Getting Ready for Easter (4 Stop Looking for Loopholes)
GETTING READY FOR EASTER
#4: Stop Looking for Loopholes
Pastor Greg Henneman
March 25, 2007
Text: John 9 (The Blind man)
Key Idea: No more excuses!
Goal: To inspire us to courageously follow Christ.
INTRODUCTION
· Promote Newcomer Class
Turn in your Bibles to John 9 and take out your message outlines. Today we’re ending our series entitled GETTING READY FOR EASTER.
We’ve been studying some characters and themes in the Gospel of John. We learned that the theme of John’s Gospel is faith. John wrote his Gospel to tell us about Jesus so that we would have faith in him. He says in John 20:30 “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
You want to have life –eternal life, full life? Then believe in Jesus! We started off by asking…
A. Review
What is faith?
1. Faith is not just something you say. (1:12)
2. Faith is not just something you feel. (1:50)
3. Faith is not just something you think. (10:24)
4. Faith is something you do. (8:31)
If you were to take a video camera around Clarkston and ask people, “Do you believe in Jesus?” Most of them would say “sure.” But what they mean by that is that they believe that some guy named Jesus lived a long time ago. Lots of people say that they believe in Jesus.
The Bible says that even the demons believe in Jesus, and they’re still going to hell! Faith is more than just something you say or think or feel! Faith is stepping out and following Christ! Faith is Indiana Jones standing on the ledge. “Do I jump or not? Yes, I’ll jump!” Faith is jumping into the arms of Christ! He becomes your Rescuer! He becomes your CEO! Because of Presence and because of his power your life begins to change! Your values and thoughts and direction in life are shaped by Him!
So –in that sense –do you believe in Jesus?
In the Gospel of John Jesus gives us seven benefits of faith. He says…
Seven Benefits
1. I AM the Bread of life. (6:35, 41, 48, 51)
I didn’t use it all this winter, but most winters I get out my bread-making machine and bake some home-made bread. Mmm! Warm, soft, buttery bread! I might go home and make some today! Are you hungry? Spiritually hungry? Jesus says, “I AM the bread of life!” Then he said…
2. I AM the Light of the world. (8:12; 9:5)
I am a grown man and I still get the wooly’s walking in the dark. Sometimes after a meeting here at church late at night I’ll walk through the hallway in the dark. This place can be scary at night! You hear a creak and think, “What’s that?” Jesus came to shine light and to give us warmth in our lives!
3. I AM the Door of the sheep. (10:7, 9)
4. I AM the Good Shepherd. (10:11, 14)
Like a shepherd who stood at the entrance into the sheep fold to guard his flock, Jesus watches over us and protects us. Anything that happens to us has to go through him first! Like a good shepherd He guides us and protects us!
5. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. (11:25)
When we die –we’re not dead! And we won’t go to hell! And one day we’ll be given resurrection bodies that will be immortal, glorious, powerful bodies that can never get sick or old or ever die again! Talk about benefits!
6. I AM the way, the truth, and the life. (14:6)
[Walk across stage]. Jesus shows us the way to live. He tells us the truth about life. And he is the life! Do you notice how often Jesus talks about life? Perhaps the craziest thing in this world is how people try to live life without Jesus who IS the life! God, through, Christ, created life, sustains life, and can show us the way through life –and yet we think we can live life better without him! Crazy!
7. I AM the true Vine. (15:1, 5)
He uses the metaphor of a vine and branches bearing fruit. He’s the vine. We’re the branches. We’ve got to be connected to him so that his juice, his life, gets injected into our life so that we can bear fruit!
These are seven benefits of having faith in Jesus. And all this comes right out of the Gospel of John.
Now John 9 brings up the topic of loopholes. I want to talk to you today about loopholes. In some respects we are a loophole society. We look for loopholes so we don’t have to pay so many taxes. That’s probably a good loophole –as long as it’s legal! Don’t pay more taxes than you’re supposed to!
But we’re always looking for loopholes. We write up these long documents with all this legalese and fine print –either to close the loopholes for the other guy or make loopholes for ourselves!
Some commercials crack me up. They’re promoting the benefits of a certain drug and why you should take it. And then they end with a long list of disclaimers. This could cause diarrhea, hemorrhaging, cracked skin, bulging eyes, and even death! Well, hey, I think I’ll buy me some of that! What are they doing? They are creating loopholes! They’re trying to protect themselves from being sued. But they’ll still get sued!
Now listen: We need to be careful that we don’t develop a “loophole mentality” in our walk with God. “I believe in you Jesus, but…” “Jesus, you’re my Rescuer and my CEO, however…” When the famous comedian W. C. Fields was on his deathbed, a friend found him reading the Bible. Not known for being religious, his friend asked him what he was doing. W.C. Fields replied, "Looking for loopholes, my friend. Looking for loopholes."
There are no loop holes with God! There’s no fine print! The smartest thing we can ever do is totally sell out to Christ! Here I am Lord! Nothing held back! No fine print! No loopholes!
