"Opened to Receive: God's Abundant Mercy in Word and Sacrament"

🕇 The 12th Sunday after Trinity -- 1928 BCP -- September 7th, 2025

Preached at St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Bellville, TX

Fr. Mike Keppler, Rector

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. And Lord, give us eyes to see and hear, ears to hear, so we can learn your word together as a family. And we offer you all the praise and honor and glory for it, in Jesus' holy name, Amen.

Well, good morning everyone again.

Our Collect today, for me, was especially moving on this 12th Sunday after Trinity because it reminds me and reminds us of a fundamental truth about our God, and that is, “that, [H]e's always more ready to hear than we are to pray and are at want to give more than either we desire or deserve.”

Man oh man? That's an amazing recognition of the character of our Lord. While we often approach prayer with hesitation or distraction, God leans in. He always wants to hear what we have to say. He awaits to hear our voice.

We frequently limit our requests when we pray to Him, believing sometimes that we're unworthy of greater blessings. But God stands ready to pour out the abundance of his mercy. His eagerness to hear and His generosity in giving, outline our worship today.

We're invited to ask some questions. How open are we to receiving what God offers so abundantly? Are our ears truly attentive to his voice? Are our lips ready to proclaim his goodness? And are our hearts prepared to be transformed by his mercy?

And the answers are found in our scripture readings, especially in St. Mark's Gospel…his account of Christ's healing of the deaf and mute man. Mark presents us with one of our Lord's most intimate and symbolic healing miracles, one that speaks directly to our condition as believers and our need for divine opening. Before I get into that, let's review St. Mark's gospel.

Jesus has traveled into the Gentile region of the Decapolis, which is located to the east of the Sea of Galilee and comprises 10 interconnected cities; therefore, the name Decapolis.

There, he meets a man who is both deaf and mute. You can imagine the sense of isolation this man must have felt, especially in a time without modern hearing devices, hearing aids. He couldn't hear the scriptures being read in the temple. He couldn't participate in community prayers and songs or clearly communicate his own needs and desires.

The details St. Mark provides in this account are unusually specific and physical. Our Lord takes the man aside privately. It's an intimate encounter, and Jesus places his fingers into the man's ears, and then he spits and touches the man's tongue. These are very personal, even uncomfortable, actions that demonstrate Christ's willingness to reach in and touch us in our human brokenness.

Then comes that powerful Aramaic word that Mark preserves for us in the original language, “Ephphatha”, which means be open.

And the effect is immediate and complete. The gospel says, “…and straightway his ears were opened and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.” Yes, Jesus physically healed the man, but it's more than that. Jesus has restored him to community, to worship, to relationship. The man can now hear God's word and respond with praise.

Notice what follows, though. Despite Jesus charging those who witnessed this miracle to tell no man, our gospel continues and says, “…they were beyond measure, astonished, saying, he hath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.” They couldn't contain their testimony.

This miracle points back to Isaiah's prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah. In Isaiah 35, verses 5 to 6, it says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” In Christ. These promises are realized as signs of the coming kingdom of God, where all creation is being restored and brought closer to God's presence.

In our epistle reading this morning from Second Corinthians, St. Paul helps us understand this point, as he discusses how our abilities and strength originate from God, rather than from within ourselves. He makes a distinction between the old way of following the law, which can lead to death, and a new way through the Spirit, which gives life. Essentially, the new covenant in Christ is far greater than the old one because it allows us to see God's glory directly, as the obstacles that once separated us from Him are lifted…the veil is lifted so that we can see.

Last Sunday, we witnessed the baptism of young Ambrose into Christ's holy church. And that sacred moment connects meaningfully with today's Gospel. In the ancient baptismal liturgies of the church, the priest would often perform what was called the “Ephphatha” ceremony. He would touch the ears and the mouth of the person to be baptized, saying, “Be open,” directly echoing Christ's action in today's gospel.

This ritual acknowledged a spiritual truth, that we all enter this world in a condition not unlike the man in our gospel. We are spiritually deaf to God's voice and unable to praise Him properly. Through the waters of baptism, we are open to new life in Christ.

As the psalmist declares in our psalm today, “For thou hast possessed my reins, Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will Praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” When the baptismal waters touched Ambrose's head last week, it was Christ Himself, saying, “Ephphatha,” be open to grace, open to faith, open to the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. And in that moment, Ambrose became part of the company of the opened, those whose spiritual eyes are attentive to God's word and whose tongues are loosed to declare his praise.

In our Old Testament lesson from Deuteronomy, it reminds us of our responsibility to those who are baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up.” The opening that begins in baptism must be nurtured through continuous teaching and formation in the household of faith.

