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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 23rd April 2006 PM‘REMEMBER THE GRACE OF GOD! Pastor Colin Meadows ‘One thing I know’ - Part 3 John 9:1-12, 17, 24-25, 35-38 Ø Back to basics: Sometimes we make life too complicated. This applies as well to our faith journey with God. Rather we need to get back to the basics. Jesus often spoke about being like children when it came to faith. We have been looking at passages in the Bible that refer to ‘one thing’ statements and seeking to unpack what is said in these. What does each one mean? Here is the third such statement… John 9: 25 “…One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” What is the one thing mentioned here? That God works by grace, and not because of our efforts. God is a God of grace. Remember the grace of God! Ø An Act of God’s Grace: Jesus is constantly looking to act in grace in our world. He is looking, while at the same time we are blind to our situation. From birth, we have been hindered from seeing clearly. That is the true nature of grace, God acting to help the helpless. That is what we read of here. Jesus reaching out to the blind. John 9:1 “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.” Jesus saw what the man could not see. He saw the potential for something different and that he could make the difference. He saw an opportunity to act, where the grace of God could be demonstrated to an unbelieving world. He saw where he could bring light into the darkness. Why not let the blind man tell the story himself… I want to tell you about the day my world changed… Ø The day my world changed: I remember that day so vividly. It started like any other day. My parents brought me out onto the street to beg, just as they did each morning. Day after day, week after week, year after year. I could feel the warmth of the morning sun, and hear the sounds of the village as it awakened. Just like any other day and yet there was something different. A man was moving about the villages, telling of new and amazing things. I had heard my parents talk about a wedding where this man was at when the wine ran out. In some amazing way, the man was able to turn ordinary water into wine! Later news came that he had cleared out the temple in Jerusalem. Then Nicodemus, one of the ruling council of the Pharisees, went to talk with him to set him right but came back a different man. This holy man then went into Samaritan territory, spending time even talking with one of their women! Unbelievable! Talk about stirring the pot and upsetting the status quo. Talk about grace! News of healings filtered through, in Cana of Galilee, Jerusalem. Then feeding 5000 and walking on water! All the time people kept asking him just who was he? How could he do such incredible things? Who was empowering him? Most of us were sceptical for our hopes had been raised too many times in the past. Yet within my heart a tiny spark of hope was beginning to grow. You see, one of this man’s sayings had come to my ears and I just couldn’t shake it out of my thinking. He had said John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” For someone like me who had never seen light, this was just too amazing to ignore. I longed to find out more. Then that morning I heard his voice and in my very presence he said those amazing words: John 9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then he spat on the ground and made mud and rubbed it into my eyes and said go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Some friends helped me find the pool and I washed. Why not obey what he had said. What did I have to lose! And then the amazing change took place. I could see! It was like a blinding light at first and then slowly my eyes focussed and I was able to find my way home by myself for the first time in my life. That little spark of hope was now a throbbing kernel of faith. I could see! But then the problems came. Ø Friends may misunderstand the man Jesus: I went blind to the Pool of Siloam and then went home seeing. Just wait until I saw my friends and told them! My neighbours and friends couldn’t believe it. No, it wasn’t the same man… must be someone like the guy who was blind. They all look the same, you know. People don’t get healed like that. God doesn’t really bring about such change so quickly. Could be a case of mistaken identity. Yet it does look like the guy we used to see begging, but he is somehow different. They asked me how things had changed. It sounded pretty simplistic when I explained. John 9:11 “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.” That is the nature of God’s grace. Touching lives, transforming situations. No, I didn’t actually see the man for myself but I have heard others say that he is a good man, a powerful man, a man you can trust. That is all I know at present. He seems to have religious power. I don’t know who he is but he is definitely able to heal and I can see. And I want to know more about him! Not getting the answers they wanted, my neighbours took me to the Pharisees. Surely they could sort out the issue. After all they are the religious ones and they will have a spiritual explanation. Ø Religious responses to the prophet: The religious set could not accept what had happened. Not within our religious framework, they claimed, for it was done on the Sabbath. This doesn’t fall into what we think is how God acts, so it is unacceptable. Must be a sinful man who has intervened and helped me. What do you think, healed man? Who is this man? I could not accept that a sinful man had touched my life. I remember spluttering out… John 9:17 “The man replied, ‘He is a prophet’.” He is definitely not a sinner. He must also be more than just a good man who does good things. He is able to heal and speak with authority. He must be a prophet, one who is in close contact with God. They wouldn’t accept what I said. Come on, tell the truth. Just who is this person? What did he do? What really happened? Come clean and tell us. But how can you explain the grace of God! John 9: 25 “…One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” All I know is this one thing. Once I was blind and now I can see. I can’t explain it but I know I am different. You work that out! You have all the answers, you claim. Tell me how I can now see. You are the enlightened ones. Give me your explanations. This man must be from God for God only works with godly people. The Pharisees were so incensed that they tossed me out of the religious precincts. It was then that I met with Him. Ø Meet with Jesus the Lord: It was then that Jesus found me. He asked me if I believed in the Son of Man? This is the title Jesus took for himself often and is used 81 times in the gospels. It refers to the coming Messiah, the one who would come in salvation power and authority, the one who would bring victory. Do you believe in that one, man who is healed, the man who has experienced the grace of God? Who is he, Sir that I might believe in him. I know that God has touched my life in a huge way. I am growing in faith as I listen to your words. Even the abuse and ridicule of others is not hurting anymore. In fact, it is spurring me on my spiritual faith journey. Who is this Son of Man that I might believe in him? I am the one you are looking for, replied Jesus. Your search is over. Trust in me and me alone. I remember to this day my response…it is recorded this way in the Bible… John 9:38 “Then the man said ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshipped him.” I had now found the source of God’s grace. It is to be found only in Jesus, the one who opens the eyes of the blind, the one who truly is ‘The Light of the World.’ He is the Messiah, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings. He alone is the one to be worshipped for he is God! Can I explain it all? Not really. But like I said earlier… John 9: 25 “…One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” Have you experienced this incredible grace of God? Can I encourage you to step out in faith tonight? Allow the grace of God to touch your life. You may not be able to explain it to your friends. Even religious people may question what has happened in your life. But cling to this wonderful truth and remember the grace of God… “…One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
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