Monday, March 31, 2008

Weekly Schedule 3/30/2008

Tuesday April 1st-Dig Into the Sermon 6:30pm in the Pastor's Study.

Wednesday April 2nd- Last Membership Class for this Session 3:30-5:00pm in the Adult Sunday School Classroom. Open for anyone interested in learning more about our church history, beliefs, and practices.

Kid's Club! 5:30-7:00 pm

For kids ages 6-12



Sunday
April 6th- Sunday School 9:30 am
Fellowship in the Birchwood Room 10:30 am
Worship 10:45 am
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos 3:00 pm




This week's sermon: Breakfast by the Lake

John 21:1-25

John is telling us about this encounter on the beach, the third time that Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection. Here they are all gathered together, not really knowing what is coming next, Jesus has risen, and they are waiting. Peter, always the same Peter, he gets restless and says, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going fishing.” It was what he knew. It was what he was doing that first time that Jesus called to him, “follow me.” So much about this story reminds us of that initial calling: these men together, doing ordinary daily work, fishing to bring in food and some extra to sell at market. They are not having a very easy time of it. Here they have fished all night, and they caught nothing. So what does Jesus do? Does he come and shout from the shoreline, “you can do it; just keep plugging away; hang in there!?” No, he comes and stands there waits for them to see him and says, “Haven’t you caught anything yet?” Then he tells them to lower their nets on the right side of the boat. And their nets were almost overcome with fish. It is at this point that their minds are starting to itch; there is something familiar about this scene.
And John himself leans over to Peter and says, “I got it, it’s Jesus!”

Peter, again just plain old Peter, so consistent, throws on his outer garment and jumps in the water to swim to shore. It was his idea to go fishing, and he was probably the one who was most disappointed with the lack of fish, and overjoyed with the huge catch of fish, but when he hears that it is Jesus, he leaves it all again to make a beeline right for his master. Jesus has the fire going, the breakfast bread is there on the stones beside the flames, there is fish on to cook. Jesus had fixed them breakfast. Jesus invites them to add their fish to the fish he already has cooking, and they enjoy a nice breakfast together, these companions who have shared so much.
Jesus is still coming to us in our everyday lives. He is still calling us out of our old unproductive ways of living into his life. Imagine if the disciples in that boat would have said, “No thanks, we’ve always fished over the left side of the boat.” What would they have missed, not just the catch of a lifetime, but a chance to sit and eat a Messiah-baked breakfast. And the miraculous thing about the catch is that even though the amount of fish almost overwhelmed them, the nets didn’t tear or rip. When Jesus gives us an abundance, he also provides for the care of it. Sometimes we wonder what we will do in our lives if God does not come through, other times we worry about what we will do if he does. Remember that saying “God can handle the consequences of our obedience,” well it is also true that God can handle the consequences of his blessings for us.

After their meal, Jesus talks with Peter. And here Jesus calls him by his given name, he says “Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” This is important because Peter had betrayed Jesus and now needed to understand the full extent of the grace available for those who would believe. It didn’t matter that Peter had betrayed him, Jesus still loved him. Jesus, in fact, told Peter before he betrayed him that he would deny Jesus three times. Jesus knew Peter. Jesus had called him out of his fishing boat, salty and smelling like fish. Peter was the one asking Jesus to explain those crazy parables so he could understand. So we have him to thank for being able to understand many of them ourselves. It was Peter who said, “Tell me to come out to you on the water.” And it was Peter who first confessed, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God.” But Peter was also the one who sank in the waves of doubt; who told Jesus he would never let him be crucified—to which Jesus had to reply, “Get thee behind me Satan”; it was Peter who interrupted the holy moment on the mount of transfiguration by offering to build shelters for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. Peter had made Jesus laugh and groan, and if it were possible for Jesus to be embarrassed, Peter would have been the one to do it.