So if baptism then marks our initial opening to God's grace, the Holy Eucharist represents its continual fulfillment. Here at this altar, we experience anew, God's abundant mercy, “…giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask,” as our collect reminds us.

Think about how the Eucharist reflects the miracle in today's gospel. We come to this altar in our spiritual deafness and muteness, often distracted, unable to properly hear God's voice or articulate our deepest needs.Yet Christ takes us aside, as it were, into this intimate encounter. Through his sacramental touch, our spiritual senses are opened. We hear His Word proclaimed and broken open in Scripture in homily. We taste the bread and wine, which are physical elements that convey spiritual reality. Having duly received the holy mysteries, our tongues are loosed to proclaim, “He hath done all things well.”

The Eucharist is the supreme manifestation of the truth expressed in our Collect that “gives more than either we desire or deserve.” We approach with empty hands, empty hands bringing nothing but our need. And God fills those hands with Christ Himself. We come seeking mere substance, mere sustenance, and God gives us the Bread of Heaven. We come seeking forgiveness, and God gives us transformation.

You may have noticed that in our Anglican tradition, our worship engages all the senses. We hear, we smell, we touch, we taste. This is intentional, for we believe that God speaks to us through word and sacrament, through the Bible, through our lessons, through water and oil, through bread and wine, and through gesture and posture, in the beauty of holiness. We find the sacred still speaking through these ancient practices. And they open us up to experience God's presence in ways both timeless and immediate.

And the Eucharist offers us a powerful opportunity to engage with God's living presence among us. Each time we come together at the altar, it's like another divine moment of “Ephphatha. Be open.” Opening our hearts and minds to receive the incredible gifts that God has for us. And here we experience God's grace as we actively participate in his unending love, a love that transforms our lives.

So, my fellow encouragers, if Christ has spoken “Ephphatha” to us, if our ears have been opened to hear his word and our tongues loose to declare his praise, then we must live as opened ones in a world still trapped in deafness and silence. This is precisely what it means to be “The Encouragers” for one another, and in this community of Belleville.

St. Barnabas was called the Son of Encouragement because he recognized God's grace at work in others and spoke words that opened them to greater participation in that grace. When others saw only Saul the persecutor, it was Barnabas who saw Paul the Apostle. When others saw only John Mark the deserter, Barnabas saw St. Mark the Evangelist.

To be encouragers for Christ, His hands and feet in this world, means to participate in Christ's ongoing ministry of opening. Like Jesus in today's gospel, we're called to reach out and touch those isolated by their inability to hear God's voice or speak His praise. We're called to speak “Ephphatha” through acts of mercy, words of truth spoken in love, in a community that embodies the openness to which God calls all people.

Let me take this opportunity to promote our prayer booth. If you have not joined us, you're missing out on a wonderful chance to speak “Ephphatha” to others. 

Our psalm reminds us that God knows us intimately. It says, “O Lord, Thou has searched me and known me.” He knows us not so much for judgment, but for blessing. God knows precisely what, in us, needs opening, what areas of our lives remain deaf to his voice or mute to His praise. And God knows the same about our neighbors, our community, and our world.

When we pray for others, when we physically touch and lay hands on people like we did yesterday at our prayer booth, not only are we opened further to his grace, but so are others. Consider joining us, and you will be blessed immensely. I know it.

As we live out our identity as “The Encouragers,” we must remember that the opening Christ offers, what He offers us in opening us, is not a one-time event. It's a continuous process. And every day we need to hear “Ephphatha” spoken over our prejudices, our fears, our comforts, our assumptions. We must allow Christ to take us aside, to touch our areas of deafness and muteness, to open us anew to his transforming presence.

And so, my friends, the sacred still speaks. And this describes the living reality we experience each time we gather around Word and Sacrament.
The same Christ who spoke “Ephphatha” to the deaf and mute man speaks it still to us today. He does this through the ancient words of Scripture, through the timeless liturgy of the Church, through the water of baptism, the bread and wine of the Eucharist, and through the community of faith gathered in his name.

Our calling is to be opened. Open to receive God's abundant mercy, which, as our Collect says, “… is always more ready to hear than we to pray and want to give more than either we desire or deserve.” And having been open, we're called to be openers, to participate in Christ's ongoing work of opening ears to truth, opening mouths to praise, opening hearts to love, opening hands to service.

And as we prepare to receive the sacrament here at the Eucharist, let us pray that Christ would speak his “Ephphatha” anew to each of us, opening whatever remains closed in our lives. And let us commit ourselves to being His voice of opening in a world desperately in need of encouragement.

May the God who opened the ears of the deaf and loosened the tongue of the mute continue to open us to his transforming presence that we might be true Encouragers for Christ, His hands and feet in this community and beyond.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.