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A Sermon Delivered at First Christian
Church Stockton
John
9:1-41 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?"
Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he
was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is
coming when no one can work. As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the
saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash
in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed
and came back able to see. The
neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask,
"Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"
Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying,
"No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the
man." But they kept
asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"
He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my
eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and
received my sight." They
said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his
eyes. Then the Pharisees also
began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He
put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see."
Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he
does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man
who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided.
So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about
him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a
prophet." The Jews did
not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they
called the parents of the man who had received his sight
and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
How then does he now see?" His
parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born
blind; but we do not know how
it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is
of age. He will speak for himself."
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the
Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah
would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore
his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and
they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a
sinner." He answered,
"I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see."
They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your
eyes?" He answered them,
"I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want
to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?"
Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we
are disciples of Moses. We
know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know
where he comes from." The
man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he
comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to
one who worships him and obeys his will.
Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened
the eyes of a person born blind. If
this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are
you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he
said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may
believe in him." Jesus
said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is
he." He said,
"Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.
Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those
who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind."
Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him,
"Surely we are not blind, are we?"
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have
sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains. I
can just hear my mother now: "Michael
Lee, if I told you once I've told you a thousand times." Do you remember your mother saying that to you?
Every now and then someone will say something, and it reminds me of
my mom, "Michael Lee, if I told you once I've told you a thousand
times." My mother passed
away about nine years ago, but it just sticks in my mind.
I find myself saying it to my own kids: "Kellen, if I told you
once I've told you a thousand times..." Recently
though, someone said about our church that we don't believe in anything.
And my mom's voice clicked in, but this time it was "If I've
heard that once I've heard it a thousand times".
I sometimes wonder if you've heard it also.
"Those people at FCC don't believe in anything."
Really? We don't
believe in anything? Those
who say we don't believe in anything are usually ministers from other
denominations, and sometimes they are people who left here because they
thought we were heretics. Why, do you suppose, do they say we don't believe in
anything? Are they right? Most
people in Weston Ranch and the surrounding community don't really know
much about us, and that is truly unfortunate.
A few think we are too conservative, while some who think they know
us believe we are too liberal, that we believe in nothing and that we will
allow anyone to be a member. That
we will allow anyone, especially sinners and raggamuffins, to become
members is absolutely true. Let
us collectively confess that the doors to First Christian Church are open
to saint and sinner alike, using the same door, sitting in the same pews,
eating of the same bread, drinking from the one cup.
To the crime of being open and affirming of all of God's children,
regardless of color, gender orientation, sexuality, conservative and
liberal, democrat, republican, communist and independent, we plead guilty
as charged. As
to the charge of not believing in anything, they could not be further from
the truth. Where our accusers
are confused, I believe, is that we believe that our members have minds of
their own, that they are not required to surrender them to become members,
and we even encourage a diversity of opinions.
Our member's beliefs are all over the place.
When
it comes to creation, some are certain that the biblical account in
Genesis says it all, while others of us are more inclined to believe what
science says about evolution. As
to the matter of believing in hell, some of us say hell yes, and some say
like me say hell no. Some
believe in the devil, and others see him as an antiquated mythological
boogey man used by people throughout the ages to find an excuse for why
they did evil things. Was
Jesus' mother Mary a virgin? Some
would say yes, others no, and many would ask if it really matters one way
or the other. Many believe that the Bible is God's Holy word to be taken
literally, while others believe that the Bible points to God and reflects
the opinions of men thousands of years ago, but it needs to be
reinterpreted for our modern times. Some
of you believe in reincarnation, others believe in a bodily resurrection,
and others just want to make sure that the food in heaven is just as good
as it is here. Could you
imagine the uproar in heaven if God put us on a low fat, vegetarian diet?
Some of us might prefer southern barbecue! Some believe there is but one gate to God, and that is
through Christ, while others believe there are many paths and gates to
God. Some talk of God in
masculine terms, while others are comfortable with feminine and masculine
language. The
Disciples of Christ have been noted for their diversity and inclusiveness
since we started. Nearly 200
years ago when our denomination was founded, one of the founding fathers
said, "In matters essential, unity, in matters of opinion, diversity,
in all things, love." Our
congregation has always striven to be a church where faith and reason
could come together, the Bible and intellect could co-exist, striving to
make our faith reasonable and faithful to scripture.
And no matter where we fall on the theological spectrum, we will
always treat one another with love and respect. So
why, do you suppose, do people say we don't believe in anything?
Maybe what they are trying to say is that we don't believe in the
same things they do, or that we love and include those whom they wish to
exclude. They think that
because we treat homosexuals as equal partners and loved by God as they
are, then we are unorthodox. Jesus
is struggling with the same thing in this morning's text.
Since he violated a tradition of working on the Sabbath, the
Pharisees, the religious insiders, said that Jesus was not truly a
prophet! Jesus was a heretic
in their eyes. "It says it right here in the Bible", they said. They were so consumed with their own righteousness and always
following the letter of the law that they were unable to see that healing
a blind man was a good thing! "The
Bible says it, I believe it, and that's that". If I heard that once I've heard it a thousand times! What
the Pharisees and others do not see with their eyes is that salvation has
nothing to do with getting it right, in getting all of your ducks lined up
in a row, believing in the Apostle's Creed or the Nicene Creed or any
creed. What got the blind man who had received his sight booted out
of the temple was that he believed Jesus was from God. When
Jesus discovered that the man had been ostracized by the religious elite,
Jesus went looking for him. Jesus
felt compassion for the man abused by religious do-gooders, and Jesus
asked him but one question: "Do
you believe in the Son of God?"
The man answered "Lord, I believe."
There
is one thing we believe, and if you heard it once you've heard it a
thousand times: "We
believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and we proclaim
him Lord and savior of the world."
That's it. That's all
that matters. That is what we
believe! Michael Malone
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