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)

Leave the Son Alone

October 23, 2011
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
“Leave the Son Alone”
Year A

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, ...........

So begins one of the most well know love poems in the entire English
language. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote this poem, and many others,
to her husband Robert while they were secretly courting. She could
hardly believe that the handsome Browning truly loved her, for she was
an invalid. She only showed the poems to him after their

marriage and he encouraged their publication because he considered them
the finest sonnets written since William Shakespeare’s penned his.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind.”
And “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

These are probably some of the most well known words of scripture. They
are not unique to Christianity though as words like them are to be found
in many different religious traditions.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways. Someone asked that question of us, way before Elizabeth Barrett Browning or Shakespeare. God asks that question of us each and every day. God does everything that God can to show us that he loves us. He courts our hearts and souls in many ways. How do we acknowledge the love letters that God sends us. The beauty of fall, a love letter from God. The nudge to get up in the morning, a love letter from God, a friend that you haven’t heard from in awhile, a love letter from God.
God sent an even more sentimental love letter to the world, when God sent God’s son to the world, and allowed him to die on the cross, for us – we were saved even before we were sinners. Because God loves us.
What does the word Love mean today? How do we define it? In answer to my question, Sherry, my son's wife, sent me the results of a question-and-answer session held by a group of professional people with an bunch of 4 to 8-year olds, where they asked them, "What does love mean?" Some of the answers I selected will both amuse and startle you.

Karl, age 5, says: "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving lotion and they go out and smell each other."
Elaine, age 5, says: "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer then Robert Redford."
Mary Ann, age 4, says: "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Tommy, age 6, says: "Love is like a little old man and a little old woman who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Bobby, age 5, says: "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Jenny, age 7, says: "There are two kinds of love. God's love. Our love. But God makes both kinds."
That last answer is worthy of a philosopher. Maybe we should listen to children more than we do. They see the world around them with clear, fresh eyes, and interpret it with clear, fresh minds.
Many of us as adults couldn’t come up with a better definition of love – sometimes adults just don’t know what love is. And we express our ignorance in the midst of what we call our wisdom.

The Pharisees thought they were being wise in their questioning of Jesus. We have been going through this for a few weeks now. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he started teaching the masses. There would have been nothing wrong with that – but they started listening, they started having hope, they were moving beyond the despair that had held them hostage. Life was going on, and as religious leaders of the community- they had nothing to do with it. And they needed to know more about this man. Was he really a jew? More importantly, was he teaching orthodox teachings? Or was he just misleading all of these people? So the questions started. Remember – by what authority are you speaking these things? Is it okay to give God money that is given to man? – and in this text we get the most important question of them all. What is the greatest commandment? - do you all know? Love - love the lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind. With everything that you are. Jesus adds the second commandment to it – you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. In other words, if you don’t love he people around you, then you really don’t love God. Two different loves – that cant be separated. They have to come hand in hand.
But I want to stick to my point for a minute. We have moved from love to questions. A nobel peace prize winning scientist was asked about his success. He said that it all came down to questions. When he would come home from school, his mother would not ask how was school, she was not interested in hearing about what he learned that day. The one question that she would ask – what question did you ask today. His interest in his learning came down to his questions. As an adult he said that his entire career came down to learning how to ask good questions.
By what authority do you speak, who is more important God or man, even what is the greatest commandment – are all good questions. And the truth is they may not have been trying to hurt Jesus by asking him these questions. To ask someone a question of faith is the greatest honor that you could bestow on them. They would ask these questions of anyone. Their relationship with God was determined by their ability to question God. Do you really want to destroy your people? God why have you forsaken me? My favorite one – God how long before you vindicate me? God loved his people enough to answer their questions. I just got a bit of jewish wisdom the other day – the power of our prayer in in our belief that God hears us our prayers, and will answer them. We question god each time that we pray. God is always obliged to answer – now that is love.
The good news is that Jesus is able to answer all of those questions. He gives the right answers. He has read the scriptures, he has talked with the rabbis, he has prayed to God – so he is able to give the “right” answer. Yes he is a jew, yes his understanding of life is orthodox, yes he does love God. Jesus even has a question of his own – The messiah – whose son is he? Is he the son of God or the son of David? He references psalm 110 – when he asks why David calls his own son My Lord? Matthew has already proven that Jesus is the son of David – he comes from his lineage. Matthew does better, not only is Jesus a son of David – Matthew shows that he is the son of Abraham, he is the son of adam – he is the son of God. He gets his jewishness directly from the source. The creater of the questions. Questions designed to bring us all closer to God.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions. You don’t have to be afraid of an enemy who is willing to ask you questions – if they are willing to ask you questions that means that they are willing to be engaged. They are willing to have some type of relationship with you. The problem begins when they stop asking questions. When they stop asking questions, you cant read them.you don’t know what is going on. You don’t know what they are planning next. Unfortunately for Jesus – these were the last questions that they would ask. The conversation ends. Scripture says that when Jesus asked them about eh messiah – no one had an answer. “No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.” Jesus continues to teach and to give parables – but the Pharisees have stopped listening…..what does that mean? What are they plotting against him?

But let me ask you another question - what does it mean to be an apostle? Do you know the difference between an apostle and a disciple? I have been told that a disciple is a follower of Jesus. An apostle is someone who has seen Jesus for with their own eyes. Someone who received their call directly from Jesus.

So if Paul never met Jesus face to face – how can he be an apostle? Good question. It was a question that many asked Paul – and it seems that Paul spent his ministry answering that question. He didn’t see Jesus in the Flesh, but he knew Christ in the spirit. In 1 thessalonians Paul says that he comes as an apostle of Christ. I hope that I will have more time to talk about Pauls ministry to Thessalonica. Salonica as it is called, is a really cool large urban city, with a unique ministry. But our theme for today is the love of God. What does it mean to love God? How do we show the love of God? For Paul to love God is to live God, and if we live God we are an apostle – a witness to Christ in any age.
Not everyone who hears Paul likes him or welcomes him. Sometimes the gospel can challenge us in ways that we don’t want to deal with. But the gospel is not about us – it is aboutGod. Spreading it is not our message – it is God’s message.
In the face of resistance – Paul gives us this example of being an apostle. In every other epistles Paul will verbally defind his apostleship. Today he gives us an example. To be a witness to God. To be an authentic follower of Christ – we have to show kindness, integrity, acceptance and courage. In the midst of people who didn’t want him, Paul gave himself and all that he was. He was an authentic Christian, because he knew what it meant to love others – show kindness, integrity, acceptance and courage.

what is the greatest commandment – love the lord your God with all of your heart, mind and soul. What is the second – love your neighbor as you love yourself.

What does it mean to love the lord? Spread the gospel with all that you all – show kindess, integrity, acceptance and courage. Let us pray…..