John 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng on March 14, 1999 at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Near-Sighted<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I take off my glasses, I can\u2019t see any of you because I am near-sighted. It\u2019s safer for me and for you that when I drive to have my glasses on so that I can read the highway signs before I get to my exit. And during Christmas, I\u2019m the envy of my family because when I take off my glasses and look at the lights on the Christmas tree, I can see bursts of lights that glow and flicker. If you are near-sighted, try that sometimes. It\u2019s as good as any light show. Now I am neither near-sighted or far-sighted. I have bi-focals now! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Man Born Blind<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our ability to see is probably the most valued of our five senses. So when Jesus met a man on the road who was born blind, he performed a miracle on him. Jesus used one of the most insulting substance of his day, spit, and creates a mud-mask for the blind man\u2019s eyes. The man ran probably the equivalence of five football fields to the pool of Siloam to wash the mud from his eyes. When the man came back, he was able to see. For the first time in his life, he was able to have the beautiful bright light pour into his eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just imagine with me for a moment. The blind man with mud in his eyes was probably the laughing stock for that afternoon. People denigrated him all his life by blaming his parents for something that they must have done to have a son born blind. For the length of five football fields, this blind man with a filthy face was groping and stumbling, trying to get to the pool of Siloam. People must have jeered him on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey, filth-face!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a mudball for an eyeball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNice look! Be glad you are blind, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, it was not a pleasant walk. It was degrading, embarrassing, and humiliating. But the man went because he was touched by Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the man pulled his head out of the water it was as if scales were falling from his eyes. Light that he has never seen before was pouring into his eyes. He began running wildly\u2014touching everything he could. Rather than groping around walls and fences, now he can see the colors of the flowers in boxes hanging from the windows. Rather than stumbling over rocks and bushes, he can now see how they are lining houses and green gardens. Rather than hearing mocking voices jeering and laughing at him, he can now see their astonished faces in disbelief. Their smiles are not smiles of ridicule anymore. They are smiling because they are amazed and wondering about what just happened here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maturing Faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man born blind suddenly had 20\/20 vision like what I had when I was born in 1949. He was neither near-sighted or far-sighted, he was now able to see. Although what he saw was spectacular and beautiful, he was still not seeing everything. He must have been thrilled to be able to see for the first time in his life\u2014everything that you and I have seen: shimmering golden mountains, the deep blue sky particular against the Golden Gate Bridge, and the warm sunset over the placid Pacific Ocean. These are, indeed, beautiful sights, but the man was still spiritually blind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our story for this morning could have easily ended with this great scene of the man born blind wildly running up and down the streets, touching everything he can find, and hugging his parents who have had to raise a blind boy. We can be happy and bit weepy with this kind of scene. That would make a good ending for a TV show, but not for Jesus\u2019 screenplay. There is more to this story. God was not finished was just this one miracle. There\u2019s more to this plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeing physically is just the beginning to this man\u2019s new life. God wants him to see with spiritual insights too. Mature faith for this man will come from facing challenges and conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the man came back to town and was now able to see, it was his neighbors and those who have seen him all his life as the beggar on the same corner, like in front of Old St. Mary\u2019s who couldn\u2019t believe their eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs this not the man who used to sit and beg?\u201d Some were saying, \u201cIt is he.\u201d Others were saying, \u201cNo, but it is someone like him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When his neighbors wouldn\u2019t believe him, he kept on saying, \u201cI am the man.\u201d I\u2019m the guy you used to laugh and mock at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are times when we share God\u2019s blessings on our lives, and discover that no one believes us or even cares in hearing what we want to say. The response is often disbelief. When our own friends and neighbors are challenging and questioning our faith, we are able to first affirm that something really has happened. For the man who was born blind, the neighbors\u2019 questions and disbelief led him to acknowledge that it was Jesus who put the mud on his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a robbery of an 80-year old man in Daytona Beach, Florida, who was blind. The robber held the blind man with his bare foot on his throat during the incident. When the police arrested the suspect, the blind man was able to positively identify the robber by feeling his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man born blind was positively able to identify that it was Jesus who healed him. The man knew who to give credit for his sight, but he still has a long way to go before his faith will grow.
