Tough Words
Luke 4:14-21
As some of you may know, I made a rushed trip to East Texas this weekend. I had received word that my grandmother was in the hospital in Linden and my mom was sick from the medications after her surgery so, I left Friday morning to go check on them. I found that everyone is doing better, still sick, but better, and I spend the night with mom. When I left Saturday morning I took a detour back through my home town and had some interesting realizations.
I drove into town remembering who had lived where and what had once been on the road where I was driving. I turned on the road where I once lived and went up the hill. The woods I played in as a child were still on the right, but the woods on the left, where I got hurt once, are gone. I continued up the street and saw the house I grew up in. The trees and bushes dad planted were still there and growing. It looked the same, yet something was different. The toys in the back yard were different. The shed in the back was falling down. The yard looked different. It was the same, but different.
From there I drove through the neighborhood and then across town to the old city park were I learned to swim. It had a new pier around the swimming area and a new boat ramp, but the swings and merri-go-rounds were the same. I drove on to one of my old fishing spots. It was the same old rocky point, but they had repaired an area that had washed out and made a walking trail next to the lake. It was the same, but different.
I left there and drove through the neighborhoods where my friends had lived. I was amazed at how little the houses had changed, even some of the cars were the same. I could tell where the Guerreros lived, The McCords still had the same VW Rabbit, and the Tilley’s still had the same old brown 1987 F-150. As I drove around I couldn’t believe that some of the same political figures from my childhood were still running for office, then as I looked closer at the political yard signs I realized – it’s not the same people, it’s their children and grandchildren running for office now. Everything was the same, but different.
I had driven to town with the expectation of progress but I left with the realization that, while things seem different, little changes unless something drastic happens.
I wonder if that isn’t what Jesus felt as he returned to his hometown to preach. I wonder if that isn’t what the people felt when they saw him. Their own home town boy, raised there in Nazareth by their home town boy Joseph, the carpenter.
Jesus has come back home. The people had heard rumors of how well he was doing. They had heard that he was a great teacher of the Scriptures and finally they could see for themselves. He came to the synagogue and took his place among the teachers. Others read, and then it was his turn. He rose from his seat, accepted the scroll that was handed to him, and then did something out of the ordinary. Rather than read what was rolled to on the scroll, he begins rolling through the scroll until he finds what he wanted to read. From the Isaiah scroll, he reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” “Ahhh, he reads so well” they think. As he sits down to begin teaching them they are spell-bound. “He is good” they think, “someone to truly be proud of, and someone that understands us. Look at the passage he read, he does understands us. God is restoring us.”
But something was different. It was the same, but different. Though he seemed the same, at least physically, he was different spiritually. Something had changed. It changed when he was born of the Spirit. It changed when the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove in the River with John. It changed when he opened his mouth and began to speak. “Is this not Joseph’s Son? Is he not the Carpenter? He spoke so well, as though he had authority.”
He was saying the words they thought they wanted to hear. We’ll get into the words that changed all that next week, but in the midst of his reading and explaining, they thought he was telling them God was setting them free, that God was healing them and their land. What they didn’t realize was that Jesus was describing the ministry that was to follow in his life – a ministry to the least, the last, the lost - A ministry of spoken words and actions that bring hope to the hopeless.
What Jesus was describing was the work of the ministry that he was beginning and would be continued by the Body of Christ. That is you and me. In the passage read and the explanation given, Jesus is describing the ministry that you and I are to be about – a ministry to the least, the last, and the lost – a ministry of spoken words and actions that bring hope to the hopeless. What does that translate into in today’s world?
Helping out in times of natural disaster – Going to or supporting those who go to offer aid to those in need. Our neighbors in the Canton, Sulphur Springs, and Athens areas are struggling to clean up after all the storms. Not to mention the devastation in Haiti that we continue to learn about. Few of us can give our presence in situations like this but we can give our prayers, gifts, and our service by creating health kits and flood buckets.
Healing the sick and visiting those who are isolated – We can go see those who are sick. We can call those who are shut in. We can offer love and grace to those who needed it in tough times. In doing this we are bringing hope to the hopeless. We are bringing grace to those who need it.
