Miracles Change You
St. Mark 7:31-37
August 22, 2021 anno Domini
What if the deaf man plugged his ears again? What if he bought the best hearing protection money could buy to make sure he never heard a cardinal at the bird feeder or Harley Davidson screaming down Benton Drive? What if he continued to speak gibberish? What if he never said “thank you” to Jesus or of boasted of God’s great gift of hearing and speech.
When Jesus works a miracle, He changes you. Mute men speak. Lame men dance. Blind men see the wonders of creation. The greatest miracle God works is that you believe, and it works the greatest change. When you believe in Jesus you are no longer deaf to God’s Word. You want to hear it. You don’t say “amen” to the world’s lies. You speak the truth. If the miracles of Jesus doesn’t change you something is the matter, and it’s not Jesus.
Every miracle of healing teaches us two things. Jesus is God and this is what the resurrection looks like. Only the Creator of the world can fix creation. I cannot make my ears hear perfectly again. You cannot stop cancer from entering your body. You cannot stop Covid from spreading. Why? Because you cannot undo your sin.
Every trouble, catastrophe, and evil is a teacher that our sin broke creation and we cannot fix it. When you hear of the earthquake in Haiti or see people falling from planes in Kabul or witness a superpower chased out of a country by Islamic Terrorist cowboys, repent. The cause of your death is not ultimately cancer or covid or a coronary event. It is your sin. We are not going to create heaven on earth. Muslims and Christians are not going to gather around the campfire of peace and diversity and sing kumbaya. We cannot save humanity with vaccines or the planet with electric cars because we cannot put an end to our own sin or stop sin’s consequences.
There is only One who can. His name is Jesus. He cast out demons, made blind people see and paralyzed people walk. He opened deaf ears and loosened muted tongues. He took care of food shortages and He could shut down a Cat 5 hurricane with a Word. He even raised the dead. But those were only temporary fixes which proved He was God.
He proved He was God so that when He died on the cross, you would know and believe His work worked. Jesus did not come to fix the world. He came to fix you – because you are the cause of the world’s problems. He came to die for your sins and rise again for your justification. We die because we are sinners. Dad didn’t die after a long battle with cancer. Dad died because he lost the battle with sin. Christ won the battle. He took our sin away, buried it deep in His tomb and rose again.
That resurrection of Jesus Christ is the beginning of new life. Jesus is the first man ever to rise never to die again. If you believe in His death for your sins, you are forgiven. God’s blood was shed on the cross. God’s body was dead and buried in a tomb. The sacrifice of God Himself is enough, more than enough, completely enough, to take away your sin. You are forgiven. You have already begun to live forever. You are guaranteed the resurrection of your body. You are right with God. That God would give His Son for you is the miracle of grace. That you believe it is the miracle of faith. Those miracles change everything.
When humans are declared right all of creation starts heading for a better day. On the last day we will see and experience the fulfillment of righteousness, a new heavens, a new earth, ears that hear and eyes that see, and minds that are clear. No more wars, earthquakes, famines, but above all no more sin. You won’t complain and I won’t be selfish. There will be no more Republicans or Democrats. There won’t be vaccines, covid, or scientists who don’t know the difference between a boy and a girl. Everyone who believes in Christ will be One in Christ, hearing, doing and speaking His One Holy Will perfectly.
Now back to the deaf man. St. Mark tells us that when this man’s ears were opened and his tongue loosed, he spoke plainly. The word for “plainly” is orthos – as in orthodontic or orthopedic. An orthodontist sets your teeth right and an orthopedist sets your bones right. The man spoke “rightly” which was the natural result of Jesus setting his ears and tongue right.
What does this mean for us? When God sets you right you become orthodox, which means “right praise.” When God sets you right you give Him right praise with your voice, your thoughts, and your deeds.
As Lutherans we have failed in our orthodoxy. And I’ll take the blame for that, along with many of my fellow preachers. With great pride Lutherans will argue that we are saved by grace and not works. I cannot do anything to save myself. Jesus saved me completely. I am right by God and I didn’t do anything. The moment someone says “you must” or “you should” we pull out the “works righteousness” card and send them to purgatory. We have been so afraid of works, that we pastors have often preached a cheap and weak grace and you have believed it. You believe you are right but have falsely believed you don’t have to live rightly. The big word for that is “heterodox” – a mixing of praise – telling the truth when it is convenient and going along with the lie because it’s easy. Believing good works don’t save you so you don’t have to be good.
Let me test your orthodoxy. You confess that you are Christian, or even worse a Lutheran. Has it changed your life? Your schedule? Your choice of work? Your mouth? The way your raise and teach your children? Your choice of shows to watch or books to read? Your bank account? Do you confess that there is only one human race made up of all humans? Or two genders? Or one definition of marriage? Are you orthodox? Are you giving right praise to God, or have you chosen not to speak and act rightly?
God’s forgiveness is not free – it cost the holy and precious blood of His Son. God’s grace is not weak. It changes you, from dead to alive, from corrupt to righteous. You are “orthos.” You are right with God and if you are right then you will be orthodox. You’ll throw away your false gods, wash the OMGs out of your mouth with the water of your baptism. Your calendar will revolve around Sunday, the Lord’s day. If God gives you a spouse, you’ll get married, stay married and have sex only in marriage. If God gives you children, you’ll teach them the Word is more important than the world. You’ll be content with what the Lord gave you and rejoice that the Lord gave your neighbor more and you’ll share with those who do not have enough. You won’t put your hope and faith in Trump or Biden or Fauci. Your mouth will confess the truth. You’ll call sin sin, and forgive those who repent – because that’s right, that’s how God brought you to faith and declared you right.
Being orthodox is not easy. To live lives of right praise, we need the righteousness of God. So every seven days the Lord calls us away from the crowds, to be with Him alone. He says to us “ephatha” opening our ears to hear forgiveness. He loosens our tongues to eat His body and drink His blood. Miraculously everything is right again with you and God, so be orthodox, giving God right praise in the name of Jesus. Amen.