Be Opened to the Treasure of Forgiveness

Title: “Be Opened to the Treasure of Forgiveness” By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text: Mark 7:34-35  34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, Not that long ago Felicia and I were hooked on a series called “Switched at Birth.”  It’s about two girls who were literally switched at birth.  And you could tell by how each girl looked.  The red headed girl ended up with the Latina mother and the dark-haired girl ended up with the Irish parents. This was all discovered when the girls were about 16. Their solution was for them to form an unusual extended family with them all living on the same property – fortunately the Irish-American parents were quite rich and had a guest house to use.   This led to all sorts of story lines for the series. But none of that is important to our message today.  But one thing about their situation is important—one of the girls was deaf. This show gives a lot of insight into the deaf world.  You saw a lot of sign language.  And they used an effect that was striking.  Whenever one of the deaf would do the signing the scene would become totally silent, as if you were experiencing deafness yourself.  The effect of the silence got your attention every time.  That silence was loud.  They put subtitles at the bottom of the screen as if they were speaking a different language.

I. It gave you a tiny bit of the experience of being deaf.

A. Yes, here you had a faint sliver of a hint concerning one aspect of life that the deaf and mute man experienced in our text.

1.  The lamentable man lived in a world of silence and that is a deadly place to live, especially at the time of our text.

a. This poor soul was unable to hear a horse whinny and unable to marvel at the dove's morning song. The deaf man never heard his mother's spoken words. He could not hear the voice of his father's prayer at the table or a child's cry in the night. b. Had he gone to the synagogue, he would have been only able to watch a man mouth the words. If the communication was meant for him, well as the saying goes, it fell on deaf ears. c. The deafness he had could have caused him to end up like this: One of the saddest instances of deafness that I know is that of the composer of classical music, Ludwig van Beethoven. For a musician deafness would be the tragedy of tragedies. As he himself wrote on one occasion, "How sad is my lot, I must avoid all things that are dear to me." There was a terrible time when Beethoven was struggling to conduct an orchestra playing one of his own compositions. He could not hear even the full orchestra. Soon he was beating one time and the orchestra was playing another, and the performance disintegrated in disaster. There is a pathetic picture of him after he had given a piano recital, bent over the keyboard, oblivious to the applause that thundered about him. (3) He wrote on another occasion, "For two years I have avoided almost all social gatherings because it is impossible for me to say to people ‘I am deaf.’ If I belonged to any other profession it would be easier, but in my profession it is a frightful state." Beethoven died a broken, bitter man.

2. With deaf ears, this man lived on a silent planet. He could easily have ended up a broken and bitter man.

a. A great chasm separated him from the others in this world. b. Oh, there were those who cared for the deaf and mute man, but they could do not open his ears.

B. But in a way that’s our world too.

1. In relation to God, this is exactly how we are when we come into this world—deaf.

a. From the moment of conception, we are sinful by nature. We are not able to hear His Word of Life on our own. For us there seems to be an awful silence from God. b. Because we are born sinful, we come into this world opposed to God’s saving word, unwilling to hear it.  In fact, by our sinful nature we are unable to hear it at all.

2. In fact, it’s not even a case, as some contend, that each of us is born with a neutral, free will with which we choose right or wrong when we are of age.  Scripture tells us that we of ourselves can do nothing to awaken our spiritually comatose souls.

a. For it would be just as ridiculous to suggest that the deaf man in today’s text could have chosen to hear if he’d wanted to!  We sinners can no more open our ears than a deaf person can simply one day decide to hear.  b. No. It takes God himself to help us.

II. So to the silence of the deaf man Jesus speaks his word: “Be opened.” In a way it’s like this: In the tales of the Arabian Nights, Ali Baba secretly follows the forty thieves to a cave where their treasure is hidden.  In doing so he learns that one enters the cave by speaking the words, “Open Sesame.”

A. Although the story is but a tale, it portrays well the power of the spoken word.  The spoken word from Jesus breaks into this silent world.

1. Jesus is not just another sinful human being. He’s the Son of God.

a. He puts His saliva on the man’s tongue—not a doctor-approved treatment in our day and age.  Then, looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is “Be opened.” b. He speaks to the man’s ears: Ephphatha. A funny sounding Aramaic word. Be opened. That’s all it takes from Jesus. One word. The man’s ears were opened. He could hear.