Tell others about what God has done for us – I know, you think this is where the sermon title came from. We have this misconception that it’s hard to talk about God. The truth is we talk about anything that is important to us. We get excited and tell others when HEB has a good special on their Meal Deal – like right, if you buy 2 lbs of ground meat; you get all the fixin’s for a taco meal. I know you have had conversations about the loss of the Cowboys last week. And I sure know some of you got excited about the win the week before. We get excited about these things, why can’t we get excited about what God has done for us? Why can’t we tell people about what the church has done for us? I think we can. I think, if you put your mind to it, you can get past the tough words, get past your fears, and tell others about church, about God, about what Jesus did for you some 2000 years ago and what he still does for you today as you receive the grace and mercy of God fresh and new in your life.
I want to challenge you today to do three things this week. I want you to write this down too. Take out your bulletin, get the pencil in the pew-jacket in front to you, and write on the lines in the back of your bulletin these 3 challenges.
1) Find a way to help out with Haiti or the tornado damage in North East Texas.
2) Visit someone that is lonely – a shut-in, someone recovering from illness or surgery, someone in prison or jail. Visit someone that is lonely.
3) Tell someone about what God has done for you and invite them to your church.
I expect you to do these things.
You know something else about the words that Jesus spoke to his home town crowd that day…
They were not words just for them. They are words for a world that needs to hear them. AND
These were not words just for you. They are words for a world that needs to hear them.
You’re job is to take the words out into that world and spread God’s love and grace in a world that needs to know God’s mercy. So Go, pass it on. Make a difference.
Monday, January 25, 2010
From Emmanuel to Evangelism
From Emmanuel to Evangelism
Isaiah 43:1-11
Last week we celebrated a new year and this past Wednesday we celebrated Epiphany. Since 336 AD the Western Church in Rome has celebrated December 25th as the celebration of the Incarnation – God with us, Emmanuel. Somewhere along the way though, no body really knows exactly when it started, the Eastern Church, at Constantinople, began celebrating Epiphany on January 6th as the time of the Christian Theophany, of God appearing to humanity as Jesus Christ. They celebrated with gifts and parties to remember the birth of Jesus and the appearing of the Wise Men. In Rome, the first evidence of a celebration of Epiphany and the Three Wise Men seems to appear around 361 and it was made a part of the Roman calendar in 380. Even though Rome recognized Epiphany, Christians on each side of civilization, from Turkey to Rome celebrated Christmas differently until the Second Council of Tours in 566 AD where the Roman and Byzantine Churches (that’s the Western and Eastern Churches) came together and decreed that Christmas would be celebrated from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night, or the Eve of Epiphany, thus Christmas would be a period of 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany – And that is how we came up with the 12 Days of Christmas.
Many of today’s Christian calendars recognize Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas, Christmastide to be the period from Christmas Eve through the Sunday after Epiphany, also known as the Baptism of our Lord. That is why we still have all our decorations up and that is how I came up with the sermon title, From Emmanuel to Evangelism. We have celebrated a time of Christ being born, of God with us – Emmanuel to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus – the Evangelism or the spreading of the Good News.
So now you say, OK preacher, that all makes sense, thank you for the history lesson, but what does that have to do with the Scripture you picked? To that I would say good job, your paying attention – today’s sermon text isn’t about the New Year, the Three Wise Men, the Baptism of Jesus, or about Jesus at all; it’s from the Old Testament, Isaiah 43:1-11 but let us see if somehow all this can tie together in the end.
Isaiah 43:1-11
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia* and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight,
and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.’
Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.
Ahhhh, Emmanuel, God is with us. Even in this text we hear the ringing of the words, ‘Do not fear for I am with you.’ The people of Israel had fallen away from God, they had chosen to follow another way and that way led them far from God. Chapter 42 talks of the anger of God burning against the Israelites for falling away but then, Isaiah reminds them that God is with us, Isaiah reminds them that God restores, Isaiah reminds them that they are God’s witnesses. Isaiah reminds them that there is a time for a new start and that time is now.
