SAVE me, us, them
And taking him [the deaf and mute man] aside from the crowd privately,
Jesus put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue…
Mark 7:33
We got to serve a church in Massachusetts, Anglican Church of the Rdeemer, Franklin, MA. They wanted help to share their faith and reach out to their community. They also wanted to receive the Gospel in a creative way that engaged all ages in their church. Sounded like a job for a Dandelion.
Sean and I were inspired to start Dandelion Ministries, where we share the grace of Jesus Christ in your place of need using creative means, because a weed grows in an undesirable place, just like the grace of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God is like a heat seeking missile that goes right to the place of shame or pain, our undesirable place. He plants the cross of Christ there - where Jesus forgave all our sins and brought new life from the grave with his own resurrection. He plants faith that he keeps his promises to us.
I love to make the stories of Jesus tangible with stuff to do with your hands - in paint, paper, scissors, you name it. Getting creative opens up a deep well within of which we are often unaware. Where we really are tends to slip out, whether we like it or not. What is true tends to slip in, whether we expect it or not. Sean loves to bring those stories to life through music, the heartache, the crying out, the confession, the answer… in words, but also – just as much - in the music upholding the words, transcending them.
Jesus touched the deaf, mute man in Mark 7. And yes, then touched his tongue with his own saliva! It’s quite gross sounding, actually. I don’t recommend this unless you’d like to spread COVID. But Jesus was the Son of God who was making a point. His touch makes us clean, not unclean. We cannot make him unclean with all the sin we button up, brush back, and apply mascara to each day. He gets particularly physical with this man as if to show that he, as God and as a fellow man, does not find him disgusting, beyond repair, or untouchable. The Law identified this man as “unclean” (Lev. 20:16-20). That is exactly who Jesus came for. None of us gets through the 10 Commandments or the purity laws alive. We are all in the boat with the deaf and mute man. The law was never meant to make us holy – it breaks our denial and shows us we are not, whether we see it from actions we’ve done or the way we were born (and both), sin is too deep to be cured by “shoulds” (Romans 8:2-4). You need the One who fulfilled the Law – who loved perfectly - to say to you, “You are clean.” Jesus opens this man’s ears to hear him, and releases his tongue to respond. Jesus touched his undesirable place with his grace. New life poured out in the man’s speech and ability to hear Jesus.
…And they were astonished beyond measure, saying,
“He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Mark 7:37
I created a large-scale prayer. It has our prayer that we cry out, often in ways too deep for words:
SAVE US, ME, THEM.
In our repeated toxic patterns. In our friends’ and family’s wounds. In our addicted and homeless cities. In our war-torn world. In our unsolved problems. Because sin makes us deaf and mute to what is true and the One who can save.
SAVE US, ME, THEM.
I invited Redeemer Franklin to begin the prayer. We will take it around. Perhaps to you. They dipped their hands in paint and laid it on the panels to join the prayer. Jesus will answer, he already has. He will again.
Some of the testimonies from the weekend:
“…all generations came together to make art. Everyone was so vulnerable.”
“… I haven’t painted in years but I was an art major. This is for my daughter.” And she began to cry.
“… I want to feel his touch and I am still waiting,” said a teen. “You will,” replied an 88-year-old man. He went on, “One thing I know is that God is faithful.”
“… I painted my dog in a van because that van was where my family was happiest growing up. In the worst time of my life, God gave me a dog so I wouldn’t be alone. I felt Jesus’ touch there.”
More to come.
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