Seeing as God Sees

March 30, 2014 John 9:1-41 4th Sunday of Lent Seeing as God Sees Humor: It's The Blind Man Mrs. Smith was stark-naked and just about to step into the shower when the doorbell rang. She hollered, "Who is it?" He shouted back, "It's the blind man." She figured it was safe, so she opened the door. He looked at her in shock and asked, "Where do you want me to hang these blinds, lady?" Ann Landers, The Washington Post, October 13, 1998. It is funny, how much we reveal about ourselves when we think that no one is looking. Today we will talk about what it means to be blind and what it means to see. But we won’t be talking about the blinds on the windows, but neither will we talk about the blinds on our eyes, we will talk about the blinds in our mind and more importantly in our soul. The lesson for us to today is to learn to see things as God sees them, and not so much as we see them. Christlike Sight Anybody here have selective hearing or seeing? Sure, we all do. Every second, our brain is bombarded with sensory data from all five senses. You just sat down, but already your brain has probably stopped consciously focusing on the feel of the seat. You're probably not thinking about the temperature of the room, although you probably did at one point this morning. There are all kinds of sounds that you're not focusing on right now - the faint hum of lights, somebody shifting beside you. Our brains would go crazy if they had to process every piece of data that our bodies sensed. We think we're seeing everything, but we're all being selective all the time. Today, you've probably noticed who's not here, who's sitting in a different spot, who's sitting with whom. You may have wondered what it means that so-and-so is sitting with that person. Years ago, before I dated my wife, I brought a date to a function that my wife also attended. She could tell you exactly what my date was wearing. I don't have a clue. I never did, not even that night. It's the same with cars. You get interested in a car, and all of a sudden you notice them everywhere. They were there before, but you never noticed them. The part of the brain that filters all this information is called the Reticular Activating System. It's continually at work, even though we never think about it. Today's story is about your spiritual Reticular Activating System. The goal for all of us, if we're followers of Jesus Christ, is to see the same things that he sees. We want to notice what's important to him. Darryl Dash, Spiritual Eyesight Grandma was blind but could still see My grandmother, my father’s mother was blind the last 7 or years of her life. But you know there is a difference between someone who is blind from birth, and someone who has lived a seeing life and who went blind later. The brain still processes information that it got from the world of sight. When I went to visit my grandmother, I was surprised that there were pictures of me all over her wall. Why would someone we cannot see have pictures on the wall. And she had not physically seen my brother in years, and she could still tell that he was going bald. How was she able to see the things that really mattered to her. She said that Jesus had come to her in a dream and told her that she may be blind, but she could still see. Seeing is not just about our eyes, it is about our minds, and as Jesus is concerned, it is about what we see with our souls. And each of our souls see different things. Humor: Having To Wait Three persons arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time. St. Peter came but said he had some pressing business and would they please wait? He was gone a long time, but finally he came back and called one of the new arrivals in and asked if she had minded waiting. "No," she said, "I've looked forward to this for so long. I love God and I can't wait to meet Jesus. I don't mind at all." St. Peter then said, "Well, I have one more question. How do you spell 'God'?" She said, "Capital-G-o-d." St. Peter said, "Go right on in." He went outside and met another new arrival, told him to come on inside, and said, "Did you mind waiting?" The man said, "Oh, no. I have been a Christian for fifty years, and I'll spend eternity here. I didn't mind at all." So St. Peter said, "Just one more thing. How do you spell 'God'?" He said, "G-o-d. No, I mean capital-G." St. Peter said that was good and sent him into heaven. St. Peter went back out and invited the third person in and asked her if she had minded waiting. "As a matter of fact, I did," she replied. "I've had to stand in line all my life - at the supermarket, when I went to school, when I registered my children for school, when I went to the movies - everywhere - and I resent having to wait in line for heaven now!" St. Peter said, "Well, that's all right for you to feel that way. It won't be held against you, but there is just one more question. How do you spell 'Czechoslovakia'?" Tie in: The relationship between this joke and the text is the element of irritation that we often feel towards complainers. Those who rarely see the good in circumstances and events. The Pharisees were not able to enjoy the blinds man's new found sight. The church is full of these individuals that we must bare. The lesson there for us is that we need to see God in the midst of all things. I think that pain and suffering is the price we pay for being alive. Being alive means living with original sin and the mighty power of Jesus’ death on the cross. When we understand that, our question will