10 days ago some of you made a new start. You proclaimed a resolution to get organized and yet you still can’t find your car keys in the morning, or resolved to get out of debt, then pulled out the credit card to pay for that burger and fries, or you declared that this would be the year you got in shape but not before I finish off that ½ gallon of Blue Bell. So many of us make our resolutions each year and there is a reason for that. A New Year is a time for a new start. It is a time to begin anew, fresh. The problem is that it’s sometimes hard to start fresh and new, sometimes it takes a little remodeling.
I don’t know about you but remodeling is hard work. Oh, I don’t mean slappin’ a few coats of paint on the wall and having carpet laid, I mean sheetrock crushin’, stud rippin’, wall buildin’ remodeling. My only personal experience with this is our house in Hillsboro. Before Renee and I and the family moved in we had some remodeling to do and this remodeling involved cutting a whole in one wall to make a door, knocking out a couple of walls, building a couple of walls, and rebuilding the floor in some places. Now, there comes a point in a remodel job like that when you walk in and look around and think, you know, it really didn’t look that bad before, what have I done? You look around at the mayhem and then realize, you can’t stop there, as much damage as you have done you’ve got to move ahead. Then when you finish you forget about the pain, you forget about the busted walls and the broken studs, and you just enjoy the beauty of the finished product. That’s the way it is with our lives sometimes.
Max Lucado writes,
God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let Him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tear untouched….
This might explain some of the discomfort in your life. Remodeling of the heart is not always pleasant. We don’t object when the Carpenter adds a few shelves, but He’s been known to gut the entire west wing. He has such high aspirations for you. God envisions a complete restoration. He won’t stop until He’s finished…. He wants you to be just like Jesus.
You see, God is making us new. God is remodeling us. God wants the best for us. When we set those resolutions to do better, God is with us and God wants us to follow through with them. God wants you to quit smoking because that is what is best for you. God wants you to spend more time with your family because that is what is best for you and your family. God wants you to help others more because that is a part of loving God. God wants you to learn something new because that helps you reach more people and it keeps you mind active. God cares about you enough that he came down here, put on human flesh, lived as a baby, was raised by a mommy and a daddy, was revered by Kings and loved by paupers, was baptized in the River Jordan, taught along the hills and valleys and the highways and byways. Then, Jesus, our God in the flesh cared enough for you and for me that he allowed himself to be beaten and bruised, hung on a cross, and die. Jesus cared enough for us that he rose from the dead and offers us new life.
God came here to be with us and God wants us to accept that new life, to grow and be new. But the story doesn’t end there. Yes, bad things happen and God is with us. Yes, good thing happen and God is with us. Our passage reminds us of that, but our passage also reminds us of another thing. Verse 10 reminds us that “You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.” I realize that this passage is talking about Israel but I think that Isaiah’s words from the Lord are for us as well. We are the witnesses for God here on the earth. The Christmas season is just one way that we as the people of God witness to the life of Christ. We celebrate Advent and prepare for Christ to come. We open our church on Christmas Eve and have one of the larges interdenominational services in the community every year. We speak about Christ and sing the songs about his birth in Wal-Mart and in our car. We carry the celebration through till this week and we use it as a witness to the world but the witness can’t stop there.
God doesn’t remodel our lives for our own good alone. God is with us so that we can tell others the good news. From Emmanuel to Evangelism – or an easier way to remember is, From God with us to spreading the good news. That is what this season has been about. Today is another day that we can go forth and spread the good news of the new life Christ has given us. Go, Go tell it on the Mountain. Go, Go spread the good news of what God has done. Go, God and remind the world that Christ is with them, just as he is with you.
Isaiah 43:1-11
Last week we celebrated a new year and this past Wednesday we celebrated Epiphany. Since 336 AD the Western Church in Rome has celebrated December 25th as the celebration of the Incarnation – God with us, Emmanuel. Somewhere along the way though, no body really knows exactly when it started, the Eastern Church, at Constantinople, began celebrating Epiphany on January 6th as the time of the Christian Theophany, of God appearing to humanity as Jesus Christ. They celebrated with gifts and parties to remember the birth of Jesus and the appearing of the Wise Men. In Rome, the first evidence of a celebration of Epiphany and the Three Wise Men seems to appear around 361 and it was made a part of the Roman calendar in 380. Even though Rome recognized Epiphany, Christians on each side of civilization, from Turkey to Rome celebrated Christmas differently until the Second Council of Tours in 566 AD where the Roman and Byzantine Churches (that’s the Western and Eastern Churches) came together and decreed that Christmas would be celebrated from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night, or the Eve of Epiphany, thus Christmas would be a period of 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany – And that is how we came up with the 12 Days of Christmas.
