Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The risen Savior who has given sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and life to those who are dead, comes to you this day. With Him, He brings forgiveness of sin, strength for your life, and the hope of heaven. He comes, and we greet Him saying, “He has done all things well.” Amen.
The lady considered herself to be a pillar of her church, a moral watchdog on the lifestyles of others. It gave her great pleasure to know she was following the Ten Commandments. The only thing which gave her greater pleasure was pointing out the sins and shortcomings of others. When she spotted what appeared to be a transgression in someone else, she considered it her obligation to be outspoken in her opposition. And she was outspoken to anyone who would listen.
She was outspoken the day she spotted the truck of one of the leaders of the Lutheran church parked in front of one of the local watering holes, the town’s VFW. She noted the truck stayed there from 1:00 on Saturday afternoon to 4:30. She knew the exact time because she kept a vigilant eye on the truck and the clock. Scandalous! Outrageous! An embarrassment to the community and church. That’s what she said to about 20 people. Eventually, word of what she was saying got back to the truck’s owner, the church leader. As a bachelor, he often was called upon to help others. That day he’d been helping a neighbor lay sod in his back yard. After they were done, his neighbor offered to buy him a beer. A beer. Is it necessary for me to tell you that Lutherans don’t always think it a major transgression to indulge in a little, uh, liquid bread? Well, this man had only one beer. The rest of the time his truck was parked in front of the VFW, he had been downtown running some errands. He had left his truck, walked downtown, bumped into friends and they had talked. That’s what people in small towns do; they talk. It would have been unneighborly for him not to do so. That’s why his truck had been at the bar for so long. Now, this church leader was a wise man. He didn’t try to run around explaining what had really happened. Explaining doesn’t work, and the people who knew him hadn’t believed the lady’s story anyway. So, what did he do? The man waited. Then, the next Friday night, he drove his truck to the gossip’s home, parked it out front, and walked home, smiling. He left his truck in front of her house all night long.
You know, I’ve often wondered, what does it take for people to speak nicely about you? I’ve noticed, in my lifetime, United States Presidents, even with a herd of advisers, and a host of public-relations people haven’t been able to figure out how to stay at the top of the popularity polls. Now, I’m willing to concede there may be a few curmudgeons out there who don’t give a hoot about what others think, but they are a rare and endangered species. Much of what most of us do, from the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the movies we see and the car we drive are selected to help us fit in; to make people think positively about us.
Sadly, no matter how hard we try to win people’s approval, most of the time we fail. That’s why I was absolutely amazed, as I read through the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Mark, to see there was a day in the life of Jesus where people said, “He has done all things well.” That’s quite a recommendation, isn’t it? People don’t generally say that kind of thing about you or me, do they? Having read that line, I was intrigued. I had to work my way back in that chapter to see exactly what it was that Jesus had done to made people say, “He has done all things well.”
Mark’s story begins in the region of the Decapolis. You only need to know two things about the Decapolis. First the area was positively packed with gentiles, unbelievers, and big-time sinners. It was not a place where good Jewish fellows usually went. Second, you should know that Jesus had been there before. On that occasion he had healed a man possessed by demons. Jesus moved the demons out of the man into a whole herd of hogs. The hogs promptly committed porkicide by drowning themselves in the Sea of Galilee. The people should have been glad at what Jesus had done. They weren’t. Instead of being glad, they said something like, “You know, Jesus, we’re sure this is a good thing, but the truth is we’ve lost a fair amount of money with the demise of these hogs. Insurance hasn’t been invented yet, and we’re going to have to, you should excuse the expression, eat the loss. If You keep casting out demons, we’re going to go broke.” Then they said, “Jesus, it’s really been nice having you here; and we really do appreciate Your work; but if it’s all the same to You, couldn’t You do Your work somewhere else?” Jesus took the none-too-subtle hint and moved on. Jesus never stays where He’s not wanted. Not then, not now.
But now Jesus was back. Mark says “some people brought a man to Him who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech.” One of my friends who works with folks who have hearing problems told me since this man could talk, at least a little, he probably had, once-upon-a-time, been able to hear. But now, with his hearing gone, the man’s speech had become muddied and interaction with others was difficult. Maybe that’s why his friends brought him to see Jesus. The text gives no indication the man initiated the visit to the Lord. More than likely, like most people with or without a physical challenge, the man would have preferred to avoid situations where he was at a disadvantage or became the center of attention.
That hope was put on hold as he became the focus of all eyes. Jesus’ disciples were over here, watching; his friends were over there, begging; pleading with the Lord to put His hands on their pal. Of course, the hearing-impaired man would have been ignorant of the conversations swirling around him. He only would have known that he was standing in front of some strangers, and that he had become, for some reason, the center of attention. For anyone, that kind of feeling is uncomfortable; for the hearing-impaired man, the discomfort would have been magnified. He didn’t have to worry. Although he lived in an age which had little compassion for the physically challenged, He was with Jesus, and Jesus cares.
