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Text of the page (random words):
led the deaf and mute man he also heals us what he did physically for the deaf man in gentile territory he does spiritually for us week in and week out not only does he open our ears to hear him and his message of mercy but he also rescues us from our isolation not only does he loose our tongues to sing his praises and confess him to others but he also ushers us into vibrant life with him and with each other the man s deafness was certainly a result of adam and eve not listening to god in the garden his physical state of being tongue tied was surely a result of adam and eve using their tongues to taste the fruit from the tree of knowledge that one tree for which god said you shall not eat of it so when jesus takes this man aside puts his fingers into his ears spits and touches his tongue our lord reverses the age old plague of sin and death it s a plague that closes our ears and shackles our tongues it s a plague that isolates us from god and from one another perhaps you ve noticed this plague of isolation when you talk with other people think of times when you and a family member are just not communicating well you re both speaking english your mouths and ears are functioning fine giving and receiving sound waves you can hear and understand each other s sounds and syllables but for some reason he or she is not hearing what you re saying you re not getting what he or she is talking about you re isolated from each other such conversations lead to frustration and misunderstanding then instead of listening to what the other person is actually saying you re planning your response to something just said or you re strategizing how to make your next point or win your case or worse yet as the other person is talking your mind is off in a galaxy far far away wondering what s for dinner your ears and tongue may be functioning just fine but you re still in isolation our isolation really shows up when we get upset with what other people say to us a friend may say something as a matter of fact but you take it as a put down or an insult you might take it as an obstacle to some dream or hope that you have perhaps you invite your friends over to play cards they respond sorry we can t make it we have a prior commitment in your isolation you start wondering am i not good enough or what s wrong with me it s the isolation of our sin and death this isolation especially separates us from god when we get so wrapped up in our own little world of daily demands and hectic schedules listening to god in his word is far from our minds we may talk a lot with loved ones friends or colleagues but talking with god in prayer we tend to put that off tell ourselves we don t know how to pray convince ourselves we re not that good at it do you ever feel like your tongue is shackled when you pray it s our isolation of sin and death it s the isolation that jesus comes to heal and wash away by his blood as jesus healed the deaf mute man he also heals you as our merciful lord had compassion on the man isolated in his deafness and silence he also cares enough to rescue you from your sin and death this same son of god joined himself to our human flesh and blood to restore it to god s original design this same lord of mercy endured the isolation from his closest disciples as they fled from him this same lord hung on a cross carrying the full weight of humanity s sin all by himself this same savior plunged into the deep dark isolation of death in order to open the graves of adam eve and all the dead so that his vibrant life might burst forth for all to enjoy this same jesus comes to you in your baptism he puts his fingers into your ears spits and touches your tongue even as the spirit filled waters cleanse you from sin and give you life with your ears opened and your tongue loosed you are brought into the lord s church here you are no longer alone no longer isolated here you get to enjoy the vibrant sounds of god s word and the joyous notes of praise sung by people around you here you learn how to live in harmony with others healed as you are this same jesus comes to you in confession and absolution and not just the general confession on sunday mornings but especially when you come to receive the holy absolution in private here you get to confess those specific sins of not listening to god or to your loved ones friends or co workers here you get to confess your many ways of isolating yourself from god and your fellow christians by your self centered thoughts words or deeds and when you confess your pastor speaks our lord s healing words into your ears yes your pastor is a sinner like you but what matters is what your lord does in the words of absolution your lord jesus again puts his fingers into your ears to open them up and when your ears are opened in the forgiveness of your particular sins you get to enjoy the vibrant sounds of life with god and renewed life with people around you and in the eucharist your lord jesus again touches your tongue so that it can speak and sing his praises and then build up your neighbor think of that as you come to the lord s table this morning with his very body and blood under the bread and wine your lord looses your tongue from those unkind bitter even judgmental words you speak against someone near and dear to you unshackled from such sins your tongue has new life to thank and praise god your tongue has new life to speak kindly to and graciously about people around you strengthened and fortified by christ s life giving body and blood you may use your tongue to declare the wonderful deeds of our savior as the hymn leads us to sing oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemer s praise the glories of my god and king the triumphs of his grace my gracious master and my god assist me to proclaim to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name lsb 528 1 2 the daily prayer liturgy of matins begins with these words o lord open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise that s what our tongues were made for for with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved rom 10 10 but we don t do that in individual isolation no we get to speak sing and praise in the lord s church even when we pray alone at home the matins liturgy also sings what our ears are made for blessed are those who hear the word of god and keep it lord i love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells when our lord opens our ears and looses our tongues we are rescued from our isolation we are restored to life with him we are rejoined to the people around us so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of christ rom 10 17 now we get to listen well to our loving lord and to our neighbors now we get to speak god s wonderful deeds and build one another up in love amen posted by randy asburry at 10 34 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels christian life healing homilies life together preaching 24 august 2020 homily for trinity 11 2020 in which line do you stand luke 18 9 14 get in line now remember your grade school teacher s voice repeating that command several times each school day much of our school days were about learning how to stand in line wait in line and practice proper line etiquette stand right behind the child in front of you not to the side don t squirm or fidget or push others and certainly do not ever cut in line that got