change to, What do we do with our suffering and pain? Our pain and suffering must become meaningful. It must not become pointless and empty suffering? How can we turn all the painful experiences of our lives into personal growth within our selves and within our relationship with God? We may never understand the why or be able to control the forces that cause our suffering. But one thing is for sure. We can have a lot to say about what the suffering does to us. We can determine what sort of people we become because of it. Pain makes some people bitter and envious. It makes others sensitive and compassionate. It is the end result, not the cause, of pain that makes some experiences of pain meaningful and others empty and destructive. It is left up to us and our relationship with our God. (http://www.gurus.com/dougdeb/Courses/bestsellers/Kushner/BTmain.htm Modified by sermon author.) During the season of lent, we have been learning our lessons from the book of John. And each Sunday in lent the scripture gets longer and longer, until palm Sunday. In each of these stories, John is describing to us who Jesus is. In this story he is called a man, a prophet, and the son of God. This is the only story in the bible, where Jesus has a chance to heal a man blind from birth. In each of John’s lessons, there is pain and suffering that Jesus heals. In each of John’s miracle stories, the illness is an opportunity for jesus to demonstrate the glory of God. In the other gospels, Jesus heals to show his compassion for others. But for John, the miracle points to God. For John it is in our affliction, our sorrow, our pain, our disappointment, our loss where we can either see suffering, or we can see God. Have you ever noticed that whenever something bad happens to us, that the first thing that we ask is why is this happening to us. Why me Lord, what did I do to deserve this? And how does knowing why it happened help us deal with the situation. Why is a useless question But you should also notice in this lesson, that whenever someone asks Jesus why – he never answers. The people ask who sinned? Him or his parents. What difference does it make. 1. Notice first that Jesus does not answer the first question: Why was this man born blind? 2. Notice second that he answers this question: What good can this tragedy produce? What can I do to get better, what can I do to give glory to God? What can I do to move forward from here. What can I do to allow Jesus to heal me and make me whole. Those are all questions that Jesus was willing to deal with. We have to learn to see the situation as God sees the situation. God does not cause bad things to happen to us so that we can see God. But we have to accept that as long as we are on this side of glory, pain and suffering will come, it is a part of life. Beyond Darkness "People are prepared for everything except for the fact that beyond the darkness of their blindness there is a great light. They are prepared to go on breaking their backs plowing the same old field until the cows come home without seeing, until they stub their toes on it, that there is a treasure buried in that field rich enough to buy Texas. They are prepared for a God who strikes hard bargains but not for a God who gives as much for an hour’s work as for a day’s. They are prepared for a mustard-seed kingdom of God no bigger than the eye of a newt but not for the great banyan it becomes with birds in its branches singing Mozart. They are prepared for the potluck supper at First Presbyterian but not for the marriage supper of the Lamb." Fredrick Buechner Jesus came into the world to help us to see with our eyes, our minds, our souls, that God is bigger than our pain and suffering. Jesus came into the world to take us beyond our present situation. Let us glorify God in all that we see! Amen. Children’s Sermon….. General Hospital by King Duncan Passage: John 9:1-12 • Lectionary: Lent 4 Item 1 of 38 | Back to Results Object: A piece of wax, a piece of clay, and a bottle of water. Boys and girls,I have here a piece of wax, a piece of clay, and a bottle of water. Suppose I were to build a fire here in the front of the chancel and were to put the wax on that fire, what would happen to it? That's right. It would melt. Suppose I put this clay on the fire. Do you know what would happen to it? That's right. The clay would harden. Isn't that interesting--one would melt and the other would get harder? Suppose I put this bottle of water in a pot and put it over the fire, what would happen? That's right, it would start to boil and soon it would disappear as steam. Now let's think about that for a moment. Suppose somebody hurts you. How would you react? Some of you might cry. Some of you might get very angry. Some of you would never speak to that person again. Others will have forgotten it within an hour. The same hurt, but like the wax, the clay and the water, we would each react differently. A wise man once said that it is not what happens to us on the outside that matters, but what we have on the inside. That's true. If we have the right stuff on the inside, we will react to life's hurts in the right way. What we want to have on the inside is the Spirit of Jesus--to have him live in our hearts. Then when disappointment comes, or hurt, he can help us react in a way that's best for us and for others. Wax or clay or water can't help how it reacts. But we can help how we react. Jesus can help us react the way we should. I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I CAN SEE There were