Healing Love

Proverbs 2:1-8; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:31-37

Someone once asked me if I became deaf what three sounds would I not miss? That's one of those provocative questions you could ask at a party as a discussion starter, I suppose, probably because it is an interesting question. What three sounds would you not miss if you became deaf? Would it be your husband's snoring? How about your neighbor's rock-n-roll? Or, maybe it would be someone's loud muffler? Or, maybe it would be someone's nagging?

But, more than likely, there would be much more that we would miss than not miss if we became totally deaf. You'd miss the sound of a friend's voice, of bird's singing, of water gurgling down a brook, of bells ringing, and the sounds of music. Indeed, if we were no longer able to hear, we would miss being able to get the most out of a worship service, of hearing the word of God, and the voices of those around us.

So, certainly, we can understand how wonderful it was when Jesus healed the deaf man in our gospel lesson for today. For Jesus knew that God comes to us through all of our five senses. And he may have been especially aware of this particular man's need to experience God through his ears.

Indeed, we are told that the man's friends brought him to Jesus, hoping that the man could be healed. Perhaps they knew how important being able to hear would be for this particular man.

So, Jesus did what holy men were expected to do in order to heal. He took the man aside, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into the man's ears. Then, he spit and touched the man's tongue.

That's right! He spit! Now, most of us, today, would think that spitting at someone would be a pretty vulgar thing for someone to do in the act of healing someone. I mean, what if you went to the doctor for a sore throat and he spit on a cotton swab and then stuck it down your throat? Essentially, that's what we're told Jesus did. I don't think that most of us would like the idea, very much.

But back in Jesus' day, the spit of a holy man was considered to have healing properties. There were even some people who made a practice of bottling the stuff for various illnesses and home remedies.

But, I don't think that it was Jesus' spit that healed the deaf man. It was, rather, the man's faith that healed him. I would prefer to believe that Jesus only did what was expected of him in order to begin the man's growth of faith and confidence in the possibility that he could, indeed, be healed.

There is a lot of illness that could be and still is cured this way. How many of us have gone to a doctor with an ailment and felt better after seeing the doctor, even though we may have not even taken a drop of medicine? What is it about those visits? Is it having to say "ah?" Is it the doctor's listening to your heart, or taking your blood pressure? Is it just having someone pay a little attention to you? Perhaps, as much as any medication that we can take, it is our expectations, even our faith, that begin and even complete the healing process.

Now, in our gospel lesson, we are told that this healing event took place in the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, around the area of the Sea of Galilee, and the region of the Decapolis. The significant thing about this is that this was a region whose residents were mostly Gentiles. So, it is more than likely that the man who was healed wasn't one of Jesus' fellow Jews, but was, rather, a non-Jew, a non-believer.

Isn't this interesting? In fact, there are several instances in the Bible of Jesus' healing non-believers. And this was astounding to the Pharisees of Jesus' day. If anything, they believed that if the Messiah came the last thing he would be caught doing is doing something good for non-believers. Nevertheless, this is exactly what Jesus did, time and time again.

Yet, sometimes we may be tempted to think like the Pharisees. For instance, I don't know how many times I have heard people say that they just didn't think we ought to send money to foreign missions to help persons who aren't even Christians. And I don't know how many times I've heard people say that we should start thinking about the needs of persons right here at home before worrying about anybody else. "Charity begins at home!" is the words they often use. But, then, when given the opportunity to help someone at home, many of these same people will say, "Let the bum get a job!" But, if God doesn't want his people to help and care for persons away from our hometowns who may not even be like us, then why did Jesus heal those non-believers? Why did Jesus heal the ten Samaritan lepers? Why did Jesus heal the Roman Centurion's daughter? Why did Jesus do those things, unless it was to set an example for us?

Our church has a history of ministering very well, not only to persons at home, but to persons far away, as well. In fact, unlike many of those benevolence organizations that advertise in the mail and on television, many of whom spend at least 25% of what they get on administrative costs, every penny that is sent to mission work in our church is used for the purpose it was sent for. If you want to feed or clothe a hungry child, send your money to an advance special project of the United Methodist Church and every cent that you send will be used for that purpose. Our church doesn't advertise on television or in the mail because that kind of thing takes too much money away from those who need it the most.

But, back to our gospel lesson for today. After the deaf man was healed and everyone could see that he could hear and speak, the people were amazed. In fact, we are told that "the people were overwhelmed with amazement, saying, "He has done everything well!"

Another translation of their words might be, "He has done everything so easily!" In fact, that is possibly what amazed the people the most. It was the ease by which he healed the man.

In that day faith healers were a common sight. But, there was a stark difference in the way Jesus healed and in the way they healed. Many of those faith healers looked and acted more like medicine men than anything else. In order to heal not only did they spit, but they had to shout incantations, dance around wildly, preach emotionally, cut and strike themselves, and do a bunch of other things that looked impressive to the average citizen.

But Jesus was quiet. He didn't do any of those things. None of the persons he healed ever fell over, as though dead, when he healed them. Never did Jesus have to raise his voice or say more than just one or two words to bring about God's healing in their lives. In this one man's case, all Jesus said was "Ephphatah!" which simply means "Be opened!" And then when the miracle occurred, did Jesus decide to go on national television? No! Rather, he commanded them not to tell anyone. So, perhaps even some of today's faith healers could learn a lesson from the humility and simplicity of Jesus, the Son of God. And maybe we should learn a little from Jesus, as well. For in the quietness of his love, as he rests in our heart through faith, he can heal us where we are, even now, no matter what the problem may be. And it is he that does the healing with a simple touch and the sound of a single word.

The writer of the gospel of Mark makes note, several times, how amazed persons were when Jesus performed a healing or some other kind of miracle. The point that Mark is trying to make in doing this is: Are miracles really so amazing? I mean if we expected miracles they wouldn't be all that amazing, would they? After all, we're only amazed when something happens that we don't think can happen. So, if we think that God can work miracles, and if we expect it, should we really be so amazed when miracles happen?

Perhaps one of the most amazing miracles are those occurances that we initiate ourselves. God works marvelously in our lives, but how marvelously do we work in the lives of others? Perhaps this should cause us to think: "What can you do this week to show friendship to someone who is alone?"

Indeed, some of the greatest miracles may be you and me. Amen.