A Panel of Judges<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next the man was brought to be questioned by the Pharisees. They were divided in their verdict because they thought that Jesus was a sinner to perform a miracle on a sabbath day. Some said, \u201cThis man Jesus is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.\u201d But others said, \u201cHow can a man who is a sinner perform such signs as miracles?\u201d Once again in the midst of disagreement, the man who is now able to see said, \u201cSince he opened my eyes, he is a prophet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before it was the man\u2019s neighbors who wouldn\u2019t believe him and he was able to recognize that it was Jesus who put mud on his eyes to see. Now surrounded by a group of biblical judges, the man is now able to say that Jesus is a prophet. The man\u2019s faith became stronger from their questioning and disbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pharisees couldn\u2019t believe because they were stuck on legalism. How can something good happen when Jesus did not observe the sabbath? They were only able to see what was there. Nothing more. Nothing less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Illustration: Koyama\u2019s Something More
Man\u2019s Parents<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still not believing what really happened here, the Pharisees sequestered the man\u2019s parents to testify. They asked them, \u201cIs this you son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?\u201d The parents agree that definitely this man is their son, but they acted in ignorance in what happened. Although they must have been real happy that their son is now able to see, they were afraid to vouch for him. They said, \u201cHe\u2019s old enough. He can speak for himself.\u201d The man\u2019s parents were afraid for their own lives because disciples of Jesus were being kicked out of the synagogues in those days. The man\u2019s parents were seeing double images. They were fence-sitting Christians; knowing Jesus Christ but still unwilling to leave the Jewish faith. They wanted to play it safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Illustration: Chinese Americans believing in all the religions they can get their hands on to just play it safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man\u2019s parents were unable and unwilling to stand up for their son.\u00a0 Their complicity left him out to dry.\u00a0 When they thought they had failed their son by him being born blind, they really failed him now.\u00a0 They were too afraid to testify to the Pharisees that Jesus is Lord.
Kicked the Man Out<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for a second time, the man was brought in front of the Pharisees to tell how it was possible for a person to be born blind to now be able to see. Questions after questions were asked. And the man\u2019s answers were the same: \u201cOne thing that I do know, though I was blind, now I see.\u201d And when the Pharisees continued to challenge the validity of Jesus healing on the sabbath and that such healing were done by a sinner, the man said, \u201cHere is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, then he could do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now the Pharisees were so rattled and fed up with this man\u2019s testimony that the Pharisees were wearing shattered glasses. They couldn\u2019t make sense of what was happening to them and their faith in only Moses\u2019 law. The Pharisees thought they were the ones seeing clearly. With Moses\u2019 law in hand, they could all see the eye chart very clearly. The Es going this way and that way. But the man\u2019s persistent testimony to Jesus\u2019 miracle shattered their glasses that the only thing they knew what to do is to throw him out of the synagogue!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
illustration of being ostracized for one\u2019s faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Faith from Conflicts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the Pharisees were seeing more and more unclearly; trying to bring some sense to their legalism and Jesus\u2019 miracle of compassion, the man\u2019s eyes were seeing ever more clearly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took disbelief from his neighbors, legalism of the Pharisees, the abandonment of his parents as the result of fear for their own lives, and physically being thrown out of the synagogue, for the man to mature in his faith. Only bravely facing these challenges and conflicts, did the man realize who Jesus really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus heard that the man was thrown out of the synagogue, Jesus went out to find him. Just like that way Jesus first found this man next to the road. Jesus must have heard all about this man\u2019s trials of ridicule from his neighbors, brought to trial twice in front of the Pharisees, his parents too afraid to stand up for him, and now being kicked out of the synagogue. Jesus may have even asked himself, \u201cWhat have I done to this poor fellow? Perhaps I should have left him blind so that he wouldn\u2019t have to face so many challenges and trials?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus went out to find the man because there is still one more miracle to perform. Jesus asked him, \u201cDo you believe in the Son of Man?\u201d The man answered, \u201cAnd who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cYou have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.\u201d The man said, \u201cLord, I believe.\u201d The man who was born blind is now not only seeing Jesus face to face for himself, but he is seeing Jesus in his heart. \u201cLord, I believe in my heart that you are the Messiah.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t physical blindness all along. It was spiritual blindness. When we trust God with our lives, we don\u2019t need to be able to physically see first. Why is it that when we who can see jump down from a high place, we tend to close our eyes doing it? Seeing where we may be going doesn\u2019t necessarily lead us on a journey of faith. There will be those neighbors who will question you. There will be those bosses and officials who will say that you not playing by the rules. And there will surely be those who are really close to you, like your family, who might say, \u201cWhy be a Christian anyway? What are you getting from it?\u201d Against all these challenges and conflicts, we are invited to take a leap of faith to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like the man born blind, do we need to also face questions and challenges before we believe? Perhaps for some of us, it will be necessary. The man born blind could not have understood Jesus until he first faced these challenges and questions to his recovery of sight. When we ask God to open our eyes so that we may see Jesus, we want to see in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeing in Our Hearts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do we see in our hearts? Throughout all of our lives, we have come to trust our senses. Taste a chan pei mui. Taste ginger. We can see the sunlight coming through our stained glass windows and bathing the sanctuary with color. Hear the same rhythmic Chinese drums beating and firecrackers going off as each lion brings good fortune to another one of our neighbors. You can almost always smell Chinese food cooking and aren\u2019t we glad that we don\u2019t live upstairs. Touch the hand next to you that is touching your hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although we have been taught better, it is easy to assume that nothing that lies beyond the reach of our five senses is entirely real. But as Christians, we do know better. To believe that only the things that we know from our five senses are real is roughly the equivalent of what a cockroach crawling across the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle knows about the state of the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My optometrist told me that for awhile my eyesight is stabilized. I won\u2019t be getting worst with my near-sightedness and my far-sightedness for the next ten years. But whatever happens afterward,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 9 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng on March 14, 1999 at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco Near-Sighted When I take off my glasses, I can\u2019t