Jesus loved this burly fisherman, he had a plan and purpose for him, and Peter needed to know that. So Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John do you truly love me more than these?” Peter replies, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus tells him, “Feed my lambs.” Then he asks again, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” And Peter says again, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love you!” Jesus tells him, “Take care of my sheep.” And Jesus asks a third time, “Do you love me?” And Peter is beginning to panic, “Lord you know all things and you know that I love you.” Jesus tells him, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus is bringing him in as an under-shepherd, as a leader for his people. Jesus himself is still the Great Shepherd, but he is about to physically leave the earth and he is handing some responsibility for looking after his sheep to Peter. For the three times that Peter denies Jesus, Jesus asks him if he loves him. But then instead of leaving it at that, Jesus says, “I have a job for you to do.” It is important that Peter loves Jesus, but the reason it is so crucial is because Peter is to provide leadership in the days to come. And things are going to get harder than anyone could possibly imagine. Jesus tells Peter that as part of his role of feeding those sheep and caring for those lambs, Peter will one day be led away and killed.

The questions are not for Jesus sake, they are not for his peace of mind, these questions are for Peter. Jesus asks so that in those difficult days Peter could look back and say, “No, I really do love Jesus,” and continue in his struggle to care for the fledgling church. But Peter is still not perfect, he is willing, he loves Jesus, but God will continue to grow and mature him through the pages of the New Testament, and even until his death.

Peter sees John, and just like a brother, asks, “What about him?” And Jesus says, “If I have other plans for him, what is that to you? You follow me.” So often we are tempted to compare ourselves with others around us. We want to have what they have. We want to be able to do what they do. We want our lives to have the blessings theirs have, without seeing the bumps along the way. Peter had a tough road in front of him, but so did John. Both faced persecutions and imprisonment and the threat of martyrdom. But John’s path was not for Peter, and Peter’s path was not for John. They each had a unique place, a unique role, and because they were both obedient to follow Jesus, we have access to this glorious message of the gospel!

With a reassurance from the writer of this gospel that he indeed does not believe himself to be immortal, putting that rumor to rest once and for all, and a confirmation of the authenticity of the testimony given that the book of the gospel of John is closed. But the story does not end there. John says if everything that Jesus did were written down it would take all the books in the world, and that was almost 2000 years ago.

The story continues on, even beyond the pages of the New Testament. Even until today. I don’t know where life finds you right now. I don’t know if you are still fishing in that world-focused way of life that we follow before we meet the risen Christ for the first time. I don’t know if you have headed back to fishing to fill in the time until God decides to move again in your life. I don’t know if you find yourself in a place of having forsaken, or abandoned a faith that once you thought could never be shaken only to find it missing in a time of difficulty. Wherever you are, Jesus is calling to you today to come. He is saying come to me, if it is for the first time for salvation, come. He is saying come to me, if you have slipped back into old habits and old ways of life and you need to remember what it is to walk with me in Spirit and Truth, come. He is saying come to me, even if you have turned away from faith, come, and find restoration, find your purpose, find your hope in me. Just come.


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Weekly Schedule 3/23/2008

Tuesday March 25th- Friends Women Fellowship at Madine Defoor's at 9:30 am.
Dig Into the Sermon 6:30pm in the Pastor's Study.

Wednesday March 19th- Membership Class 3:30-5:00pm in the Adult Sunday School Classroom. Open for anyone interested in learning more about our church history, beliefs, and practices.

Kid's Club! 5:30-7:00 pm

For kids ages 6-12



Sunday
March 30th- Sunday School 9:30 am
Fellowship in the Birchwood Room 10:30 am
Worship 10:45 am
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos 3:00 pm




This week's sermon: Believe!

