An Interesting Case Study

I have sometimes heard people say, "It would be so much easier to believe in Jesus if we lived in the time that He did. If we had seen the miracles with our own eyes, faith would be easier."

Our passage today- John 9- belies that notion. Even those who saw the miracles that Jesus did had a hard time accepting them. As I read this passage, I am struck by the many different reasons that people did not exercise faith:

*Confusion about the facts- In verses 8-9, the neighbors can't agree if the man healed is really the blind man or not. Even his testimony doesn't seem to convince them!

*Legalism/false righteousness- In verse 16, some of the Pharisees say that Jesus cannot be from God because he healed on the Sabbath. Their narrow, religious conceptions kept them from faith.

*Fear- Verse 22 tells us that the parents did not exercise faith in Jesus or celebrate the healing of their son, because they were afraid of the religious leaders! I suppose this reason could also be labeled peer pressure.

*Ignorance- Verse 36 tells us that the blind man did not immediately exercise faith himself because he didn't know who Jesus was (never having seen Jesus before his healing). It takes Jesus' identification of Himself to lead to faith.

Not much has changed in 2,000 years. Today, people fail to believe for many of the same reasons. We have to make sure that none of these things keep us from faith.

The Light of the World

There is so much to comment on in John 8 that it is hard to restrain myself. The story about the woman caught in adultery (textually suspect as it is) teaches us a great deal about mercy. At the end of the chapter, Jesus' words about being "I AM" give us a clear statement of his own claim to divinity. But what strikes me as I read this passage today are Jesus' words in verse 12. Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

I could write a lot about what the metaphor of light teaches us about Jesus. But that is not what strikes me as I come to the passage today. What strikes me as I reread these familiar words is how the light is turned on. Jesus says, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12, ESV). What is the key to God's light in our lives? Is it a moment of decision for Jesus? Is it listening to Christian radio? Is it hanging out in church? Those things might all be good, but they are not the root source of God's light in our lives. What is? Jesus tells us: obedience. We have the light of life when we follow Him.

A lot of Christians feel like they are in darkness now. Even though they exercise faith, they have depression and hopelessness and fear. Could it be that we have darkened our own lives by a failure to follow? If we want to have light in our lives, we need to have the courage to pick up our crosses and follow Him. We need to walk as Jesus did.

Isaiah 12:2

I grew up in a church with several Messianic Christians and with a real heart for Jewish evangelism. As I read Isaiah 12:2, I couldn't help but think of the Liberated Wailing Wall concerts that were held at our church. For those of you don't know, the Liberated Wailing Wall is a musical ministry sponsored by Jews for Jesus. Back in the days I was at their concerts, their signature song was "Behold!" "Behold!" is basically a rousing version of Isaiah 12:2. Below, I have put a link for the song in case you would like to listen. I thought the rough, live versions were better than this recorded one, but still a great song on a great verse. (The added benefit of the song is that they begin singing in Hebrew so you can hear what Isaiah 12:2 sounds like in the original language!)

http://files.jewsforjesus.org/audio/messianicjoy/12_behold.mp3

Should Christians Love Fox News?

When I was in Seminary, I had a pastor encourage us to preach the Old Testament prophets. Rereading Isaiah, I am reminded of why he urged that mandate upon us. Isaiah's words were recorded thousands of years ago, yet there is much about them that is true and relevant today.

For example, we in the evangelical church need to remember the directive that Isaiah receives from God in Isaiah 8:11-13. "The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread..."

Too many in the church today are enamored of conspiracy. They watch the pundits on Fox News or they listen to the call of conservative radio. They get wrapped up in the behind the scene machinations of those in political and cultural power. God tells Isaiah not to get too tied in to those speculations. He tells Isaiah to fear Him, to be devoted to Him. We need the same message. We shouldn't fear what Obama or the liberals or the left are doing. We shouldn't look for conspiracy behind every rock. Instead, we should seek to fear and serve our Lord, knowing that all these matters are in His hand.

Patience (Proverbs 14-15)

Today, in preparing Sunday's sermon, I was thinking a little about patience. By patience I mean not the ability to wait but the ability to graciously overlook the faults and foibles of others. Proverbs 14 and 15 make two statements about patient people. 14:29 says, "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly." In Proverbs, wisdom/understanding and folly are moral terms. Solomon is saying that person who is patient with the faults of others will live righteously while the one who is impatient will make poor moral choices. Patience with others is a key component to a God-pleasing life. Without such patience, we feel license to do all sorts of things we should not do.

Proverbs 15 also comments on patience. Verse 18 says, "A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel." Here, the verse states quite explicitly that being patient with the fault of others leads to peace and the avoidance of conflict. If we want to have peace, we need to be patient.

I find it interesting that both verses contrast patience with anger. Looking at this from the anger side of the coin, it suggests that anger is caused by a lack of patience with others. The more we tolerate others faults and extend grace as Jesus extended grace to us, the less angry we will be.

Keeping the Peace

This past Sunday, we started a series both in Sunday School and in our Sunday morning service. The series is called "The Peacemaking Church." Through this series, we hope to learn how to promote peace both inside and outside of the church. One of the foundational truths of that series is found in a small verse in our reading today. Proverbs 12:16 says: "A fool shows his annoyance at one, but a prudent man overlooks an insult" (NIV). I think we all need to do a better job of following the truth of this verse. We need to learn not to take every offhand comment and every poorly worded remark so seriously. And even when the intent is there, we need to follow the example of Jesus. " To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:21-23, NIV). We have all said unkind words to others that we didn't really mean. In doing so, we have hoped for the forbearance of others. We need to extend that same courtesy to those who hurt us.

Hold Your Tongue (Proverbs 10-11)

The tongue is a common theme in the book of Proverbs. More than that, hold your tongue is a common theme in the book of Proverbs. 10:19 summarizes the broad point here. It says: "When words are many, sin is not absent; but he who holds his tongue is wise." Clearly, there is a virtue in not saying much.

This is something that we as a society need to learn. I think our culture is largely afraid of silence. That is why we have TVs and radios and Ipods that are blasting all the time. It's also why we talk so much. To us, silence isn't golden. It is just plain awkward. The Bible, though, calls us to a different way of regarding silence. Proverbs reminds us that there are times that we just don't need to speak.

A good example of such a time is Proverbs 11:12. "A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue." If we have a negative thought about someone, we don't have to share it. Somehow, we feel compelled to always speak our minds about the failings and shortcomings of others. Proverbs suggests a different tact. It agrees with my grandmother who used to say: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."