We see this in John 9. Jesus and his disciples are walking along and they come upon a man who was blind from birth. When we lived in Milwaukee there was a lady in our church –Rachel was her name –who was blind from the age of 11. She said, “Pastor, can I put my hands on your face? Since I can’t see I’d like to feel your face.” I said, “Sure, Rachel.” She said, “Oh, you’re handsome!” I said, “You got that right!”
I cannot imagine how frustrating and depressing it must be to be blind. But this guy was blind from birth! He didn’t know any different! It must have been hard for him to imagine what everyone and everything looked like! “There’s a dog. What’s a dog? Well it has four legs and it’s brown. What’s brown?”
This man was so deprived he had to beg for money. He would sit along a street corner or at the entrance to the Temple and ask for money as people walked by. He was poor; he couldn’t work.
Jesus comes along and heals him! How would you feel if you were blind 30 or 40 years, and now you can see! What kind of emotions would race through your body! Would you laugh? Would you cry? Would you dance and run around?
Word spread like crazy! The neighbors come running. Eventually the religious leaders, the Pharisees, find out. You’d think they’d be happy, but they weren’t! Why? For two big reasons: 1) They were jealous of Jesus. They didn’t like it when people followed him. 2) The day that Jesus healed this blind man happened to be the Sabbath Day. And since Jesus healed him on the Sabbath, that was like work, and you’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath. Since Jesus worked on the Sabbath he must be a false prophet.
Now here’s where the loophole theme comes in…
If you read through the Gospel of John you’ll see this running battle between the Pharisees and Jesus. Jesus performs all kinds of miraculous signs, and many people come to faith in Jesus –but not the Pharisees. Some of the Pharisees do, but most of them don’t.
· Nicodemus comes to faith.
· The woman at the well and her Samaritan friends come to faith.
· This blind man comes to faith.
· Countless people come to faith when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead!
But the Pharisees keep looking for loopholes! Here’s what they say to the blind man who can now see: READ 9:13-41. COMMENT.
This has always blown my mind. I used to think that I could debate people into faith. If I could just show them the evidence for Christ they would have to believe! I don’t believe that anymore. There’s a place for evidence, but faith is a spiritual issue, a pride issue, a sin issue.
The Pharisees weren’t interested in truth! They were just looking for loopholes so they could get rid of Jesus and stay in their comfort zone!
Now before we get too hard on the Pharisees, I think all are at least tempted to look for loopholes. I’ve listed six…
B. Common Loopholes
…that I think tempt us all. The first two apply especially to unbelievers and to skeptics. The last four apply especially to believers. Loophole #1…
1. There’s too much suffering in the world.
There can’t be a God because of all the suffering in the world. If there was a God he would be infinitely good and infinitely powerful. If he was good he would not want anyone to suffer. If he was powerful he would not let anyone suffer. But many people suffer in this world. Therefore there must not be a god!
Pretty nice loophole to not believe in God!
Notice that even the disciples fell into this kind of thinking. READ 9:1-5. COMMENT.
The disciples looked at the blind man, but they didn’t see a blind man who was hurting and in need. They saw a theological problem. They saw an academic question: “Jesus, ‘Who sinned? this man or his parents?’”
I wonder if the blind man heard them talking like that? I wonder if he thought, “Hey! I am not a theological problem! I am not an academic question! I am a human being and I need help!”
Jesus basically said, “Don’t view this man as a theological problem! View him as one of God’s children and view this as an opportunity to do the work of God!” And Jesus healed him!
When you see suffering, or when suffering comes your way, don’t use it as a loophole to deny God or to explain God. Use it to do the work of God! Work, as long as it is day, for the night is coming when no one can work. A second common loophole that unbelievers especially like to use is this one…
2. There’s no evidence for faith in Christ.
Last week I was at Border’s Bookstore. There was a new book out right on the front table as you walk in the doors. I forget the title but it’s all about how there is no evidence for God or for Jesus Christ. I skimmed the chapters. They said, “You can’t trust the OT. You can’t trust the NT. Jesus didn’t really perform miracles and he didn’t rise from the dead.” It went on and one about how there is no evidence for our Christian faith.
And I thought, “This guy is like the Pharisees who kept badgering the blind man looking for loopholes! This guy is blind! He twists the evidence. He distorts the evidence. And he writes with such sarcasm that you can tell he’s hoping and praying that there is no god!” He’s trying to drum up evidence to support his hard heart and blind eyes!
On Easter Sunday I’m going to discuss the overwhelming evidence for Jesus Christ! There’s tremendous proof for his resurrection and his claims. So if you have a skeptical friend, invite him or her to church on Easter!
