Please read the following from the Gospel of Mark 7:31 - 37

        Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.  They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.  He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into 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.”  And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.  Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.  They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

What is the most challenging thing you’ve ever done for someone else’s benefit – someone you know?

Maybe it was challenging because you gave money to help someone – giving money can be a sensitive thing, and what if the result was then you didn’t have the money you needed.

Maybe it was challenging because you had to confront someone about a behavior or a situation, not that you wanted to confront them, but you needed to so they might understand that they were in a bad situation.

Maybe it was challenging because you defended someone at personal risk – you know standing up to a bully.

Maybe, if you’ve served in the military, fire department or law enforcement, it has been literally putting your life between someone and harm’s way.

Maybe it was challenging because your efforts, whatever they were, meant that you were putting your friendship at risk if it backfired?

At the core of all these situations is “risk” – the challenge of taking a risk for someone else.

What is the most challenging thing you’ve ever done for someone else’s benefit?

Why do I ask? 

They brought to him (Jesus) a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.

I have been thinking about the “they” in this passage – who were “they”?  Were they friends or family?

The man was deaf and had difficulty talking; I’m not sure how they communicated to him about what they were going to do, but I imagine it involved his sight, maybe even writing.

But I am sure it involved risk.

What were some of the risks? 

First, they risked their relationship with him.

• What if he didn’t want to go?  Maybe he had tried other healers.

• What if he took their help the wrong way?  Maybe instead of seeing it as help, he saw it as a rejection of him because of his situation.

The second thing they risked is not being able to know how Jesus would receive them – if they could even get to see Jesus.

• What if after risking their relationship they bring their friend and he doesn’t get to see Jesus.

The third thing they risked is not being able to predict how it would turn out – what would Jesus do?

• Would the man be made a public spectacle?

• Would the man not be healed?

There are risks these folks took in bringing this man to Jesus.

I highlight them because this morning I’m making a request of you – I’m asking that you invite someone, a family member or a friend, to church on September 13^th.

September 13^th is our Friendship Sunday, a day when we make a special effort to reach out to people who don’t have a church home.

Let me repeat, this isn’t about stealing people away from other churches – it is about inviting people to meet Jesus who don’t have a church home.

And there are some risks aren’t there?

They are very similar to the risks these people took with bringing the deaf man.

First, you risk your relationship with those you might ask.

• What if they don’t want to come; maybe they’ve been to other churches?

• What if they take your invitation the wrong way?  Maybe instead of seeing it as help, they see it as a rejection of them by you?

The second thing you risk is wondering how these people you invite might be received.  Unlike the people in the Gospel, in this instance, you know we work really hard to make people welcome, to let them know we are glad they have come.

We work hard at making the service easy to understand, and to have people really feel at home.

But then, just like the people in the Gospel there is the risk of not knowing how it will turn out – what will Jesus do?

I say Jesus, not the church, because my prayer is that God touches the people we invite.

What will God do?

Well let’s look again at the Gospel to see what Jesus did.

Did he make a public spectacle out of the deaf man?  No!

He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 

Jesus treats the man with dignity, he takes he aside in private and then he touches him.

And we know the result don’t we?  Jesus heals him; the Scriptures say:

Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

And he was healed.

It they had never brought him to Jesus, he would have never been healed – they took the risk because the reward was great.

They faced the challenge because they chose to demonstrate how much they cared about this person.

How about us?  We will take the risk and invite someone to church on September 13^th to see the reward of them beginning to get reconnected with God?

We will face the challenge and chose to demonstrate our love so that they might experience the love of God?

A life spent apart from God, a life spent apart from Jesus, is a life that is incomplete here on earth – and incomplete in eternity.

You and I have the opportunity to change that, but they must hear the Good News.

The Bible puts it this way:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?   Romans 10:14 (NIV)

How can they if they have never heard?

And the reality is that for every one hundred people who know Jesus – 85 of them came to know him through a family member or friend.

Let me say that again.  For every 100 people who have come to know Jesus – 85 of them came to know him through a family member or friend.

We also know that there are 3,500 people in the town of Delhi that don’t know Jesus – 3,500 who have yet to have the Good News touch their lives in a way that is meaningful.

What is the most challenging thing you have ever done for someone else’s benefit?

My b/s this isn’t about having a big church – it’s about building God’s kingdom.  This is about taking the risk to help someone who is blind – who can’t see the love of God – to regain their sight.  This is about rising to the challenge of helping someone who is deaf – deaf to the Good News – to have the opportunity to finally hear how much God loves them.

Let’s pray.