two boys who grew up together. They were close friends as children, but as they entered their teen years their paths began to diverge, and they ended up in very different places. Ernie was always in trouble. He began by shoplifting small things from stores and worked his way up to stealing cars. Next it was armed robbery. Finally, on one of his stealing sprees he killed a man. He was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Mike took a different track. He turned away from the rebellious tendencies of his friend and continued through school. He worked his way through college, graduated and became a successful businessman. However, Mike had much difficulty with his physical health. His eyes in particular were weak. As he grew older, his eyesight deteriorated until he was legally blind. One day, Mike heard the news about his old friend Ernie. He felt a terrific sense of compassion and sorrow for what had happened to his childhood friend, and he reached out to him. After writing letters to renew their old relationship, he went to visit Ernie in prison. They had a very touching and emotional reunion there, speaking by phone across the security window at the penitentiary. In spite of years of hard-hearted living, something in Ernie warmed as he talked with the man with whom he had played as a boy so many years before. An idea began to grow in Ernie’s mind, as well. Ernie was about to die; his friend Mike was sightless. Was it possible that Ernie could do something worthwhile in his death? Could he give his eyes so that his old friend could see? It turned out to be medically possible, and that’s exactly what happened. Ernie was executed for his crime, but through surgery his good eyes were used to restore Mike’s vision. God does a similar thing for us. We who were blind have been given God’s eyes so that we can see. We need to be thankful that God has opened our eyes and given us the ability to see. (From a sermon by Derrick Tuper, "The Eyes Have It" 1/26/2009)

Journey to Temptation, Journey to Salvation

March 9, 2014 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Matthew 4:1-11 The Journey of Temptation, the Journey of Salvation 1st Sunday of Lent Year A The nature of the snake Iron Eyes Cody Iron Eyes Cody is a Native American actor who once did a TV spot for the Keep America Beautiful campaign. He was an Indian drifting alone in a canoe. As he saw how our waters are being polluted, a single tear rolled down his cheek, telling the whole story. This powerful public service commercial still shows up on TV screens after 17 (now 29) years. In 1988 Cody repeated an old Indian legend in Guideposts magazine. Here it is: Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley, green with trees, bright with flowers. There he fasted. But on the third day, as he looked up at the surrounding mountains, he noticed one tall rugged peak, capped with dazzling snow. I will test myself against that mountain, he thought. He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders and set off to climb the peak. When he reached the top he stood on the rim of the world. He could see forever, and his heart swelled with pride. Then he heard a rustle at his feet, and looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke. "I am about to die," said the snake. "It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley." "No," said the youth. "I am forewarned. I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite, and your bite will kill me." "Not so," said the snake. "I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you." The youth resisted awhile, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, when suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. "But you promised..." cried the youth. "You knew what I was when you picked me up." said the snake as it slithered away. Bits and Pieces, June, 1990, p. 5-7. This story reminds me of the story in the news recently of the pastor who handled rattle snakes, he was bit and he died. When asked if he wanted to go to the hospital to get treatment, he said no, he would let God handle it. Well God already handled it. He created rattle snakes to attack when threatened and he created the posion on rattle snakes to kill human beings. We have to honor the laws of God’s nature. So it was a forgone conclusion that he was going to die. But I start out this morning talking about snakes – because Genesis starts our talking about snakes. Genesis says that the snake is the most cunning of all of the other animals. Why is the snake crafty? Now Genesis says that the word of God is so powerful that it can create something out of nothing. Genesis is full of God’s powerful acts. God formed, breaths, makes, takes, plants, commands On the other hand the snake doesn’t really do anything in the story. As a matter of fact, his words are not powerful at all. The snake didn’t really say anything creative. He just took what God had already said and repeated it in a crafty way. Today’s topic is temptation. And if you notice temptation is not a violation of your will. When you are tempted, you are not being forced to do anything against your will. Temptation is that crafty voice that speaks to you in a way to get you to change your will. Temptation gets you to change from doing the right thing to doing the wrong thing. You make your own choice. So the snake was not smart or intelligent, because he didn’t introduce anything new, he just took what was already there and changed it. This is the first Sunday of Lent – this is our