Back to Church Sunday

In 2023, the world population was just over 8 billion people.

According to the World Health Organization, in August 2023, approximately 10 million people in the U.S. and another 36 million people worldwide are blind and live in total darkness.

Globally, 2.2 billion people are near-sighted or far-sighted. With half of those people, their vision problems could have been prevented or have not been addressed.

Only 17% of people with vision problems due to cataracts (a cloudiness which grows over the lens of the eye) have received appropriate care and treatment.

I think all of us would agree that untreated vision problems affect a person’s quality of life. That’s not hard to figure out if a person is blind. One could argue they don’t really glasses for near-sightedness or far-sightedness, they just need to try a little harder at focusing. If you have transitioned from single-vision to bifocals, you might remember the struggle that focusing a little harder became. Clearly, people think clouded vision is an acceptable way of life.

I want us to see this morning that our spiritual vision is vital to our lives. There are people in our world that are blind to anything Jesus is doing. There are people that think everything will be just fine if they try to focus a little harder - their vision will work itself out. There are people who choose clouded spiritual vision, grow to accept it as normal and never receive any care or treatment.

Three prayers that will help you see Jesus more clearly in your life.

Pray that Jesus would bring you close to him

John 8:59–9:3 ESV

59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Sometimes, we don’t see in Jesus in our life because we think our thing is too small for God to care about, or maybe God is too busy, or maybe this thing has just become our normal life and it will always be that way.

The beginning of our text is really important. Jesus was avoiding being stoned to death but he stopped for a man who believed blindness was his normal life and it would always be that way. Friends, Jesus is never too busy and your thing is never too small. I believe that Jesus will bring you close to him if you ask for it.

Look at verse 2. The disciples asked Jesus, “Whose sin made this man be born blind?” Ever have church people judge you? Ever have somebody draw a conclusion about you and it was completely wrong? There are people throughout are community who have been hurt by the words of Christians. You might be one of them.

I grew up in a legalistic, rules-bound church. I think I was in middle school and I overheard a group of ladies talking about somebody in our church. They were definitely giving more information than necessarily. I remember asking my mom about why those ladies were gossiping at church about somebody else that attends our church. The response was, “They weren’t gossiping. They were sharing. They needed that much information to pray effectively.”

The Jewish community throughout the Bible did the same thing. It was normal for one Jewish person to think a physical handicap or a behavior issue was the result of sin. Jesus told his disciples that it wasn’t a sin issue. This man was born blind so Jesus could cultivate a powerful work in his life. The blind man had to be close enough to Jesus in order for that happen.

Jesus could have spoken a word and allowed the blind man see him clearly. For most of us, there is a continual process of seeing Jesus clearly ~ even after we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

Pray that Jesus would cultivate powerful works in your life

John 9:6–12 ESV

6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Look at verse 6. Jesus spit on the ground and made mud with saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” The man went and washed and came back seeing.

Jesus cultivating a powerful work in your life might be messy. The blind man was an adult with vision history that needed to be corrected. It was not possible for him to solve the problems of his past on his own. He needed Jesus to intervene. Jesus knew how God would be glorified through this man. Jesus was thrilled for the works of God to be displayed in this formerly blind man.

Jesus knows how God could be glorified through your life. If church people judged you, don’t blame that on Jesus. If you have regrettable history in your life or if you have things in your life that cannot be solved on your own, I invite you to give Jesus an opportunity to cultivate a powerful work in your life.

I need to warn you though. Jesus doing powerful works in your life might cause an identity crisis. But, allow those works to change your life so vividly, others cannot ignore who you have become in Christ.

Look at verse 8.  His neighbors and people that knew him as a beggar were talking about him.  Isn’t that the guy?  No, it just looks like him.  I’m sure that’s the guy.  It can’t be him, that guy is blind and this guy can see. Listen, that’s the conversation in the mirror.

The apostle Paul had the same struggle. Romans 7:15–19 - “I do not understand my own actions. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

That’s not just the conversation in the mirror. The text shows people who knew the blind man had questions. They wondered what happened. This isn’t the guy we once knew. What happened to that guy? Do we ever get that guy back? If we don’t get that guy back, how do we justify this change?

Those are real conversations after Jesus cultivates powerful works in your life. The formerly blind is ready to respond and we should be also. Look at verse 9. I am the man.  It’s me.  I’m still the same person, except now I can see. What happened?  It was this man called Jesus.  He spit on the ground, put the mud on my eyes and told me to go wash them.  Now I can see, but I’m the same guy.

Pray that Jesus would blossom an urgent boldness in your life

John 9:18–27 ESV

18 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 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 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?”

The religious leaders didn’t like Jesus and they didn’t like that Jesus wouldn’t follow all of their rules. Because their spiritual vision was clouded, they attempted to twist this situation into something else they could control. In verses 8-17, nobody denied the man was born blind and received the miracle of sight. People began to take sides when Jesus got the credit. If you’re going to pray to get closer to Jesus, if you’re going to pray for powerful works in your life, if you’re going to pray for an urgent boldness, expect people to take sides concerning Jesus. The religious leaders were split. Those in the community were split. His parents didn’t even have enough boldness to stand up for their son and give Jesus some credit. At the end of the chapter, it appears the only person left rooting for this guy was Jesus.

Look at verse 24. While the formerly blind man was confronted about his boldness for Jesus, he pushed back with all the information that he knew. He didn’t make personal attacks. He didn’t call them stupid. He didn’t match hate with hate. From the information we have, he wasn’t unloving or disrespectful. He only talked about what he knew ~ I don’t know if he’s a sinner. I don’t enough information to back your claims.

Here is what I know. Somebody else got me out of bed this morning because I couldn’t see. Somebody else got me dressed and fed me breakfast. I was sitting in my normal begging spot and this guy named Jesus sat down next to me. He cared for me in a way that most people never have. He spit on the ground so much that he made enough mud to give me a little mud mask. It felt good to be cared for. He told me to go wash in the pool of Siloam, which I was happy to do because his spit was on my face. I don’t even know why people are mad that Jesus did this. I think my sight is an amazing gift that will change my life and I am ready to follow Jesus wherever he goes next.

One of the beautiful parts of John 9 is we never learn the man’s name. All of us could be the blind man. All of us need to be little closer to Jesus. All of us can be stuck in a situation that cannot be resolved without the powerful works of Jesus. All of us can go through an identity crisis. All of us need a little more urgency and boldness for Jesus. 77% of our community needs Jesus and maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you need to hear:

There was this day that I was going about my own business and I met this guy named Jesus. He cared for me like nobody else could. He knew the precise way to make me feel better. He told me that my shameful history had been paid for. He told me that he let people hang him on a cross so he could die to pay for me sin. Then he told me that he was put in a tomb. A few days later, he walked out of that tomb and has been changing lives ever since.

I think what Jesus has done for me is an amazing gift that continues to change my life. Because of that gift, I try to walk with Jesus as closely as I can. Can you say the same thing?