His Word went out and the people “were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well.’” Trinity 12 2025

07. September 2025

Trinity 12

Mark 7:31-37

Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly (Mk 7:34–35).

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Early in His ministry, Jesus came to the godless and forsaken Tyre and Sidon. It was a land that had long been fallow, the Word of truth withheld. Its ancient king had married off his wicked daughter to the rebellious king of the north. They were a hard-headed and proud people, resisting the Assyrians and nearly standing up against the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. Finally, it was Alexander the Great who conquered them. And then, He found great faith in a Greek woman, who clung to even the crumbs that fell from the Lord’s table. The demon possessing her daughter was cast out, and the little girl rested peacefully in her bed.

Then Jesus went to the region of the Decapolis, which consisted of Greek cities founded in ancient times by the conquering emperor: Damascus, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Gadara, Pella, Scythopolis, Dion, Hippos, Raphana, and Canatha. These are not people primed and ready through millennia of catechesis from Moses through the Torah. These are a noble, yet pagan, people, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. But when Jesus comes, Jesus does. And how does He do but by speaking His Word. And where His Word is preached and taught, there a new creation springs into life.

“Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him” (Mk 7:32). This man is not so unique. We are all deaf without Jesus unstopping our ears. We cannot speak without the Spirit of Jesus giving us the good confession to say and sing with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. Without Jesus, we cannot hear or speak, and this is why Jesus comes to us. Or more specifically, this is why our friends brought us to Jesus and begged Him to touch us.

As we hear in the Epistle to the Romans (10:14-21), Jesus authorizes and sends preachers to us with His Word. His Word opens ears, joined to the voice of the pastor, the water in the font, the bread and wine spread upon the table, and bound to the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren. You cannot believe without the sending, the preaching, and the hearing. And you cannot confess Christ and be saved without hearing. So, these faithful friends bring their deaf mute neighbor to Jesus with a cry of prayer for His healing. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”

“And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly” (Mk 7:33–35). With the healing Word, Jesus opens the man’s ears and loosens his tongue. Every impediment to this man’s functioning in the natural world has been removed, and now, finally, he can begin to live. But his life is now lived in faith to the Son of God, the Son of David. He joins his friends in giving praise and glory to Christ. His newfound hearing and speaking are both brought into service to the one who gave them.

“Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak’” (Mk 7:36–37).

In the 1840s, the first immigrant settlers came to this area. Some were from England and Ireland, but those of our heritage were from the German provinces of Silesia, Pomerania, and Saxony. Unlike Tyre and Sidon and the Decapolis, these came with the faith. Jesus has long ago opened their ears in their native lands by His Word and Spirit. However, after a disagreement with their pastor at Trinity Freistadt, they determined to found a congregation here. They began meeting in homes on Sundays, with one of the fathers leading a prayer office of hymns, readings, and a homily from a collection of Lutheran sermons.

By 1854, this parcel of land had already been set aside and was now part of the property of Pr. Fuerbringer from Freistadt would conduct a weekday Divine Service. By His preaching, their ears were opened, and they built the log church and called their first pastor. While they had been gathering for years with regular visits from Freistadt, August 5th, 1855, is the day that we celebrate the first official Divine Service in this place. An untold number heard the Word and were given to believe. Pr. Kolb likely proclaimed, “Ephphatha!” Ears were opened and tongues confessed Christ’s saving name. Within weeks, forty had been examined and absolved, and received Christ’s body and blood.

Just like Jesus went into the world, even to forsaken and pagan lands, opening ears to hear His Word and loosening tongues to confess His Name, so Jesus came to Sherman Center some 170+ years ago. He sent His preacher, Rev. Fuerbringer, with His Word and Spirit to call and gather saints into this congregation. Through the Word of Law and Gospel preached and the sacraments administered in His Name, Jesus made this congregation. He laid one stone upon another: each member a living stone with Himself as the chief cornerstone. Yes, those German settlers laid the bricks, hoisted the bell, and erected the steeple, but it was Jesus who worked in and through them.

As Jesus cried out, “Ephphatha!” more ears were opened and more tongues confessed. Within eleven years, the congregation had grown so that it called its first teacher, Jakob Brater, to assist the pastor in opening the children’s ears to Christ and His Word. In that same year, some of our own who lived closer to Cascade began a new congregation there. And through fire and plague and Civil War, Jesus continued to open ears and loosen tongues, with new buildings, new congregations, and pastor after pastor. His Word went out and the people of Sherman Center “were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak’” (Mk 7:37).

Friends in Christ, as we rejoice this day, let us not forget that we are Christ’s workmanship and this congregation is His gift to us. “And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Co 3:4–5). Let us not grow tired of hearing His Word and receiving His Sacrament. By these, Jesus opens our ears and loosens our tongues, that we would hear, believe, and be saved today and always. AMEN.

This is the Word of the Lord that came to me, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His + Name. AMEN.

Rev. Christopher R. Gillespie
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church & School - Sherman Center
Random Lake, Wisconsin