Luke 24:1-48.
The disciples did not believe the women who came back from the tomb saying that Jesus had risen. Here we see that two of Jesus’ followers had decided to return home to Emmaus. They figured that Jesus was dead, and so everything was over. They were going back to their normal lives. But as they were walking, they couldn’t help but talk about all of the things that had happened. They were trying to process all of these events, to figure out why and how these things had taken place when it seemed they were all on the verge of something wonderful with this rabbi who might have been the Messiah. This is the conversation that Jesus comes upon and asks what they are discussing to pass the time while they walk.
Isn’t it just like Jesus to come up unannounced and invite himself into the conversation? Sometimes he enters so quietly that we don’t realize he is there. These people who had followed him in the flesh did not recognize him, they did not realize that it was Jesus who came asking such a silly question when everyone knew about the rabbi who had been crucified. They are so taken aback that they ask if he is a visitor, just recently come to that area. Cleopas tells this stranger all about Jesus, the powerful prophet who the religious leaders had given over to be crucified. And Cleopas says, “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” If Cleopas had known who he was talking to, he would have realized that death is not the end of hope. And then he then freely admits that the women had come claiming that Jesus had been raised and that they had seen angels and the other disciples who had gone to find the empty tomb, only to continue in their disbelief; so much so that these two men were going home. They had given up. They had lost their hope.
And Jesus rebukes them.
That must have been a surprise.
Here was this man who a few minutes before had not even known about the events in Jerusalem, and now he is giving them a Bible lesson on the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus the Messiah. He starts at the beginning and gives them a play by play as to how the Messiah would go through all of these things in order to receive glory. Here is Jesus telling these men who had lost all faith in him all about every scripture that had ever been written concerning himself. They are intrigued at this strange man and ask him to go into Emmaus and stay with them. When they sit at the table to eat, Jesus prays and breaks the bread to give it to them, and suddenly they recognize him. I don’t know what was just so familiar that they knew it was him: the way in which he held the bread, the way in which he spoke so familiarly with God as he gave thanks, or the way that he broke the loaf into exactly even portions. I don’t know, but something clued them in, and suddenly as soon as they know it is him, he is gone.
Suddenly where there was no faith, faith springs anew.
Now they know that Christ has risen from the dead.
They are so excited that they go back to Jerusalem. It was almost evening, and these two disciples were so excited that they made it the 7.5 miles back to Jerusalem before they closed the gates for the night! They ran back to Jerusalem, only to find out they were not the only ones to have received a visit from the Master. They found that Jesus had also appeared to Simon. They all shared stories about their encounters with the risen Christ, probably still in awe and wondering if it was true. Then just as they are finishing their account of Jesus disappearing from their sight, Jesus stands among them.
Jesus wants them to believe, but he is not above coming and standing in their midst to help their unbelief. Jesus is doing the same for us today. He wants us to believe. Based on the truth of the scriptures, yes, but life in Christ is so much more than just believing words on a page. Jesus Christ is still coming and standing in our midst and calling us to believe. He is still calling to us in conversations when we are discussing how we are disappointed that things are not going our way. He is still coming in to show us that we need not give up hope. We need not leave hope abandoned by the roadside. Jesus comes to us wherever we are in the middle of our mess and brings us his hope and his peace. And along with that he brings his power to work in us to repair, rebuild and restore what was broken. Paul says in Ephesians 1:18-22, this is the same power that raised Christ from the dead, and he is using it to work out his plan in us.
Believe!
Have Hope!
There is something worth hoping for today and every day because Christ is Risen!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Weekly Schedule 3/16/2008

Tuesday March 18th- Meet at Amanda's for Coffee and Fellowship at 9:30 am.
Dig Into the Sermon 6:30pm in the Pastor's Study.

Wednesday March 19th- Membership Class 3:30-5:00pm in the Adult Sunday School Classroom. Open for anyone interested in learning more about our church history, beliefs, and practices.

NO Kid's Club!


Community Good Friday Stations of the Cross
Starting at 12:00 noon at Sacred Heart, walking to St. Andrews Episcopal with devotional readings along the way to remind us of Christ's journey to the cross.

Saturday March 22nd 5:00pm Iglesia Amigos Special Service.

Resurrection Sunday March 23rd
Sunrise Service 7:00 am
Breakfast Following
No Sunday School
Morning Worship 10:00
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos 3:00 pm



Sunday
April 6th- Sunday School 9:30 am
Fellowship in the Birchwood Room 10:30 am
Worship 10:45 am
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos 3:00 pm




This week's sermon: Sacrifice

John 11:45-12:26.
This morning I want us to pay close attention to three examples we are given in this passage: the example of the Pharisees, the example of Mary, and the example of Judas. Each of these people make choices about what they are willing to sacrifice, and by doing so reveal their top priorities. We are continuing on from last week, the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Because of this miracle some put their faith in him, but like any other time when God reveals himself, there were those who chose to go their own way. Some went straight to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. These people saw him raise the dead, and instead of falling on their faces before him, they ran to the religious authorities and turned him in for miracle working without a license.

The plot to kill Jesus: Human sacrifice.

