Letting God Work Through the Junk - John 9

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

John 9:25

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.

The comforting words of the old hymn are ones which nearly every person who has spent more than one Sunday morning in a church can recite.

The story behind John Newton's writing of "Amazing Grace" is one that is worth reading (see link:Amazing Grace History) but the point isn't the story, but rather it is meaning of the words. 

In today's scripture, Jesus has healed a man who was blind from birth. There was a philosophy of the day that if you had an illness or a defect that your sin was responsible - that in fact you were the cause of your own suffering. 

Jesus dispels this myth by saying, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." John 9:3

Did you ever think that the reason you face difficulty, hardships and handicaps might be so that God can show His glory through you? 

Wow! 

What a thought?!?  

All of that junk and stuff you have to go through - God can use it for His glory....

It doesn't make the junk easier - - but there is some comfort in knowing that something good and right will come from your suffering.

The key to allowing our junk to be used for God's glory is recognize that God is in control and that He is always with us. Sometimes we face consequences of our own making and sometimes bad stuff just happens - but either way GOD can make something beautiful - - even out of the most wretched - - even out of us.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.

We each have a choice - we can stay blind - wallow in our self-pity, muck and mire or we can turn to God and allow Him to wipe away our blindness - to help us to see the beauty He can make in each of us - even me.

Scripture
John 9

Quote
Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.
Marilyn Monroe

Question

When have you faced a pit - only to see Christ reaching out his hand to steady you as you walk through it?

It

Truth or Tabloids - John 8:31-58

 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32

I have a confession.

When I travel for work I buy the magazines in the little convenience stores at the airport which scream headlines like:

"TomKat separating because he has two heads! Details inside"

"Khloe & Lamar: Living Apart - Insider reveals all!"

"Jennifer Aniston to wed in a Scottish ceremony to a Buddist Monk! Secrets revealed on page 43."

Okay, so I admit those are a bit extreme, but there is something tantalizing about a headline that calls out a deep dark secret. I get sucked into the drama of other people's reality - - or often a reality built on a house of cards. We all want to know what is hidden deep within - to know the "real truth". 

But, what really is the truth?

We live in a country that plasters headlines designed to draw you in so you will buy the magazine, tabloid or newspaper, but all too often what you find inside is just more....well, junk. The headlines are padded with half-truths and the stories are often riddled with misinformation or blatant lies. So if the "media" is supposed to be our source of truth, how do we dicern what is really true?

We go to the source of all truth - God.

When Jesus was trying to reveal his true nature to the Jews of his day, he was facing an uphill battle. Many had heard of his fame associated with his miracles through the old-fashioned version of tabloids - - word of mouth gossip. They looked to Jesus to be a great profit or a mysterious healer - essentially a side-show. They did not see Jesus as the One sent from God. They could not see Jesus as the Messiah. 

They couldn't see the truth. 

They were okay with the flash and the half-truths. They were okay with the gossip and the innuendos. They were okay with being jailed by misleading information. They were okay with the tabloid truths.

But Jesus was offering them truth and the freedom that comes with that truth.

When we know truth - - absolute truth - - it is freedom because we don't have to guess or wonder. We don't have to dig a little deeper under the covers to find out what is "really" happening. We just know. 

And that is who Jesus is. He is truth. By knowing Jesus we know The Father. We know truth and through that knowledge we have the freedom to accept the grace that the Father offers us through Jesus. Through that acceptance - we are free indeed.

Way better that any glossy tabloid or gossip magazine...don't you think?

Scripture

 John 8:31-58

Quote of the Day

Gossip needn't be false to be evil - there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around. 

Frank A. Clark 

 

Flipping the Switch - John 8:12-30

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

 John 8:12



There is something about light. It makes the boogey-man run away. It allows us to see where we are driving in the middle of the night. It brings freshness to a new day. Light is equivalent to hope and joy. A single light bulb in a dark room can transform even the furthest corners.

But light – true light – is not limited to what is illuminated on the outside. Having a life filled with light doesn’t mean that one will never have darkness, struggles or obstacles, but rather having a light filled life means always having a central core of understanding whose you are.