Many of today’s Christian calendars recognize Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas, Christmastide to be the period from Christmas Eve through the Sunday after Epiphany, also known as the Baptism of our Lord. That is why we still have all our decorations up and that is how I came up with the sermon title, From Emmanuel to Evangelism. We have celebrated a time of Christ being born, of God with us – Emmanuel to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus – the Evangelism or the spreading of the Good News.
So now you say, OK preacher, that all makes sense, thank you for the history lesson, but what does that have to do with the Scripture you picked? To that I would say good job, your paying attention – today’s sermon text isn’t about the New Year, the Three Wise Men, the Baptism of Jesus, or about Jesus at all; it’s from the Old Testament, Isaiah 43:1-11 but let us see if somehow all this can tie together in the end.
Isaiah 43:1-11
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia* and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight,
and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.’
Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.
Ahhhh, Emmanuel, God is with us. Even in this text we hear the ringing of the words, ‘Do not fear for I am with you.’ The people of Israel had fallen away from God, they had chosen to follow another way and that way led them far from God. Chapter 42 talks of the anger of God burning against the Israelites for falling away but then, Isaiah reminds them that God is with us, Isaiah reminds them that God restores, Isaiah reminds them that they are God’s witnesses. Isaiah reminds them that there is a time for a new start and that time is now.
10 days ago some of you made a new start. You proclaimed a resolution to get organized and yet you still can’t find your car keys in the morning, or resolved to get out of debt, then pulled out the credit card to pay for that burger and fries, or you declared that this would be the year you got in shape but not before I finish off that ½ gallon of Blue Bell. So many of us make our resolutions each year and there is a reason for that. A New Year is a time for a new start. It is a time to begin anew, fresh. The problem is that it’s sometimes hard to start fresh and new, sometimes it takes a little remodeling.
I don’t know about you but remodeling is hard work. Oh, I don’t mean slappin’ a few coats of paint on the wall and having carpet laid, I mean sheetrock crushin’, stud rippin’, wall buildin’ remodeling. My only personal experience with this is our house in Hillsboro. Before Renee and I and the family moved in we had some remodeling to do and this remodeling involved cutting a whole in one wall to make a door, knocking out a couple of walls, building a couple of walls, and rebuilding the floor in some places. Now, there comes a point in a remodel job like that when you walk in and look around and think, you know, it really didn’t look that bad before, what have I done? You look around at the mayhem and then realize, you can’t stop there, as much damage as you have done you’ve got to move ahead. Then when you finish you forget about the pain, you forget about the busted walls and the broken studs, and you just enjoy the beauty of the finished product. That’s the way it is with our lives sometimes.
Max Lucado writes,
God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let Him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tear untouched….
This might explain some of the discomfort in your life. Remodeling of the heart is not always pleasant. We don’t object when the Carpenter adds a few shelves, but He’s been known to gut the entire west wing. He has such high aspirations for you. God envisions a complete restoration. He won’t stop until He’s finished…. He wants you to be just like Jesus.
You see, God is making us new. God is remodeling us. God wants the best for us. When we set those resolutions to do better, God is with us and God wants us to follow through with them. God wants you to quit smoking because that is what is best for you. God wants you to spend more time with your family because that is what is best for you and your family. God wants you to help others more because that is a part of loving God. God wants you to learn something new because that helps you reach more people and it keeps you mind active. God cares about you enough that he came down here, put on human flesh, lived as a baby, was raised by a mommy and a daddy, was revered by Kings and loved by paupers, was baptized in the River Jordan, taught along the hills and valleys and the highways and byways. Then, Jesus, our God in the flesh cared enough for you and for me that he allowed himself to be beaten and bruised, hung on a cross, and die. Jesus cared enough for us that he rose from the dead and offers us new life.