Showing His great love, Jesus gently escorted the man away from the group. When He stopped, it was just the two of them. Although the man still didn’t understand what was happening, he knew at least one of his worries, the crowd, had been taken care of. With the keen eyes of a man who had trained himself to notice nuances and subtle signs, the deaf man would have watched intently to see what Jesus was going to do next. Jesus told the man what was going to happen. No, not with words, words were useless. Jesus spoke in a way the man could understand… with signs. Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears. An invasion of space; too personal a gesture? Possibly for you and me, but the deaf man didn’t draw away. Nor was he surprised when Jesus spat. That gesture, along with Jesus touching the man’s tongue, showed his difficulties were about to be spewed out.
Then Jesus looked up to heaven and sighed. Think about the information that skyward glance conveyed. To a man who couldn’t hear, Jesus said, “My friend, heaven has not forgotten your deep sighs. My father above has heard your heart’s petition and now He is going to do something about it.” I suppose it doesn’t really matter if all that was conveyed to the deaf man. It doesn’t matter because he didn’t have much time to meditate. Jesus spoke; He said one word. So much did that one word impress the Gospel writer, that the Spirit inspired him to record it exactly as Jesus had said it: “Ephphatha.” Ephphatha, that means, “be open.”
And then do you know what happened? The man began to take speech therapy and after a few years, most of his verbal impediment left him. That’s what would have happened if a surgeon had just successfully performed a sensitive operation on the man’s ears. It would have taken months before the man would have been able to decode all the new signals now rushing from ear to brain. But that’s not what happened. The Bible says the man’s ears were opened and he started to speak plainly. No therapy. No recovery. The miracle was instantaneous and complete.
And the people… what happened to the others who were there that day? Well, they were, no, I’m not going to say they were speechless. They were anything but. Jesus, who preferred that people look upon Him as Savior rather than healer, encouraged them to say nothing. Well, they might as well have been deaf to that request. They told anybody and everybody who would listen. They told the amazing story of the deaf man who could, because of Jesus, hear again. They told of how a speech impediment could not impede the healing hands of the Savior. They told the story again and again, and at the end of the tale’s telling, they added, “He,” meaning Jesus, “He has done everything well.” They were right. Jesus has done everything well.
I would love to say that people continued to keep that same opinion of the Savior. I would love to say it, but if I did, it would be a lie. If that ex-deaf man had joined the group of people who walked with Jesus during the rest of His ministry, and there is nothing in Scripture to say that he did, he would have heard folks say some pretty sorry things about the Savior. He would have heard the Palm Sunday crowds warmly welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, calling blessings upon Him who had come in the name of the Lord. But he also would have heard crowds, just a few days later, call for His crucifixion. He would have heard his Lord’s painful petitions as He picked up the sins, the guilt, the falsehood of all of us in the Garden of Gethsemane. He would have heard Jesus submit to the Father’s plan to save us, as He prayed, “If it be possible let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
If our deaf man had stayed with Jesus, he would have heard liars bring trumped up charges against the Savior; he would have heard the gossips and their terrible untruths; he would have heard the whip as it striped the suffering Savior’s back; He would have heard Pilate’s cowardly words, and he would have heard the sound of nails as they pounded through the sinew and flesh of God’s Son who was crucified outside the city walls of Jerusalem. These things he would have heard, and he would have also heard Jesus, having completed all that was necessary to pay the price for our redemption, call out, “It is finished.” All of these things the man would have heard, and it would have torn his heart to hear them, for he knew first-hand of Jesus’ goodness and compassion. He knew that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Savior, was the only man about whom it can be truly said: “He did all things well.”
Now, if our man had heard all these things, and again, I remind, there is no evidence to indicate that he physically followed Jesus through His passion and pain, His suffering and death; but if the man had, he might have heard one thing more. He might have heard the news of an angel on resurrection morning: the news which proclaimed to a spiritually deaf and dying world: “(Jesus) He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead” (Matthew 28: 6, 7). If the man had stayed he would have heard the best news that any man or woman has ever heard. He would have heard that Jesus who healed a deaf man and made him well; who healed lepers and the lame; who gave sight to the blind, could also defeat death as well. Truly, Jesus has done all things well.
Which is why, according to the command of the angel, I am sharing with you God’s good news of great joy: Jesus Christ has done all things well. He has, through His perfect life, erased your sins; He has, through His resisting of temptation, broken the chains that bound you to Satan; He has, through His resurrection, conquered even death itself. He has done all things well, and He did those things well so that all might be well with you. He did things well so you might believe in Him and be saved.
You know, today it is fashionable and trendy to take shots at the Bible and tear apart the Savior’s sacrifice. Around the world governments and religions, clerks and clerics delight in putting and pulling Jesus down. It is all the rage for comedians and college professors, for scholars and authors to try to dissect, divide, and destroy the work of Him who has done all things well. In recent years, it is, at times, difficult to find a pastor or a parish that does not minimize God’s good grace as seen in the Savior; that still points sinners to repentance and lost souls to the Redeemer. In many circles it has become the height of sophistication to explain away His miracles; to cast contradictions and questions at the cross; to reinterpret, rewrite, revise, and rework His resurrection. Look around and you will see many who are proud to think themselves perceptive and profound when they try to punch holes in that old and sacred story of salvation.