When we are inconvenienced for a day or several without electricity – as many were this summer- we find we are nearly at a loss by not having lights in our homes. We unconsciously walk into a room and flip the switch expecting the light to emerge, and when it doesn’t we are shocked and a little outraged. What would happen if we began to feel outraged when we didn’t experience the light of Christ in ourselves or in others? How different would our approach to evangelism or to sharing God’s love be if we assumed that the light of Christ already existed in another friend? If in fact the switch just needed to be flipped in his or her life?



In reality, we have all been born with a desire to be in the light. We crave it. We need light both externally in our lives to function but more importantly inside our spirits to help us truly see; to truly love; to truly feel; to truly be children of God.



As we approach our friends, let us not be leery of how to share God’s love with them, but rather let us look at their lives as needing someone to help “flip the switch” so that they might know the light of Jesus and their lives can also be bright and full of all of the good stuff – even in a very dark world.



Scripture
John 8:12-30


Quote of the Day 

(with some explanation)

Helen Keller was born deaf and blind. She could not see or hear and yet she had one of the more profoundly impactful lives in the world – without ever seeing the light many of us take for granted.

She said, “I can see, and that is why I can be happy, in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden. I can see a God-made world, not a man made world.” 

By not being constrained by what the outside world showed her, she was able to experience true happiness and beauty lit from within – lit with the light of Jesus.

Making 7 Seconds Count ~ John 8:1-11

They kept asking him questions. So he stood up and said to them, "Has any one of you not sinned? Then you be the first to throw a stone at her."

John 8:7

Do you think of yourself as one who is quick to judge or are you slow to make judgments?

There was a study completed at the New York University School of Business which states that all people make eleven judgments in the first seven seconds of meeting someone. We deem a person’s wealth, education, creditability, trustworthiness, sophistication, sexual orientation, success level, political affiliation, ethnicity, social or professional desirability, and religious background. We determine all of this within the amount of time it takes an average person to draw a single breath.

This 11 in 7 rule as it is known is not unique to business students– this is everyone. We all do this. We all make snap decisions about everyone we meet or merely pass on the street. We predetermine our opinions or our thoughts toward another before he even opens her mouth. We judge without even realizing we are judging.

And often the first impression sticks.

Imagine….

You see a woman sitting on a bus bench with two kids with dirty faces and no shoes – what is your first thought?

You see a man entering a church with a tie carrying a jacket – what is your first thought?

You encounter a teenager with piercings in both ears and her nose, dressed entirely in black carrying a skateboard – what is your first thought?

We make judgments – quick and without thinking - and they often limit our ability to see the child of God in front of us.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

When they tossed her in front of him, I imagine him glancing at her briefly as they pose the question, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”. 

He doesn’t answer, he simply bends down and begins to write something in the sand before them. All of these men were learned – they could read and write and they would have been reading as Jesus wrote. The words were likely bold – maybe he was listing their sin; or maybe he was writing the Law in the sand – the rest of the story so to speak. Regardless of what he wrote, after a few moments he stands, lifting those deep, dark eyes to the accusers and says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)  

He drops this challenge like a gauntlet before returning to his sand writings. While he writes, the woman’s accusers slowly dwindle until all who remain are Jesus and the woman. He lifts those same brown eyes to her, this time likely filled with warmth and compassion as he straightens his body to standing saying, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

It is easy to make snap judgments – we were wired that way. We were designed to determine if someone might cause us harm or bring us joy – but or initial impression may cloud our view.

What is important is pushing through our first impressions to try and find the child of God beneath the surface. Our eyes need to be fit with the lens of compassion – to see the world as Jesus does – to be slow to judge but quick to justice.

We only get seven seconds to make a first impression.

How will you use yours – will you judge or will you stop and see what the Lord sees – His children in need of a compassionate hand. Will you be able to say, “The Lord hasn’t condemned you and neither do I”?

Quote of the Day

“The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.”

Georgia Harkness 

Scripture

John 8:1-11 

Question of the Day 

What do you see when you see the world?