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Christ Church Covington
Proper 18
September 07, 2003
The story of the healing of the deaf and mute man
in Mark’s Gospel tells us a lot about the ministry of Jesus Christ, and
thus tells us about the ministry of the Church. Now by “the Church” I
don’t mean some nebulous, amorphous, historical entity. What I mean is the
Body of Christ as we experience it here and now, this parish, Christ
Church. The parable we just heard tells us about the nature of Christ’s
work when he walked the earth, and it tells us about your work and my work
as His body today.
The healing miracle that we just heard is a little different from some of
the other healing stories is Mark. We are not told that the man who was
cured was diseased or suffering. We aren’t told that he was unable to
support his family or outcast because of his differences. What we are told
is that he couldn’t do all the things that humans are supposed to be able
to do: he couldn’t hear and he couldn’t speak well. So what Jesus did in
healing this man was to make him whole. Jesus made people whole. Jesus
makes people whole.
Your ministry here and my ministry here and today is to make lives whole.
Like the deaf mute in this evening’s Gospel, people are deprived without
Jesus, deprived of the fullness of the human experience, deprived of the
fullness of the ability to do what humans were created for: to love,
worship, and serve the Lord. If this parish is not facilitating this for
people, then we’re doing something wrong. We probably will never alleviate
all the suffering in and around Covington, but what we are about is making
lives whole, ours, our children’s, and anybody else we can call into
membership here.
Did you notice subtle distinction in tonight’s Gospel in God’s power and
how He uses it in Jesus Christ? Did you notice that Jesus exerts power
even over the human body by healing this man, yet he doesn’t seem to have
power over the human will and heart? Despite his command not to, folks
spread the good news of what Jesus has done. The onlookers just won’t shut
up about his activity. “He does all things well…” they say. When people
witness the work of God in Jesus Christ, they bear witness to it; they
proclaim that good news.
So there is another dimension to our shared ministry here at Christ
Church: we must declare the good news of what we’ve seen. God won’t stop
us from doing that, as the contrary actions of the crowd in response to
Jesus’ admonitions shows us. God doesn’t stop us from sharing the Good
news if that’s what we’ve a mind to do.
Boy have we got good news to share here at Christ Church. Our “From
Generation to Generation” Capital Campaign begun two years ago is bearing
fruit. Today we begin our program year with a beautiful new nursery so
that families with young children can feel welcomed and accommodated. We
also have a new 1,000 square foot youth center, so that teenagers have a
place to belong to in our midst yet all their own. Now, it’s not like we
weren’t a Christian community without these facilities, but they make our
ministry more whole because we’re making an effort to proclaim that good
news and share our life with more people. In other words our ministry
today looks more like Jesus ministry because of these new things in
addition to all the other things that have been going on around here since
1846.
This morning we celebrated Rally Day, and we showed off who we are as a
Church and recommitted ourselves to allowing God to use our hearts and
hands to continue Christ’s ministry in the present day. Today our sermon
is really the miracle that is Christ Church: becoming more whole, making
live whole, proclaiming the good news to more and more people. I was
ordained a priest here two years ago tomorrow, and I maintain that I
couldn’t have entered into priestly ministry in a more vibrant, exciting,
and beautiful context as this parish. I hope your experience here has been
the same, and I hope you’ll share that good news with your friends and
neighbors too, for God’s sake, for your sake, but mostly for their sake.
Amen
The Rev’d Robert M. Odom
M.Div., Curate
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