When I look at the Christ, I see Him who did all things well. Why do you hate Him so? What do you gain by tearing down the hope of heaven that He has won at such great cost and which He shares so freely? Why do you hate the one who has done all things well?
In 1860 Edward Spencer was a ministerial student. He was also an excellent swimmer who joined the Evanston, Illinois, life-saving squad. Ed’s skills were called upon when a ship was wrecked in a Lake Michigan storm. When dawn came many people could be seen in the icy waters. Numbed by the cold, they clutched anything which would stop them from going under. Ed swam out and brought a poor soul to safety. Then he went out again, and again, and again. He lost count of the number of times he ventured into the frigid water. Each trip was grueling, exhausting. Still, Ed’s exhaustion was set aside when he spotted a lady holding onto a piece of board and calling for help. Ed’s friends told him that he shouldn’t go out; they said he had done his part; that nobody would think the worse of him for staying safely on shore. But Ed went, and he brought the lady back. His mission completed, he was taken to the hospital where he drifted in and out of consciousness. Each time he came to, he asked, “How many did I save?” He was told: “Seventeen.” Then Ed asked one more question: “Did I do my best?”
You tell me, had Ed done his best? Had he done well, at least in this? I think I know your answer. You would say, “Absolutely, Ed did well.” May I tell you that Ed Spencer recovered, partially. His health was, ever after, permanently affected by what he had done that day. When he died, some years later, it was noted at the funeral service that not a single person Ed had saved ever thanked him. Not one. No one visited him; stopped by to see him; sent him a letter to say: “You have done this well.”
Theirs is a mistake I would not have you duplicate. If you believe in the Savior as your forgiver, Redeemer, and friend, please share Him with others. Let them know what He has done for you. Let them know that for you, Jesus has done all things well. And if you don’t know Him, if you do not believe in Him, please, study Scripture closely. Do not tell tall tales about Him; do not demean Him or deny Him. Do not reject or rebuff Him. Instead, see Him, learn of Him, believe on the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; who takes away your sins, as well. Believe in Him. And if you don’t know where to start, give us a call at The Lutheran Hour. We will be glad to introduce you to Him who has done all things well for you. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for September 10, 2006
ANNOUNCER: Hi, this is Mark Eischer. And on today’s Q&A segment, we continue our discussion about music for worship. My guest is the Rev. Henry Gerike, director of the Concordia Seminary Chorus. Pastor Gerike, in your work with the committees that prepared Lutheran Service Book, the new hymnal for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, you had the opportunity to review, I believe, thousands of hymns, reviewing the texts and the music for thousands of hymns. How did some of these things that we’re talking about today affect your decisions as a committee as you were trying to sift through these to come up with around 600 or so hymns that best convey God’s Word through the music?
GERIKE: Well, there are many different aspects of poetry and hymn writing that we looked at. One of the main ideas was that we wanted to look at how did these texts proclaim Christ? Or, how do they support the proclamation of Christ; whether they do it explicitly or specifically, by stating His name, Jesus Christ, and that He had died for us. Or maybe you may focus on one aspect of Christ’s life or His teaching, all of those helped to build up that whole story. And then another layer would be other texts that support the general proclamation of the Gospel, but maybe focus on other areas: focusing on God’s creation and His providence in taking care of His creation, as well as the Holy Spirit bringing us to faith in Christ. But, otherwise we have something we take in the whole picture of the hymnody that is related to the proclamation of the Gospel that helps us build up our faith and build one other up as we sing those hymns. We sing them not only to God, but we also sing them to one another, sing that Word of God to each other. There are also some hymns that are more paraphrases or direct quotations from Scripture. Luther is constantly talking about how we have the gift of music from God so that we can attach the Word of God to it and so that it can be attached to our hearts and our minds, our lives. And constantly bring it back to us. And that’s very true that so often music does bring that Word of God back to our minds.
ANNOUNCER: Sometimes I’ve heard it said that a hymn has to be joyful and uplifting in order to be really true to what God would have us do in worship. Can you comment on that? Or can you think of some examples of hymns that may not be emotionally uplifting but are nonetheless maybe more faithful to God’s Word?
GERIKE: Well, I think maybe a good way to approach it would be to look at the Book of Psalms, because the psalms cover the whole spectrum of human emotion from the greatest joys to the greatest depths of sorrow and of despair. But all of those psalms are done in the presence of God and are spoken to God. And, so therefore our hymnody has to cover the whole range of emotions as well as depth of content. So that we will, yes, have many hymns that will focus on the great joy that we have in Christ and in God’s creation, but we also have those that reflect our sorrow, our grief, and our confession that we have sinned. And so we can’t sing about the love of God without also having previously sung about our sin and about our need for God’s love and God’s forgiveness.
ANNOUNCER: Thanks for listening. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” by Walter Pelz. From Hymns for All Saints (©2006 Concordia Publishing House) Concordia/SESAC
“Praise the Almighty My Soul” by John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 3 by John Behnke (© 2004 John Behnke) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“You Are the Way, Through You Alone” arranged by Timothy Moke and Georg Masanz. From Magnificent Christian Hymns, vol. 3 by Timothy Moke (© 2006 T. Moke Recordings)