God came here to be with us and God wants us to accept that new life, to grow and be new. But the story doesn’t end there. Yes, bad things happen and God is with us. Yes, good thing happen and God is with us. Our passage reminds us of that, but our passage also reminds us of another thing. Verse 10 reminds us that “You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.” I realize that this passage is talking about Israel but I think that Isaiah’s words from the Lord are for us as well. We are the witnesses for God here on the earth. The Christmas season is just one way that we as the people of God witness to the life of Christ. We celebrate Advent and prepare for Christ to come. We open our church on Christmas Eve and have one of the larges interdenominational services in the community every year. We speak about Christ and sing the songs about his birth in Wal-Mart and in our car. We carry the celebration through till this week and we use it as a witness to the world but the witness can’t stop there.
God doesn’t remodel our lives for our own good alone. God is with us so that we can tell others the good news. From Emmanuel to Evangelism – or an easier way to remember is, From God with us to spreading the good news. That is what this season has been about. Today is another day that we can go forth and spread the good news of the new life Christ has given us. Go, Go tell it on the Mountain. Go, Go spread the good news of what God has done. Go, God and remind the world that Christ is with them, just as he is with you.
Lord I Want to See
Mk. 10:46-52
A group of blind men were wandering in the jungle. Now, don’t ask me what a bunch of blind men were doing in the jungle, just work with me here. ANYWAY, so they were wondering in the jungle and they all came upon a large object in their trail. They couldn’t move it, they couldn’t get past it, and they didn’t recognize it.
As one of the men started feeling what was in front of him he said it was about as big around as a tree trunk, was rough, and hard, yet at the same time it seemed to almost feel like a flesh.
Another man said, no, no… it is thin and soft and floppy, like a sheet of leather.
Yet another said no, it is thin like a snake only firmer and with fur on the tip.
And still another said no, it is like a root that has been broken off, on the one end it is damp and odd but then it seems to connect on the other end to a tree or a boulder.
Finally, a native came upon them and saw what they were doing and asked, “What are you guys doing to that poor elephant.”
Each of the men were describing the elephant from their own experience, from their own perspective. Pardon the pun; they were blinded by their own limited vision. How often are we that way? How often do we have trouble seeing beyond our limited experiences? How often is it that we need to back up and open our eyes to see the big picture?
Take for instance the Health Care debate going on in our nation right now. I have heard a number of arguments about what to do about the issue. On the one hand we hear the argument that the health care in the United States is about personal choice and responsibility. No one has a right to health care; our rights are to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, not entitlements. If you want health insurance then go get it.
On the other hand, I hear the argument that the cost of health care has skyrocketed recently. Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies are charging more and more to add to their profits and offset the cost of litigation from all the malpractice lawsuits. With all the increases in health care costs people are loosing the opportunity to pursue a life of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The only agency big enough to handle this debacle is the federal government.
If your experience is of having little or no insurance for yourself or a loved one you have one view of the issue. If you have good insurance or good health care regardless of insurance then you have another perspective of the situation. If you work in the healthcare field you have yet another perspective.
Our experiences limit our vision. To truly settle the issue, we need to look beyond our limited experience of the issue. We need to open our eyes and expand our vision. The question is how do we do that? How do we see differently?
This is what happened to Bartimaus. Ol’ Bart was their minding his own business begging for alms at the gate of Jericho. Now it wasn’t uncommon to find beggars there since most of the labor was physical in nature and you couldn’t get a job if you had a disability. However, in Bart’s case he was a step down from most of the beggars. You see, according to William Barclay, the blind were looked upon as having been punished by God. So, Bart’s sitting there, a nobody among nobodies, hoping for enough of a hand-out to get him through one more day when he hears a crowd coming. I can just see him asking, “Hey, who is that, it must be a teacher because I hear lots of people but only one voice over the crowd.” Then the reply, “Oh, that’s that Jesus from Nazareth”.