you into trouble in the lunch line and when you went out to recess no one likes a line cutter after all that s cheating instead be good stand and walk single file wait your turn and you ll get where you re going in due time the reason we learn to stand in line during the school day is so that we can properly stand in line the rest of our lives it s a skill and an art form all the more so these days trying to stand on those social distancing stickers or mentally measuring the appropriate six feet we do it at schnucks when we get our groceries oh and the scowls that come when that guy three people behind you cuts ahead of you when you weren t looking then there s the sense of shame that comes from standing in the wrong line waisting your time and having to go to the end of the other line think of the dmv when you go to renew your driver s license you walk in grab your little paper ticket with the number on it and wait at the dmv sitting in chairs is just another form of standing in line finally your number is called you go to the desk and the gal sitting there says sorry this is the line for plate renewals you ll have to go over there and take another number so you start all over again today s gospel shows two examples of getting in line the pharisee was a line cutter for sure he strolled past everyone else and went to the front of the line the pharisee had priority he deserved attention before anyone else he pulled out his credentials and laid his papers on god s desk they were proof of his rights and claims the pharisee also knew to be polite so he politely thanked god it was only politeness of course because he was a self made man true thankfulness is the response to a gift and accepting a gift means admitting you need and receive help from someone else the pharisee wasn t going to admit that and weaken his case he didn t need any help he trusted in himself but it was still nice to be polite and thank god as the pharisee stood at god s desk he looked around at others in the office a pretty sorry bunch he thought to himself there s the man who can t get customers into his electronics shop he must be overcharging them underserving them or both then he sternly looked at the child who suddenly wailed and even more sternly at the irritated mother who had just corrected her child the pharisee saw no one who was like himself this made him feel comfortable and pleased his chances were good most of us find it both necessary and gratifying to see someone as less than ourselves we like our car more when we see that it s better than someone else s when things go wrong in our lives we console ourselves that others are worse off than we are we crave being better than others around us it may be in stronger muscles than the other guy or in a better singing voice than that gal it may be in making a better salary or having better behaved children the pharisee had no problem finding people less than himself so he listed his superiorities he fasted twice a week while most ordinary folks fasted only once a week if that the pharisees thought that their extra measure of fasting would make up for even atone for those other schlubs who obviously had more sins and while the hoi polloi would busy themselves at the unclean marketplace the pharisees would fast with special services and prayers for the sins of those at the market of course the pharisees did the same with the tithe god s law required a tenth of your produce or income but those poor farmers and traders did not give the required tithe so pharisees upped their ante not only would they tithe on their income but also on whatever they purchased after all that flour or sheep might just be untithed goods so the pharisees did have a lot to show for themselves they did live clean decent useful lives they did their best to fulfill god s law and be responsible for their neighbors now before we condemn those pharisees we should compare their exemplary lives with our own how many of us are ready to give 10 percent twice to the lord first for our income then second for every purchase we make how many of us look down on the pharisees for relying on their works after all we lutherans know we re saved only by grace through faith it s the gift of god not a result of works no dear saints we may not condemn that pharisee instead we must learn to recognize and condemn this pharisee the one each of us sees in the mirror you see each of us measures himself herself over against other people and finds himself herself bigger and better than they this is not even the height of being a pharisee that comes when we take god s law and use it to glorify ourselves before god himself we think we are good decent and moral people we actually expect god to agree with our good opinion of ourselves we conclude that we are self made persons whom god himself should admire and look up to but such lofty evaluations of ourselves only block us from seeing god from seeing ourselves alone in his presence there was someone that day who did know that he stood alone in the presence of the personal holy living god and he was afraid he did not get in the line he stayed outside the church that line was for the good people who had tamed god this man didn t even think he knew how to pray he did not know the proper phrases or gestures he just blurted out the truth about himself he was a sinner he needed mercy he cried to god realizing this comes not from comparing oneself with other people but by standing in the presence of god there every pretense and deception is stripped away how does god judge each of us he says you shall be holy for i the lord your god am holy lev 19 2 we are not at all as god is he is holy we are sinners no amount of comparing ourselves with others can change that so the tax collector blurts out god be merciful to me a sinner he thinks other people may be all right he does not judge them he stands alone before god it s between him and god and sinners have no rights before god he gave god the right to condemn and reject him he was a sinner and needed god he cried to god for blood bought mercy only by the mercy of god could he stand and so he returned to his house having received mercy he returned with god the tax collector was in the right line after all this line has a sign above it that says for sinners only our lord jesus does not condemn the exemplary life of the pharisee nor does he commend the dishonest life of the tax collector he simply points out how the pharisee tries to negotiate and bargain with god while the tax collector surrenders every right and claim you see mercy is possible only when you surrender yourself into god s hands and god s decision the pharisee could not and did not do that but the tax collector did and he by god s grace in christ crucified and risen went down to his house justified he was given mercy by the bloody sacrifice of jesus he was forgiven now he was god s free joyful and grateful man so the question for you is this in which line do you stand for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of god not a result of works so that no one may boast amen posted by randy asburry at 9 23 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels forgiveness gospel homilies justification preaching repentance older posts home subscribe to posts atom subscribe subscribe in a reader about me randy asburry st louis missouri united states view my complete profile sacred 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