A couple years ago, I was sitting in Church and was shocked out of being on autopilot while listening to the sermon. Since that time this sermon has impacted me repeatedly on my path to Christ - helping me to stay focused and let distractions go.
That Sunday we had readings from the old and new Testament about people who were deaf and mute, but what the priest said was not what I expected. He said that we should pray to have the ears of the deaf and the tongue of the mute. I had expected him to say that we should pray to have our ears opened and our tongue loosed, but he was saying we should pray for deafness and being silent! But after listening to him, I find myself frequently praying for the ears of the deaf and the tongue of the mute.
We should pray for the ears of the deaf so that we do not hear what will not bring us closer to Christ - the wicked word, gossip, that which would rouse us to anger or lust. We should pray that our hearing is shut to these so that we may devote ourselves to God. These other things distract us from Christ, and tempt us away from him. We should shut out evil talk. We should ignore that which will separate us from Him.
In the same way, we must pray for the tongue of the mute. We can ourselves say things that separate us or others from Christ. Through gossip, or an unkind word; through a judgment voiced or even the most subtle of comments said without charity or against charity we can cause harm. We must pray that our tongues are restrained from this. Even when speaking out in what we see as our “rights,” if we are not building up the body of Christ or worse, are tearing down the body of Christ, then it is better to be mute than to ever speak. For once uttered, words cannot be recalled.
This does not mean that we should remain silent when we are called to speak or to let evil go unchecked, but so often we are quick to anger, quick to judge, judge, quick to act, quick to speak. We should stop . Pray. Listen for Christ. Speak Christ. Let the rest go. In all we seek and all we do should be Christ.
As I prayed on this, I have come to see the great truth in it. I have also seen that Christ saves and heals the one who is deaf and the one who is mute. I pray for the ears of the deaf and the tongue of the mute so that I may not be affected by and cause evil, but also because I seek Christ’s healing. I want to be the deaf mute whose sins are forgiven and who is healed by the Lord. We are all in need of his healing, if we go on acting is if we do not, then we never come to him and ask that he heal us.
So remember, pray for the ears of the deaf and the tongue of the mute.
