Untitled Sermon (9)

John 9:1–7 KJV 1900

1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

annoyed or anointed

anointing

Most often we think of anointing as the cute ceremonial thing that the elders do when come forward for prayer. The dip and the dab…But the actual word used here to describe what Jesus does with the clay on the eyes of the man is the Greek word epichrio which means to rub in; to smear and the spread.

We find in this text as recorded by John, one of the many wonderful miracles of Jesus record. This particular miracle bing the healing of a blind man in one of the most extraordinary demonstrations illustrated within the Gospels.

The old testament counterpart of this word is the Hebrew word Tahim and it was used to describe the process of applying plater to the wall of a building.

(1) Jesus spits on the dust and mixes it to make clay

(2) He takes the clay and the bible says he “anoints” the eyes of the blind man with the clay!

We read that and it sounds so dignified…so churchy…So holy!

Jesus anoints the eyes of the blind man!!! Halalujah…thank you Jesus!!!

Most often we think of anointing as the cute ceremonial thing that the elders do when come forward for prayer. The dip and the dab…But the actual word used here to describe what Jesus does with the clay on the eyes of the man is the Greek word epichrio which means to rub in; to smear and the spread.

The old testament counterpart of this word is the Hebrew word Tahim and it was used to describe the process of applying plaster to the wall of a building.

Now, this blind man, it appears, has no awareness of who Jesus is prior to the interaction.

This is evidenced in John chapter 9 vs. 11 when, after he is healed, the townspeople ask him how he was healed…his response is…some man named Jesus [did it]

He is just sitting there outside the temple, minding his own business, when some stranger that he has never met, walks up, spits in the dirt and then anoints his eyes…He rubs it in!

Im, blind, begging…and now you come along and rub it in!

If you have ever had an errant eyelash get loose in your eye…or a speck of dust find its way into your eye…you are aware how irritating it can be.

It becomes the top priority of your day, and the only thing that matters…can’t stop rubbing at it…trying to get that irritant out of your eye.

But the blind man didn’t just have a speck of dirt in his eye…Jesus rubbed a paste made of dust and spit onto the eyes of the blind man.

Irritated!

On at least 3 levels:

Socially, I’m sitting here minding my business, begging for alms so I can just survive this day and some stranger interrupts my day.

Emotionally, I heard you spit into the dust…you SPIT INTO THE DUST and then used YOUR SPIT and dirt to make the clay that you then rubbed into my eyes...

Physically…I obviously, have never been blind, but I looked it up, to ensure…but just because someone is blind it doesn’t mean that their eye can’t feel…he still feels the grit of dust coursing over the membrane of his eye.

Why can’t you just leave me be, man named Jesus!

I’m sitting here minding my own business…begging for bread and asking for alms and you show up to irritate my world.

Why bother me, when I was fine begging?

Why humiliate me with spit, couldn’t you have at least used water? Or asked one of the elders for some of their oil?

I DON’T want an anointing…i’m fine just surviving!

I don’t want an anointing…I’ve learned how to live with my limitations!

and it would have been easy this story to have ended with an annoyed blind man!

Now, its Sunday morning and we are all good righteous people in the house today…and none of you can relate with the blind man ...

You’ve never been irritated in church!

You’ve never been irritated by the preacher!

You’ve never been irritated by the Word!

sure…uh huh!!

Let’s be real:

You get in a fight on the way to church…haven’t even looked at each other the whole service... and then the preacher preaches on forgiveness!

You’re talking on the way to church about how tight finances and then the preacher preaches about being a cheerful giver!

You’re tired, body ain’t feeling right, you’re grumpy and all out of sorts and the pastor keeps asking you to shake hands and touch 3 people around you...

Come on…I know you’ve been irritated by this man named Jesus...

Let me tell you that irritation is a powerful tool in the hands of an Almighty God!

Irritation is the way that God moves people from begging to blessed! Annoyance is the way that God transforms us From blindness to revelation! From obstinance to obedience.