journey from sin to salvation. The first step on that journey is temptation. How do we interpret temptation? Now we tend to interpret temptation as an invitation to sin. But the bible says that it is more than that. Let us go back to the story of Abraham. The bible says that God tempted Abraham to kill his son. Would God really encourage Abraham to kill his son? Or would God test the character of Abraham by putting him in a situation where he had to make a choice. I think that God puts us all in situations, where we discover who we really are and what we are really made of. I don’t think that any of us start out really good. But when we are put in situations where we make the right choices, we find that we can really trust ourselves, we understand what we will do and what we will not do. When given the choice to kill or not kill his son. Abraham chose not to kill his son, but to trust God. And he went on the become the father of our faith, because of his journey with God. As a matter of fact, this is probably the example that Jesus was thinking of when he went into the wilderness to journey with God. Matthew 4 is meant to be an example for us in dealing with temptation. This time it is not a snake but the devil himself. Temptation is a life test, it is not our choice to be a good person or a bad person. Scripture says that the holy spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where he fasted for 40 days. And after the fast he was famished, he was hungry. He needed something to eat, but how did he fulfill that hunger? We tend to think that the best way to avoid temptation is to avoid being hungry. But Jesus was hungry. The bible does not say whether he was hungry for food or for something else. He may have been hungry for a deeper relationship with God. My point is that is is okay to be hungry. As a matter of fact in Genesis 2, when God created adam scripture says that God blew breath into him and made him a nephesh chayah. A nephesh is a clay man made human by having breath. And chayah means desiring. Adam became a desiring being – a man with needs. In other words he became fully alive. Hunger is not just about a physical hunger, but is it spiritual and emotional. Jesus was hungry, and it is human nature to be hungry for all sorts of things. The lesson is in how you fill that hunger. You have a choice to fill it with something good or something bad. Usually when you fill it with the rights things you are satisfied, when you fill it with the wrong things you continue to be hungry. Now the story tells of 3 temptations or test that Jesus faced. This year I am not going to focus on them individually. I think that the biggest temptation that faces us all is the need to be in control. To be the boss of our lives. To fulfill our will and not God’s will. There is an ancient story about the time God was confronted by a man who argued, “It’s easy for you God. You tell us we must do this and we can’t do that. What do you know of the struggles of people like me? You are God. It is easy for you.” But God argues, insisting that being God was no picnic either. “You only have to look after your own little self,” said God. “But I have to look after the entire world and that is not easy. In fact, just to show you, Ill change places with you for 24 hours. You’ll see then. So God gave the man one day to see what a hard job is was to rule the world. Twenty four house later, God returned and said, “You see? It wasn’t as easy as you thought”. Then God prepared to be God once more. But the man wouldn’t give God back his power. He found that he liked playing God. Since that time, man has played God. That is why the world is as it is today, so the legend goes. Jesus is an example, because in each test that he faced, he had an opportunity to not just do the right thing, but to be the person God called him to be. He was the son of God. He had integrity to live out his calling. Not only did he know who he was – but we also got to witness his character for ourselves. His temptation was a test. A chance for him to fulfill his true hunger. Jesus does not have to serve 2 masters. He trusted God, so God can trust him. He remained faithful to who we was called to be in the midst of a test. God didn’t ambush him, God examined his character. The key to Jesus being faithful, is that he knew his scripture. Every response that he gave the devil is a verse in the bible. Psalm 32:10-11 says that the bridge between temptation and obedience is hope and trust. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: Jesus was able to overcome the temptations of the devil just by being the person, God had called him to be in the first place. Sermon Closer Harry Emerson Fosdick was one of the greatest American preachers of this century. He described his preaching as counseling on a large scale. Few people knew that as a young seminary student he reached the breaking point after working one summer in a New York Bowery mission. He went home and was overcome by deep depression. One day he stood in the bathroom with a straight razor to his throat. He thought about taking his own life. And then -- and then he heard his father in the other room calling his name, "Harry! Harry!" It called him back. He never forgot it. It was like the voice of God calling him. So I want to remind you today that in those times when you are in the wilderness, trying to find your way through, and when temptation comes and offers you the wrong answer, the wrong choice -- the wrong use of power, the way to popularity, the wrong kind of partnership -- then you remember that God has called your name: "This is my beloved son, my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased." And, you remember that because God has called your name He will see you through. Thomas A. Pilgrim, The Man From Galilee, CSS Publishing Company. Amen Those Tempting Crayons by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Matthew 4:1-11 • Lectionary: Lent 1 Item 6 of 13 | Back to Results Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. Objects: Some crayons and/or scissors. Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about a word that I am sure all of you have heard many times but you may not be sure what it means. The word is "tempted" or "temptation." How many of you have heard that word used before? (Let them answer.) How many of you know what it means? (Let them answer.) Those are very close answers. Let me see if I can help explain it a little better. I brought with me some crayons and some scissors. How many of you have crayons at home? Almost all of you. What do you do with crayons? (Let them answer.) That's right, you color pictures. Sometimes we use them in coloring books and sometimes we use them just on a piece of paper. That is the right place to use them. No problem and no temptation. But have you ever used them anywhere else, or thought about using them somewhere else? Have you ever colored a wall in your house, or thought about coloring the wall, or maybe a table or your bed? If you thought about it, and you wanted to do it, then you were tempted. You could almost hear a little voice that said, "Go ahead and color the table, or go ahead and color the wall. It's all right, no one will ever know." That is temptation. Of course, if you color it, then the temptation is over. You have done something wrong. But if you just think about it and you want to do it, and you think it might be all right, then you are being tempted. Jesus was tempted. Did you know that Jesus was tempted? He was. The Bible tells us how the Devil tried to get him to follow him rather than the Father in heaven. Jesus knew it was wrong but he listened to the Devil tell him how he would make him wonderful, and how he would give him land and all the food he could eat. Jesus listened to the Devil and he was tempted. How many of you knew that Jesus listened to the Devil, or as the Bible calls him Satan? (Let them answer.) That's a true story. Jesus was high in a mountain and the Devil came and tried to get Jesus to follow him just like that little voice tries to get you to color the table. But Jesus did not give up. He was tempted, but he told the Devil to get away for he was not going to do anything that was a sin against God. After three times of the Devil offering Jesus everything he had, the Devil left Jesus and went away. We must often do the same thing. There are things that we know are wrong, but they sound wonderful. That is temptation and we must be strong and put it away. Temptation is strong, but God is even stronger. If you listen to both voices, you will do it God's way. THE ONE-HANDED CLOCK, Wesley T. Runk, C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1989, 1-55673-141-8 Back to Results | Item 6 of 13 Sword of the Spirit Out flashed the sword of the Spirit: our Lord will fight with no other weapon. He could have spoken new revelations, but he chose to say, “It is written.” There is a power in the Word of God which even the devil cannot deny. Spurgeon, C.H., Spurgeon's Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 4:4 Power: The Easy Substitute What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life. Jesus asks, Do you love me? We ask, Can we sit at your right hand and your left hand in your Kingdom? (Mt. 20:21). ... We have been tempted to replace love with power. Henri Nouwen in Mornings with Henri J.M. Nouwen, quoted in Christianity Today, February 8, 1999, 72. The Tempter Turns Our Strengths Against Us One night a well-known and highly respected preacher was working on his sermon for the following Sunday. His little son came in and asked his daddy to come tuck him in. The father told him to get into bed and he would come in a few minutes to give him a goodnight kiss and tuck him in. But then, he became engrossed in his preparation, and much later, he remembered the promise. He went into his son’s bed room only to discover that the little fellow was already asleep. That story is heart-breaking because it has a familiar ring to it. His passion to be a good preacher - a good thing - had tempted him that night to be a bad father. Do you see what happened? The tempter even turns our strengths against us if we are not careful. James McCormick, Selected Sermons, www.Sermons.com A LITTLE MORE An interesting article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It was an interview of six top executives, all of them making six-figure salaries. That means that they made somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million a year. Now you are probably thinking , “If I made even $100,000 a year, I’d be in great shape. No worries, and no problems.” But in the interview each was asked, “What is your greatest fear?” Each answered pretty much the same, using different words. Their greatest fear was that they would not have enough. When they were asked, “How much is enough?” they always answered, “a little more.” SOURCE: Pastor Steve Dow in "The Parable of the Sower" on www.sermoncentral.com That is our basic temptation, to be in control like God is on control.