“Who sinned?” (John 9:1-4)

John 9:1-41

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Pastor Tom Johnson, March 26, 2017

My advisor for the graduate program I was in a few years ago was born blind. We worked very closely together for four years. The very first time he introduced himself to us he gave us a list to help us better understand what it means to work with someone who is sight impaired: “Announce yourself when you approach me until I recognize your voice.” “When I ask a question in class, don’t just nod or smile but say, ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’” One day a student preached a sermon using the chalkboard. Even though it was not on his list of do’s and don’ts, he chastised that student like I’ve never witnessed before. Over the years he realized that he not only had to teach theology to his students but also teach empathy for someone who cannot see. One thing I remember him saying was that the healing of a blind man today is his favorite story in the Bible. Because it does not just document a miracle but teaches us to empathize as well.

I truly hope the blind man did not hear the disciples’ question that day. People who are sight impaired often develop acute hearing skills. “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Their question is tragic. It presumes that people who have physical or psychological challenges have brought it upon themselves by something they did wrong or as punishment for something their parents did. “Who sinned?”

Maybe you remember a few years ago when I went to the Dominican Republic. One ministry we visited is called “Amigos de Cristo”—“Christ’s friends.” It is a day school for children with developmental challenges. But it also has classes for parents to help them understand how to care for their children. Too often children are marginalized in that culture who have special needs. It is not uncommon for a child to spend each day hidden away in a dark room because their parents believe it is God’s curse and society’s shame for them to have such a child. The Dominican Republic’s government is now looking to this Christian ministry to better understand and serve all their people. The ministry of Jesus is still elevating people to receive the compassion and love they deserve and need.

“Who sinned?” We have. Anytime we look at another person with an eye of judgment. Anytime we hear part of a person’s story and quickly condemn them without listening to their whole story. Anytime we speak words that presume people deserve their difficultly—as if we have earned God’s good graces. “Who sinned?” We all have. “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to their own way” (Isa 53:6a). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). If God punished us and our children for our sins, I would not like to imagine how brief and tragic our lives would be. “God is good and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”

Jesus answers his disciples. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” These are some of the most beautiful and hopeful words spoken. God is not punishing you with whatever challenge you are facing. Parents, it is not your fault that your children are having whatever difficulty they are having. You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. No missing sense or member of your body can rob you of that. It is not random misfortune or karma. You are not a mistake. You not living out some random tragedy. Parents, your children are exactly who God designed them to be. Jesus accepts the blindness of that man. He does not judge him or his parents.

God accepts you. He loves your children. He believes in a greater purpose. He talks about something only God can see—his plan for our lives. “That man was born blind so that God’s works will be revealed in him,” he says with a hopeful smile. God is doing something that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor heart imagined. Sure it is a miracle that Jesus will heal the man of his blindness. But the greater miracle of his story—the more beautiful works revealed in him is his faith and love for Jesus. “One thing I do know,” he says, “that though I was blind, now I see.” And the disciples see how Jesus liberates people with unnecessary shame and guilt. We all see how Jesus tenderly shows us our sin of pride and harsh judgment of others. And how he gives us something to believe in—someone to trust to use our difficulties to reveal the work of God.

God is doing something. It may be hidden from our sight. It may be out of earshot. It may almost be on the tip of our tongues. We may barely be able to get our minds wrapped around it. God has a plan. And it is good. “Who sinned?” We have all sinned. But thanks be to God for his mercy in sending his Son to die for our sins and be raised for our justification. Thanks be to God for his grace to know that he does not punish but forgive. And even more than that his grace is sufficient for us, “for,” he says, “my power is perfected in your weakness.” No matter what your challenge or difficulty may be, God’s works will be revealed in you and through you.

Word that caused blind eyes to see,  
Speak and heal our mortal blindness;
Deaf we are: our healer be;  
Loose our tongues to tell Your kindness.
Be our Word in pity spoken,  
Heal the world, by sin now broken.

