power of speech

He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.

These are the words that speak to me in today’s Gospel (Mark 7:31-37). It’s another miracle story … this one being the healing of the deaf man. Yesterday we had Jesus not wanting folks to find him, to leave him alone for a bit so he could rest. But the syrophoenician woman persisted, challenged him, and was healed. And here today, Jesus restores the man’s hearing and gives him the power of speech, but then bade him not to tell anyone. Part of what’s at work here I think is Jesus struggling with his role, and this is something we can all identify with. It’s not always easy to share our gifts with the world, to do what we’re meant to do. Sometimes we just want to go off somewhere and hide.

But he didn’t hide. In the end he healed them. But he also ordered them not to tell anyone. And the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. For some reason this morning this made me think of a quote attributed to St. Francis … "Preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words."

Jesus gave the man the power of speech, and then bade him not to speak. An apparent contradiction. Which is where Francis’ words come in to play. We are and should be so moved by the power of God in our lives that we want to shout the good news from the rooftops. But this does not mean we need to obtain a placard sign and stand on the street corner. We can spread the good news through our actions, through our own healing love, through our approach to life. And in the end, preaching the good news through our actions consistently, day in and day out, is perhaps the harder path to travel. Good thing God is with us on the journey.