As television became a staple in American culture in the second half of the twentieth, evangelical preachers embraced the new mass medium to deliver their messages. These preachers became known as televangelists. The televangelist was known for their passionate preaching, dramatic music, inspirational testimonies, and sensational healings.
As a child of the 80s, one of my favorite televangelists was a guy by the name of Earnest Angley. Anybody else remember that guy? Earnest had this sort of greasy snake oil charm about him that you don’t see much anymore outside of the guy selling surplus military supplies at the local flea market. The reverend Angley was known for his faith healings. People would stand on stage with him at his Grace Cathedral a.k.a. the “Temple of Healing Stripes” and, while the cameras were rolling, he would smack them on the foreheads and shout “devil get out!” He would grab them by the ears and command the deaf and the mute “say baby!” “say baby!” the people would faint away, flop on the stage, scream, and shout. It was great! It was kind of like watching professional wrestling. You knew that the Iron Sheik’s sleeper hold was not actually hurting Hulk Hogan, but it was fun to watch. You knew Earnest Angley was a con-man, but he was fun to watch. “Say baby!” “Say baby!” (That still makes me giggle.)
Televangelists like Earnest Angley didn’t spend much time in orphanages or nursing homes. You didn’t see them at homeless shelters or prisons. They preferred to do ministry in the spotlight. There they acquired fame and accumulated fortunes. They made it look like the ministry was about wearing fancy suits, driving luxury cars, and living in elaborate mansions.
That has not been my experience. I have been blessed, don’t get me wrong, but I have noticed that ministry is not about the fame and fortune the spotlight provides, ministry, real ministry anyway, is a much more vulgar business than that. For example, take a look at our gospel lesson for today. In Mark 7:31-37 Jesus performs a miraculous healing, but He does not do it the way a televangelist would try to do it. In verse 31 we read, “31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.” Immediately we notice a difference between Jesus and a televangelist. Unlike the televangelist, Jesus seems to be running away from the spotlight. Crowds of people have been gathering around Jesus (Jesus could have easily filled Andy Stanley’s North Point facility). But instead of basking in the popularity of the Palestinian people, Jesus leaves. He goes into the region of the Decapolis. As the name suggest the Decapolis was a series of, you guessed it, 10 cities established by the followers of Alexander the Great. The Decapolis was a region of Hellenistic, that is, Greek culture, and therefore predominately Gentile. (The Pharisees who last week had a problem with the unclean hands of the disciples must have flipped when they heard that Jesus was now doing ministry among unclean people like the gentiles who lived in the Decapolis.)
Mark tells us, while Jesus was in this vulgar place “32… some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.” As if it wasn’t bad enough that Jesus was doing ministry in a vulgar place he was now being asked to touch a vulgar person. It was a commonly held belief that all ailments, such as this man had, were the result of a specific sin, either on the part of the person or on the part of the parents. In John 9:3 Jesus corrects that mistaken assumption when dealing with a similar situation He tells His disciples, ““3 Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”” Not every ailment is the result of a specific sin. But that is not to say that sin was not the cause of this man’s suffering. God’s original creation was perfectly designed. God never intended for his creation to be deaf or dumb. However, sin corrupted that design and afflicted it with all kinds of pain and suffering, sickness and death.
To that end, we have something in common with this vulgar man. We too endure the pain and suffering, sickness and death caused by sin’s corruption of our design. All you have to do is take a look at the prayer list in the back of our bulletins and you see what I am talking about. Cancer, COPD, kidney stones, Alzheimer, diabetes, seizures, esophageal issues, IGA Nephropathy, and a host of other diseases that I can’t pronounce plague our members. In a few moments we are going to pray for Steve and Chris whose mother had emergency brain surgery this last week. More than once we have prayed for those who mourn the loss of a loved one; more than once the consequence of sin has exacted its wage from among us. Pain and suffering, sickness and death are now a vulgar part of our existence.
