You know well that most people in our nation today consider themselves to be “spiritual but not religious.” Exactly what that means is hard to define. But it is generally someone who believes in God but believes that organized religions are human made organizations at best, and oppressive at worst. They see no reason why they cannot have a full spiritual life within themselves. They don’t want to be bothered by what they would consider to be the artificial demands of religion.
I understand the appeal of being spiritual but not religious. It fits well into our increasingly individualistic culture. Despite how appealing the idea is (you feel like no one is dictating obsolete or oppressive doctrines to you) it has problems. It is not very strong nor is it an emotionally safe place to be. In fact, it is only as strong as they are emotionally strong at any given moment. But, it is what people have chosen for themselves. As long as they are able to go through life as individuals they will stick to it. There is no point trying to tell them how unstable and unhelpful their spirituality is. However, our gospel reading for today points to that instability and unhelpfulness. And it can help us to meaningfully engage them.
First though, we must acknowledge that religions do have their flaws. As Christians we can see that clearly in our own scriptures as the very disciples of Jesus struggled to understand and do what is right. They were prone to failure constantly. And the writings of St. Paul and the Acts of the Apostles both show that Christianity ran into problems right off the bat. Other religions certainly have their own problems; but I am not knowledgeable enough to address them meaningfully. So, our own recognition of our potential for religions mistakes and failures gives us constant humility in what we do.
The healing of this man who is deaf and has a speech impediment is remarkably detailed, and yet the details are puzzling. We’ll get to the details of Jesus spitting and touching the man in a minute. Before that let’s look at the details of the journey. Mark tells us that Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a federation of ten small cities of Greek culture to the east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Tyre is about 30 miles northwest of the Decapolis. So far so good. Jesus would go from Tyre southeast towards the Decapolis. Except Mark says he went by way of Sidon… which is north of Tyre! It would be like saying someone traveled from Victor to Canandaigua, and they decided to go by way of Pittsford! Huh? That makes no sense! Pittsford is exactly the wrong way!
Clearly the gospel writer Mark does not know his local geography! And yet, he gives us all these details of Jesus’ travels. Who really cares actually; other than the details are wrong?
Yet, again, the whole scene has details; not just the travel plans. It is as if the usual pace of Mark’s gospel has been slowed down. Mark’s is usually sparce on details. He rushes from scene to scene at lighting pace such that you barely get to think about what just happened before he is on to something else. Consider what we read last week in worship, which is the scene immediately preceding what we read today. There a Syrophoenician woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter. Mark records just three sentences said between them. Then Jesus heals the daughter. He never even gets close to her, and the scene is over.
This week’s reading has the details that a man was brought to Jesus. We’re told he can’t hear and has a speech impediment. The people beg Jesus to lay his hand on this man. Again, lots of details. Who, where, what. And interestingly, does Jesus lay his hand on him? Certainly that would be enough to do it! Remember that last week we read of Jesus healing a girl without ever even going near her! But how about this week’s story? Again, lots of details. Jesus took the man aside, away from the crowd. Jesus puts his fingers into his ears. Then he spits and touches his tongue. Jesus says, “Be opened.” Details, details, details. They are perhaps a bit gross, but we can imagine this scene vividly.
Why would Jesus do it this way? Mark records a number of miracles of Jesus. It was not only in what we read last week that Jesus performs a miracle at a distance. Yet many of the miracles include touch. Jesus touches corpses and lays his hands on lepers. This week Jesus puts his fingers in a mans ears and puts spit on his tongue. In a few weeks we’ll read about a miracle where Jesus puts spit on a man’s eyes and touches him. These are all physical touches and connections.
These touches and connections show that God is not afraid of actual touch with unclean or disgusting things. And they show that God is not interested in performing miracles in sterile environments using holy means. Through Jesus God really is in the dirt and mess of life. And of course the touch of Jesus on ears invites us to understand hearing as coming through the touch of Jesus. Spit on a man’s tongue invites us to understand speech as coming through the life and breath of God. This deaf and mute man is cured and now hears through the touch of Jesus’ fingers, and speaks clearly through the touch of Jesus’ own spit.
A spiritual but not religious person sees God as distant, and as holy, and as “Other”. Christianity teaches us God’s literal presence, and the power of real contact.
In the religious landscape in the world today Christianity is the only religion that is based on the idea of God coming to live as a human for a lifetime. However, the idea of a god becoming human was hardly unusual in the 1st century. Kings and rulers were sometimes called gods, or the son of god. Greek mythology is full of tales of the gods taking on human form for a while. They usually do so for their entertainment or to hurt or reward certain people. Yet among all those Christianity still stood out because Jesus was said to be God coming to live a lifetime; and not to play games with people, or to punish them, or to make demands of them, but to see them, touch them, care for them, and love them.
Though Jesus is not literally walking among us the way he did then the sense of the incarnation remains central to our faith. Lutherans and Catholics especially recognize the real presence of Jesus in communion. Jesus said: take eat, take drink. This is my body. This is my blood.
While many Protestant churches will say the bread and wine are symbols of Jesus’ presence, we stick closer to his literal words. You can’t get too pressed on the physics of it all because you get nonsense. But you can understand God’s continuing presence in insisting that we experience God in ways that we can see and touch and taste. You are what you eat, and the elements of communion become the elements of our bodies.
I do not want to condemn those who call themselves spiritual but not religious. But theirs is a belief system that simply has no substance. And it is ultimately very lonely, because they are choosing to experience God in their own ways. What do they do in those inevitable times when God seems distant, or never seems to say anything at all? What do they do when they don’t know what to do? Where are their spiritual spaces? What are their authorities that can question them, help them grow, and give them a sense of purpose and place? They simply have none of those things; although they think they have.
God loves you enough to touch you. God loves you enough to come to you in a way you can eat. God loves you enough to work through imperfect and flawed people around you so that together they are the body of Christ to you. And God loves you enough to work through you, imperfect and flawed as you are, so that you are the body of Christ to others.
Yes, Christianity as a religion has its flaws. There are plenty of them! I doubt we’ll ever be perfect. But we are called to embody God’s grace in this world as our world cries out for a purpose and a place and meaning to it all. I don’t suggest you go out this afternoon and start putting your fingers in people’s ears or spitting and touching their tongues. But truly being in touch with people is a big part of your faith. We are religious. We have scriptures and sacraments and worship services and ministries and studies which all are God’s gifts to us so that we can be in touch with God always.
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