Tongue tied [Trinity 12; St. Mark 7:31-37]

God is speaking to you today, saying:

³⁶ And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

Why do we not witness all the time? Because we ourselves, in sin, do not believe completely and so our own speech has become corrupted.

Here is another conundrum Jesus presents us with: if what He has done is good and right, then why the secrecy? Why does Jesus tell these men to be quiet about things? Not just here, but in many other places in the Gospel, Jesus attempts to hush His greatest supporters.

That is very backward. In your world, you talk up anything you are interested or invested in. This has a two-fold effect: 1) you become the expert in advising your neighbor and 2) whatever product it is, has more business drummed up for it.

In the first effect you talk a good game about how its been helpful, useful, and perfect for your situation. Your neighbor is most likely on the fence about such things, but you have the answer and you make sure he knows it. Your first-hand experience puts you in the know and that is all the authority you need.

In the second effect, the product now has free advertising by word of mouth. This drums up more sales and makes the item that much more popular and usable, because if you don’t have an item that actually works, then your business won’t get far.

This Scriptural event does not just speak to good economics, but also how you live your life. What are the sorts of things you talk people’s ears off about? Where is your area of expertise? Usually, whatever you are studying at the moment, becomes that something. If you are studying Political Science, you are a politician expert. If you are working with machines or cars, then you talk about it.

If we are talking about Church and religion, now that is a different story, because anyone can be an expert there, can’t they? God speaks to all people, so you can all read God’s Word and understand what it means for yourselves. It doesn’t matter if you were educated in this area, all can understand.

So you are all experts at religion and every time it comes up in conversation, it turns into an argument, for that reason. In this field, everyone is right and no one is wrong. You are all little popes and claim authority over everyone else, knowing that you are right.

If you were to take this same approach and apply it to everyday life, you would have no need of lawyers, judges, or doctors because you could all be our own saviors.

Repent! You no more talk up the Scriptures than you talk about your private, reputation destroying sins, to anyone. You have so little desire to speak of the Gospel, because you don’t understand it as completely as you thought. More to the point, you don’t believe as perfectly as you imagined.

Why is it so hard to talk religion? Because in sin, you don’t believe. Your tongue gets all twisted and tied because all you have on your religion card is “Play nice”. Your ears are closed to those who think differently because forgiveness is the last thing to come from your arguments.

Why does Jesus command silence? Because in sin, these men don’t believe. Even though Scripture says right there that they did believe, they needed the cross. Yes, they did believe and so did the Apostles, but where were they in the Garden of Gethsemane? Where were they at the trial of Jesus? Where were they at the crucifixion?

Dear Christians, Jesus commands your silence, because He is about to speak. Jesus commands your inaction, because He is about to act. Jesus causes the Apostles, the disciples, and His own Creation to desert Him, because He is the only one who can make satisfaction for our sins, upon the cross.

The Gospel is God’s Word of salvation, not yours. In your sin, you are the deaf, stammering man and Jesus is the speech therapist. Though, where therapists only give what was already given to them, Jesus speaks and He creates speaking for you.

Jesus speaks and He gives new words never heard before, in His Gospel. These new words tell of a cross. These new words create Faith and give everlasting life. These new words declare a crucified and risen Son of God.

This is why the men in the Gospel can not help but disobey Jesus when He commands silence. The Gospel is so great that it simply overflows and a person can not help but talk about it. The Gospel is such, that it does its own preaching. It does not need opinions, study, or metaphors. It simply needs a tongue and a Savior.

In this deaf and stammering man’s case, it simply needs water and the Word.

Baptism is divine spittle. Baptism is the means of Grace by which the Word enters this man and you. Baptism doesn’t just fill your ears, but your mouth, your eyes, your nose, your entire body, draining it of sin in a death like Jesus’ and when that water falls off, so does the deafness, the stammering, the blindness, and the death, in a resurrection like Jesus’.

Yet, the water of baptism never really falls off of you. The old water drains out, leaving a spring of everlasting life in you, flowing from the Christ that became a slave to sin to set you free. Filled with Jesus Himself, you now understand things previously hidden from you. With the Word of God, Jesus speaks of earthly washing and earthly opening of the ears and tongue, and we, by the cross, understand the heavenly meaning in that.

That is: salvation. It would seem to be better business if Jesus were to allow everyone to be an expert and spread the Gospel however they liked. Things would move a lot quicker, at least. Or would they? However, it is best if just one is the expert and spreads the Gospel in the only, true way: by Blood.

So, Christ is the expert. We find our words of witness or evangelism only in Him, just as we find comfort and rest only in His promises. There is no other way. If salvation is being worked out within us, it is by the grace of God. If the Holy Spirit dwells within us, it is by the Word of God.

If we are becoming more Christ-like, it is by the water, Word, Body and Blood of Jesus, the Crucified. That is Good news, indeed.