Thankfully, Jesus does not distance himself from our vulgarities. In our gospel lesson Mark tells us Jesus took the vulgar man “33 away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.” Jesus does not do what a televangelist would do. Instead of bringing the man up on a stage where he could be made a spectacle, Jesus takes the man away from the crowd. Jesus deals with this man personally and privately. Jesus understood the man must have been anxious. He had not heard why he had been brought to Jesus and he could not easily express himself. So, Jesus uses some extraordinary sign language to communicate what He was about to do for the man. Jesus placed his finger in the man’s ear; he would hear again. Jesus spit and touched the man’s tongue; soon he would be able to speak clearly. Jesus deals with this man intimately and individually. And then Jesus does something that offers incredible comfort to all who are suffering the vulgarities this sinful world inflicts upon us. --I am not talking about the word Jesus spoke, “Ephphatha”, although that word no doubt had a profound and life changing effect on the man standing before Jesus. Mark tells us with the speaking of that word the Son of God performed a powerful miracle; the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue was loosed. While a display of your God’s power to heal no doubt reassures you that he has the ability to heal whatever vulgarity you may be suffering, I think there is something even more comforting here than the word Jesus spoke.-- I think the most comforting thing is the sigh that Jesus sighed.
Mark tells us Jesus looked up to heaven and sighed a “deep sigh”. The sight of His creation suffering fills Jesus with sadness. He is as frustrated as the sinless Son of God can be frustrated. This is not what He wanted. This was not how it was supposed to be. Your existence was meant to be filled with harmony and peace, joy and happiness. Pain and suffering, sickness and death are vulgarities you were never meant to endure. There is no word to communicate the sorrow and sadness He feels and so He sighs a “deep sigh”.
The reason I think the sigh He sighed is more comforting than the word He spoke is because throughout the pages of Scripture Jesus performs countless miraculous healings, but not every sickness, disease and ailment were healed, Paul’s thorn in the flesh comes to mind. You see, Jesus may not speak a word and make your vulgar suffering go away. But that does not mean Jesus does not care about you. I know the vulgarities of life cause some to see the LORD as a petty and vindictive god who likes to watch people suffer. Maybe, in moments of weakness, you yourself have been angry with such a god. Or maybe, from time to time, you think Him uninterested and indifferent. Perhaps, even as you grasp at hope, you wonder if He has forgotten or overlooked you. But look here, my friends! Look and you will see your savior who deals with His people personally and privately, intimately and individually; you will see how your pain and suffering, sickness and death fill you Savior with sorrow and cause Him to sigh a deep sigh. Look beyond the miracle He performed, and you will see a Savior who cares a great deal about His creation. Let there never be a doubt, Jesus cares about you.
Our sighing Savior makes me think of the passage in Hebrews 4:15-16 that says, “15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Your Savior sympathizes and empathizes with you. But If your Savior’s deep sigh does not convince you that He cares, then recall the last breath He breathed upon the cross; the breath He gave up so that your sins would be forgiven. The breath He gave up so that one day you would be released from this vulgar existence and enjoy the harmony and peace, joy and happiness that await you in heaven.
When the crowd learned about the miraculous healing that Jesus performed they reacted as you might expect; they reacted how every televangelist hopes his audience reacts. Mark tells us the “37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” I bet they would have bought Jesus a new robe if He asked. After this, Jesus could have probably been riding around in a new chariot, maybe even living a fancy palace. That’s what a televangelist would have done. But Mark tells us, “Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.” Jesus was not interested in being known as the miracle-working Messiah. Rather, Jesus was interested in delivering people from the pain and suffering, sickness and death that sin has now made a vulgar part of our existence.
I think it is obvious, Jesus would have been a horrible televangelist. He was nothing like Earnest Angley. Did you know that Earnest is still at it? The old timer has lost some of his flair for the dramatic. He can hardly move himself, he has assistants now who help him stand, but he is still smacking people on the forehead. Apparently, the old boy just cannot give up the spotlight. I suppose there will always be those who use the ministry as a means to fame and fortune. Thankfully, Jesus was not interested in the fame and fortune the spotlight provides. Jesus was interested in people. His ministry took Him to vulgar places where He embraced vulgar people. Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t care about being a good televangelist, rather Jesus cares about you.
When you find yourself suffering the vulgarities of life, I pray you find comfort in your sighing Savior. Amen