Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
September 9, 2019
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras

Pentecost 16
He Makes All Things Well

And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he commanded the more zealously they spoke about it. And they were overwhelmed with amazement and said, "He makes all things well! The deaf to hear and the mute to speak." Mark 7:36-37

Today’s gospel is the fulfillment of the Old Testament lesson, which is about Jesus. He is the End of the Law for all who believe; (Rom. 10:4) the End of sin, death and Satan for all who are Baptized; and the Alpha and Omega of perfect Peace kept safe for you in heaven that will never perish, spoil or fade away. (1 Peter 1:4)

What Jesus does in today’s gospel lesson, amazing as it is, is only a foretaste of the feast to come; a Sign of what will be universally true when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Then your daughters will be free from the unclean spirits that now possess them; and the disabled will be made more than able again. Then everyone will hear the Word of Jesus with open ears and everyone will rightly confess that, “Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father,” (Phil. 2:11) those who believe, and those who don’t. For the baptized his return will be the fragrance of life unto life, but for those who are perishing the aroma of death unto death. (2 Cor. 2:16)

But don’t be afraid O Timid Soul! O Unsettled, Preoccupied and Anxious Mind, because today is the day of salvation! And so if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame," (Romans 10:9-11) because “he makes all things well”.

Those words, “he makes all things well,” come to us from today’s gospel. It is a confession of faith passed down to us from the very earliest believers in Christ.

It is possible translate their words “he does all things well,” and it would not be wrong to interpret them that way because it is impeccably true that anything Jesus touches he makes perfect. Nothing can resist Christ’s mighty Word that dwells richly among us. (Colossians 3:16)

It is a Word that unstops deaf ears, unlooses mute tongues, and that releases the possessed daughter laying neither eyes nor hands on her. Why? Because the Word of the Word made flesh is the final Word. A Word of benediction for us that even the demons, those mighty conspirators and doers of pure evil, cannot withstand!

Yes, he does all things well! But to say “he makes all things well” – “well” in this case meaning “without flaw or the possibility of it” then our hymn changes key. Then we speak of Jesus as the “Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!” (TLH #128) As the First Born of the New Creation (Rev. 1:5) which he brought into being by his “holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death” on the cross. Then we are speaking of the New and Second Adam by whom all things are made alive! (1 Cor. 15:22) By whom “all things were made, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:2)

Today’s Psalm 146 proclaims the same truth. It warns us “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.”

But not so Jesus!

Not so The Son Of Man who “makes all things New and all things Well.” (Rev. 21:5)

When he died and was buried in the earth all things in heaven and on earth came to sparkling Life in him; and all of heaven proclaimed together, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (Revelation 11:15)

Today’s epistle teaches us the same. By a clear proclamation of the Law and Gospel St. James addresses us as Holy Members of Christ’s Body. As “Beloved” and as “Brothers”. In the New Testament these are sacramental terms used of those who have passed, wet and glistening, through the birth canal of Mother Church in baptism; and who have a place at the Family Table: the Altar you behold before you today.

These are the signs of salvation which are given us by grace through faith. But because we still have flesh St. James reminds us that those who hold the most holy Faith of the Lord of Glory must not show partiality – because in the church we are all on the same footing. We are all recipients of grace upon grace! No one is here because of his own merit but because of Christ’s and Christ’s alone! Full stop. End of sentence. End of story!

But because Jesus “makes all things well,” including and especially the most holy and blessed and sacred Faith that we hold; he fortifies us today by Holy Scripture, teaching us that faith is not a dead thing but a living Tree that produces good and living Fruit!

In the language of today’s gospel that fruit is to gladly hear God’s Word and to respond to it with amazement, and unbounded tongues, just like these first Christians did in today’s gospel. They could not keep silent, but expressed with overwhelming amazement, “He makes all things well! Even the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak!”

And in the language of today’s Epistle St. James teaches us that we must never: regard any Beloved Brother in Christ according to his appearance, or the cost of his wardrobe, but rather embrace our Beloved Brothers in Christ with heartfelt love.

The world we live in is all about distinctions and many of them must be maintained. There are still cops and criminals; givers and takers; friends and foes. But when we enter his gates with thanksgiving (Eucharistia) we check all distinctions at the door. Because in the church we commune with Jesus the Lord of Glory. But not only with him. But also with the Beloved Brother and Sister sitting beside you and around you today, for they too have been made New Creations by Christ who does all things well, and makes all things well. Amen.