Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2005 : February 27, 2005
Seeing Is Believing
Lent 3
One day not too long ago, a certain man was walking next to a stream in Colorado, and he noticed a large rock sticking its head out of the water. He thought that it was about the right size of a rock to use as a door stop for his front door, so he brought it home and used it for years without having another thought about it. Years later the man housed a geologist while he was doing some research. He looked at the rock closely and a huge smile came to his face. He asked the man, "How much do you want for that rock?" The man said, "What, this rock? You can have it." The geologist replied, "Would it change your mind to know that this rock is actually gold?" It turned out to be the biggest lump of gold ever to be found east of the Rockies. If that geologist hadn't told the man that the rock was gold, the man could have died poor because he was blind to the fact that he was actually rich. All the man needed was for someone to take away his blindness.
In John chapter 9, Jesus literally takes away a man's blindness -- both his physical and his spiritual blindness. For that man, seeing physically was his first step in believing in Jesus as his Savior. Seeing is believing.
But before we get to the man's -- and our -- journey to faith, we need to look at a very important question that is brought up by the disciples when they first saw the man who was born blind. They asked Jesus, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" And Jesus replied, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." Was Jesus saying this man wasn't a sinner? No, because the Bible clearly says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So what did he mean? He meant that the man's blindness wasn't a result of a specific sin. So why was the man born blind? So God's glory would be displayed in his life. Jesus would show himself to be God, and many would believe it and come to faith in him as their Savior. Now, other prophets and apostles healed people of a number of things, including blindness. But what was special about Jesus? He did it by his own power. So when we are seeing Jesus heal physical blindness, we believe he is our God.
That gets us right away to another question. Some people experience tragedy after tragedy in life. What can be some reasons for this? From John 9 -- so people see Jesus as God and trust him. The Apostle Paul had some physical problem that nagged him. He asked God three times to take it away, but God didn't. Why not? So Paul would realize that when we are weak, we have to rely on God completely. The same is true of someone lying in a hospital bed. We like to take care of ourselves, don't we? But it's only when we can't take care of ourselves, and maybe even when doctors can't even take care of us, that we must truly rely on God.
What other reasons might there be that some people or families experience tragedy after tragedy? It's a consequence of their sin. Jesus paid the punishment for sin on the cross. The guilt of that and every sin is paid for, but the consequence remains. Why do people die physically even though they are believers? Because they are sinners. Physical death is a consequence of sin in general. Physical blindness is a consequence of sin in general. But sometimes the consequence does come from a specific sin. "Why am I punished with a speeding ticket, Lord?" It's because you were speeding, right? Why might a person who is sexually permiscuous get a venereal disease? Often those diseases are transmitted between people who have sex with many other partners. Their disease is a direct consequence of their sinful sexual lifestyle.
Also, listen to other reasons why tragedies happen to people:
James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
God uses tragedy to test our faith, make it stronger:
Hebrews 12:6 - The Lord disciplines those he loves. Be happy that you endure hardship. God is showing his love for you. If he didn't discipline you, he wouldn't love you.
Revelation 3:19 - Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. God may be turning us from a particular sinful path. It could be a call to repentance.
Romans 11:33 - Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! In the end, realize that God doesn't give us every answer to suffering. We must simply trust that his will is best and he will bless us through it.
Let's get back to the story. Eventually the man who was healed of his blindness was brought before the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the Jews. Some didn't know what to think about Jesus: he healed a man (which showed he was from God -- or from the devil) on the Sabbath (which was against the Pharisees' interpretation of the Old Testament Sabbath law of not doing work on the Sabbath). Since Jesus "worked" on the Sabbath (according to their definition), he sinned, and since he was willingly sinning, he must not be from God. They had a number of problems. One was that their definition of work on the Sabbath was wrong. Jesus was showing mercy and love on the Sabbath by healing the man. And the law is summarized by that one word: love. But really The Pharisees didn't want to see Jesus as God. Why not? Because then they would be accountable to him and would have to follow him instead of themselves.
When don't we want to see Jesus as God? When we don't want to be held accountable to God for what we do. What if you're a teenager and you know God's word says that drunkenness is a sin, yet you know that everybody's going to a drinking party this weekend and you decide to go also? You choose to make yourself blind to God's Word, at least for a weekend. If you are hurting for money and you see a $20 bill fall out a man's pocket, you're tempted to keep it. You might even rationalize not giving it back by thinking that this is how God has chosen to provide for me today. Or, even you give it back, you might want to give yourself a pat on the back and sinful pride creeps into your head. It's at that time when you don't want to hear that God wants you to walk humbly before your God and that God expects good works out of you with no recognition for what you've done. Basically, we don't want to see Jesus as God when he tells us we're sinners. Because then we have to admit it and fall at his feet for forgiveness, promising to do our best to put those sins behind us and live for him instead of ourselves.
But when we see Jesus as God, we are then ready to see him as something else as well -- our Savior.
How did Jesus show love for the blind man? He healed his blindness. How did he show love for him in verse 35? He went after him! As sinful as this man was, and still spiritually blind, Jesus went out of his way to make sure the man knew who he was -- not just a prophet, but The Prophet, the Messiah, his Savior.
How has Jesus shown love for you? You are a sinner. You sin every day. That means every day you are walking away from God. Was God content to leave it that way so that you would spend an eternity away from him? No! He went after you. How did he do that? How did God go out of his way to save you? He became a human being. He lived in this world as a perfect human being. And then he even went so far as to experience what it was like to be a sinner -- not having his own sin, but taking all your sin on himself when he died. That's how he became your Savior. He gave up himself unto death so that you would have life right now with God and eternal and life in heaven! And how does all of that forgiveness and heaven and a new life of serving God become ours? Simply by seeing Jesus as our Savior -- believing in him for salvation.
Now, after Jesus has done so much for you, what do you want to do? Live every hour, every moment, for your Savior. You want to make decisions that please him, not yourself. That means that even when tragedy after tragedy visits you or your family, you turn to him for strength and comfort, not relying on yourself.
Paraphrasing verse 39, Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into the world, so that those who know they are spiritually blind will spiritually see. And those who think they can spiritually see will remain spiritually blind." What a joy to know that God the Holy Spirit has taken away our blindness and has allowed us to see Jesus as our Savior! You have discovered that you have much more than a rock of gold that holds a door open in your home. You have Jesus as your Savior simply through believing in him as your Savior, and as a result you have heaven and forgiveness and every other blessing God promises his people. So live your life now for him who gave you so much. Amen.
