Restoring Faith - Sermon on Mark 7:24-37 - 09.09.2018

Listen to the gospel and the sermon here. 

Mark 7:24-37

24 [Jesus] set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice,²⁵ but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.²⁷ He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."²⁸ But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."²⁹ Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter."³⁰ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.³¹ Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.³² They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.³³ He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.³⁴ Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."³⁵ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.³⁶ Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.³⁷ They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

Sermon

Bennet Alexander Locke, today you will be baptized.  Washed in the waters of grace, claimed by God in the name of Jesus, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.  You will be made clean. Holy. Sacred. New and beloved. You will be named. Bennet Alexander Locke, child of God.  In this sacrament, Jesus promises you life and life eternal. Life rich with the love of God. Life characterized by forgiveness and mercy.   Life that is free from sin, death, and the devil. Free to live in the abounding grace upon grace that only our God can offer.

In a just a few moments, as Bennet is presented for baptism, we will all make promises on Bennet’s behalf.  As the body of Christ, Bennet’s new and extensive family, we will affirm our call to love, support, nurture, and abide by Bennet in his new life in faith.  Family, friends, and sponsors, along with the whole body of Christ will respond to these promises with a resounding and zealous, “we will.” 

Our response is both an affirmation to Bennet of our love and support in his new life in faith, as well as a re-affirmation that we too have been claimed by God, made new in the waters of life.  In baptism we celebrate God’s eternal and abiding promise to never, ever leave us forsaken, orphaned, or alone. 

And thanks be to God that there is absolutely nothing that I, you, your family or friends, the community, or society can do to separate you from the love of God.  God claims. God names. And God abides forever, opening to us the way of everlasting life.

In 1526, during the heart of the protestant reformation, Martin Luther produced a new, revised order for the Rite of Holy Baptism.  For the most part, his new order for baptism was simply a German translation of the preexisting Latin liturgy for baptism. 

And while much of Luther’s liturgy is still practiced today, there are elements of the original liturgy we currently omit.  Mainly, the rituals related to exorcism. Rebuking the devil and freeing the child’s body from demonic-possession. Setting the child free from the power of the devil, making way to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

And so first, the priest would blow into the child’s eyes three times saying, “Depart thou unclean spirit and give room to the holy spirit.”  Later he would place salt on the child’s tongue saying, “receive the salt of wisdom, may it aid thee to eternal life.”  Lastly, the priest would spit onto his fingers, sometimes add clay, then touch the child’s nose and ears and say “Ephphatha, that is, Be thou opened.  But thou, devil, flee; for God’s judgment cometh speedily.”

So, dad, sorry! I mean Pastor John, that feels weird, may I call you dad? Ya know what let’s meet in the middle with Father.  So, Father John, when you baptize Bennet in a little while, you would not be out of bounds to blow in his eyes, put salt on his tongue, and spit in his ears.  

"Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."

In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus is still in pursuit of some peace and quiet.  Some down time. And if you’re joining us today for the first time, I think it’s worth knowing that Jesus has been chasing a quiet moment to rest for quite some time now.  

In fact, it was July 22nd, our gospel text said, “So Jesus and his disciples went away to a solitary place.”  They never made it to that solitary place. Rather, the opposite happened. His popularity grew, and as he moved from shore to shore, hillside to hillside, and town to town, the crowds have been relentless in their following. 

So today Jesus travels further into Gentile territory in the region of Tyre.  Let’s be clear, this was not Jesus’ primary mission field. We previously learned that his mission was first to the Jews, so surely, he’d be able to escape and hide in Gentile territory.  

I imagine Jesus, exhausted and weary from the journey, mentally and physically drained…overwhelmed with all of the people...  I imagine he’s probably a bit fed up with people challenging him or not understanding the things he says.  So he finds a house to escape notice, and I picture him hanging is robe, removing his sandals, rubbing his feet and letting out a sigh of relief that finally, just for a moment he can rest.  Nope.

Please sir, please please please, I need your help.  My daughter, She is possessed by a demon, and I don’t know what to do.  I have heard about the power you have to heal people. I am pleading to you as my last hope. Please, you have to help me! 

Now it should be said that by all cultural standards and norms, this woman has absolutely no business talking to, let along approaching Jesus. She’s a woman and women don’t speak to men.  She’s the wrong race and religion to talk to Jesus.  She’s unclean because her daughter is possessed.  And yet, there she is, broken hearted, and breaking every boundary to beg this Jesus guy, whom she had only just heard about, pleading him for help.

