“Let’s Talk” Mark 7:24-37
I realize this may sound weird for a preacher to say, but sometimes I find words really boring. I know, here I am bombarding you with an onslaught of words and I am confessing that I sometimes get bored with words. The emphasis on sometimes, hopefully you won’t this time. But so many times words are empty or people talk just to talk. So many times people just want you to buy something or think like them and the words are not sincere. They are slanted, empty, repetitive and … boring.
Perhaps no more so than during the political season. People hire speech writers and those who are trained in how to use words to persuade people. Most politicians, not all, are quite careful with their words knowing the things that will get people to trust them and believe them. And so we hear debates, speeches, commercials, interviews, attacks … all words.
Whether it’s a politician, a teacher, a preacher or even a friend, when I feel like it is insincere, like the words are empty, the motives are slanted, the message overly repetitive, I get bored. Blah, blah, blah. No thank you. In an age where we have millions of things to entertain us right in the palm of our hand, I’ll skip the empty words and scan my twitter feed for something amusing instead … like a baby Panda climbing out of a crib.
But then, there are times when words are precious. When they are valuable, life-changing, and powerful. And sometimes we miss them because we are too quick to tune out. Sometimes in the midst of empty speeches, advertisements and blah blah blah there is something precious. Sometimes words can change everything. In the Gospel reading today Jesus shows us that words can change everything.
This story about the Syrophoenician woman is a tricky one. You see the problem is, what Jesus says is very upsetting. Jesus is in foreign territory, among people that are historically enemies of the Jews. So in this conversation with the woman there are a lot of reasons for separation between the two: Jesus is Jewish, she is Gentile, Jesus is an itinerant preacher she is a Greek land owner, and she is a female and he is a male at a time when men are to be dominant and women submissive. But here they are talking, maybe even debating in this foreign land, alone. She wants healing for her daughter. Jesus makes reference to a meal to say that healing is for the Jews first and then compares her daughter to a dog. Here’s the problem, to call someone a dog is a big insult. It sounds mean, harsh, racist and upsetting. So how do we make sense of this coming from Jesus?
I have heard preachers tackle it from a variety of different angles. Some will say that what Jesus says is wrong and the woman beats him in the argument, he learns and is changed. Some will say Jesus says this to test her. Others might say Jesus is flawed here and shows that he is fully human. Still others might find ways to show that what he says isn’t all that bad. Either way, what Jesus says is what we have to work with. And it’s what she had to work with. Her daughter needed healing, she is a woman, a Gentile, asking this Jewish preacher for help and being called a dog. So … what now?
Well, she speaks. She uses what she has- her words. She challenges what Jesus says and asks for even the crumbs. And Jesus says “because of what you said, go home; the demon has already left your daughter.” The message is clear, what Jesus brings is not just for the Jews, it is even for this woman, this foreigner, formerly thought of as an enemy. This takes place just after Jesus flips over the understanding of what is clean and unclean and before he feeds 4,000 people (including Gentiles). So whatever the reason for how Jesus does it, what he says and why he says it- the message is clear, he is here for everyone. There is enough to eat for everyone no matter what label others may put on you. The woman receives what she came for, her daughter is healed because of her words. She came to understand what Jesus offers, who he is through her words. And Jesus heals her daughter not by touching her or visiting her or offering her anything, just words. Sometimes words are life-changing.
Then we go from that place to another foreign place where he meets a suffering man. A man who is deaf and can barely speak and the people beg for him to be healed. The way in which Jesus heals this man is dramatically different from the way he just healed the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. Then he simply said, “go home, she’s healed.” But now it is much more dramatic. Jesus takes the man in private, sticks his fingers in his ears, spits, touches his tongue, looks up, sighs and says “be opened.” Perhaps as strange for our modern day ears as the last story but for different reasons. It crosses many boundaries most of us like to maintain- spit, ear touching, shouting, all a little uncomfortable. But even with all of the differences between this healing story and the story before it of the Syrophoenician woman, there is something that is the same. Jesus announces healing with his words. Imagine how powerful it was for that deaf man to hear the words “be opened.” Two words, life-changing and forever kept in time by this book we read from and proclaim.
