4th Sunday in Lent!
Prayer
John
9:1-41
First Movement:
My dad was converted and baptized after he and
my mom met and were going together. He
had been raised in church, but he hadn’t made a profession of faith yet. Dad didn’t have a lot of education, but he
learned a lot in life. He did well with
what he had learned from life. He was a
man with a lot of what we would call common sense.
He took apart and
rebuilt engines for several of our cars in our back yard. One time, he was working on the tailgate of our
truck and struck his finger and brought blood; he turned to me and said, Mike,
get me a band aid. That made such an
impression on our neighbor kids who were looking on through the fence and
numbered around nine that they talked about it later to us, how could he hit
his finger like that and just look up and ask for a band aid? They hadn’t seen that before! If my
dad could take it apart, he could fix it.
I can remember one
time he took the rear end gear box apart on my 3-speed bike. He found some parts that had broken and went
to a local bike shop to get the parts.
The guy asked him who he he had fixing it. Dad said, me.
The guy arrogantly said, “When you can’t get it back together, bring it
here, and I’ll fix it. Dad fixed
it! He didn’t have to take it back to
him.
Dad didn’t get up
in front of people. Because of his lack
of education, he didn’t have the confidence to do that, but he lived his
faith. Dad didn’t go along with the
crowd, and when he met someone who was struggling with life, he would be one of
the first ones to talk to them about it.
Maybe they drank too much! Maybe
they had other problems! Dad didn’t come
to them as one who had all the answers.
He didn’t give them a lot of answers, but he would tell them in some way
that a faith in Christ will make a difference in their lives, and he would invite
them to church. I have seen many of
those ruffians and some not so ruff show up at church because of those short
encounters with my dad. Dad was never
afraid to express his faith and to invite someone to church. He has been a great influence on me.
Second Movement:
Our scripture today is once again from John,
and it is the story of Jesus restoring sight to a blind man. The synoptic gospels have blind man stories,
but they are pretty different than this.
John’s gospel has a hidden meaning for us which is revealed in verse
39. Jesus came that we all might see
spiritually! John’s gospel is probably
meant to say something to us about the spiritual blindness of us all; we are
all born blind and Jesus can give us new sight spiritually. Also in John’s gospel they asked who sinned
that this man was born blind; Jesus answers that nobody sinned to cause
this. It was a common misconception of
the time that if someone had a disease someone had to have sinned to cause it
to be cast upon them. It still is today,
but Jesus’ answer was that nobody had sinned to cause it. We find in other passages in the scriptures
that blessings and trials come upon us all.
All of these are good points from the story.
There
is a second part of this story that I want to concentrate on today. Before we go there, let me give you a little
background. The writer of the Gospel of
John is believed by most to be John the Apostle, the one Jesus loved; it is usually dated between AD 90 and
110. John is also believed to be the
author of the Revelation of John. John’s
Revelation is dated about AD 96 by most, but some give it an earlier dating of
around AD 68 or 69, depending on who the emperor was, that the beast with seven
heads represented. Either way, they were
both written during a time when Christians were being persecuted in some way
for their faith.
9 When
he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been
slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; 10
they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how
long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the
earth?” 11 They were each given a white robe and told to rest a
little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servantsh
and of their brothers and sisters,iwho were soon to be killed as they
themselves had been killed.[1] (Rev. 6:9-11)
They asked how long, and the Lord
told them to wait a little longer. Some
were being killed for their faith.
Others were being boycotted against for being Christian. Their businesses were suffering. If they claimed to be Christian,
non-Christians would not give them their business! It wasn’t a popular time to be a Christian.
Third Movement:
Now, let’s go back
to our story of the man who was given sight.
He is questioned about who did this.
The blind man says, “This man called Jesus put mud on my eyes and told
me to go wash, and I washed and received my sight.” They asked,“Where is he?” He said, “I do not
know.” Then the Pharisees asked him
again how he had received his sight. He
told them the same thing again! The
Pharisees said, “This man is not from God; he doesn’t observe the
Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man
who is a sinner do this?” They were
divided, so they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him? He at first says he is a prophet. They didn’t believe him so they called the
parents and asked them. They confirmed
he was born blind, but when asked who did it they said, “Ask him, he is of
age.” They go back and ask, he tells them
again. They drive him out. He speaks to Jesus and affirms belief in him
as the “Son of Man.”
John’s gospel
tells of a courageous little Jew who keeps telling the truth and will not be
silenced by intimidation. (Interpretation Commentary) At this time, he had a lot to loose if he
expressed belief in “the way.” He would
be thrown out of the temple. He would be
persecuted in many other ways! His
parents knew this; they knew they had a lot to loose if they expressed belief
in Jesus. Remember, besides being thrown out of the temple, they may have
had businesses that would be
boycotted. It would cost them
physically! They didn’t want to pay the
price. They said, “ask him; he can speak for himself.” This man was determined to tell what Jesus
had done in his life. John wants us to
know that it is important to be faithful, even if it is going to cost us!
How about us? What does it take for us to be silenced? This young man wouldn’t be silenced! My dad, at least one time, after he couldn’t
get around well, rode his wheelchair down the road to talk to a neighbor who
didn’t go to church. I’m sure he invited
him to church. There was a young girl
named Cassie at the Columbine school shooting to whom the shooter held a gun up
to her and asked if she believed in Jesus, she said, “Yes,” and he shot her on
the spot. Would we have had the courage
to say yes in that case? Let’s take it
down a notch. If our boss asked us to do
something that was clearly against our faith, would we have the courage to
respectfully say no and tell them why our faith in Jesus taught us not to do
that? What if we are in a group that is
making fun of Christianity? They are
telling jokes that make Christians look bad.
Would we have the courage to say, “Jesus has made a difference in my
life!” Would we have the courage to go up to someone who doesn’t seem to care
about God, but clearly needs God, and tell them that Jesus can make a
difference in their lives? What about
just going next door to our neighbor?
John’s message for us is that even when there is a cost we should stand
for Jesus!
Now,
let me hasten to say, there is a difference between standing for Jesus and
standing for all of our beliefs. Some of
our beliefs are best addressed in a quote from Wesley, “In essentials, unity,
in non-essentials, liberty, and in everything else, charity!” In some things, we need to allow people the
liberty to disagree with us! We need to
pick our battles! Sometimes we bring
persecution on ourselves by trying to make everybody conform to all our
beliefs! But when it comes to faith in
Jesus, the one who gives sight to the blind (whether physical or spiritual), we
cannot be silent! Tell people what Jesus
has done for you! Tell them that Jesus
can make a difference in their lives! If
you need help with this one, as we encounter Christ at the table, ask Christ to
empower you and strengthen you to be a better witness! Thanks be to God!
Prayer
of Confession
Service of Communion
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