And in that I think we can appreciate this woman’s desperation.  She was a mother with a critically ill child. No cure or worse no certain diagnosis and therefore no hope for cure.  

She was an outcast in every possible way.  She was beyond desperate, ready to admit defeat that her daughter was doomed to suffer in mind, body, and Spirit.  She lived in fear of her child dying, and as a result she literally had nothing else to lose. 

And our text tells us that she immediately heard about Jesus, and that was more than enough to restore her hope.  So she seeks out this Jesus guy. She came and bowed down at his feet, and she begged him for help. She crossed every possible boundary, risking her whole-self, riding this sliver of hope.  Please sir, you have to help my daughter.

I’ve only been a father for 6 weeks, but it did not take but a second after Bennet was born for me to know that I would do absolutely anything for my son.  Especially if he was sick and there was no cure in sight. Especially if I was desperate and losing hope. And especially if I heard that there was even a sliver of hope that I could find him help.  

Ya know, before 6 weeks ago, I don’t think I every really appreciated the raw, desperate, and vulnerable plea this woman makes to Jesus, the social and cultural sacrifice she makes to beg at the feet of a man she had only heard about.  Please sir, I’ve heard about you. You have to help my child.

Jesus will go on to heal the woman’s daughter, freeing her of demonic possession.  And despite the cultural, social, economic, religious, physical, and endless boundaries that would preclude her from every interacting with Jesus, her daughter is healed.  Her daughter’s health is restored. Her status and life restored and made whole. She is freed to live. 

And I think the significance of this story is not so much Jesus’ ability or willingness to heal the daughter, but rather the immense hope that came to the woman upon simply hearing about Jesus.  Hearing the story of Jesus was enough to restore her hope and faith.  Sure Jesus gives her a hard time when she pleads for help, but ultimately it is the story of Jesus that gives her desperation hope, and leads her to the one and only one who can heal her child.  

In the second half of our gospel lesson, they bring to Jesus a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment.  Again we find someone begging on behalf of the other for Jesus to heal them and make them whole.  So Jesus takes the man aside, puts his fingers in his ears, spits, touches his tongues, and says “Ephphatha, be opened.”  Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

Again, in Gentile territory, bending the norms of both cultural and societal expectations, Jesus is found offering healing, in perhaps the most expected moments.  These are stories of faith and hope, restoration and wholeness.  These are stories of Jesus interacting well outside cultural expectations to offer a new life to desperate, vulnerable, and broken people.  

This is what Jesus does.  And despite his request for them not to spread the word and rile the crowds, they can’t help but share.  The more he ordered them to keep it quiet, the more zealously they proclaimed it. In the same way that hearing about Jesus restored hope for a hopeless mother, the people zealously proclaim the astounding power of Christ. 

..

In just a moment, Bennet will be washed in the waters of baptism.  He will be claimed by God, marked with the cross of Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Most of all, he will become an heir to God’s salvific story.  The story of God’s redemption for God’s people. A story that begins in his baptism as we bring him to the font, begging God to claim him into the body of Christ, and God does just that.  

God redeems us from sin, death, and the devil.   God cleanses us from all unrighteousness, casting away any demons, and bringing us to new life.  God washes us and says Ephphatha, be opened. 

Be open the story of God’s salvation.  Be open to plain hearing and zealous proclaiming.  Be open to the power of God’s story to restore hope and offer healing. And it will be part of our promise to Bennet, and to one another, to listen and proclaim the stories of God’s healing power. The stories of God’s grace and forgiveness. The stories of God crossing all boundaries to offer hope and life.  

And we don’t just share these stories for Bennet’s sake, or our own sake, or even God’s sake really.  We zealously proclaim God’s story for the sake of the world.  Especially today, to a world that is desperate for hope and vulnerable to false witness.  Especially today in a world that thrives on cultural, social, economical, political, racial, gender, sexual, and religious boundaries.  A world in which we are discouraged from crossing or  approaching, let alone begging for help from anyone outside the expectations of our boundaries. 

And so we are called to proclaim, zealously, to the world, a love that is boundless and limitless.   To tell the story of a God who tears down borders, brushes away the line in the sand, bridges the isle, and causes the devil to flee.  A God that created us, not so we might live within certain personal boundaries, but that we might all be made new in the one body of Christ.  One baptism of faith. 

Because the truth is, my friends, we are all beggars, desperately seeking the one who offers healing.  We all come as beggars to the baptismal font, longing to be free from sin death and the devil.  We all come as beggars to the table, longing to be fed and nourished, loved and healed.  We all come as beggars, burdened by sin, pleading to God for forgiveness and mercy.