This book of words that bring us these stories of healing, new life, salvation.
The Bible is after all just words. More words in a sea of speeches, advertisements, jingles, shouting and blah blah blah. Words in a world of endless chatter. But, the truth is, words are all we have. We don’t get to run up to Jesus walking through our town and beg for healing. We don’t get to feel his fingers open our ears and loosen our tongues. But we have these words. Life-changing words. After Jesus heals that deaf man one of the translations I read says that the people say, “he even has made the deaf to hear and given a voice to the voiceless.” These words can help us to hear and give us a voice, even all these years later.
I have a one and a half year old son who right now is trying to learn words. Even though his 4 year old brother has taught him the words that he feels are important like “blast” “roar” “poop” and “hot dog” my youngest often gets frustrated because it’s hard to communicate when you don’t have the right words. I’ve read a lot of articles about temper tantrums over the last four years and many people believe they come from an inability to communicate one’s needs. So, the child wants something but can’t get that message across and so he gets frustrated and again not having the right words to say how he feels, he short-circuits which looks like a screaming, crying, flailing mess. With my youngest this often happens when I won’t give him something he wants like a snack or his pacifier or a tiny object he could choke on. I explain this to him in my most rational way, but not having the words to argue back or state his case, he freaks instead. Usually it doesn’t work unless of course it’s in a public place like church in the middle of the sermon and I just want him to be quiet.
I feel for him. Words are important. I get frustrated when I can’t find the right words. Maybe because I can’t remember something or I’m too upset or surprised or just don’t know what to say. So I try to be mindful of that as I undergo this crazy parenting task of equipping my children with the right words. I try to teach them how to use words to say how they feel. I try to teach them how to use words to build other people up and stay away from words that hurt others. I try to teach them words for praying, worship and faith. I try to teach them the words they will need for their lives, give them the proper equipment for their journey.
Throughout their lives they will encounter so many things, probably things I can’t even imagine. They will learn new information, meet new people and have adventures. They will get their hearts broken, contemplate the pain of life, make important decisions and maybe even raise their own children. As a parent you just want them to do all of this the best they can, be as prepared as they can be and every second remember that they are loved. So we teach them. We start with nursery rhymes and “mama” “dada.” Then we move to colors, numbers and animal sounds. Eventually we teach them words like internet and technology and math. And eventually we teach them words like peace, hope, life, death, future and faith. All the while hoping the right ones stick.
Here we are, a people who carry around this book we call the Bible. Full of words. Words of healing, words of peace, prophecy, love, hope, faith, resurrection. We study it, reflect on it and pray from it using the best words we can find. Then we pass it on to the next generation. This is what God has given us. Life-changing words. Leaving us as prepared as we can be and teaching us that every second we are loved.
The people said that Jesus “makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak” or gives a “voice to the voiceless.” We are invited to open our hearts to these words, unclog our ears to what Jesus teaches and use our words, our voices for God’s purposes. How will we use our words? Will we bring about healing? Will we cross boundaries and dare to proclaim God’s love to all? Even those who live in foreign places? Those that may be called names or rejected or live on the fringes of society or have nowhere else to go? Will we use our voice, our words to bring peace and comfort to those who suffer, to share life-changing words about hope and resurrection?
You and I are here because we believe in words. We have felt the power of Christ’s words. I know that next week you are beginning a preaching series on the Ten Commandments called “The Words of God.” Words have power, they can be life-changing. How can we tune out the empty words, the noise, the shouting, the blah blah blah and open our ears to these life-changing words? How can we stop the chatter, the words of judgment, the words of anger, the words of self doubt, the empty words coming from our own mouths and speak from the voice Christ has brought us? Maybe we can start by hearing those life-changing words Christ utters with his finger on the deaf man’s tongue, “be opened.” And be opened to the one who “makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
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