Having heard all the stories of Jesus, Bartimaus knew him. Bart knew who Jesus was and what he had done, and Ol’ Bart starts to cry out a prayer that we should all be praying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” “Jesus, the Chosen One of God, have mercy on me.” When Jesus hears him, Jesus doesn’t walk the other way because he’s a begger, because he’s blind, because he’s a sinner, because God has punished him… NO, Jesus calls Bartimaus to himself, and asks him what he wants. And Bart Said, “I want to see.”
This is the interesting point in the story. The conflict that Bartimaus brings us is our own contrast between vision and sight. Edward Sims writes, “Recognition has to do with vision; seeing has to do with sight. Bartimaus had vision to recognize Jesus. He asked for his sight to see. We have the sight to see and ask for the vision to recognize.” We can see but do we recognize Jesus?
This is even more striking if you back up and read it in context with the other blind man passage of chapter 8. When we do this we realize that the story is less about the miracle of Bartimaus and his sight and more about the vision of the disciples.
They, like we, could see. They had seen the miracles of Jesus. They had witnessed the miracles and heard the teachings. Bart had only heard the stories from others, yet he believed. He had no experience with Jesus and yet he believed.
Our experience can be a vital part of our faith but it can also limit us. I saw a perfect illustration about this once on the show Medical Miracles. There was a little boy who was born blind. The doctors had hopes of healing him and giving him his sight. After dozens of surgeries and the painful rehabilitation from each of them he still could not see. But now, because of a new surgical treatment with an Artificial Corneal Implant there was once again hope that he may be able to see. They prepped him and performed the surgery and all went well. BUT the next day, when the patch came off and it was time to open his eye, he couldn’t do it. He started to, but he was scared. His experiences of the past had been so painful that he just didn’t think he could open his eyes. I don’t know if he was afraid that he would open his eyes and see or if he was afraid that he would open his eyes and not see. In the end, he found the courage and opened his eyes and saw his family for the first time.
Fear can be a terrible hindrance. Bartimaus had nothing to fear. He was already at the bottom of the social ladder. If he believed in who Jesus was and it turned out to be right or wrong, either way, his life could only get better. For the disciples it wasn’t so. They had plenty to fear. Maybe it was fear that had kept them from looking beyond their limited sight. If they looked beyond their limited sight, then they would have to face the cost of what it meant to follow Christ. If they had the vision to recognize Christ, then they would have to change.
That is the same way with us. If we begin to align our vision with that of God, we have to change.
-We will have to see differently. We will have to see people as God sees people. We will have to see ourselves as God sees us.
-When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see our need for revival, individually and as a church. And I’m not just talking about having a few special worship events with a better preacher and some special music. I’m talking about a revival of our relationship with God and how we as a church relate to one another and God.
- When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see beyond our idea of SS and Christian Education – It’s not just for children and youth. Sunday School and Christian education is a life long process. It is one of the ways we strengthen our relationship with God. Not only that but we will have to see beyond our idea of discipleship as learning from someone else and begin to disciple and mentor others.
- When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see that we are all teachers. We are all always teaching. The question is “what are we teaching?” Seeing differently means that we will begin to recognize that we are always having an impact on others regardless of where we are and what we are doing. It is like the story I heard about a 5 year old boy at one of the churches in our Conference. This little boy, Davey, is severely autistic but he is constantly walking up to people and telling them, “Jesus loves me… and… Jesus loves you.” This boy is teaching others about Jesus love.
OR The story I heard about John, a 9 yoa boy with ADHD who had been disrupting his parents and the entire church during worship when a youth, Kris, came and asked if she could sit with him. Now John sits with Kris each week and gives his parents a break. She tries to help him focus, she gives him something to do, and she helps him learn what church is about. John is learning about Christ through the patience and kindness of Kris.
Kris has a vision and because of her vision, John is beginning to have vision, they are beginning to see beyond their own limited sight because of God’s grace.
I know this sermon seems to have bounced around a bit so I will bring it all together here. Up to this point we have been talking about seeing differently. We started out talking about how
we need to open our eyes and expand our vision, THEN we saw the contrast between vision and sight and I hope that I have made the point that we need vision more than we need sight. FINALLY while our experience can be helpful in increasing our vision, we need to be careful that we do not let it limit us.