And the good news my friends, is that God never, ever leaves us in our begging.  For our God is one who abides and overcomes any and all boundaries. Our God redeems, restores, and heals.  Again and again, God forgives, renews, feeds, and loves.

That is God’s story.  For all people, in all lands, in all times and places.  And on this day, Bennet Alexander Locke, as you are baptized by God into the body of Christ, you will be our witness to this powerful story of love and healing.  May we hear the good news, may our hope be restored.  

Amen.

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached Sept. 09, 2018 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Jacksonville, FL

This is Christ's Table - Sermon John 6:51-58 - 08.19.2018

Listen to the gospel and the sermon here. 

John 6:51-58

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"⁵³ So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.⁵⁴ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;⁵⁵ for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.⁵⁶ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." 

This is Christ’s table and Christ is the host.  All are welcome to the altar rail, to stand or kneel as you are able.  Communion will be served by intinction. You may take the bread, dip it into the wine or grape juice, and consume.  

Communion is something we do every single week during worship.  It is an essential part of our worship service and an even more important practice in our Christian living.  For most Christians, Communion is considered a sacrament of faith, therefore it is a transformational experience within our worship.  In that significant moment, when the body and blood are offered and consumed, we partake in a heavenly banquet. With all the saints, past and present.  We receive a glimpse, a foretaste of the feast to come. And it is so much more than just a ritual of eating and drinking together. When the elements of bread and wine are given, we not only consume them, but the very presence of Jesus consumes us.  Christ fill us with grace and forgiveness, promise and hope. In the sacrament of communion we are reminded of God’s enduring promise of fruitful, eternal, and everlasting life. That whoever eats of this bread and drinks of this blood will have eternal life.  There is a reason we commune every single week.

Certainly the risk is then that such a regular practice can become routine.  Mundane. Expected and uneventful. We risk going through the motions, doing what we’ve always done and will always do without fully appreciating or accepting the promises expressed in communion.  We risk becoming indifferent or apathetic to the significance of the meal, rarely pausing to consider the gift we’ve been given. There is a reason we commune as often as possible. 

For us, as Lutherans, communion is one of two sacraments: Eucharist and Holy Baptism.  I suspect we’re familiar with both sacraments, we’ve seen them done and participated in them, but how often do we deeply reflect?  Intentionally dwell on their significance? How often do you faithfully process what takes place in the sacrament of Holy Communion?

Alright, put on your catechism hat for a moment of Lutheran 101 review.  For us, as Lutherans, What makes a sacrament a sacrament? Is it the ritual?  The words? The motions? Is it because Luther said so? I won’t ask you to answer out loud, but think for a moment, what makes a sacrament a sacrament.  Specifically, for today’s purposes, what makes communion a sacrament? After all, if we are to participate in the rite of Holy Communion every single week, one might argue we should understand it’s significance as best we can.   Luther actually says, “it is contempt for the sacraments that condemns, not lack of the sacraments” 

I see some minds turning.  What do we believe makes a sacrament a sacrament?  Luther teaches, and the church confesses that there are three criteria, components that make a rite a sacrament. 

First, there should be a physical element.  An earthly, visible element. Something we can see, touch, or even taste.  This is the component we’re most familiar with, right? Bread, wine, and water. Done.

Second, a sacrament is something Jesus commands us to do.  We might easily recall Jesus’ commissioning the disciples where he commands them to go out into the world, baptizing all nations in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit.  We might also easily recall Jesus commanding the disciples on a Thursday night in an upper room to “do this in remembrance of me.” A command by Jesus. 

So far, a sacrament is commanded by Jesus...go and baptize...do this in remembrance of me... and it has some type of physical, earthly, element...bread, wine, and water.

Arguably those two are the easiest for us to reflect upon and understand.   But it’s the third component that is so often overlooked. 

Third, a sacrament is connected with God’s promise, the word of God, which gives faith.  A sacrament, and in today’s case, communion is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given to us.  This means that by Christ’s command and through the earthy element, God’s promises are given to us. Graced upon us. Washed over us.  Consumed within us. 

Element, commanded by Jesus, Connected to God’s promise. 

For the last 5 weeks we have been trudging along in the 6th chapter of John.  It all started a few weeks ago as Jesus climbed the hillside for a bit of rest and the crowds followed him.  Jesus tested Philip and asked how they would feed everyone. So from 5 loaves and 2 fish Jesus blessed, broke, and fed all 5000 until they were satisfied.  They collected 12 baskets of leftover food. From the point on the crowd, especially the Jewish authorities have been entrenched in a conversation about Jesus and bread.  About Jesus and being fed. About Jesus and being filled with life.

