Note: For this sermon I changed the OT reading to Exodus 24:3-11.
Intro The disciples asked Jesus an age-old question. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). My mother lived her life from such a world view. When something bad would happen to me, she would invariably say, “God’s punishing you.” Main Body It’s easy to assume that. It’s easy to think that God punishes us when we mess up. After all, have you read the Old Testament? There, God publicly rewarded the people of Israel when they followed His covenant and punished them when they didn’t. In our Old Testament reading, we heard about God putting the Old Covenant in place with His people. Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws. Then all the people responded with a single voice: “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.” … Early the next morning, Moses got up and built an altar…. They offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; half of the blood he splashed on the altar. He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you based on these words.” [Exodus 24:3-8] So in the Old Covenant, a link existed between the people of Israel keeping the Covenant and God blessing them. For the people said, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” That was part of the Old Covenant. If the people kept and followed the Covenant, God publicly blessed them. If they didn’t, God gave them a spanking, usually by allowing some foreign, invading army to have its way with Israel. But that’s not the case in the New Covenant. How do we know that? How do we know that it isn’t just some wish we want to be true? Easy: We go to where God set up the New Covenant for His people. That’s how we know how the New Covenant operates. So, where do we hear the words of the New Covenant? You hear them every week at church, that is, if you are in a church that does what God commands the Church to do. What are those words? Here they are: In the same way also [Jesus] took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying: “Drink of it, all of you, this cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” What’s the New Covenant? It’s the Lord’s Supper. That’s the core and center of the New Covenant we have with God. That’s why the Lord’s Supper is the center of our worship, for it’s the central piece of the New Covenant. That’s why our Lutheran Confessions say, “The purpose of the Mass [that is, the Divine Service] is for giving of the Sacrament” (AC, 24, para 34). As important as preaching is, Jesus never called preaching the New Covenant. Although Jesus commanded it, and as important as it is, Jesus never called baptism the New Covenant. Jesus never called absolution the New Covenant. But He does call the Lord’s Supper the New Covenant. And what’s the purpose of the New Covenant? Jesus tells us that, as well: It’s for the forgiveness of sins. In the New Covenant, God doesn’t punish you as He punished the people of Israel when they broke the Old Covenant. Instead, life on this earth is now often the result of the choices and actions we make. Galatians 6:7 reads, “A person reaps what he sows.” In Luke, chapter 13, we hear about some Galileans who died when some tower collapsed on them. Jesus’ disciples were wondering if they died in that accident because they had committed some egregious sin. Jesus told them: “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:4). The sinful nature asks, “Why do bad things happen to good people.” That’s because the sinful nature assumes that we are good enough. But the Christian asks, “Why do good things happen to bad people.” For the Christian knows that no one is good in God’s eyes apart from the righteousness of Jesus. The Christian knows that every bad event in the world is a call to turn away from sin back toward God. And since bad events happen all the time, repentance is part of the Christian’s way of life. For when a Christian stops repenting, when he stops turning toward God, he stops being Christian, letting His sinful nature dictate who his god will be. And yet, in our Gospel reading, the disciples were partly correct about the man’s blindness. His blindness was a result of sin. But it wasn’t because God was punishing that man. Instead, his blindness was the result of living in a fallen, sin-filled world. His blindness was part of the continuing aftershock of Adam’s fall into sin. When God first created man, He created us with optic nerves designed to receive light, not to be sealed in darkness. God made eyes so we could see and ears so we could hear. He made legs for walking, not paralysis. He made bodies alive with His own breath to live and breathe, not to lie broken in the dust of death. But Adam’s fall changed all that. The blind man suffered because of the fall in to sin, as do we. Jesus didn’t go into some philosophical discussion about “why” the man in our Gospel reading had to experience all of his years in ever-present darkness. He didn’t lead the disciples to think that the man was blind because of some particular sin. Instead, Jesus said: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Instead, this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:4). Hmmm, so what is that work of God? Listen to the Old Testament: “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, and the Lord loves the righteous” (Psalm 146:8). Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Messiah, by saying: “On that day, the deaf will hear the words written in the book, and out of deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see” (Isaiah 29:18). Isaiah also says, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped” (Isaiah 35:5). That day has dawned. For the Sun of Righteousness, Jesus, has come for those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. God the Father sent Him to do what we could not do. John tells us at the beginning of his Gospel that Jesus is the light of the world. He is “the true light that shines on all people” (John 1:9). In our Gospel reading, that light of Jesus shone. He made an ointment of dust and spit and rubbed it on the man’s empty eyes. Then, Jesus sent him to bathe in the pool of Siloam. Jesus was pointing forward to holy baptism, where He would cleanse us from our sin and enlighten us with His Spirit (Acts 2:38). The man who was born blind gained physical sight. He was now born anew to see color and form, depth and detail. But Jesus will do more than take away his physical blindness, for the newly sighted beggar will come to confess faith in HIm. Oh, the light of the sun will brighten that man’s vacant stare and his eyes will see the richness of God’s creation. With his own eyes, he will see Jesus, the author of the new creation, the Word made flesh. But most of all, with the eyes of faith, he will see Jesus, and in seeing Jesus, He will see God’s loving, fatherly heart laid bare. How ironic it is that the blind man, now a disciple of Jesus, has perfect vision. But the disciples of Moses, with their keen eyes for God’s Law, are blind to the presence of the Messiah among them. With all their physical sight, they are still spiritually blind. The Pharisees would interrogate and finally expel the man whose eyes Jesus had opened. For they could not, and would not, see Jesus as the light of the world. They remained in the blindness of sin, even though the people of their day considered them to be “good.” And so they raged against the Light, Jesus the Messiah. They will see to it that Jesus is crucified. And from that cross of death, God will reveal His greatest glory for us, for there He will be lifted up as our Savior. In His death, Jesus gives life and those who look to Him in faith receive sight. Their eyes then see God’s mercy as they see the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So, why do good things happen to bad people? It’s all because of Jesus. God sent Him into the gloom of our sin to die our death, but also to rise from the dead. He now lives and shines as the Light of the world, the light the darkness cannot overcome. That is why, even in the middle of Lent, a season of repentance, you can rejoice. Although the world may, at times, feel dark and lonely, you can still rejoice, for Jesus has given you true sight with the eyes of faith. And what do the eyes of faith see? They see the sin that ruins your life with God. And so the eyes of faith bring you to repent, to turn from those sins back to Jesus, the Light amid the darkness. And in such faith and repentance, the Christian’s heart becomes hungry for the New Covenant. For the Christian who knows his sin can never have too much of Jesus. He can never have too much of His forgiveness. Conclusion When you are bodied and blooded by Jesus, the all-seeing God becomes blind to your sin, for all He sees in you is Jesus’ blood and righteousness. When your heavenly Father looks at you, He sees His Son. He sees you and admires His beloved Son, in whom He delights. So, with hearts turning away from sin back to Jesus, come now to receive Him. His Supper waits for you. Amen. -- Rich Futrell, Pastor Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Kimberling City, MO http://sothl.com Where we receive and confess the faith of the Church (in and with the Augsburg Confession): The faith once delivered to the saints, the faith of Christ Jesus, His Word of the Gospel, His full forgiveness of sins, His flesh and blood given and poured out for us, and His gracious gift of life for body, soul, and spirit. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