2. Notice the earthiness of it all.

a. Fingers in ears. Spit. Tongues touched. Not waving hands and incantations. b. God comes down to us, reaches down to where we are, sticks the fingers of His Word in our ears and says, “Ephphatha” to our deafness.

B. But Jesus didn’t come to start a movement. He didn’t come to be a wonder-working celebrity.  He came to die on a cross, because only that could cure our deafness to His word.

1. So Jesus He came to take all of God’s wrath that we deserve for our sin upon Himself on a cross at Golgotha.

a. He came to take the suffering and death we deserve for our sin.  He came to offer himself as the final sacrifice.  He came to die on our behalf and to suffer hell so we don’t have to.  b. He came to save the world. He didn’t come to fix every deaf ear and tied tongue. But He came to lay down His life as the one and only sacrifice that atones for our sins. He came to bring life and salvation. He came to see humanity through death to resurrection.

2. Jesus, in this miracle and by all His miracles, would point us through the cross to the resurrection. The healings that Jesus did in His life were only the beginnings, the very slightest beginning of the great miracles and gifts He will give on the last day in the resurrection.

III. And Jesus speaks “be opened” today too.

A. Just as Ali Baba needed to say the precise words to open the cave, here, then, is for you there are two words that God wants you to hear:

1. The first word God wants you to hear starts like this: Generations of preachers at Princeton Seminary were schooled in their preaching skills by Dr. Donald Macleod. Among the points Dr. Macleod would make during the semester was the importance of choosing a compelling sermon title. In fact, he asked students to give their sermon title before beginning each sermon. He used to tell of Mrs. O'Leary who would hop on the Fifth Avenue bus on Sunday morning in Manhattan and pass the great churches along that thoroughfare. As the bus would approach each church, she would eye the sign in front with the sermon title and decided, on the basis of what she read, whether to get off the bus and attend that church. Dr. Macleod's constant refrain was, "Pick a title that will make Mrs. O'Leary get off the bus." Mindful of that instruction, one of his aspiring preachers mounted the pulpit one morning for his first student sermon. Per protocol before beginning his message, he announced: "The title of my sermon is...'There's a Bomb on the Bus.'"  God’s message begins with a warning about our sin.  It’s like that bomb on the bus.  And we are deaf because of our sin.  He’s warning us that our sin will destroy us unless remedied. 2. But the message doesn’t end there.  He also announces to you that You are forgiven. Forgiveness is the cure for the sin which is our bomb on the bus.

a. Forgiveness means God does not count your sins against you.  Every one of your sins He forgives.  b. Your Heavenly Father does not speak any word against you because Jesus died and rose again for you.  And this word of forgiveness, which today is in your ears, is the precise word that God wants you to hear.  And through this gracious word, God opens your heart to believe that you are, for Jesus’ sake, forgiven.

B. In the tale of the Forty Thieves, Ali Baba opened the cave to take the treasure out.  Not so with God.  He speaks His Word to you, not to take from you, but to give His treasure to you.  And His treasure is life with Him now and forever.  This treasure is yours now, because His word delivers this treasure to you.

1. In the waters of Holy Baptism, He cleaned out your ears with His Word. He gave you faith—ears to hear His Word. This forgiveness—this healing from sin—is a far greater miracle than the one in our text: because when you are forgiven, you have the promise of eternal healing. No matter what afflicts you today it will be gone in heaven.   2. So the same Lord, who spoke to the deaf-mute and healed him, has also spoken His healing, Word to you. Furthermore, the same Lord, who put His fingers in that man’s ears and touched his tongue, gives you His same body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Salvation is yours because of Jesus coming to you today.

CONCLUSION: Jesus wants to do for you what He did for that man in the Decapolis that day. He wants to stick His Word into your ears, to cut through deafness, to open your ears, your minds, your hearts. He speaks His “Ephphatha” to you. “Be opened.” And once our ears are open He gives us great treasures.  Treasures of life and healing and salvation – eternal treasures.  And these treasures move us to have mouths which are instruments of worship and witness, declaring the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His light.  And now it’s OK to talk about it. No commands of silence now.  Amen.