Spirit of theHeartland

A Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Pat Gillespie

Isaiah 35:4-7a
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:31-37
Psalm 146

Yucky Works of Faith

Oh.... yuck! "Jesus spat and touched the man's tongue"? That's really pretty disgusting. And when was the last time you let someone put their fingers in your ears?

You'd think Jesus, being God's Son and all, could get rid of any kind of problem with just a word. I'd be quite happy to have Jesus fix up my life by looking up to heaven, sighing, and saying a strange word. But does he really have to spit and touch people in this odd, intrusive, and intimate way?

I like those healings better where the sick person is miles away from Jesus. Or when Jesus says, "Your faith has healed you."

That's what we're talking about here, isn't it? Faith healing. That's what it takes. God or Jesus speaks a word, and we hear and believe, and things change. Nobody has to DO anything. Faith is enough.

But it doesn't seem to be enough for Jesus. And it certainly isn't enough for James, who writes: "Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves."

The deaf man's friends have faith, and they DO something that shows it: They bring their friend to Jesus. Jesus has faith, and he does something that shows it: He touches the deaf man.

For a good Jew like Jesus, having faith or "hearing" God's word is "doing" – The Hebrew word "shema" refers not only to hearing, but at the same time to obedience. If you really hear God's word, you obey it, you do something about it.

James, though writing in Greek, is playing with this Hebrew understanding that hearing is obeying, that faith and works are inseparable. He's not saying that works are necessary for people to be healed. (God can and does heal people for free.) He's not so much saying that faith without works is meaningless, but that faith necessarily shows itself in works. (Though sometimes no one sees those works – Like Jesus going off in private to heal the deaf man.)

What James IS saying is that if you heard it and believe it, you WILL act on it. Hearers ARE doers.

But some of us, like the man in today's Gospel, are deaf. People who are deaf to God are easy to recognize. They're the ones who aren't doing anything.

We are deaf to God's word when we fail to reach out and touch others in need. We are deaf to God's word, unlike the deaf man's friends, when we don't bother to bring our own hurting or deaf friends to Jesus. Faith doesn't just stand by and watch. Faith reaches out to touch.

The deaf man's ears are opened AND his tongue is freed. He can do something with what he now can hear. He can speak. He becomes a hearer and a doer. He can proclaim the Good News about Jesus.

Probably God doesn't expect us to go around putting our fingers in people ears or spitting on each other anymore. (At least I hope not.) But there are still plenty of people out there (and right here) needing to be touched. There are still plenty of people whose ears are closed to God's word.

And we can DO something about it

We can visit people in a nursing home.
We can invite a friend to church.
We can work at share-a-meal.
We can spend time in prayer.
We can serve as church warden, or treasurer, or preacher, or musician.
We can care for orphans and widows,
for those who are homeless or depressed or hungry or lonely,
for prisoners and victims,
for the powerless and the marginalized.

Even in our own deafness to God's word, I'd bet most of you have heard whispers of what you could do. Some "works" may feel odd and uncomfortable, even yucky. Others may be wonderful, beautiful and fun. They are all good gifts from above.

Jesus again and again touches our lives, sighs, and says, "Be open!" That's not just, "Open your ears and hear." That's a call to action. "Be doers of God's word."

Did you hear that?

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