The Spiritual Organ Of Corti
Sermon
ASSAYINGS: THEOLOGICAL FAITH TESTINGS
Sermons For Pentecost (Middle Third)
Jonah went in the opposite direction of that in which God wanted him to go. Jonah was jealous of God's unbounded desire to include even the evil city of Nineveh in his kingdom. Like the older brother in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, Jonah wouldn't hear or speak of God's gracious redemptive sweep, which included even prodigals and foreigners. So, through a great fish, God opened up Jonah's ears so that he would be able to speak God's word of repentance and redemption.
"He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!" Likewise, Saul, on his way to Damascus to single out Christians for persecution, met God face to face. Blind and deaf to God's gracious and redemptive power, the Lord came crashing into his life on that road. His entire world was flipped upside down. Jesus touched Paul's tongue so that he could tell, without any trouble, the entire world about God's amazing grace.
A friend who lives in an area of the country where there are many Native American Indian reservations, attended a church conference years ago. One of the workshops that he attended at the conference concerned the plight of the Native American Indian population as a minority group and how they have been completely forgotten. My friend decided to attend this particular workshop because he happened to live in an area where there were many reservations. His attitude at the time was that he simply wanted to learn more about the issue. He did not necessarily desire to do anything about the problem. Then, right smack in the middle of the seminar, a well-known member of the American Indian Movement entered the room where they were gathered and threw a brick in the center of the meeting table. The crashing monolith startled the assembly. The man from AIM said to the people that all they did was talk and study, study and talk, but they never really did a darn thing about the prevailing issues. My friend was certainly not impressed by this man's overt action. In fact, my friend was a bit offended. But when he returned home he couldn't get the incident out of his mind. He kept on asking himself, "Well, what can I do about it? I'm only one person." Gradually his ears were opened and one day he decided to speak. In fear and trepidation, my friend boldly drove his car north to one of the nearby reservations to visit with a local chief. And that was just the beginning of a 25-year ministry to Native American Indians in the area of the country in which he lives. My friend has been very instrumental and active in the planning and implementation of WIRC (Wisconsin Indian Resource Council). He has also been involved in Operation Black Dirt, a corporation established to incubate Native American Indian-owned small businesses. Today, my friend tells me that Christ caused his deaf ears to hear and then gave him the courage to speak on behalf of the American Indian population. It has not been easy for my friend. As you can well imagine, his inclusive actions have caused him to be ostracized from former friends and associates. But he tells me that it has been worth it because, as he puts it, "I was dumb but now I can speak God's truth."
A story: Telemachus was a monk who lived in Asia Minor about the year AD 400. During his life the gladiatorial games were very popular. The gladiators were usually slaves or political prisoners who were condemned to fight each other unto death for the amusement of the crowd. People were fascinated by the sight of spurting blood.
Telemachus was very much disturbed that the Christian Emperor Honorius sponsored these games and that so many people who called themselves Christians went to see them. What could be further from the Spirit of Christ than the horrible cruelty of the gladiatorial games? The church was opposed to the games and spoke out against them, but most people would not listen because they were deaf to God's unbounded message of love.
Telemachus realized that talking about this evil was not enough. It was time to do something. But what could he accomplish - one lone monk against the whole Roman Empire? He was unknown. He had no power. And the games had been entrenched in Roman life for centuries. Nothing that he could possibly do would ever make a difference.
For a long time Telemachus agonized about the problem. Finally he could not live with himself any longer. For the integrity of his own soul he decided to obey Christ's Spirit within him, regardless of the consequences. He set out for Rome.
When Telemachus entered the city, the people he met had gone mad with excitement. "To the Coliseum! The games are about to begin!"
Telemachus followed the crowd. Soon he was seated among all the other people. Far away in a special place he saw the emperor.
The gladiators came out into the center of the arena. Everybody was tense. Everybody was quiet. Now the two strong young men drew their swords. The fight was on! One of them would probably die in a few minutes. Who would it be?
But just at that moment, Telemachus rose from his seat and ran into the arena. He held high the cross of Christ and threw himself between the two combatants.
"In the name of our Master," he cried, "Stop fighting!" The two men hesitated. Nothing like this had ever happened before. They did not quite know what to do.
But the spectators were furious. Telemachus had robbed them of their anticipated entertainment! They yelled wildly and stampeded toward the center of the arena. They became a mob. With sticks and stones they beat Telemachus to death.
Far down there in the arena lay the little battered body of the monk. Suddenly the mob grew quiet. A feeling of revulsion at what they had done swept over them. Their once deaf ears sensed a stirring. Emperor Honorius rose and left the coliseum. The people followed him. Abruptly the games were over.