Irritation that leaves you where you are is simply an annoyance…but irritation that moves you forward…that compels you to change…that is ANOINTING

He’s got to anoint your life with irritation! He’s got to rub it in!

Because you’ve become so comfortable with what you become that you will never move to what you can be until he anoints your eyes!

I know you can’t see, but I know you can feel…so I have to irritate what you do have to move you toward the awakening of what you don’t have!

Hannah and Peniniah

In the book of 1 Samuel chapter 1, we find one man, married to two women…Brothers, don’t get any ideas…don’t even smile right now!! Don’t even glance in your wife’s direction.

Too late…I still have a few appointments open this week for counseling.

The name of the one wife was Peninah and the bible says of Peninah that she had children.

The name of the other wife was Hannah and the bible said she had children.

In our culture today, not having children is perhaps a sad thing…for a woman that wants a child it is a gnawing, emptiness…but in that day, it meant everything…To not have children meant you had no value. Your worth…your identity…your meaning in life…nothing.

But if that isn’t bad enough…Hannah is already dealing with the emptiness of no children. The stigma of bareness…the insecurity of worthlessness…but the Bible says that Peninnah “provoked her sore” or as the New Living Translation says it she “taunter her”…she rubbed it in...

And if that wasn’t bad enough…Peniniahs name means “to pamper”. to show excessive care and attention…While Hannah is broken and barren, this obnoxious woman that is taunting her and rubbing it in is over there pampering her man.

Now I know it was a different culture and they were both married…but that was still Hannah’s man…you don’t pamper another woman’s man!

it’s 2020…if my wife has a sore back, I’ll send her to a massage…but if my back is sore…she says you’ll be ok…walk it off…aint no woman rubbing on my man!

Peniniah was rubbing it in…She was rubbing in the stigma of her bareness…she was rubbing in her insecurity…she was rubbing in her emptiness.

But what hannah didn’t know and what Peninah didn’t know was that the whole time…Peninah wasn’t just annoying her…she was anointing her!

Because Hannah began to seek the face of God...

God you better put your hands on me, before I put my hands on this woman!

Lord…I can’t stay this way…my adversary is provoking me into a place that I realize I can’t stay this way...

This pampering floozy is rubbing me the wrong way…and I can’t take it any longer!!! Something has to change!

I’ve heard it preached and I’ve preached it myself that God allowed Peninah into Hannah’s world to provoke her so that Samuel would be produced...

I’ve heard it preached and I’ve preached it myself that God allowed Peninah into Hannah’s world to provoke her so that Samuel would be produced...

Biologically and scientifically it is a fact that a woman is born with every reproductive possibility already in within her. Every egg that might potentially be a child is within a woman the day that she is born. That means that Samuel was already there within the bosom of Hannah…She just needed a Peninnah to provoke her to produce was what was already with her...

And while that is true…there is a greater truth to uncover and understand…I don’t think it was just Samuel that God allowed the pampering Peninnah to provoke from within Hannah…but more importantly the prayer that Hannah prayed in

And while that is true…there is a greater truth to uncover and understand…I don’t think it was just Samuel that God allowed the pampering Peninnah to provoke from within Hannah…but more importantly the prayer that Hannah prayed in

1 Samuel 1:10–11 KJV 1900

10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no rasor come upon his head.

Hannah…i’ve got to allow Peninah to anoint you…to rub you the wrong way…becuase without that irritation in your life…without that anointing in your life…if I give you Samuel right now, you won’t recognize that there is a greater purpose for that baby boy...

Oh…i believe you will love him

And I believe you will cherish him

But if I give you a Samuel right now, he will just be your ticket to favor…and the answer to your insecurity…and the remedy for your emptiness...

But Hannah…there is a greater purpose that I’ve got that for child that is locked up within you...

that baby boy isn’t just the answer for your insecurity...

He isn’t just your ticket to favor

He is the prophet to Israel...

