This is the Day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Amen.
Mark 7:31-37
Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Dear friends in Christ,
See if you can’t figure out what all these things have in common:
· Telemarketers who call during the dinner hour;
· Family members who leave their dirty dishes in the sink, hoping someone else will wash them;
· People who drive 10 m.p.h. below the posted speed limit;
· Long lines at the check out counter;
· The mosquito that constantly buzzes around your ear.
Have a guess? All of this examples fall under the category of “Things that are Annoying.”
I bet if we thought about it for a while, we could come up with a lot of others things that annoy us. I’ll share one of mine. To me, one of the most annoying things in the all world is when you try to call a business on the phone and you never get a real person. You always get a recorded voice that offers you a series of options. “If you want to open an account, press 1. If you’re calling for account balances, press 2. If you’re having problems accessing your account, press 3. If you want to speak to customer service, press 4.”
So you press 4 and soon afterward you hear, “I’m sorry, all our customer service representatives are presently busy assisting others. Please hold and the next available representative will take your call.” After several minutes of elevator music, you hang up in disgust. It’s getting almost impossible to speak to a real live human being nowadays; to have your questions answered or to transact any business. Today everything is done by pushing a button on your telephone or typing a message on a computer.
Now then, let’s say you’re one of the lucky ones who finally does get through to someone in customer service. Have you noticed, they don’t ask your name? That’s not important. What they want is your account number, social security number, address or credit card number. That’s how it goes. Nowadays, you’re not a person – you’re a number.
Sad to say, at times it can be like that here at church. We’re a fairly large congregation. You could even say we’re three different congregations rolled into one. There’s the Thursday night congregation - the Sunday 8:00 am congregation - and the Sunday 10:30 am congregation. People who attend the Thursday night services might not know who people are in the Sunday services and visa versa. And even in this service, I’d be willing to guess that you don’t know the names of every person in here, do you? But do you know who does? The church computer. Our membership is also identified by numbers. Every member in the congregation has a number in our computer. Sorry to say, as our congregation and community continue to change, the personal touch and contact we attempt to offer becomes more and more difficult.
In a world like this, it’s easy to feel as if no one cares; or, no one knows about or is interested in our needs and concerns. Yet God’s word for today reminds us of a very important truth and that is this:
You Are Not Just A Number
While it is true: 1. We live in an impersonal world
Don’t despair, because: 2. We have a personal Savior
I do believe the world in which we live is growing more and more impersonal. There was a day when business was transacted with a handshake, when neighbors got together regularly and looked out for each other. There was a day when most businesses were family owned and operated, and if you worked there, you felt like part of the family. Compare that with today. Nowadays business is conducted over the phone, via the fax machine or the computer. Instead of a handshake, there is a contract the size of the phone book, with teams of lawyers reviewing each word.
Nowadays kids don’t call anymore, they text. Instead of playing outside until the street lights come on, as we did when we were kids, today’s kids sit at home on the computer talking to each other on Face Book or Instant Messenger. We live in a different age and it has become more impersonal.
Back in the day, shopping at a department store was the way to go. People even got dressed up to go shopping. Nowadays, more and more people are avoiding traffic, people and long lines by shopping online, banking online, or conducting business through the ATM machine. We use the drive through lane at the fast food restaurant whenever possible. We stare straight ahead when in Wal-Mart, ignoring the people to our left and to our right. We live in a different age and it has become more impersonal.
And sorry to say, we’ve not only grown more impersonal with others, we’ve even grown impersonal with those we love. It’s a common story: both husband and wife come home from work. The husband, tired after a long day’s work, sits in his chair and watches television or putters around in the garage, while his wife begins her second job: cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and helping the kids with homework. The wife asks her husband for help, but it always seems to go in one ear and out the other. Eventually she stops asking. The couple stops communicating. It doesn’t take long, and they grow apart.
It used to be families sat down for dinner every night. Nowadays we’re lucky if that happens once or twice a week. Kids are busy. They have homework, their friends, and extra-curricular activities. Before you know it, everyone is so busy doing their own thing, we don’t make the time for each other. We live in a different age and it has become more impersonal.
Not only have we grown more impersonal with others and with those we love, we’ve also grown more impersonal with our Lord. Our hectic schedules make finding time for God more difficult each passing day. Two weeks ago it was mentioned that our average weekly worship attendance has dropped from well over 600 a week to just over 500 a week in the last thirty years, while our membership numbers have remained the same. I know I find myself struggling to make the time for personal time with God: prayer and Bible study. How about you?