Honorius sensed the mood of the crowd. His ears too were opened. He issued an edict forbidding all future gladiatorial games. Honorius' ears had been opened to the violence and dehumanization of the games. As a result he was able to speak.
So it was that in about the year A.D. 404, because one individual, filled with the love of Christ, dared to say no, all gladiatorial games ceased.1
To hear one must have an effective organ of corti inside one's ear. A defective corti will not produce sound that is audible.
Likewise, one must have an effective "spiritual corti" if one is to spiritually hear. A defective spiritual corti will not produce sound that is spiritually audible.
Jesus is saying that he is our spiritual organ of corti which allows us to hear spiritually. Jesus touches our ears and tongue so that we can spiritually hear and speak his Word.
A friend of mine often tells me that he is not very proud of his younger adult life. Regarding those days he says that he was belligerent, hot tempered, quick to judge others, arrogant, vulgar, obnoxious, and more than once spent a night in jail for fighting.
Then one day he was involved in a serious automobile accident. He was seriously injured. Suffering severe swelling of the brain he underwent emergency neurosurgery to relieve the pressure pushing against the cranium. The surgery was somewhat successful but he experienced acute memory loss as a result of the brain operation.
My friend put it this way, "I had lost my memory but I wasn't so far gone that I didn't know I had lost it. So for the first time in my life I got down on my knees and asked God to give me back my mind. And if God gave me back my mind I promised I would join a church and worship and serve him."
Allow me to digress: Isn't it interesting that very often we get what we ask for when we pray? Sometimes we end up not liking what we asked for to begin with. If we pray and ask for a meaningful ministry, God just may answer that prayer by dumping us into a mission field where we do not desire to be. But that's exactly what he had asked for to begin with; a meaningful and challenging ministry. My friend got exactly what he asked for. Yes, he had lots of faults, but he was a man of his word. He was a man of integrity. So he was challenged, by God, to keep his promise, not for salvation's sake but in response to God's gracious gift of physical life.
That was 20 years ago. My friend is still active in the same church where he became a member in response to God's intervention in his recovery. He continues, to this day, to serve gladly and diligently. He tells me that the Lord God gave him back his hearing. Now he can go and tell others about Christ, the spiritual organ of corti, who enables all who are open, discernment of the kingdom.
"At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble."
1. Adapted from Peace Be With You by Cornelia Lehn, Faith and Life Press, Newton, Kansas, "What Can One Person Accomplish?" p. 27. Previously adapted from a story in Courage In Both Hands by Allen A. Hunter (Fellowship of Reconciliation, 21 Audubon Ave., New York 32, N.Y.)
"He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!" Likewise, Saul, on his way to Damascus to single out Christians for persecution, met God face to face. Blind and deaf to God's gracious and redemptive power, the Lord came crashing into his life on that road. His entire world was flipped upside down. Jesus touched Paul's tongue so that he could tell, without any trouble, the entire world about God's amazing grace.
A friend who lives in an area of the country where there are many Native American Indian reservations, attended a church conference years ago. One of the workshops that he attended at the conference concerned the plight of the Native American Indian population as a minority group and how they have been completely forgotten. My friend decided to attend this particular workshop because he happened to live in an area where there were many reservations. His attitude at the time was that he simply wanted to learn more about the issue. He did not necessarily desire to do anything about the problem. Then, right smack in the middle of the seminar, a well-known member of the American Indian Movement entered the room where they were gathered and threw a brick in the center of the meeting table. The crashing monolith startled the assembly. The man from AIM said to the people that all they did was talk and study, study and talk, but they never really did a darn thing about the prevailing issues. My friend was certainly not impressed by this man's overt action. In fact, my friend was a bit offended. But when he returned home he couldn't get the incident out of his mind. He kept on asking himself, "Well, what can I do about it? I'm only one person." Gradually his ears were opened and one day he decided to speak. In fear and trepidation, my friend boldly drove his car north to one of the nearby reservations to visit with a local chief. And that was just the beginning of a 25-year ministry to Native American Indians in the area of the country in which he lives. My friend has been very instrumental and active in the planning and implementation of WIRC (Wisconsin Indian Resource Council). He has also been involved in Operation Black Dirt, a corporation established to incubate Native American Indian-owned small businesses. Today, my friend tells me that Christ caused his deaf ears to hear and then gave him the courage to speak on behalf of the American Indian population. It has not been easy for my friend. As you can well imagine, his inclusive actions have caused him to be ostracized from former friends and associates. But he tells me that it has been worth it because, as he puts it, "I was dumb but now I can speak God's truth."