We’ve heard Jesus say, “I will give you bread from heaven.” and “I am the bread of life”  ..Jesus makes the connection and says “I am the bread from heaven. He says “I am the living bread” and today he tells them “The one who eats this bread will live forever.” 

Our tendency whenever Jesus talks about bread is to interpret it in light of communion.  We understand him to be making allusions to the last supper and the institution of communion.  And that’s an easy connection for us to make. But if we consider the crowds gathered on that day, they have no memory, experience, or even concept of Jesus and the last supper becasue it hasn’t happened yet.  In fact, as John goes on in his gospel writing, there is no account of the final supper. No command to “do this in remeberance of me.” So chapter 6 is it. This is John’s moment of teaching with regards to Jesus and the bread of life.  This idea that Jesus, God’s son, is a sustaining source of life, a new manna from heaven. Jesus is the bread of Life, from God, for all people, by which we are fed and nourished and gifted eternal life. That is Jesus has been teaching in the 6th chapter, and it is what we have been unpacking the last few weeks.

And today’s excerpt from the 6th chapter of John narrows in on that third criteria of a sacrament.  The promises of God within the meal. Whereas the disciples and authorities are concerned with what the bread looks like and how they will receive it, Jesus offers a litany of benefits to eating.  

“Whoever eats of this bread will live forever”

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life”

“I will raise you up on the last day” 

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” 

^“whoever eats me will live because of me” 

“The one who eats this bread will live forever." 

Jesus’ focus is on the promises received in the eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ.  Jesus is proclaiming a promise of life. God’s promise of eternal life. Jesus is focused on life and living, now and in the future.  Present and not yet. For all who eat and drink will be filled with the grace of God and lifted up on the last day.

These are the gifts and promises of God given at the altar rail.  Promises of eternal life in Christ. Promises of health and salvation.  A promise that as much as we consume the bread and wine, Christ consumes us.  Fills our very being to the fullest with grace upon grace. In this meal, it is God’s promise to abide with us forever and ever amen.  When we but taste the bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord, we join the whole company of saints in celebration of an eternal promise.   Like the Israelites desperately wandering the in the wilderness, God provides manna from heaven, food for the hungry, strength for the weak, hope for the journey.  Christ is our manna from heaven, the very sustenance by which we live, breath, and have our being. 

And we journey to the altar rail, where one and all come to Christ’s table.  Christ invites us to come, taste, and see not because that’s what we’ve always done.  Not just because Christ commands it. Not just out of guilt, routine, practice, or obedience.  We come to the altar rail, arms stretched out, because deep within we are desperate for the promises of God.  Desperate for the body and blood of Jesus to fill us again and again with grace, mercy, forgiveness, hope, and life.  We are wilderness wanderers, and we should be racing to the altar. Fighting our way to the front of the line, not because there won’t be enough to go around, but because we feel that we can’t get enough of what God promises in this holy sacrament.

Throughout the gospel Jesus regularly encounters people of God around the table.   Jesus accepted an invitation to dine with Levi, a tax collector. He accompanied Zacchaeus and remained at this home.  Twice in Luke’s gospel Jesus dined with Pharisees and risked ridicule. On the road to Emmaus Jesus accepted an invitation to dine with mourners and hear their story.  Again and again Jesus shares in a meal with sinners, tax collectors, lawyers, rich elites, poor peasants, oppressed, and the outcast of society. 

And in the end, it is Jesus who flips the script and becomes the host.  In this meal, Jesus host. Jesus prepares a banquet, a feast, and invites all people to experience the gift of grace.  And this table is open, welcoming, and unconditional. Christ welcomes all to the table that is abounding in steadfast love and overpowers all boundaries.  It is christ’s table and Christ is the host. All are welcome to come, taste, see, and be consumed with God’s promise of life and life everlasting. 

And friends, when we truly reflect, embrace, and embody the fullness of God’s promises in this meal we are changed.  We are transformed. We are made alive in Christ, here now and forever. In the meal Jesus nourishes us in faith, forgives our sin, and empowers us to be faithful witnesses of the good news.  The sacrament is life-giving not only because Jesus is the host, but also because Jesus is the one given. The bread from heaven. And whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This is the promise of God, and the reason we come again and again to the rail, every time we worship.  

Amen.