Healing of The Blind Man

³⁵As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

³⁸He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

³⁹Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

⁴⁰Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹"What do you want me to do for you?"
"Lord, I want to see," he replied.

⁴²Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has healed you." ⁴³Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.

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Yesterday, Meg gave a sermon about the healing of the blind man. She said "he used what he had: his voice, and his courage". She told a story about a time when she took the middle school youth group to spend the night in a cave. She talked about just how dark it was when the lights when out. She talked about it being a darkness where our eyes are useless to us.

She didn't continue on the path I am about to, but I'll end up with where she did.

A darkness where our eyes are useless to us. This is what it was for the blind man. His eyes were useless to him. It made me think of how we are before our 'eyes are opened' to what was accomplished on the cross through Jesus Christ. We were walking in darkness... a darkness that we really had no control over. Our eyes were useless to us, our spiritual eyes, that is. They were, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. We were blinded by the darkness so that we couldn't see our hands in front of our faces even if we wanted to. But then something happened. Even though we could not see, due to the hustle and bustle about this Jesus Christ figure, we knew that there was something else out there. SOMETHING pointed us to God, regardless of what WE were seeing. Like the beggar, we had the choice to just sit in our darkness and let it pass us by, or to step out in faith, in courage, knowing we had nothing really left to loose, except our spot on the side of the road, our safety of that dark spot that had been faithful to us so far... But we can hope for something better. The blind man called out to Jesus with his courage. JESUS, Son of David, have mercy on me! As Meg pointed out, this was not just another person calling out for healing. This was the first person, outside of the apostles who knew Jesus, to call him by that name. What was it that made him do that? Had he heard someone talking about it? Was it somehow 'revealed' to him by a supernatural power (God?). I don't really know, but it is intriguing. Jesus replied, "What do you want me to do for you?"

We also, like the blind man can call out to Jesus. At one point, if you are a Christian, you have called out to him! He has asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" and you responded with a *hopefully* life-changing answer, "I want you to be my Lord, my Savior." Now, the thing about this is... at this point in time, one said Christian has had their eyes opened. Almost like you could say, Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, one now can TRULY know the difference between light and dark, good and bad. Galatians 5 says it this way,

⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

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There is a choice involved now. Far too often, though, we choose to walk in darkness all over again. Whether it is because we refuse to repent (to change, to turn OVER your mind), and continue to live by the flesh and NOT let our minds be transformed, or because we simply forGET what we have once called out to Jesus for- we have chosen to walk in a darkness that is SO dark, our eyes are useless to us. I think of just how many people sit in the congregation I help lead in worship to God, including myself, choose to live in that kind of darkness. It pains my heart, and gives me even more fuel to pursue the HEART of worship, who is God. How can I sing songs like "I lift my eyes to the hills" when I know my eyes are useless to me?

Meg asked us "What do you want Jesus to do for you?"... I woke up this morning with the song "Faithful" by Brooke Fraser stuck in my head. I don't particularly LOVE this song (though I like it), it gets stuck in my head when I don't want it there (I'd rather have C.S. Lewis Song, or Love, Where Is Your Fire? ya know?). But I realize that this really was my heart's desire, that I want Jesus to make me more faithful. That I will not just pursue Jesus and call out to him, and not that I will simply be faithful with my actions or doing what God wants me to do... but my heart desires a complete and holistic faithfulness to God, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. That I would be faithful in my pursuit for more knowledge of God and worship, that I would be faithful to the work of the Spirit of God in my life, and that in my mind in my heart, I want to be so faithful that I cannot walk in darkness. I want to faithful in my prayers and time with God, not just faithful to HAVE time with God, but faithful in my relationship with God.

"And as I wait for You, maybe I'm made more faithful."

LB