Last spring, I saw my daughter’s play “The Miracle Worker,” her high school’s spring drama production.  How many of you have seen the play or the movie version?...  Then you know it chronicles a pivotal period in the life of Helen Keller, who was born healthy in the post-Civil War South, but at age 18 months contracted a mysterious illness which left her both blind and deaf. 

 

As Helen grew from a toddler into a little girl, she “terrorized the… household with her screaming… tantrums.”[1]  By the time she was six years old, her parents were desperate for help raising their daughter, and they hired Annie Sullivan as a live-in teacher.  Annie was partially blind herself, and immediately upon meeting Helen, she began to teach her to finger-spell.  But although Helen could repeat the finger movements Annie taught her, she could not quite make the connection to understand what they meant. 

 

After a month of Annie’s teaching, however, what some called a “miracle” occurred.  Annie led Helen to an outside pump, and as the water poured over Helen’s hand, Annie finger-spelled “w-a-t-e-r.”  And suddenly, something opened up in Helen; as she recalled later, “somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me.”  Thereafter, Helen’s progress was astonishing.  By age ten, she was able to read and write in Braille, and she later learned to speak.  She graduated from Radcliffe College and dedicated her life to raising public awareness about the needs and abilities of deaf and blind people throughout the world.

 

William Gibson entitled his powerful and moving play “The Miracle Worker,” because the main focus of the story is not Helen herself, but her teacher, Annie Sullivan, who unlocks for Helen the mystery of communication and enables her to be opened to her world.

 

In this morning’s Gospel lesson, it is Jesus who is the miracle worker.  The text tells us that some people bring to Jesus a man who is deaf and cannot speak.  Imagine this man’s childhood growing up in first century society.  What did his parents have available to teach their child, to show him how to live, to keep him from danger?  How could they help him communicate in a hearing and speaking world?  After all, they didn’t have an Annie Sullivan. 

 

What about his sense of self-worth?  Without being able to hear and speak, could he develop meaningful relationships?  As an adult, can he find gainful employment and be a productive member of a society?

 

And what about the deaf man’s relationship with God?  Even if he does go to temple, how much can he understand and believe about an unseen God?

 

His companions beg Jesus to lay hands on the deaf man.  But instead, Jesus takes him aside and, away from the crowd, he is able to communicate to the man what he is doing through his motions.  Jesus puts his fingers into the man’s ears.  Then he spits and touches his tongue.  And then he looks heavenward, breathes a deep, visible sigh, and says “Ephphatha,” which means “be opened.”

 

The first sound the man hears is Jesus’ voice, and the first word he hears is “Ephphatha.”  Be opened to new life, be opened to new possibilities, be opened to living life in the fullness God intends.  We can imagine that suddenly the man’s ears ring with the cacophony of life.  He can hear the shouts of merchants in the marketplace, the bleats and barks of animals, the music of the shofar calling the faithful to prayer.  He can now respond and interact with people around him, to share his thoughts, express his love, hear the lilting rhythms of the Hebrew prayers. 

 

With his actions, Jesus does not just open the ears and the mouth of the deaf man – he opens the eyes of the witnesses, who recognize in him the power of God.  This miracle fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of what the Messiah would be able to do, a prophecy made many centuries before Christ's birth.  In this morning’s Old Testament lesson, the prophet says, "the ears of the deaf [shall be] unstopped; and the tongue of the speechless [shall] sing for joy."  This miracle of Jesus fulfills both predictions, showing him to be the long expected Son of God.

 

And God wants us to be opened, too.  If we are truly honest with ourselves, we are all like the deaf man in some way; each of us has some part of ourselves that is trapped, closed, or stopped up.  Maybe we’re blocked by an illness or an addiction, maybe we’re clogged by fear or confusion, gridlocked by grief or guilt, shackled by shame.  Whatever it is that has closed you up and held you back from living a life of joy, from living life in its fullness, this is the place where you can be opened. 

 

Jesus has promised that whenever we come together in his name, he will be right here in our midst.  Whether he comes to us through the reading of scripture, or the singing of hymns, or the saying of prayers, here in this place, we risk being touched by Christ, for his hand is on each of us.  That touch is our invitation to be opened -- to healing, to forgiveness, to new possibilities.  Be opened -- to God, to one another, to neighbors and strangers.  Be opened – to love, to acceptance, to opportunities to grow in faith.

 

Today is Homecoming Sunday, a day when we celebrate a new church year and the blessing of coming together as a community of faith.  Coming home is what we’re all about today, coming home to this place and to each other as God’s family, home to share the joys and sorrows of our lives through all the stages of our lives.  This is a place where we catch now and then a glimpse of heaven, and even if this is your first time here, this is still home for you, because this is the place we can experience the peace of Christ and the love of God, who is our home.

 

As we enter this new church year, Jesus invites all of us to be opened to God; be opened to reaching out to others in compassion and love; be opened to journeying with others in exploring your faith; be opened to joining a bible study or participating in a small group or getting involved in any one or more of the other ministries and programs we offer.

 

I know there are many other activities that fill your time.  But the Church offers something that cannot be found anywhere else.  The world can offer education to make you smarter, it can offer you great career opportunities to make you wealthier, it can offer you a nice home to make you comfortable -- but the Church can offer you a way to have your heart and your life opened up by God. 

 

As he did to the deaf man, Jesus comes to us, touching us and saying, “Be opened.”

 

Let your ears be opened to God’s holy word.  Let your mouth be opened to sharing Christ’s love. And let your life be opened to the movement of the Spirit, which can release you from whatever is blocking you, stopping you, or holding you back from becoming the person God wants you to be, and from living life in the fullness that God intends.

 

To all of you, welcome, welcome back, and welcome home to this place -- and be opened!  Amen.

---