B Cycle – 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 24

Mk. 7: 31-37

 Andrew desired what the ancient scrolls promised.  He wanted the fulfillment of God’s prophecies and had a growing hope the promised One of God would appear soon.  He was in the crowd when John the Baptist points toward Jesus and said, “behold the Lamb of God.” Andrew is eager, ready for the Messiah to come but how that desire would change his life was unknown.   There was only one way to find out and that was to spend time with Jesus.  

There are no records of the conversation Andrew had with Jesus that day other than Jesus asking Andrew “what are you seeking.”  Andrew’s answer was to ask Jesus where he “was staying.”  Andrew could not articulate what he wanted but he knew if he could spend time alone with Jesus, whatever he was seeking would become clear.  Jesus’s response was “come and see.” Not come and see his place of residence but come and discover your heart’s desire.  All we know about their time together was its impact on Andrew.  After leaving Jesus, Andrew told his brother Simon “he had found the Messiah.  Andrews acted on what his heart was hungry for and that was to encounter the Holy One of God. But it took someone else to “prepare the way” for him to take a leap of faith and seek what the scriptures promised.    

What is it we are seeking?  Whatever it is, it is less than what God desires to give each of us.  God is offering us a life filled with wonder and awe.  But are our hearts prepared to experience the life offered us?  Who are the “Andrews” in our lives who are telling us they have encountered the Messiah?  Where is our curiosity about what we would experience if we absolutely believed in what Jesus has accomplished for us.

Our human minds limit God’s ability to work wonders in our lives because have limited Jesus’ ability to touch our hearts.  We do not understand what it means to discover ‘where Jesus is staying.”  It means more than where He resides because His home is the unlimited vastness of the universe. To be where Jesus is staying means more than just going sit before Him without giving Him access to our hearts.  We need to go into the desert with Him and allow Him to open our minds to understand the scriptures.  It is to join in with Jesus as He prays to the Father.  It is allowing the angels to minister to us as we sit in silence with Jesus before the throne of grace.  It is by us entering the Kingdom of God on earth and becoming transformed by the experience. 

The miracle we heard in today’s gospel is more than a gift of speech and hearing.  It shows us how personal Jesus wants to get with us.  It is Jesus taking us off and touching us in a way that we would find repulsive.  Instead, Jesus is showing us nothing matters except we give Him the time and our willingness to be touched in places we have sealed off.  Jesus is showing us how much we restrict Him by our own concept of what is acceptable or unacceptable.  We would prefer to keep Jesus at a distance and because we are unworthy so “…just say the word and we will be healed.” 

Jesus is shows us something beyond a physical healing.  He shows us how He is willing to get into the muck of our lives revealing God’s mercy has no boundaries.  We have placed rigid rules around ourselves which block His ability to touch our hearts.  Yes, Jesus’ spit, grabbed that man’s tongue, put His fingers in his ears just to show us how He will overcome every barrier we have erected to keep God from touching our hearts.  Why is the real question because we do want what God offers.   

It is time for us to take down those barriers and ask Jesus if we can stay with Him.  We need to remove all the barriers and say as Mary said, “let it be done to me according to Your word.”  Who in our lives is that person in your life pointing toward Jesus and urging you to go to Him. Why do we hide ourselves from God by rigid laws and rules that Jesus himself challenged.  Those barriers we have built, prevent us from experiencing God’s mercy and love.  Those walls we have erected prevent us from experiencing the transforming power of Jesus’s embrace. 

What has happened to our belief in God’s power to forgive our sins, to heal our brokenness, and to touch our humanity where our sin resides and to set us free.  Isiah prophesied that God would come to free us, to open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and bring to life what has died in our hearts.  Isiah is speaking of Jesus. Jesus who said He came to bring us life in abundance and seek those who are lost.   

Perhaps it is time for us to admit we have not been seeking anything beyond what we are experiencing now.  We are satisfied with what we are experiencing each Sunday and that could be powerful, enlightening, and inspiring.  But God desires to give us more than an experience.  He wants to give us Himself and to deepen our hunger for intimacy with Him.  He wants us to be seeking an encounter with Christ.  Andrew was not able to express what he was seeking.  God is revealing it to us each time we worship together and celebrate the gift of Christ.  Perhaps we need to pray to hear those words of Jesus inviting us to come and see.  Offering to clothe us in righteousness so we would stop trying to please God and allowing God to show how pleased He is with us.