          ("Word of God, Come Down on Earth," v. 3 LSB 545)

“Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:1-7)

Exodus 17:1-7

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Pastor Tom Johnson, March 19, 2017

In our reading this morning the people of God are thirsty again. There is no water for them to drink. They are at the beginning of a difficult journey through the wilderness. This is a life-threatening thirst—serious dehydration.  This is just another trial God wants to lead them through. They should have said to themselves, “Here we go again. Not long ago, God made the contaminated water drinkable. He provided the Manna and the quail. God will provide again. God has been among us through previous trials. He will be among us through this trial.” But they don’t. Instead things spiral out of control. And they test God’s patience and ask, “Is the Lord among us or not?” “Give us water to drink,” they demand. Instead of praying for God to deliver them as he had faithfully before, they verbally abuse Moses: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

When our relationship with God is weak…when our trust in God fails, anxiety sets in. Discord and broken relationships follow. And we begin to think irrationally. We blame others for our problems. We choose to attack and mistrust one another because we don’t trust in God. You’ll remember what happens immediately after our first parents fall into sin after eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam blames Eve. And Eve blames the devil. The Israelites lose sight of the God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt, and so they lose sight of the God who will bring them safely to the Promised Land. And so it is with us: When we lose sight of the God who created us, we will lose sight of the God who promises to sustain us. When we lose sight of the God who saved us, we will lose sight of the God who sanctifies us. And when we try to live our lives by our own strength…when we think with thoughts that lack faith in the God who provides…we become as hopeless as the Israelites who ask, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

And Moses and God’s answer to that question is a resounding “YES!” God tells Moses to take the same staff with which he struck the Nile—to take the same stick that God used to deliver the plagues to Egypt. You’ll remember that the Israelites were slaves and captives in Egypt under the tyranny of Pharaoh. You’ll remember that God sent Moses to tell old Pharaoh to let his people go. And each time Pharaoh said “No” God sent another plague. God tells Moses to take that same staff God used for the first of those ten plagues. Moses was instructed to strike the Nile with the staff so that “the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile” (7:18). God himself contaminated the drinking water and drove the Egyptians to thirst—so much so that they had to dig new wells to find drinkable water.  The rod that God used to contaminate the water of their enemies—the rod that God used to drive their oppressors to thirst will be the same rod that God would use to provide water and satisfy the thirst of his people.

God’s solution is to use the same rod of Moses that delivered them in the past to deliver them in their future. God is telling them a story. He is assuring them of God’s faithful past so that they will have a hopeful future. God struck the Nile with the wooden rod in judgment. And he will strike the Rock with the wooden rod in mercy. And that’s exactly what Moses does. He strikes the Rock and water comes gushing out. And they drink from that Rock and live. Centuries later in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 (v. 4), St. Paul says of this story that they “drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” This is the same Rock would later be struck again by the wooden rod of the cross. Calvary will strike Jesus with a deathblow—and grace, mercy, and love will flow—a torrent of God’s goodness will gush out for his people.

When the Samaritan woman meets the Rock at the well in our Gospel reading, we see how many barriers Jesus crosses to reach her—ethnic, religious, and gender. This Rock brings living water to all people now. There is even less reason for us to be anxious or doubt the presence of God now that the Rock and Living Water has come to us. “Is the Lord among us or not?” He was among us for the Israelites when they thirsted in the desert. He is among us and will be among us when we thirst in our desert journey. Maybe that was what the psalmist was thinking when he boasted in the Lord, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Thy rod and staff they comfort me.” The Lord is among us. The Rock of Ages will quench our thirst for our journey ahead.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
the living water, thirsty one; stoop down and drink and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.
          (from hymn "I heard the Voice of Jesus Say" v. 2 by Horatius Bonar)

“He came to Jesus by night” (John 3:1-17)

John 3:1-17

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Pastor Tom Johnson, March 12, 2017

Nicodemus is a Pharisee. He is an expert in the Hebrew Scriptures. He is a religious leader. He happened to be part of a group of people who at odds with Jesus during his whole ministry. The Pharisees challenged Jesus. They tried to catch him in lies and false teachings. They accused him of being from the devil. They criticized Jesus for who he spent time with: “he is a friend of sinners,” they complained, “and eats with tax collectors and prostitutes.” And Jesus has some of his harshest words for the Pharisees. He has a whole sermon of “woes” where he exposes their hypocrisy. He makes fun of them another time because of their practices such as white washing tombs and straining out gnats and swallowing camels.

