Lutheran Church
The 12th Sunday After Trinity
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The basis of our meditation today is from the Gospel lesson just read, the account of Jesus healing of the deaf mute from Mark 7:31. Hear, especially these words. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Beopened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
I would like to speak to you this morning about a concept called moral drift or normalized desensitization. I read an article this week that used the example of the comfortability of the modern student to use and cheat with Chat GPT or other AI technology for the work they are supposed to do themselves. The author of the article remarked that his college students came up to him after graduation and said, “We were cheating all along and you didn’t even catch us.” The author was commenting not about the act of cheating itself, but the absence of shame or apology, and the increasing comfortability with their behavior. The article brought up this point. What happens when a concept or thing, once repugnant in a society or group, becomes an acceptable norm? We call this moral drift, normalized desensitization.
We are aware of it happening in the case of modern technologies. We go from outrage to acceptance. We give way, and then even justify prevailing norms. Psalm 1:1, speaks about the sinful man who first walks in the counsel of the wicked, then stands in the way of sinners, (not to stand against them but among them), then then finally sits in the seat of the scoffers having become one of them. Once against the school of fish, now one swims with them.
I am so old that I remember when I saw the first person walk down the street with a cell phone in their hand. Ha. How can a person walk and read? But what about when our parents brought the TV into the living room, or fixed the first TV dinner, and what did all this do to the small town front porch. I am old enough to remember a sermon where I remarked of the funny thing that people were now using cell phones while they used the restroom. What was once humorous, is now commonplace, for all of us. We have work and scrolling to do!
What could be said for technology that ruins our lives, yet no longer is fought against, could be said for other things such as abortion, euthanasia, or any form of false doctrine. My brother, as a veterinarian, serves a family who moved from the Netherlands two decades ago to farm here, a country that has legalized euthanasia. A few years ago, the young children greeted my brother and showed him a picture of their grandma in the Netherlands getting her hair done. Confused, only later that my brother learned that she was getting her hair done before her scheduled date of death by suicide after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Later speaking to the farmer, he remarked how his mother had called him and spoke hesitatingly about going through with it. The man mentioned that he said, “Mom, don’t worry about us, we will be ok, you just go through with it.” It’s a rather interesting day when someone is about to kill themselves and we hand them the gun.
We must consider, what is it in our lives that has become second nature? The word of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 6 says;
“For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD.
How many things have become universally accepted that have become a part of my life that I should be ashamed about? What in my speech now gives credence to falsehood, where I lead others astray with my words? Where do I stink to high heaven, but have come to think I smell fine? …How do we live in a world where God has placed us where lies are rampant. How could there even be forgiveness for this.
Welcome to a deaf world.
I ask you to imagine, for a moment, a world of deafness. We are to see that in many regards we speak in grunts and screeches, and cannot even hear. We live in such a world where falsehood reigns. God’s word once reigned, but words became fallen, and man believed the lie. Words for pride and for self-seeking came about, not songs and speech of the Almighty but words that lead to death of body and of soul. Christ came to restore mankind and bring Him from this non hearing world.
First, we see that the man is brought to Jesus. This is to say that no man can arrive at truth on his own. It is that men are brought to truth. And so that is the ministry of the church and her people to bring people to the truth. That is why we speak about God. And our words touch others. They open ears that have been deadened by sin. This describes the first important step. The men who could hear brought this man who could not.
I imagine this was not an easy enterprise. Darkness often rejects the light. It is the irony that people often resist that which would help them. There are people in your life that you speak with who think that the words of truth that you speak are as foreign as a person speaking in a different language.
God can bring light and life to the ears. It is through speech that Christ brings this man to hear. All ears are born closed to him and open to Satan. But his word can even give the ear spiritual ability to hear. Your words often create realities that bring life, that change people, and that literally raise them up from the dust of death.