The religious leaders had a meeting, and things got serious. They began to plot how they might kill him. Pharisees and other Jewish rulers saw Jesus as just another Messiah wannabe. They saw this in political terms. Their mindset was “If everyone joins his sect, it will put us in jeopardy.” Things were pretty good for Israel, even thought they were ruled over by the Romans. They had their own king, granted Herod was a Roman puppet and more gentile than Jew, but it was a sacrifice they were willing to make.
Messiah wannabes always started a war for Israeli independence. If Jesus got too many followers, Rome would take away their independence because the threat of insurrection would be too great. The Jewish leaders were afraid, not only because their place in Israel’s religious system was threatened, but because their very nation was threatened. Caiaphas was the high priest and he had prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and to bring the people of God together and make them one. I wonder if anyone really knew what that meant, or if in their minds it was a way to justify their plot against Jesus. If Jesus were sacrificed, the nation would retain its independence. It would keep the peace. At this meeting, they did not even discuss whether Jesus was the true Messiah. They didn’t care whether he was or wasn’t. All they cared about was staying comfortable. Keeping the status quo.

Mary anoints Jesus: Fragrant offering and sacrifice.

Unlike the priests and Pharisees, Mary was interested in pouring herself out for her master. They are trying to protect, to preserve their comfort. Mary is here at Jesus feet anointing them with expensive perfume. This display of affection is so extravagant that it is offensive to at least one disciple. Judas saw this wasteful behavior and it was too much for him. This perfume was worth a year’s wages.
Judas said, “that money could have been used to feed the poor!” So what if he did help himself to the money in the treasury, in his mind it was not nearly as bad as wasting a year’s wages. In this moment, his self-righteousness rears its ugly head. In this moment we see him for who he is. Mary made an extravagant sacrifice of worship and praise to Jesus, the Messiah, the one who had raised her brother from the grave, and Judas thought that was worse than his theft. Many believe this is the turning point for Judas; the moment when he decides to turn Jesus over to those who are plotting against him. Judas is willing to sacrifice his rabbi in order to hold to his views that keep him on top in the category of righteousness without the cost of personal sacrifice.

The triumphal entry: Jesus coming to sacrifice himself.
Jesus comes in riding on a donkey. The people give him honor and praise, but he doesn’t just sit and wave to the crowd. In the account of the triumphal entry in Luke’s gospel, he tells us that as Jesus rides into Jerusalem he is weeping over them. His heart is broken because he knows where they are headed as a people, as a nation, and they don’t even understand that he is the answer to the trouble they will face. The Pharisee would have chosen to ride into town on a white horse. The Pharisee would have rejoiced over being given honor and praise. Jesus came weeping and riding a donkey’s colt. He came in love and humility. He came to be a sacrifice, and to call those who serve him to sacrifice in love. If Jesus had come playing games of political power and intrigue, maybe the Pharisees would have understood him, but he came to set a different kind of example. He came to give us glimpses of this kingdom in everything he did.
Jesus begins to tell his disciples again, more clearly this time, that soon it will be time for him to finish the work that he was sent to earth to accomplish. He tells them that in order to produce fruit, the sacrifice of the seed is required. He is telling them about his death. He is not doing this to warn them, but to tell them that this is the cost of the kingdom. Jesus did not just come to die. He did not just come to be the sacrifice for us. He came also to call us to sacrifice ourselves. He tells his disciples that whoever seeks to go the way of self-preservation will end up losing their lives. In contrast, the one who is willing to lay down his life will save it, maybe not in this world, but for Eternity.
The most important statement of this whole passage is found in Jesus’ words in verse 26. He sums up the entire section by saying that whoever serves Jesus must follow him. Sometimes we picture sacrifice on our part as having no reward. But Jesus says here that the one who follows him will be honored by his father, and will gain eternal life. What earthly reward is greater than that? If we want to remain comfortable and sing little songs and never sacrifice, never move out of our comfort zone, never approach the untouchables in our society, the question I have is are we following the example of Judas, the Pharisees, or Mary. Are we trying to hush up the teachings of Christ so our way of doing things is not threatened? Are we selling Jesus out because even though we follow him, we don’t want to die like him? Or are we pouring out our lives as a fragrant offering before him, not caring who sees, not caring about the cost, only caring about serving the Lord who has given everything for us?

Monday, March 10, 2008

Weekly Schedule 3/9/2008

Tuesday March 11th- Dig Into the Sermon 6:30pm in the Pastor's Study.

Wednesday March 12th- Membership Class 3:30-5:00pm in the Adult Sunday School Classroom. Open for anyone interested in learning more about our church history, beliefs, and practices.

Kid's Club! 5:30-7:00pm
For Kids ages 6-12

Game Night 7:00pm for all ages!


