Spitting image

Sermon for the twelfth Sunday after Trinity

It's rather disgusting.

Would you want

someone else's spit

on your tongue?

Even if they were trying 

to cure you?

[PAUSE]

It really isn't pleasant

to talk about spittle

and even mentioning it

make you feel uncomfortable

or even nauseous.

The fact is

that human beings

have to learn 

what disgusts us.

We are not born 

with knowledge of 

what's disgusting.

We learn by other people's

reactions.

Still,

someone putting their spit

on your tongue 

definitely sounds

rather unpleasant.

In the Old Testament,

it is regarded

as a mark of contempt

to spit in someone's face.

We still think that now.

The Greek word for spit

is ptoo-o.

You can hear it, can't you?

That's exactly the word

that St Mark uses

when he tells us

how Our Lord spits 

- ptoo! -

and is touching this man's tongue.

Behold, 

it is loosened

and the man is speaking.

There is certainly no contempt here.

So there is a difference 

between how spitting

is regarded.

Our Lord's actions are not

of those who will spit upon Him

on the day of His crucifixion.

Our Lord's actions

are nearer to the parent

rubbing off the dirt 

on their child's face 

with a bit of spit on a tissue.

However aware we are

of the germs and diseases,

or of the general ickiness

of someone else's spit,

we cannot deny the love of a parent

cleaning their children with a little spit.

[PAUSE]

We are presented with Jesus

as Creator here,

for He is creating a tongue 

that will speak praises

using the very substance of His own flesh.

In spitting,

He not only shows that He is human

but that He is divine

and that He is willing to share 

His divine nature with us

at the most intimate level

even as He shares 

His human nature with us

at the most intimate level.

[PAUSE]

Sometimes, 

the obstacle that is in front of us

is the assumption which

we have learned as children

and have carried into our lives.

Our Lord's spit

may give us the shivers,

but it should actually

draw us nearer into the mystery

of His Divine Majesty.

That should give us

shivers of awe and wonder

and allow Him to become

more present to us,

unloosing our tongues

to sing His praise and glory

for eternity.