He will anoint kings

he will declare my Words to the nations...

So Hannah…i’ve got to irritate you until you make a vow…until you will make a covenant…otherwise, what I have to give you will be wasted on you!

And there are people here today and this man named Jesus has irritated you...

His words are rubbing you the wrong way!

His words are cutting you to the core...

His words seem like a spotlight that course through your being illuminating your insecurities and your emptiness…showcasing your bruises and your brokedness...

Why? Why, man named Jesus!?!

and you can either leave here annoyed or anointed!

Because I love you too much to leave you begging when I know you can be blessed!

I care too much about what you can be, to leave you complacent with what you are...

Because I know that if right now I unleashed in your life the amazing abilities and the giftings that I placed within you while you were still in your mothers womb…you would misuse them for your benefit…to remedy your insecurities…to fulfil your emptiness…when I my purpose for them is so much greater than just you!

So I’ve got to anoint you!

I have to irritate you other wise you will never become all that I created you to be!

That person that is irritating you…God is anointing you to forgive

That situation that is irritating you…God is anointing you to trust him

That conviction that is irritating you…God is anointing you to repentance

that guilt that is irritating you…God is

Closing

Jesus turns to the blind man…no doubt confused by what has just happened…groveling with the discomfort of the irritation that has just invaded his world...

Go…wash in the pool of Silome…

And he could have sat there annoyed…he could have remained there annoyed by the irritation...

or…he could allow the irritation to anoint

Im confused and perplexed…You’ve rocked my world…My comfort has been shaken…I don’t understand your ways…but…whatever I’ve got to do to get rid of this irritation...

I’ll go wash…i’ll stumble my way to the pool of Siloam...

I refuse to allow this irritation that was intended to anoint me and transform me to simply annoy me.

Whatever I’ve got to do to silence the mouth of Peninah...

I’ll make a vow...

And the bible says that when that man went to the pool of Silome…motivated by the irritating grains of sand…obeying the voice of Jesus…and as he obeyed the command of Jesus to wash…the bible says that he came back seeing!

I’m preaching today to people that God has been irritating you!

He’s been probing areas of your life that you don’t want touched

He’s been poking areas of your heart that you don’t want messed with

Because he knows who you can be is so much more than who you are...

and you can either leave here annoyed or anointed!

You can either leave his presence annoyed or anointed!

you can either leave his Word annoyed or anointed!

you can either leave Church annoyed or anointed!

That person that is irritating you…God is anointing to forgive!

Annoyed or anointed?!?

That situation that is irritating you…God is anointing you to trust him

Annoyed or anointed?!?

That conviction that is irritating you…God is anointing you to repentance

Annoyed or Anointed

that guilt that is irritating you…God is anointing you go and wash in waters of baptism

He’s identifying the filth and the grime of hidden sin, because there is a pool to wash at.

hannah…He could just give you that child you’ve been asking for!

You came today irritated and wondering, where is your baby…where is your blessing…where is your healing…but God is provoking you to more…its time to make a vow!!

but he has been provoking you…to make that vow! To make that covenant…that Lord it’s not me…its not about my hopes and dreams…its not about me..its about you!

It’s not about my insecurities, its about your kingdom!

It’s not about my emptiness, its about your fulfilment!

It’s not about my worth, its about your glory!

Final words...

in the end the blind man comes back…he realizes that his need is Jesus…

in the end the healing of the blind man was about so much more than even just the receiving of his physical sight…but what started with the provocation by grains of sand to go and wash would conclude with a life changed by the living water.

When the first came and asked the man after he had been healed, he said it was a man named jesus...

but in vs. 17, the Pharisees asked him…what do you think about this man? He replied…he must be a prophet...

Finally, in vs. 27, he declares to all that are around…I am a disciple of Jesus Christ!

I need Jesus...

Jesus…without you this irritation will always be an annoyance…but with you Jesus…this irritation becomes an anointing!!