Now the next four loopholes apply more directly to us believers. Some of us say…
3. I’m too young.
(I don’t say this because I’m not young anymore!) Some of you teens are tempted to say, “Well I believe in Jesus! I consider myself a Christian, but I’m so young! Some day I’ll get serious about really following Jesus! But for my high school time and my college time, you know, I like to party, I like to mess around! Don’t get me wrong, I believe, but…”
It’s a loophole; that’s all it is. “Well you know, God is loving. God is kind. I can do all this stuff while I’m young and someday later, God will forgive me.” You think you’ve found a loophole.
Yes God is a God of grace and he will forgive you, but you will pay a price for your sin. The consequences of your sin cannot be undone. And you, your character, will change as you sin. And you may miss out on God’s best for you by sinning like that.
At the other extreme of life some of you are thinking…
4. I’m too old.
I’ve paid my dues! It’s time for the younger generations to serve God. I’m going to retire not only from my job but from my church! I’m going to kick back and enjoy my life now!
Sorry! It’s just a loophole! It’s ok to retire from your job; but you never get to retire from God! You have wisdom and gifts and time to give! What a waste if you spend your final years only on yourself! Number 5…some of us are tempted to think…
5. I’m too busy.
By the time I work and take care of my family –that’s it! I’m out of time! No time for church or for serving God. Listen: the busier you are, the more you need a Sabbath rest! Not only that but your work and your family are the key areas where you serve God! It’s not as if your job and your family are over here, and then “serving God” is over here. No, serving God includes your job and your family.
The question is, do you see it that way?
In John 13 Jesus celebrates the Last Supper with his disciples. You know what he does? He puts on a towel and he washes the feet of his disciples, because they were too proud to wash each other’s feet.
Mom and Dad, when you wash your little ones and put them to bed at night, you’re serving God. When you clean out the garage or take the trash out, you’re serving God.
I can hear it now. Later this week, “Honey, you need to serve God! Take the trash out!”
What I’m trying to say is this: We can serve God in a thousand different ways, but we also need to use our gifts and talents to serve him at church too. And still have to make time to worship and draw close to God. We should never be too busy for that!
Holy Week is almost here. You’ll see some extra Holy Week services that we’re having:
· A Thursday night foot washing and communion service. At 6:30 we’ll have foot washing. The guys will go to one area and the ladies to another. They’ll wash each other’s feet in memory of how Jesus washed the feet of disciples in John 13. I know it sounds strange if you’ve never done it, but it’s actually a beautiful thing. We’ll have some singing and I’ll lead a brief Bible reflection for the guys and someone else for the ladies. Then at 7:15 we’ll have communion together here in the sanctuary.
· Then on Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified, we’ll have a service here at noon.
I encourage you to make time for Holy Week.
The final loophole that tempts us is #6. Some of us say…
6. I don’t have anything to offer.
I’m not that gifted. I’m not that smart. God doesn’t need me. The church doesn’t need me. And we kind of use that as a loophole. We let ourselves off the hook so that we don’t have to do anything.
Listen: This loophole is an out and out lie! Because the Bible says that God gives to every believer at least one gift to use to serve him! So if you’re a believer don’t dare say that you have nothing to offer! God promises you that he’s given you something to offer!
It may be children’s ministry, youth ministry, or adult ministry. It may be ushering, greeting, or singing. But somehow, someway, God has gifted you to offer something of value to others!
Blind Man Pharisees
Ended up seeing Ended up blind
Humble – was healed Proud – remained blind
Came to faith in Jesus Kept looking for loopholes
It’s a great day when we stop looking for loopholes and step out in faith to follow Jesus. LET’S PRAY.
We put our faith in you, Lord. And we know that faith is more than just something we say or feel or think. Faith is something we do. No more holding back, Lord! No more loopholes! As we GET READY FOR EASTER we sell ourselves out to following you! You know what loopholes we’ve been using. We’re too young. We’re too old. We have nothing to offer. Get us beyond the excuses Lord. We courageously commit ourselves to you. Amen!
Key Idea: No more excuses!
Goal: To inspire us to courageously follow Christ.
GETTING READY FOR EASTER
#4: Stop Looking for Loopholes
Pastor Greg Henneman
March 25, 2007
Text: John 9
It’s a great day in our spiritual walk when we stop looking for loopholes and simply sell out to following Christ.
A. Review
What is faith?
1. Faith is not just something you say. (1:12)
2. Faith is not just something you feel. (1:50)
3. Faith is not just something you think. (10:24)
4. Faith is something you do. (8:31)
Seven Declarations
1. I AM the Bread of life. (6:35, 41, 48, 51)
2. I AM the Light of the world. (8:12; 9:5)
3. I AM the Door of the sheep. (10:7, 9)
4. I AM the Good Shepherd. (10:11, 14)
5. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. (11:25)
6. I AM the way, the truth, and the life. (14:6)
7. I AM the true Vine. (15:1, 5)
B. Common Loopholes
1. There’s too much suffering in the world.
2. There’s no evidence for faith in Christ.
3. I’m too young.
4. I’m too old.
5. I’m too busy.
6. I don’t have anything to offer.