you the ability to speak to Him in prayer, and the promise that He shall hear you. No one can confess the truth of God without the Holy Spirit, but God has poured His Spirit upon you in your baptisms that you may hear and that you may confess.

That being said, we shouldn't kid ourselves into thinking that there is no danger to us. True you have been washed, your ears opened, and your tongue released. But we live in constant danger of them reverting to how they were before. Satan prowls around seeking to fill our ears with lies. Our own sinful flesh desires our tongues to speak falsehoods. The world tells us to avoid going to the Divine Service, to forget about our baptisms, and that hearing the Word of God isn't that important. We can walk away from this gift and return to our deaf and dumb state. It is a constant risk, and one which needs to be taken seriously. Pastor shared with me the analogy of sins as a waxy buildup in our ears. Little by little it clogs them up and drowns out the hearing of the Word of God. And when you cannot hear the Word of God, you are spiritually dead. Removed from Jesus, the source of true life- there is only death. The solution is found by clinging to Christ, who is the life of the world. This is done by repenting and believing the words of forgiveness proclaimed here. To return to the promise of our baptisms where our ears were cleaned, and our hearts made new.

After church last week, someone commented that in putting on the armor of God spoken of in last week's epistle reading, we must still be careful never to turn our backs upon Satan. This is true. We are called to be watchful. We are called to hear God's Word and receive His gifts. Those gifts are received here when the Word of God goes forth from this pulpit and enters into your ears, much like Christ's fingers. Those gifts are proclaimed at Divine Service, at our weekly bible studies, at Didache class, and the various other learning opportunities present in this congregation. Those gifts are received when you pass the baptismal font, confess your sins, and receive forgiveness from the mouth of your pastor. Those gifts are received when you your tongues are loosed and you open your lips to pray with your family. Those gifts are received when your tongue, washed in Holy Baptism, is extended here and receives Christ's body and blood onto it. We should not turn our back upon Satan, and we do that by keeping our eyes fixed upon Christ and His gifts. For there is your sure defense. In Christ. The place where your ears are opened and your tongue is set free. In the name of the Father, and of the Son ?, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

¹ John 10:27
² Catechism: What is Baptism?
³ Catechism: How can water do such great things?
⁴ Psalm 51:15, also the beginning of Matins.