Sunday March 16th- Sunday School 9:30 am
Fellowship in the Birchwood Room 10:30 am
Worship 10:45 am
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos 3:00 pm



Resurrection Sunday March 23rd
Sunrise Service 7:00 am
Breakfast Following
No Sunday School
Morning Worship 10:00


This week's sermon: Jesus raises Lazarus from the grave

John 11:1-44.
At the beginning of this story, Jesus is some distance away from Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. And the sisters, knowing that Jesus loved them and Lazarus, sent him word that their brother was sick. Now, they know the miracles that Jesus does. They know he has healed the sick, fed thousands, cast out demons, and we have to believe that they were sending for Jesus not just to come, but to come and heal. This is what we do. When we have trouble in our lives, we don’t typically stop at asking for God’s presence with us, we want him to do something. And that is fine. We can ask. But in this situation, and at times in our lives, God had something planned that was better than a simple healing. In order for him to accomplish his work, Jesus had to stay where he was and not come immediately to do the thing that the sisters wanted: healing Lazarus.
We see the conversation on the disciples’ side. They must have been terribly confused when, at first Jesus says “This sickness is not unto death.” No wonder they didn’t get it when he told them that Lazarus was sleeping. Have you ever experienced a time when things were not going the way you thought they should, or even when you heard so clearly from God one thing, but everything around you seemed to point some other way? That is where the disciples were. Jesus said, “This is not unto death,” and then, “Lazarus is dead.” Those seem to be contradictory statements, only Jesus knew what was coming next. No wonder they didn’t know what to do. Lazarus is dead, and they are going back to the very place where the Jews are plotting to kill Jesus. Dear Thomas, always the realist, is convinced that they are marching to their deaths. And that is not far from the truth, it will not be long before Jesus will go to the cross, but he wants to show them first that death is not the final victor. They are going, as Jesus said, to bring glory to God, and glorify the Son.
Jesus came into the town, and before he could get to the house, Martha was on her way to meet him. She comes to him with a mixture of faith and doubt. She knows that if Jesus had come sooner, Lazarus could have been healed, and here she is hoping against hope that even now, God will do whatever Jesus asks. Martha doesn’t ask for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead. She is not even sure she believes it, but oh, how she wants to. Jesus tells her that Lazarus will rise again, and she confirms her belief in the resurrection of the last day. And here Jesus says words that would blow us all over if we could just take them in. He says I am the resurrection and the life. We know those words. We have heard them time and again. But do we take them in? Martha said I believe in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus says I am the resurrection. She was talking to the one who would make the resurrection possible. The one who stood in front of her embodied the resurrection. Do we realize that every time we pray, we are speaking to the one who is the resurrection? How often do we forget the awesome power, might, and majesty of the one we ask to bless our food and keep us safe as we go through our day? Far beyond raising just Lazarus from the dead, he is the one who will raise us all on the last day. And he is the one who gives us power to live that resurrection life now, with power to walk through the most difficult circumstances knowing that he is bigger and beyond them all. He is the resurrection and the life!
Jesus asks Martha if she believes, and she tells him she knows that he is the Messiah, the son of God. And she goes to get her sister, Mary. Mary has been at home, mourning and weeping, and waiting for Jesus to come. Martha is the pro-active one, she is always taking charge and making sure everything is done right and on time, it is not surprising that she would be the one to run out to meet Jesus on the road. Mary has been waiting. I don’t know what was in her mind as she waited. Was she wondering why Jesus didn’t come? Was she doubting his love for her and her brother? Was she questioning, why? We don’t really know, but when she comes to Jesus, she also says to him, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But the way she says it is different. Martha comes as the practical one, still looking for Jesus to do something. Mary comes and falls at his feet. I can only imagine the grief and sadness with which she says those words. Her tears are so great; they weigh heavy on the heart of the Son of God. Jesus was troubled in spirit when he saw her crying. And after asking where Lazarus is, Jesus himself wept. Jesus wept. There is a verse that says that God treasures and saves our tears, storing them up in a bottle (Ps 56:8). When we hurt, it does not go unnoticed. Every tear that you cry, God knows about it and he cares enough to keep account of them. Here Jesus is moments away from raising the dead man, and relieving all of the grief around him, and it still moves him to tears to see the pain in the hearts of Mary, Martha, and those who are mourning with them.
And people talked. People always talk. Some were moved to see Jesus weep from love. Others were saying, why is he crying, surely he could have done something to prevent this!
Jesus has them take him to the gravesite. And he is again moved with great emotion. What did those around him think was happening? Perhaps they thought he was going there to mourn his friend. His disciples are with him, but they are silent. They don’t know what to think, maybe like Thomas said, they are going there to join Lazarus in death. Mary missed the words Jesus spoke about being the resurrection and the life. Martha knows she has had this conversation with Jesus about the resurrection, but even she is skeptical about what they are doing at the gravesite, and especially with Jesus asking that they remove the stone from the entrance. She says, don’t you know that after four days, the smell is going to be horrendous? How embarrassing for Martha, to think that everyone would be subjected to the smell of her brother’s decaying body. But Jesus reminds her of their conversation, and says, “If you believe you will see the glory of God.”
They move the stone, Jesus prays aloud for their benefit, calls Lazarus by name and Lazarus comes out of the tomb. He is still wrapped in his grave clothes, and Jesus has them help unwrap their resurrected friend. Everyone there that day got a preview of Jesus own resurrection. They saw that this man, this prophet, this messiah was greater than death itself. That is why Jesus did not come sooner. That is why Jesus stayed where he was two more days and went to Bethany only after he knew Lazarus was dead. They had already seen him heal the sick, the lame, and the blind. They had heard about his feeding the thousands, making wine from water, and casting out demons. They still needed to see him defeat death in order to believe in him. The purpose of this whole situation, as Jesus himself said was to bring glory to God and glorify the Son of God. Lazarus was resurrected that day, yes because Jesus loved him and his sisters, yes because they asked him to come, yes because they had faith, but ultimately the purpose was to glorify God. The reason for this miracle, like all the others that Jesus did, was to give evidence that he was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God.
What in your life is being delayed so that glory can be given to God? So often we hear from popular Christian writers and speakers that if we have faith, God will do what we want him to do. They argue if that miracle hasn’t happened for you yet, you must not have enough faith. I tell you today that sometimes there are greater miracles around the corner that you and I have not dreamed of. If you have asked in faith, and there is a delay, trust God to know his own mind and purpose. Trust him and know that the one who delays does not take your tears, your pain, your waiting for granted. Trust him to know what will bring him glory and honor and give you the greatest cause for rejoicing.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Weekly Schedule 3/2/2008

