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Look Here!!
John 9:1-41
03/02/2008
Many moons ago, when I was in college a large amount of my course work involved using a computer. Back then we had the state of the art system. It occupied a whole room and had terminals everywhere. I always wondered how that machine could talk to all those people at the same time. But when I did my first program I found out that when you logged on to the computer it asked you for PROGRAM NAME in which case you typed TSS for Time Sharing System. The computer was so fast that it could talk to all those people at the same time. But it still felt like you had the whole thing to yourself. That kind of power amazes me. It also amazes me to know that the one I have on my desk is more powerful than that room full of equipment.Some people wonder how it is that God could be so concerned about so many people all at once. What we are going to see today is that Jesus takes time out even for the most seemingly unimportant people and gives them sight. And at the same time, God is talking to a lot of people who think they have no need of what he is saying. Have you ever wondered, when you pray, if God has to stop the business of running the universe to listen? God can and does talk to billions of people at the same time and gives each one His undivided attention. Isn’t that incredible?Let’s look at the text for this morning, the story of a man born blind. Now I believe that we should always pray for the sick to be healed. And when it happens it is a special gift from God. We can’t demand it, though.But today’s text is not primarily about healing. It is about seeing, about what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. And if that’s so, it will have much to say to both the believer and the unbeliever.By this time Jesus has acquired quite a reputation. A crowd is gathering because the news has come that Jesus is passing through. And when he does, he sees this man born blind.Did you know that people can be very lonely, even in a crowd? Have you ever felt like that? Sure, there are people around. But you have trouble and no one can help you. Things just stink and it seems like no one cares? Everyone else has let you down because they are busy with their own problems? Even the religious people are too busy for you? If you are in here today and you feel like that I have some good news for you. Someone does care. His name is Jesus. And this man found out the truth.Now everyone wanted to get into an argument about who had sinned. There must be a sinner around, since he was born blind. God must be punishing someone. Oh really?
Jesus turns the tables on them, though. They were so bound up in the Law, trying to do all the right things so God might like them. They just knew if no one had sinned they would not be looking at a blind man. In answer to that Jesus heals the blind man. He says, “Here’s mud in your eye. Now go to Siloam to wash it off. And because all of this happened on the Sabbath they put the man out of the temple. Jesus just didn’t follow the rules![v.34]And Jesus tells them two things: First, that He is the light of the world, and second, that they are the ones who are really blind.This man was blind, but he was the only one who worshiped Jesus. In many ways I see a church today which is spiritually blind. We think that by going through some formal religious exercises we are pleasing to God. Or we think that by learning more and more, we can please God. But we don’t find God inside our minds. Jesus said, “blessed are the poor in Spirit.” That means that the ones God blesses are the ones who know they are absolutely helpless and needy before Him. And the self righteous have never appreciated it.[v.40-41]The religious people cold not shut this guy up, even when they called in his parents. I ask you, what would God do with a whole church full of people who wouldn’t listen when the world told them to shut up about Jesus. I know a lot more people would hear the true gospel.We are Americas who like things slick and easy. Just think positively. We think it is so good because it comes it comes pre-packaged from preachers in big glass cathedrals. And so much of it has so little to do with Jesus. All this man found out was:[25]And that’s still the heart of God. He longs to do beyond what we can see or imagine. But so often we forget to ask. But listen: Your troubles are not too small or too large for Him to handle. If a mere computer can handle all those people at the same time and yet individually, think about what the Creator of the universe can do. If we would just open our eyes, what a different place this world would be if we could truly see the loving, healing, heart of Christ. My friends, just like when Jesus walked the earth, we have a world that needs to see that Christ. And if we don’t show them, how will they know?In the village of Kineton, in Warwickshire, England, a preacher reflected back on his conversion while on his slave ship, the Greyhound, in 1748. Filled with a sense of awe at the magnitude of his own forgiveness, John Newton wrote these words:Amazing grace, how sweet the soundThat sav’d a wretch like me!I once was lost, but now am found,Was blind, but now I see.
This hymn beautifully sums up the doctrine of grace. These are the words of a man whose eyes were opened. And the words have inspired every generation since then. It is a traditional favorite with those who are supporters of human rights. It was the most sung hymn on both sides during the Civil War. In one of the saddest episodes of our nation’s history, Cherokee men, women, and children were taken from their land in Georgia, herded into makeshift forts with minimal facilities and food, then forced to march a thousand miles to what we now know as Oklahoma. They finally arrived in Oklahoma during the brutal winter of 1838‑39. About 4000 Cherokee died along the journey which became known as “The Trail of Tears.” Going with them to minster to them were Presbyterian missionaries, who set up ministries in the new land called Dwight Mission and Goodland Indian Mission. During this savage time, one hymn became known as the Cherokee National Anthem: Amazing Grace! Even today, many contemporary Native American musicians have recorded the song.Was blind, but now I seeMy friend, around us are many who still need to see. As we think about those people, let’s sing those words:Amazing grace, how sweet the soundThat sav’d a wretch like me!I once was lost, but now am found,Was blind, but now I see.Amen.
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