A story: Telemachus was a monk who lived in Asia Minor about the year AD 400. During his life the gladiatorial games were very popular. The gladiators were usually slaves or political prisoners who were condemned to fight each other unto death for the amusement of the crowd. People were fascinated by the sight of spurting blood.
Telemachus was very much disturbed that the Christian Emperor Honorius sponsored these games and that so many people who called themselves Christians went to see them. What could be further from the Spirit of Christ than the horrible cruelty of the gladiatorial games? The church was opposed to the games and spoke out against them, but most people would not listen because they were deaf to God's unbounded message of love.
Telemachus realized that talking about this evil was not enough. It was time to do something. But what could he accomplish - one lone monk against the whole Roman Empire? He was unknown. He had no power. And the games had been entrenched in Roman life for centuries. Nothing that he could possibly do would ever make a difference.
For a long time Telemachus agonized about the problem. Finally he could not live with himself any longer. For the integrity of his own soul he decided to obey Christ's Spirit within him, regardless of the consequences. He set out for Rome.
When Telemachus entered the city, the people he met had gone mad with excitement. "To the Coliseum! The games are about to begin!"
Telemachus followed the crowd. Soon he was seated among all the other people. Far away in a special place he saw the emperor.
The gladiators came out into the center of the arena. Everybody was tense. Everybody was quiet. Now the two strong young men drew their swords. The fight was on! One of them would probably die in a few minutes. Who would it be?
But just at that moment, Telemachus rose from his seat and ran into the arena. He held high the cross of Christ and threw himself between the two combatants.
"In the name of our Master," he cried, "Stop fighting!" The two men hesitated. Nothing like this had ever happened before. They did not quite know what to do.
But the spectators were furious. Telemachus had robbed them of their anticipated entertainment! They yelled wildly and stampeded toward the center of the arena. They became a mob. With sticks and stones they beat Telemachus to death.
Far down there in the arena lay the little battered body of the monk. Suddenly the mob grew quiet. A feeling of revulsion at what they had done swept over them. Their once deaf ears sensed a stirring. Emperor Honorius rose and left the coliseum. The people followed him. Abruptly the games were over.
Honorius sensed the mood of the crowd. His ears too were opened. He issued an edict forbidding all future gladiatorial games. Honorius' ears had been opened to the violence and dehumanization of the games. As a result he was able to speak.
So it was that in about the year A.D. 404, because one individual, filled with the love of Christ, dared to say no, all gladiatorial games ceased.1
To hear one must have an effective organ of corti inside one's ear. A defective corti will not produce sound that is audible.
Likewise, one must have an effective "spiritual corti" if one is to spiritually hear. A defective spiritual corti will not produce sound that is spiritually audible.
Jesus is saying that he is our spiritual organ of corti which allows us to hear spiritually. Jesus touches our ears and tongue so that we can spiritually hear and speak his Word.
A friend of mine often tells me that he is not very proud of his younger adult life. Regarding those days he says that he was belligerent, hot tempered, quick to judge others, arrogant, vulgar, obnoxious, and more than once spent a night in jail for fighting.
Then one day he was involved in a serious automobile accident. He was seriously injured. Suffering severe swelling of the brain he underwent emergency neurosurgery to relieve the pressure pushing against the cranium. The surgery was somewhat successful but he experienced acute memory loss as a result of the brain operation.
My friend put it this way, "I had lost my memory but I wasn't so far gone that I didn't know I had lost it. So for the first time in my life I got down on my knees and asked God to give me back my mind. And if God gave me back my mind I promised I would join a church and worship and serve him."
Allow me to digress: Isn't it interesting that very often we get what we ask for when we pray? Sometimes we end up not liking what we asked for to begin with. If we pray and ask for a meaningful ministry, God just may answer that prayer by dumping us into a mission field where we do not desire to be. But that's exactly what he had asked for to begin with; a meaningful and challenging ministry. My friend got exactly what he asked for. Yes, he had lots of faults, but he was a man of his word. He was a man of integrity. So he was challenged, by God, to keep his promise, not for salvation's sake but in response to God's gracious gift of physical life.
That was 20 years ago. My friend is still active in the same church where he became a member in response to God's intervention in his recovery. He continues, to this day, to serve gladly and diligently. He tells me that the Lord God gave him back his hearing. Now he can go and tell others about Christ, the spiritual organ of corti, who enables all who are open, discernment of the kingdom.
"At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble."
1. Adapted from Peace Be With You by Cornelia Lehn, Faith and Life Press, Newton, Kansas, "What Can One Person Accomplish?" p. 27. Previously adapted from a story in Courage In Both Hands by Allen A. Hunter (Fellowship of Reconciliation, 21 Audubon Ave., New York 32, N.Y.)