Tuesday March 5th- Dig Into the Sermon 6:30pm in the Pastor's Study.

Wednesday March 6th- Membership Class 3:30-5:00pm in the Adult Sunday School Classroom. Open for anyone interested in learning more about our church history, beliefs, and practices.

Kid's Club! 5:30-7:00pm
For Kids ages 6-12


Sunday March 9th- Sunday School 9:30 am
Fellowship in the Birchwood Room 10:30 am
Worship 10:45 am
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos 3:00 pm


This week's sermon: Jesus heals the man born blind

John 9:1-12.
Jesus comes across the man as he is walking with his disciples. The Disciples make a common assumption here. The reasoning goes like this, God’s wrath equals punishment; punishment is bad things happening in life; therefore bad things happening in life is a result of God’s punishment. It was a common belief then, it is still around today. So, trying to sound very spiritual and discerning, they ask Jesus who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind. Jesus corrects their error, telling them that this man is blind for God to show forth his glory.
Jesus goes to the man and does not wait for the man to ask to be healed. Instead, telling his disciples that he must work as long as it is day, he makes mud with his saliva and spreads it on the man's eyes. Remember that when God made man from clay, he breathed into him the breath of life. Here Jesus is using the very stuff we are made of to restore this man’s sight. He put the mud on the man’s eyes, told him to wash, and he was healed. End of story, right, everyone rejoices and praises God? Not exactly.
People are so jaded and unbelieving, that they would rather believe that there is a long lost twin of the man born blind who is just showing up in the neighborhood, than that this man could receive sight. Isn’t that the way it always is, when we are confronted with something outside of our scope of reality, we will come up with just about any other explanation so we don’t venture outside our comfort zone. It happens all the time. Doctors are not convinced miracles happen, so they call it “spontaneous remission.” Here, the people are so confused and in need of definite answers to this out of place happening, that they march this man straight to the Pharisees.