Bartimaus had vision, and through his vision he regained his sight. Bartimaus called out to Jesus and Jesus met him where he was but Bartimaus knew what he wanted, he wanted to see and by the grace of God he received his sight.
I want to be like Bartimaus, “Lord, I want vision”, yet I am afraid I am more like the disciples than I care to admit.
Afraid to see fully,
-afraid to have vision because of the cost,
-seeking to see only a little of what God is calling me to do and be
BUT through the grace of God, even the disciples received vision as God was revealed in Christ.
Grace is afforded to each of us through Christ as well. As we seek God, we can begin to see more clearly. We can see differently. Maybe today we can see communion as an opportunity to see differently. May God open our eyes that we may see.
A group of blind men were wandering in the jungle. Now, don’t ask me what a bunch of blind men were doing in the jungle, just work with me here. ANYWAY, so they were wondering in the jungle and they all came upon a large object in their trail. They couldn’t move it, they couldn’t get past it, and they didn’t recognize it.
As one of the men started feeling what was in front of him he said it was about as big around as a tree trunk, was rough, and hard, yet at the same time it seemed to almost feel like a flesh.
Another man said, no, no… it is thin and soft and floppy, like a sheet of leather.
Yet another said no, it is thin like a snake only firmer and with fur on the tip.
And still another said no, it is like a root that has been broken off, on the one end it is damp and odd but then it seems to connect on the other end to a tree or a boulder.
Finally, a native came upon them and saw what they were doing and asked, “What are you guys doing to that poor elephant.”
Each of the men were describing the elephant from their own experience, from their own perspective. Pardon the pun; they were blinded by their own limited vision. How often are we that way? How often do we have trouble seeing beyond our limited experiences? How often is it that we need to back up and open our eyes to see the big picture?
Take for instance the Health Care debate going on in our nation right now. I have heard a number of arguments about what to do about the issue. On the one hand we hear the argument that the health care in the United States is about personal choice and responsibility. No one has a right to health care; our rights are to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, not entitlements. If you want health insurance then go get it.
On the other hand, I hear the argument that the cost of health care has skyrocketed recently. Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies are charging more and more to add to their profits and offset the cost of litigation from all the malpractice lawsuits. With all the increases in health care costs people are loosing the opportunity to pursue a life of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The only agency big enough to handle this debacle is the federal government.
If your experience is of having little or no insurance for yourself or a loved one you have one view of the issue. If you have good insurance or good health care regardless of insurance then you have another perspective of the situation. If you work in the healthcare field you have yet another perspective.
Our experiences limit our vision. To truly settle the issue, we need to look beyond our limited experience of the issue. We need to open our eyes and expand our vision. The question is how do we do that? How do we see differently?
This is what happened to Bartimaus. Ol’ Bart was their minding his own business begging for alms at the gate of Jericho. Now it wasn’t uncommon to find beggars there since most of the labor was physical in nature and you couldn’t get a job if you had a disability. However, in Bart’s case he was a step down from most of the beggars. You see, according to William Barclay, the blind were looked upon as having been punished by God. So, Bart’s sitting there, a nobody among nobodies, hoping for enough of a hand-out to get him through one more day when he hears a crowd coming. I can just see him asking, “Hey, who is that, it must be a teacher because I hear lots of people but only one voice over the crowd.” Then the reply, “Oh, that’s that Jesus from Nazareth”.
Having heard all the stories of Jesus, Bartimaus knew him. Bart knew who Jesus was and what he had done, and Ol’ Bart starts to cry out a prayer that we should all be praying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” “Jesus, the Chosen One of God, have mercy on me.” When Jesus hears him, Jesus doesn’t walk the other way because he’s a begger, because he’s blind, because he’s a sinner, because God has punished him… NO, Jesus calls Bartimaus to himself, and asks him what he wants. And Bart Said, “I want to see.”
This is the interesting point in the story. The conflict that Bartimaus brings us is our own contrast between vision and sight. Edward Sims writes, “Recognition has to do with vision; seeing has to do with sight. Bartimaus had vision to recognize Jesus. He asked for his sight to see. We have the sight to see and ask for the vision to recognize.” We can see but do we recognize Jesus?
