A FedEx package arrived at my home that was labelled for my next door neighbor. When I delivered it to Maggie, she asked me to open and inside was a replacement for her emergency alert button. The vendor forwarded an alert replacement so that she could wear around her neck to call in case of an emergency. Sadly, the instructions were not user friendly. Maggie had no clue how to activate the new alarm system. So I stayed to review the manuel and just as confused, called customer service for help to activate her new emergency alarm.
Going out of your way. Think about when that happens, when someone goes out of their way for you – the effect that can have. When a nurse is overly caring and attentive to the person suffering an illness when they are patient – we see that as “going out of their way” and it can change our perception of the medical profession. When a teacher takes the time to help a student understand the math problem or a resident care staff goes out of their way to help a physically challenged adult resident get comfortable in their home.
Going out of your way. How often do we think that God does that for us? Do we perceive that? Or do we see him as distant, removed from us? The reality is our God is a God who constantly goes out of His way for each of us. But so often we miss it or don’t recognize it.
Like in this Gospel we read this Sunday. Another cool Jesus miracle story. It’s nice Jesus took care of this deaf and mute guy. Not being biblical scholars we might have missed a little nugget that St. Mark threw in there. At the very beginning of the passage we hear Jesus left Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee. A friend who, unlike me is a biblical scholar and who has visited the Holy Land numerous times had mentioned that this journey was completely out of the way. It was an indirect route that would have meant Jesus would have had to travel for weeks (possibly months) just to reach this place.
We don’t know for certain why Jesus goes out of His way to this next stop on His journey. But for the apostles and disciples who witnessed all of this first hand and recounted it, what was obvious was that after that lengthy trip, what Jesus does. He cures this man’s affliction. But not in any ordinary miraculous way. Jesus puts his fingers in the guy’s ears and spitting, touching his tongue as He restores the man’s hearing and speech. Why was that? We heard stories of Jesus feeding over 5000 with a few loaves and fishes – water being turned into wine – people being brought back from the dead simply with Jesus’ words being spoken. So it’s not like Jesus had to perform this miracle in this way.
But maybe Jesus was going out of his way to reach out to this man through His gentle touch this poor soul who couldn’t hear or speak how God thinks about you, God sees you, God knows the pains, the weaknesses, the brokenness you’re suffering from. God loves you.
God went out of his way on the Cross to say that to all humanity. The sad reality is that this is a message that many don’t feel, don’t recognize, or maybe don’t even really believe in.
Maybe you’re going through a really rough time right now that makes it hard to believe, to remember or perceive these things about God.
Jesus is counting on those of us whose hearing and speech he has already touched to go out of our way for those who are suffering, who are skeptical, who are troubled by doubts. The miracle he performs reminds us that discipleship calls each of us to go out of our way and to listen and to speak out.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who go out of their way for others to listen to people’s pain, to listen to their fears, to listen to their doubts, to listen to their cries. To listen to our own. To listen to Jesus… To listen to Him in prayer… To listen to Him with the ears of our hearts so that we can then speak…Speak words of acceptance. Speak words of comfort. Speak words of forgiveness, of healing… of God’s eternal, unwavering, selfless, unconditional love.