John 9:13-34.
The man tells his story to the Pharisees, and they are divided over whether or not this counts as a miracle. The reason they were so taken aback by the man’s story is that Jesus make mud. By spitting and mixing the clay, he was doing “work.” And by putting the saliva in the man’s eye, he was doing so for healing purposes, which was also “work.” According to the rabbinical rules of the day, by doing this kind of work, Jesus was in gross violation of the Sabbath. So, here is a man who has performed a miracle, pointing to God’s favor on him, who also has violated what the understood rules of the Sabbath are. This is a paradox that they cannot resolve. So they do the unthinkable, they ask the man who was healed what his opinion was. This is unheard of, these guys have the answer for everything under the sun, and they are asking this man his opinion of Jesus. The man tells them that Jesus must be a prophet.
Not being able to decide who Jesus really is, the Pharisees turn back to the issue of “did this miracle actually happen?” They call in the man’s parents. The parents confirm that this is their son, but they have no idea how he came to see. Isn’t this sad? The very people who ought to be throwing a party to celebrate his new sight are now distancing themselves so they don’t get thrown out of the Synagogue. They are more concerned with tradition and religion than their own son.
The Pharisees call the man back again to rejoice because they have decided that Jesus must be a sinner. The answer the man gives to the Pharisees this second time is the most simple and profoundly succinct answer I have ever heard about Jesus. "Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see." I don’t know who he is, but I know that he made an impact on my life. This is the shared testimony of all who have had their lives touched by Christ. "I may not be a theologian or a scholar, but he changed my life. They question him again about the process Jesus used to give him sight, and the man asks if they want to become his disciples as well.
They call themselves disciples of Moses, and claim that there is more proof that Moses was a man of God. The man argues back that Jesus is performing miracles, that should be enough to prove to them that God is in his corner. Not only that, Jesus is performing miracles that no one else can do. Moses didn’t even do that. Remember in the Pharaoh’s court, every miracle Moses did, the Pharaoh’s magicians could duplicate. Here, Jesus is giving sight to a man born blind. Our doctor’s today still don’t have a handle on this. They can cure some sight issues that exist from birth, but not all, and not completely like Jesus did. This man was an adult, and when Jesus gave him sight there is every indication that he had no problem putting that new sight into immediate use. The reason that doctors have trouble with giving sight to adult patients is not in fixing the eye. There is a certain part of our brains that interprets what we see. If that portion of our brains does not develop within a certain amount of time after our birth, it is difficult, if not impossible to develop the ability to interpret what we see, even if the eyes are working. Jesus restored this man’s sight so completely that he had not problem seeing and using his sight to get around.
Not only is Jesus demonstrating the power of God, he is doing so in immeasurably greater ways than any who have come before, and even those who have come since. And the man gives the glory to God by saying that without God, Jesus could do nothing. The man who received his sight is beating the Pharisees at their own theological arguments and they are angry. So they strike with the only weapon that they have left, and that is the argument that in order to have been born blind, the man must have been steeped in sin at birth.

John 9:35-41.
Jesus has compassion on the man, and goes to find him. He reveals himself to the man as the Messiah. And the man puts his faith in him.
This simple man, who before that day had been unable to be a complete member of society, he may not have been allowed to fully enter the temple, yet this day he has received his sight. He has stood face to face and argued theology with the Pharisees. He has met the Christ and worshipped him. And we still have his testimony today because we need to know that it is not always the trained, the scholars, the theologians who always get it right. When you boil it down, it is the one who has met Jesus face to face and put his trust in him who gets it right.
Precisely because of their training and exposure to the Word of God, these men ought to have known Jesus when they encountered him, but they were too caught up in their particular theory of who the Messiah would be to accept the one that God sent.
The overwhelming message to us today is to connect ourselves to Christ. He is the one who can correct us in our errors like the disciples who thought the man or his parents must have sinned in order for him to have been born blind. We need to be connected to him so that we are not caught up in the concerns of religious tradition to the point of neglecting the truth of the gospel. We need to be connected to Jesus so that we have kingdom priorities guiding our lives, not advancing our own little kingdoms, but God’s kingdom.
Being connected to Jesus opens our eyes to the world around us. We get our focus off of our little world and begin to see God at work in the wide world around us. We need to be connected to him so that when all else fails we can say, I may not know everything, but this I know is true, I once was blind, and he opened my eyes.