I wonder. If we live in such an impersonal world, a world where we’ve become nothing but a number to someone else, and a world where we’ve grown apart even from those we love, is it possible that God has grown apart from us? I’m sure at times we might feel that way. In our impersonal world we’ve learned that if we don’t look out for #1, no one else will. Or, we begin to struggle and make ourselves believe that no one else cares about us or knows what we’re going through.
Our Savior Jesus comes to us today and assures us that that’s not how it is. He wants us to know that we do have a personal and loving God. He wants us to go home today assured that he does know everything that is going on in our lives. And I mean everything – right down to the very last detail. He wants us to know that to him, we’re not just a number. He knows and understands each of us personally.
You and I are not just numbers with God. Remember, he made us. He knows us personally and he cares for us according to our needs. Consider the situation that Mark records for us here in our text. Our Lord had gone into the region made up of ten cities called the Decapolis. It was an area populated mostly by Gentiles. Jesus had been in this vicinity once before about six month earlier. At that time he had driven demons out of a man and allowed those demons to enter a herd of pigs. The demons caused the pigs to run off a cliff and drown. As a result, the people were so frightened of Jesus at that time that they asked him to leave. Six months later when Jesus returns, the reception is much different. They recognize him as someone who can do extraordinary things.
Evidently, the man who had been healed six months earlier had spread the news of what Jesus had done. Now people were bringing their friends and family members to Jesus to be healed. Some men brought to Jesus a man who was deaf and mute. He could neither hear nor speak. They asked Jesus to lay his hands on him. As we watch Jesus deal with this man, we see how our Lord takes the man's personal needs into consideration.
Notice that Jesus takes the man aside. He does not deal with him in front of the large crowd. Why not? This whole scene must have been very confusing for this man. He could not hear anything that was being said. He didn’t understand what was happening. So Jesus takes him aside and speaks to him in a language the man could understand. Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and took hold of the man’s tongue. OK, he was going to do something to his ears and tongue. Then Jesus looked up to heaven to indicate to this man where his help was coming from. He then said, “Ephphatha” which means, “Be opened.” Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosed so that he spoke plainly and clearly.
The Lord dealt with this man in a personal way. And you know what? He also deals with each of us in a personal way. We are not just a number on a computer to our Savior. He knows our needs. He knows the problems we face. He knows our weaknesses and shortcomings. He knows what we’re thinking. He even knows what we’re going to do before we do it. He knows everything about us. However, from time to time, we may wonder about that.
Have you ever wondered if God knows what’s going on in your life? Have you ever wondered if maybe God is too busy taking care of everybody else that he’s forgotten about you? It’s kind of easy to think that, isn’t it? I mean if God really cared about me, if he really loved me, then why did he allow so much hurt and pain to come into my life?
· Why has he allowed my health to fail?
· How come I lost my job?
· How come he took my spouse, parent, child, friend out of this world leaving me all alone?
· Why is my marriage such a mess?
And then we begin to think, “You know what? If God really cared about me, he wouldn’t allow me to suffer through all these things.”
From time to time, each of us will carry those thoughts in our heads, or ones like them. In fact, I know several of you are dealing with them right now. Yet before you give in to despair, I want you to consider two things:
1. Is it possible that the Lord is allowing you to struggle so that you have no choice but to turn to him? Please be assured, the Lord does know who you are and what you’re going through. He promises to help you when you’re in need. He will guide you when you feel lost and alone. And he will carry you when your burden becomes too heavy.
2. And here’s my proof – the second thing I’d like you to consider. Think for just moment of those times in your life when you did feel lost and lone; when you felt like you were only a number to God. What happened? He led you through that difficult time, didn’t he? You’re here. And here’s the best part, he’ll do it again. Listen to what he says, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
So now, when you feel all alone and feel like no one knows you and no one cares about you, remember you have someone who does know you. You have someone who cares about you and will always do what is best for you. That someone is Jesus. He came into this world for you. He gave his life for you. As a result, your sins are gone. You are a child of God and an heir of eternal life. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he opened your heart and now lives in you. Make no mistake. You are not just a number to the Lord.
After Jesus had healed the deaf and mute man, he commanded the people who had seen this not to say anything. Why not? He didn’t want people to follow him simply because they thought he was their cure for every illness. Jesus came into this world with a single focus. He came to live and die for all people, to save us so that one day we might live with him.
So the next time you find yourself talking to a telephone recording, walking the aisles of Wal-Mart oblivious to the people around you, or punching your pin number into an ATM, and you begin to think of what an impersonal world we live in, remember to give thanks that we have such a personal Savior.
Amen.
And now may the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in faith through Christ Jesus. Amen.