Read John
9
As we move through chapter 9, I ask
that we think about ourselves a little more that usual. We see Jesus doing mighty
acts, often
on
the Sabbath. We see Scribes and
Pharisees and very religious Jews not liking that this man is disrupting their
well-established comfort zones. We see Jesus giving
the Pharisees just what they deserve, and we usually like that part.
But, what about us? Are there insights into our nature and
lifestyle that we should be considering?
Let’s go back to John
4 and the woman
at the well. She wants to do
anything other than talk about the way she lives. She tries to avoid conversation with Jesus about
how she is living by bringing up religious topics.
Where is the right place to worship? When the Christ comes, he will settle things. Her attitude changed when he told her that
she was speaking to the Christ, but do we still have similar attitudes? Do we
avoid life’s tough questions?
How many times do we invite someone to
church instead of inviting them to know Jesus as Lord? The former is an easier task. The latter is a real
conversation.
How many times do we pick out a few
verses in the Bible to the exclusion of others?
How many times do those few verses monopolize our response to God’s
grace and mercy?
How many times do we point fingers
instead of offering an outstretched hand?
Our sins
are forgiven but we have not been made the judge. Condemnation
of others is not one of the perks of salvation.
In how many ways are we like the woman
at the well? I hope that we are like
here in one way. When Christ was
revealed to her, her life changed in the moment.
How many of us are like the huge
crowds in John
6, who upon being challenged with the bread
of life thought the teaching too difficult and left?
When it’s a lunch in the middle of
nowhere that’s one thing, but making Jesus your real sustenance is another. How many of us bug out when following the
Lord gets tough?
Let’s frame this in the context of
what we have received and know today. The
statement that love
fulfills the law may sound like an easy way out, but following
rules about
honoring your parents, resting one day a week, not profaning the name of God,
and not stealing are pretty easy compared to loving
your enemies or loving the
least of these.
Do
we bug out when following Jesus gets tough?
What about the woman caught
in the act in chapter
8? There was no defense. By the law, she should have been stoned. Only by mercy did she escape condemnation.
We are this woman. We may not be doing
the deed with our neighbor, but all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We don’t have to be caught in the act. Nothing
is hidden from God. Only his mercy and grace can rescue us from condemnation.
We sometimes think that if there isn’t
a crowd dragging us into the courtyard to be stoned that we are doing
fine. We are told to stop
judging on appearances. God
sees the heart.
How many ways are we like this woman?
We come to chapter 9, and there is so
much in this chapter. I hope you read
it and listened to the messages, but for the moment, consider the crowd that
followed the blind man to the pool and saw him healed when he washed. Some doubted that it was the same man who had
been begging on the side of the road all of these years.
How is that even possible?
Think to the story of the Good
Samaritan. The priest and the Levite
see the wounded man up ahead and walk by on the other side of the road. To them he was an inconvenience. He was less than human. They couldn’t be bothered with things that
would take them away from their daily tasks.
Now think to the blind man who sat on
the side of the road begging for years.
How many times, hundreds of times, had people walked by him. He was always there. Perhaps sometimes he changed location based
on seasonal events.
If people were headed to atone
for their sins, they might be more apt to throw a couple coins his
way. If you were a beggar, you wanted to
be in that traffic pattern. Mostly, he
was in the same place day after day and year after year.
How could people not recognize him?
If you looked at a beggar as you
passed by, you might be compelled to mercy.
You might give him something. If
you wanted to keep your money in your pocket, you did not make eye contact with
the beggar, even with a blind one.
How often is this us?
We want to help the poor and
disadvantaged but don’t really want to get to know them. Here’s a hundred bucks to help those in need
but I don’t want to get to know them.
You have heard me talking about breaking
the vending machine a few times.
Many think it’s all about those being helped. It’s not.
We are as apt to be transactional as
those coming for help. We will give
money or buy stuff, but we don’t’ always want to get to know the least of these
my brothers and sisters.
In how many ways are we like the crowd
of people who did not recognize the man who was blind and now could see? How many times do we not want to see the
least of these?
Now we come to the blind man. Jesus put mud in his eyes. He washed them as instructed. He could see.
He had never been able to see before but now he could see.
One of the things that he saw very
soon after receiving his sight was that the religious leaders did not like the
man who healed him. He knew his name was
Jesus but he didn’t know much more than that.
He was brought before the Pharisees
and questioned. He answered everything
that he knew. He was dismissed and his
parents were called in. They confirmed
that he was their son and was born blind.
As far as the healing stuff, you need to ask him. He is old enough to answer for himself.
So, the man who can now see is brought
back before the Pharisees. They decide
to help this man get closer to the right answer, that is, the answer they
wanted to hear. You have seen enough
courtroom dramas to know how lawyers like to frame their questions.
The man was not interested in playing games.
He answered the Pharisees who had
proclaimed Jesus to be a sinner by saying, I don’t know if he is a sinner or
not. What I do know is that I was blind
and now I see.
I was blind but now I see.
This is irrefutable testimony. It comes with no agenda. It does not take sides. It surely was not what the Pharisees wanted
to hear.
They asked him the same questions they
did before. Superimposing a little
courtroom vernacular over the man’s response, we get: Asked and answered!
Then the man who can now see takes the
offensive. No sinner could do what this
man did.
Why do you want to know so much? Do you want to be his disciples too?
That sent the Pharisees through the
roof. They had no appropriate response
other than to call him a child of sin and kick him out of their courtroom.
This man had not only offered irrefutable
testimony, but he had also out lawyered the lawyers.
Jesus met him later. He asked him if he wanted to believe in the
Son of Man.
He replied: Just tell me who he is.
Jesus said: You are talking to him.
The man believed in Jesus and
worshiped. He believed and worshiped.
You have to love this story I was
once lost but now and found, was blind but now I see.
I have been asking you to look at
yourselves from the perspective of many different people. Now I ask you to put yourselves in the place
of the blind man healed by Jesus.
But, I was never blind.
But, his story is so unique.
But…
But, we too have been healed by
Jesus. By
his wounds we are healed. We were
lost in sin. We were dead. He has rescued us an delivered us. He brought us from
death to life.
Remember the song Reckless
Love. Remember the words, Oh
the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. It’s powerful. God loves with abandon. He pours out his love not only on those who
deserve it but on those who don’t.
Shouldn’t our response be Reckless
Worship. Shouldn’t we worship
without regard to what the world thinks or who says you should do this or not
that?
The man that Jesus healed knew that
the religious leaders of the day would put anyone out of the synagogue if they
spoke in favor of Jesus.
Worshiping him may have more dire
consequences. He might have been able to
see for less than a day before he was stoned to death.
But he didn’t care. He knew the one who gave him sight. He knew who
held the words of life. He knew who his
Lord was.
He worshiped!
We have all sinned and fallen short of
the glory of God. We often don’t want to
know the least of these. Sometimes, we
think the teachings of Jesus to be too hard.
Sometimes, we do a cost-benefit
analysis on following
Jesus and try to hedge our bets a little with the ways
of the world.
This man said, I don’t care what the
world thinks. I was once lost but now I’m
found, was blind but now I see.
I will worship without reservation.
In the oath
of officers of the United States of America, which includes not only the
top officials but every commissioned officer, are these words: I take this oath freely without any mental reservation
or purpose of evasion.
It’s an all-in sort of deal. I don’t hold back anything and I have no ulterior
motives.
This is how we are called to
worship. This is worshiping in Spirit
and in Truth. This is worship with
abandon.
Is this how we worship? Are we like the man who was blind but now can
see?
Amen.