This is even more striking if you back up and read it in context with the other blind man passage of chapter 8. When we do this we realize that the story is less about the miracle of Bartimaus and his sight and more about the vision of the disciples.
They, like we, could see. They had seen the miracles of Jesus. They had witnessed the miracles and heard the teachings. Bart had only heard the stories from others, yet he believed. He had no experience with Jesus and yet he believed.
Our experience can be a vital part of our faith but it can also limit us. I saw a perfect illustration about this once on the show Medical Miracles. There was a little boy who was born blind. The doctors had hopes of healing him and giving him his sight. After dozens of surgeries and the painful rehabilitation from each of them he still could not see. But now, because of a new surgical treatment with an Artificial Corneal Implant there was once again hope that he may be able to see. They prepped him and performed the surgery and all went well. BUT the next day, when the patch came off and it was time to open his eye, he couldn’t do it. He started to, but he was scared. His experiences of the past had been so painful that he just didn’t think he could open his eyes. I don’t know if he was afraid that he would open his eyes and see or if he was afraid that he would open his eyes and not see. In the end, he found the courage and opened his eyes and saw his family for the first time.
Fear can be a terrible hindrance. Bartimaus had nothing to fear. He was already at the bottom of the social ladder. If he believed in who Jesus was and it turned out to be right or wrong, either way, his life could only get better. For the disciples it wasn’t so. They had plenty to fear. Maybe it was fear that had kept them from looking beyond their limited sight. If they looked beyond their limited sight, then they would have to face the cost of what it meant to follow Christ. If they had the vision to recognize Christ, then they would have to change.
That is the same way with us. If we begin to align our vision with that of God, we have to change.
-We will have to see differently. We will have to see people as God sees people. We will have to see ourselves as God sees us.
-When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see our need for revival, individually and as a church. And I’m not just talking about having a few special worship events with a better preacher and some special music. I’m talking about a revival of our relationship with God and how we as a church relate to one another and God.
- When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see beyond our idea of SS and Christian Education – It’s not just for children and youth. Sunday School and Christian education is a life long process. It is one of the ways we strengthen our relationship with God. Not only that but we will have to see beyond our idea of discipleship as learning from someone else and begin to disciple and mentor others.
- When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see that we are all teachers. We are all always teaching. The question is “what are we teaching?” Seeing differently means that we will begin to recognize that we are always having an impact on others regardless of where we are and what we are doing. It is like the story I heard about a 5 year old boy at one of the churches in our Conference. This little boy, Davey, is severely autistic but he is constantly walking up to people and telling them, “Jesus loves me… and… Jesus loves you.” This boy is teaching others about Jesus love.
OR The story I heard about John, a 9 yoa boy with ADHD who had been disrupting his parents and the entire church during worship when a youth, Kris, came and asked if she could sit with him. Now John sits with Kris each week and gives his parents a break. She tries to help him focus, she gives him something to do, and she helps him learn what church is about. John is learning about Christ through the patience and kindness of Kris.
Kris has a vision and because of her vision, John is beginning to have vision, they are beginning to see beyond their own limited sight because of God’s grace.
I know this sermon seems to have bounced around a bit so I will bring it all together here. Up to this point we have been talking about seeing differently. We started out talking about how
we need to open our eyes and expand our vision, THEN we saw the contrast between vision and sight and I hope that I have made the point that we need vision more than we need sight. FINALLY while our experience can be helpful in increasing our vision, we need to be careful that we do not let it limit us.
Bartimaus had vision, and through his vision he regained his sight. Bartimaus called out to Jesus and Jesus met him where he was but Bartimaus knew what he wanted, he wanted to see and by the grace of God he received his sight.
I want to be like Bartimaus, “Lord, I want vision”, yet I am afraid I am more like the disciples than I care to admit.
Afraid to see fully,
-afraid to have vision because of the cost,
-seeking to see only a little of what God is calling me to do and be
BUT through the grace of God, even the disciples received vision as God was revealed in Christ.
Grace is afforded to each of us through Christ as well. As we seek God, we can begin to see more clearly. We can see differently. Maybe today we can see communion as an opportunity to see differently. May God open our eyes that we may see.
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