Sermon for March 2, 2008

“Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the Blind will see and those who see will become blind!”

       How many of you have natural 20/20 vision?  What a blessing!  How many of you have 20/20 vision with help- such as glasses or contacts or surgery? Many people do not like to admit that they can not see as clearly as they used to and don’t like the idea of glasses to help them to see clearly!  So they struggle in their life with their vision and how well they see in their life!
       The statement of our theme this morning “20/20 VISION” is a very personal one for me.  After all, I have worn glasses or contacts since I was 11 years old and I can still remember the day that I was told that I needed glasses to help my vision!  I was going to a 6th grade Camp Arrowhead Lutheran  Camp in the mountains of Lake Arrowhead, California   and I needed to have a physical at a Doctor’s office.  This physical included  reading the eye chart on the wall from 20 feet away.  My eyes had tested 20/20 vision a few months earlier at school so I thought that my eye test would be okay.
       I stood in the Doctor’s office and was asked to look at the eye chart on the wall with my left eye.  I thought the nurse was teasing me and I said, “WHAT EYE CHART?”  “What letters can you see there on the chart, Mark?” as the nurse pointed  me to the wall.  I replied , “with my left eye the chart is very blurry but I know that there is a letter “E” at the top, but it is pretty blurry!   With my right eye I can see a few rows of letters and I said them to the nurse!  Within a week, I had my first pair of glasses and am celebrating my 40TH  Anniversary of wearing glasses or contacts to help improve  my vision.
       After I began  wearing my glasses, a whole new world opened up to me!  It was amazing to see the baseball once again as a round object instead of a big blur.  I could now see the hymn board in church again instead of depending on the bulletin to tell me which hymn was next.  It was quite a joy to be able to have my 20/20 blindness changed  to 20/20 vision and to see clearly once again!
       Our text for today from the Gospel of John chapter 9 talks about a man who was COMPLETELY BLIND IN HIS PHYSICAL EYES.  He had been physically blind from birth and Jesus performed a miracle and gave him physical sight which amazed the people who saw this occur.  What joy and  relief and thanksgiving this man experienced, now that he could see!       When the disciples first saw the Blind man they had a question for Jesus.  The disciples asked Jesus, “WHO SINNED, THIS MAN OR HIS PARENTS, THAT HE WAS BLIND?”  It  was the common belief of the day to associate sin and physical illness together which can still occur even today.  We often ask the same type of question to ourselves and to God, “What have I done wrong to deserve getting sick or to have this physical problem in my life?” 
       Jesus responded to His disciples and said, “NEITHER THIS MAN NOR HIS PARENTS  SINNED, HE WAS BORN BLIND SO THAT GOD’S WORKS MIGHT BE REVEALED IN HIM!”  And God still uses physical problems even today to show His great power of healing  in the world today!
       Jesus went on to explain the meaning and purpose of His miracle as a way to deal with all types of blindness in the world today!  Jesus wanted his disciples and listeners to see that there are 2 kinds of Blindness- blindness of the physical eyes and far worse, blindness of the spiritual eyes.  Jesus  used this example to point out to the Pharisees their SPIRITUAL blindness- even though they thought they could see!
       In our text, the Pharisees would not admit their  blindness as they could  not understand or explain  what had actually happened during this miracle!  They did everything they could to discredit Jesus and his ministry because they refused to believe that He was the Promised Savior and Messiah sent by God!  The Pharisees had their own idea about how to get to heaven and it did not include believing in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. 
Instead the Pharisees emphasized the need for doing “GOOD WORKS” to earn God’s love and to earn your way to heaven and to prove to God that they were better than other people and “DESERVED” to be in heaven!  They thought they could “SEE” Spiritually, but actually they had the disease of SPIRITUAL  20-20 BLINDNESS and could not “SEE” Jesus as who He really was- the PROMISED SAVIOR AND MESSIAH sent by God!
       There are many things that try and blind people in the world today regarding the Christian faith and the way to eternal life in heaven as well!  There is the BLINDNESS OF SIN which causes a person to “NOT SEE” the need for God and His love and forgiveness in their life.  There is the “BLINDNESS OF IGNORANCE”- in not knowing and not wanting to know the way to eternal life and making up their own way of trying to be on “GOD’S GOOD SIDE” so they won’t have problems in their life!  There is also the “BLINDNESS OF THE PRESSURES OF EVERYDAY LIFE” in this world  which cause us  to IGNORE or even FORGET about Jesus Christ in our  life!  We become “TOO BUSY” and it isn’t that important to spend time each day with God in devotions and prayer and Bible Study which are so necessary and helpful in keeping our  “EYES OF FAITH OPEN!”
       A mother of 5 children lost her physical vision through illness.  She had always been a self- sufficient type person, doing things herself.  Now she had to depend upon other people to help her which was a big challenge to her.  She also began to notice many things around her that she had never noticed before.
       There was a blind man who stood on the street corner selling newspapers. When she had her physical sight she never paid any attention to him, but now that she could not see, she stopped and spoke to him and soon became his friend.  The woman discovered that the blind man had never had a birthday party.  So she organized a party, baked a cake and he blew out the candles that he couldn’t see but could feel.  He was so thankful and happy.
       The woman described her experience by saying, “If I had not become physically blind, I would not have stopped to visit with this blind newspaper man.  I felt so happy to see a need and to be able to serve that person and help them.  I once was BLIND even though I could physically see.  I now CAN SEE even though I am Physically blind!  Now that I have lost my physical vision, I can see so much more!
       How many of us  have 20/20 VISION of FAITH despite our Spiritual BLINDNESS OF SIN?  We all have tests in our life and I would like to give you a test this morning to see how well our 20-20 vision of Faith is in our life and see how you will answer these questions: #1 WHO MAKES THE DECISIONS IN YOUR LIFE? # 2- WHO IS AT THE CENTER OF YOUR LIFE? # 3- WHO DETERMINES WHERE YOUR FUTURE IS GOING?
       For many people, this test quickly becomes an “I” TEST, because they answer the questions with the word “I”.  They say, “I’M IN CHARGE OF MY LIFE, NO ONE IS GOING TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO.  I DO WHAT I WANT TO AND DON’T NEED TO LISTEN TO ANYONE.  I AM WORKING OUT MY FUTURE THE WAY I WANT TO.”
       The people who answer the questions like that have the disease of   20-20 spiritual blindness.  From God’s Word for today we learn about the right answers to the questions so that we can have 20-20 spiritual sight in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the source of our life so that the blind will see their need for Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  God’s love makes me special and helps me to see the way to eternal life in heaven!  God’s will is my greatest joy and God is in charge of my life!
       Faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and  the Light of the World is having our “Spiritually blind eyes and life”  opened to see the way to eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.  We can rejoice that God’s “Amazing Grace saved a wretch like me!  I once was lost but now am found, WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE” and that Jesus Christ  changes our 20-20 spiritual blindness into 20-20 VISION OF FAITH for eternal life in heaven!