So, it is not surprising that Nicodemus would not want the other Pharisees to know about his pilgrimage to Jesus. After Jesus’ death and resurrection we learn that there is another Pharisee, Joseph of Arimathea, who was also a secret follower. But for now, Nicodemus does not want anyone to know about his visit to this Rabbi and healer. And so he goes under the cover of darkness. He feels safer in the shadows so that no one will find out. This is an ancient technique. In fact, our first parents—Adam and Eve—tried to hide their bodies with fig leaves. And they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. Adam said, “I heard the sound of you, O Lord, in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” And so we try to obscure our true selves to this day.

Most crimes are committed at night. We are less likely to be spotted and identified. Shame and guilt will keep us in the shadows. Like Adam and Eve, we may even think we can keep God in the dark. But I also think this true of unnecessary shame and guilt. Nicodemus is not doing anything wrong. But he is afraid of what others may say or think. He is very likely worried about what the other Pharisees will say or think. And so Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. I think it is a courageous step forward. I believe Nicodemus has faith that Jesus is a safe place. Nicodemus can be himself. He can say that he knows God is with Jesus. He can tell him that faith has taken root. He is ready for Jesus to challenge him to trust him even further. And so our true selves emerge more easily when we can approach someone without fear of criticism or judgment. Jesus is that safe place. When we draw near him in prayer, he accepts us. He knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The truth is that Jesus is drawing Nicodemus out of the shadows. He is calling him out of the darkness into the light. Nicodemus is not going down a dark path that leads to death. Whoever believes in Jesus—whoever trusts him will not perish but will have eternal life. Our journey out of the shadows and through the cover of darkness does not end with death and the tomb. It begins anew with forgiveness and rebirth from the womb—the womb of Christ’s Church by the water, Word, and Spirit of Baptism. We are born again of God. We are born from above in the Kingdom of God. We should not fear the light of Christ. Yes, the light exposes our darkness. But it also drives it away. Sin, shame, and guilt are scattered and washed away. We can be true to ourselves and true to God. Whoever we are, God calls us out of our hiding places and the cover of darkness.

The Spanish word for give birth is “give light” (dar a luz). That is what happened when we were born. We came out of the dark womb into the light of the world. In Christ, we are born again—born from above. We come into the light of the Kingdom of God. He will challenge us when we step into his light. But it is a challenge based on love and acceptance. He challenges us not to just be more informed—but transformed by the Holy Spirit. We are reborn as children of Light. The light exposes our sin, drives away guilt and shame, and then dresses us up for eternity. Christ is lifted up on the Cross in death so that we are lifted up by the Spirit to new life. We are now clothed in his light. And we will shine like the midday sun forever.

God would not have the sinner die;
His Son with saving grace is nigh;
His Spirit in the Word declares
How we in Christ are heaven’s heirs.

Be of good cheer, for God’s own Son
Forgives all sins which you have done;
And justified by Jesus’ blood,
Your Baptism grants the highest good.
            ("God Loved the World So That He Gave" LSB 571, vv. 3 & 4)

“Be Gone Adversary” (Matthew 4:10)

Matthew 4:1-11

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Pastor Tom Johnson, March 5, 2017

The word devil means “adversary.” An adversary is someone who is against you and me—an enemy—a foe—a rival. An adversary wants to tear you and me down. An adversary will attack one’s reputation. An adversary will encourage and celebrate sinful and destructive behavior. An adversary will challenge faith in God. Jesus encounters the adversary in the wilderness. He meets the adversary as the Son of God but also as a human being. Jesus’ humanity is weakened by fasting. He has not had anything to eat or drink for 40 days. His body and mind has lost strength. He is not only divine but also flesh and blood. We should not dismiss the challenge Jesus had to face that day. It was a struggle for him. The adversary was doing his best to attack while Jesus was most vulnerable.