But we also see that this man’s healing was accompanied by physical signs. Jesus put His fingers into his ears. He put saliva on his fingers and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus is not above getting His hands dirty. He takes upon Himself that man’s very condition. So, we see that truth is spoken in a way that is incarnational even as Jesus became flesh. Jesus gave His life for us, and died that we might live. He shed His own blood to redeem and restore us. Our care for others cannot be above the actual life lived out on their behalf, or done without an actual love shown to them and for them. Jesus showed love for sinners, while we were still sinning He gave His life for us. Truth is not spoken in a vacuum. We can’t speak without getting into the life of other people. We also see that Jesus takes this man aside. Though there are many people who need His aid, He shows compassion to the one. Jesus shows His love for us. He died for us. We also see that He sighs. A sigh shows that one is troubled. Jesus weeps with those who weep. It is often grace and kindness that changes the other person, and that we regard their humanity. We need to see a person inside. It is not missiles launched over social media, but words that bleed with care and love even as your Lord died on the cross for you. So our words are not magic, but they are in the presence of many other things where we show love and care. It is not about reciting a truth claim or repeating a perfect answer we heard on Chat GPT. It is the love of Jesus that opened this man’s ears.
God places his gifts in signs. Bread symbolizes life. Wine symbolizes joy. The realities of body and blood are put into effective signs. They are, as a word. Jesus bathes us and feeds us. He gives us bread to feed our bodies and wine to restore our lives. With these actions our Lord shows love and compassion as He looks up to heaven. We receive His life.
Jesus comes to a world such as this. We might throw out all hope and say life is so terrible we must despair of all hope. But God has placed us in this world, a world with Chat GPT and abortion and euthanasia and people who need to hear the truth about things like their bodies. He comes as he came so long ago when the world so newly made was in darkness. He sent His Spirit that hovered over the face of the waters. Our Lord has not come back yet, so it must be that our witness is for just a time as this.
Yet we also have the opportunity to listen in on a foreign world when we find ourselves dead in our trespasses and sins. God gives His word. Each morning when we read our bibles we learn new realities that challenge us, we learn new hopes that inspire us. We learn of a world of God’s speech, of angel’s language, of joy that we participate in it. And from it, new life is formed in us and new speech that we speak also rightly.
Where has the world’s skunk weed infiltrated our lungs? I know if I would look at myself from the lens of 20 years ago that person would take me to task. Where do I go? Go to the bread and wine. Go to the place of speech. I forgive you all your sins. Be renewed, take up my word and life.
You may lament these things in the world, but it is only because you want life now to be perfect. God does not allow it, because he has anointed you to take up that word, to speak realities to deaf and unspeaking people. He gives you a life of mission and purpose. A life where yes, at times, many people don’t listen, and you deal with a life of unhearing people, but a life nonetheless where you continue to make the life of Christ known and you have the power to raise the dead through. You form people in your callings in new speech, the tongues of angels, a new way of thinking, a life of sacrifice, a new way of hope, the hope of forgiveness and the life of Christ. You live a life where you bring the deaf to Jesus. Where Jesus speaks the Ephphatha, and opens ears to life. And to you students today. See what the tech bros have done. First social media destroyed your mental health. Next it was reels that eroded your attention span. Now AI promises to drain your capacity of a true education. Learning takes work. It is the devil that also offers easy solutions.
But remember, you follow Jesus, who at 12 was in the temple asking questions and giving answers sitting under the teachers. He grew in wisdom. If there was anyone who had AI technology it was Him, he had a connection to all knowledge, but He didn’t use his computer to look up a question, He subjected himself, He became nothing. And He did it for you. Emptying Himself of the powers of God. He did the hard work. He demonstrated a new way. It is not about success, but the cross. It is better to get a real F than a fake A. Learning is suffering. We identify with Jesus because He suffered with us.
We are humans. Not machines. We are imperfect. See our Lord who became human. To embrace humanity and restore it to a world where we hear and speak. He has done all things well, He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The peace of God which passes all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus.
The service bulletin can be found here.