That is what evil does. There is no mercy. The adversary will attack when we are most vulnerable. He will kick us when we are down. The tempter will quote Scripture—he twist the Word of God in an attempt to lure us into sin. The devil will challenge our faith—accuse us of being a phony—and do whatever he can to discredit us. He will use the truth. He will use half-truths. He will use outright lies. What is even more disturbing is that we do not even need the devil to tempt us—unlike Jesus. “Jesus is tempted in every way as we are,” Scripture says, “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We are tempted…yet we have sinned and are inclined to sin without any assistance or temptation of the devil. Our own sinful nature tempts us every day. Our own appetite lures us into making poor choices. Our lack of self-control means we do things we later regret. We do not require a deceiver, tempter, or adversary because we are already prone to self-deceived, tempted without outside influence, and our own worst enemy. Our inward battle is not like Jesus because he is perfect, without sin and without a sinful nature. But Jesus’ outward battle with the Devil is like our outward battles. That is why Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days.

Like the nation of Israel before him that was delivered out of hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt and wandered the wilderness for 40 years, so Jesus enters the wilderness for 40 days. You’ll remember that God’s people did not do well when they were tempted. They failed to be faithful in the midst of many trials. They had many adversaries along the way—including Pharaoh, his army, other violent tribes they encountered, and even individuals within God’s people who rose up to challenge and attack Moses. Jesus is the new Israel. He is living through trial and temptation faithfully to fulfill God’s call to trust and love him above all things—even through the valley of the shadow of death. But he is also showing his church the way forward.

We will have adversaries in the wilderness of this world. Some may be spiritual. Others may be antagonistic toward the Christian Faith. Some may even be close family and neighbors. Others may be from within the Christian community. Even our own conscience can be adversarial. We can have a lack of Christ-esteem in ourselves. We may not accept the way we have been fearfully and wonderfully made—just like we feel attacked when people do not accept us with all our foibles. We may be trapped in the wilderness of shame and guilt. Maybe the devil or others have beat us down so much that we feel that we will forever be held captive to our sins. The voice that says, “You are not good enough. You are a horrible person.” This is not humility; it is the voice of the adversary.

Jesus shows us the way through the wilderness. And it all centers around the Word of God. Scripture is the gift of God that promises to deliver us. The truth of God’s Word reveals the lies of the devil, the world, and even those lies that we have been duped by. The world around us is filled with adversaries whether they are spiritual or physical—even in that secret world in our minds and hearts where we can be our own worst enemy. Once we can identify a lie or anything that does not square with God’s Word, we can reject it. We move forward in the truth. “It is written,” Jesus says. Our strength is found in the truth of Scripture. The German Reformer Martin Luther said, “The Devil fears the word of God, he cannot bite it; it breaks his teeth.”

In Christ we have a Friend, an Advocate, Someone on our side. Is there a voice saying, “You are a sinner”? He gave his life on the Cross to break the power of sin, the devil, and death itself. It is written, “He is the Friend of sinners” (Matt 11:19). Is there a voice that says, “You are not worthy”? Christ has made us worthy. He not only bring about our forgiveness; he raises us up by the power of the resurrection. It is written, “In all theses things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:37). In a few minutes, William, his family, and we will all reject and renounce the devil, his ways, and his lies. Standing firm on God’s Word, we say, “Be gone, Devil!” “Away with all your accusations and deceptions.” Our eyes and hearts are fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. "He holds the field (of our battles) forever." "One little Word can fell our worst demons and adversaries." "Our victory has been won; the Kingdom ours remaineth."