Allen Jackson - Breakthroughs Declined - Part 2
In our head, there’s a leaving behind, there’s some separation that has to come. It’s a disciplined life. The kingdom of God, Jesus said, «It’s difficult to enter». You gotta live with that, a little bit, and expect it to be difficult. You not reading! It’s just not easy. This time of year, all of us want to lose five pounds. If you don’t want to lose five pounds, we don’t like you. «Jesus loves you,» I’ll sing you the little chorus, but we don’t like you. But it’s not really, like, a mystery we should eat less and move more. But I’m watching late night TV looking for a cream I can rub on my belly, right? And I will pay $19.99 plus shipping and handling. I’m looking for my phone, I’m dialing that number. They have got me.
And we do that with our faith, it’s difficult stuff and, yet, Jesus said, «All things are possible with God». And all of my brokenness, and all of my inconsistencies, and all of the things that I’m not, nothing is impossible with God. Even, God could help me even lead a disciplined life. And then I think, if we’re gonna have these breakthroughs, it’s about seedtime and harvest. I don’t like this part. I’ve confessed before you, before. I could be impatient. Microwaves seem really slow to me. We invented the microwave 50 years ago. Could we not have improved by now? What’s beyond the microwave? What’s faster than a microwave? Why does it take a minute-and-a-half for it to boil a cup of coffee? Can’t we do that in ten seconds? What are we doing? Come on. And there’s something in Genesis, God said that «as long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest».
Now, I had the privilege of growing up in a bit of a rural setting, Murfreesboro used to be different. And so I got to plant some things. And you know, you can’t hurry that. I love summertime vegetables in Tennessee, but it’s just hard to get good Tennessee tomatoes much before July the Fourth. Because if you plant them in February, they’re gonna freeze. And you gotta wait until you’re not gonna have any more frost, and maybe you’ll get it right one year, so you plant every February if you want, but you’re gonna lose more tomatoes than you grow. Seedtime and harvest. And if you’re trying to grow oak trees, that’s a whole different discussion. I like trees, I love big, beautiful trees. They’re amazing to me. They’re expressions of the power of God and I just like trees! But, oak trees. Seedtime and harvest.
Jesus used the imagery, he said, «You’ll receive 100 times as much». «As much as what»? As much as you sacrifice, as much as you plant. Oh, and he said, «And there’ll be persecutions». Seedtime and harvest means there’s sacrifice. You have to acquire the land, you have to prepare the land. It’s hard work. Planting and cultivation is just hard work. We have become a society that avoids work. We don’t wanna work. We want to recreate, we wanna play, we want to pursue our dreams and passions. Folks, all the best things in life are on the other side of «difficult». And that’s true in the kingdom of God, too. And we’ve got this easy believism. Bonhofer called it, «Men without chests,» sloppy grace.
I believe in the grace and the mercy of God. I’m the poster child for those things, but I intend to be caught giving God my best, and I would invite you to a similar path. He deserves nothing less than that. He gave us his best. So let’s decide we’re gonna do «difficult». That we don’t want to leave any breakthroughs unexplored. We are the beneficiaries of the grace of God. I wanna look at one more narrative and I’ll do it quickly because I’m rattling on. But you can’t separate the grace of God. Grace is undeserved blessing, unearned merit. Things that come to you that have nothing to do with merit. If you earned it, it isn’t grace. And we are creatures of grace, we stand in the grace of God. Having said that, if we’re going to live out the benefits of breakthroughs, it requires a response of us, and we reject more than we accept. We decline more breakthroughs, typically, than we accept.
In John chapter 9, we are introduced to a man who’s born blind. And Jesus extends to him an opportunity for healing. It’s uninvited, the man doesn’t ask. This isn’t Bartimaeus that screams loudly enough, «Have mercy on me»! This man says nothing, he doesn’t ask Jesus. The disciples draw Jesus’s attention to him. And Jesus, it seems at first glance, almost makes a mockery of him. He smears mud on his face. And then he tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Siloam’s at the lowest point in the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city built on hills, and Siloam is the water source at the lowest point in the city. And so Jesus is sending a blind man, that he’s just smeared mud on his face, on a journey through a very crowded city. Without explanation, he just says, «Go and wash».
And in the understatement of scripture, it says, «The man went and washed and he came home seeing». It’s all that, «He came home seeing»! He came home freaked out! He was born blind, he’s never seen the blue sky, or the sunshine. Do you ever listen to somebody’s voice? Maybe in a podcast, or radio, or someplace and you hear their voice, and then when you actually see them, they don’t match their voice, right? It’s like, «Wow». Face made for radio. That’s the way I see this guy coming home from Siloam. He’s down at the lowest point in the city, I know the place, and he starts his way home and he hears all these familiar voices. He said, «Joe? Is that Joe? I didn’t think you look like that». He came home, it caused a disturbance. Because he walked down there, a blind man, his whole life, he came home seeing!
So the whole city knows about it. So now they got a problem in the city because this renegade, this rebel, this guy we wanna shut down has made a rather notorious statement of power that we don’t have and so they called the blind man in. And I have to smile because, in John’s Gospel, we don’t know his name. He’s called, consistently, «the blind man,» but he’s not blind, anymore! He should be «the seeing man». But he’s had a breakthrough and he’s gonna be known forever! He’s got 20/15 vision and he’s gonna be «the blind guy». The people that have known you probably will not recognize the depth of God’s grace in your life. They’ll call you «that divorced person». «Well, I went to school with them, they were a mess».
We still know Rahab, the lady that lived in Jericho, that helped the spies, that helped the Hebrews conquer the city of Jericho, remember Rahab? What was Rahab’s day job? She was a prostitute. She’s «Rahab the harlot,» all through the Bible! She’s not «Rahab the rescuer,» «Rahab the deliverer,» «Rahab the woman of great faith,» «Rahab the courageous woman». No, she’s the hooker. Well, it’s The Living Bible. And in John chapter 9, it’s right there in your notes. It’s John 9:17, by this time, the man can see. He’s been healed, that’s why they’re talking to him. They weren’t interested in him when he was the blind man. «Finally, they turned again to the blind man», who could see them, «'What do you have to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' And he said, 'He’s a prophet.' They still didn’t believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents».
So the man can see and there’s any number of witnesses that say, «No, no, he was blind»! And they will not believe it. Remember the topic now, breakthroughs. There’s a man standing here, who has been blind, and now has complete vision. And there are people testifying to that, and the people leading the inquisition are saying, «We will not believe it. Go get his parents». Not exactly cooperative. So they call for his parents. It’s verse 19, «Is this your son? Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that he can now see»? And the parents answered, «Well, he’s our son. And we know he was born blind. But how he can see now or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He’s of age».
Well, isn’t that an affirming response from mom and dad? Doesn’t sound like there’s a hug coming. «Yeah, that’s our kid. Yup, he was born blind, and we got no clue,» really? Well, John gives us a little insight. Verse 22, «His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews have decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. So his parents said, 'He’s of age, ask him.'» «We’re not giving up our place. We’re not leaving anything behind. There’s no separation coming to us. Miracle, schmiracle. Kid can see, yep, that’s him». So, «A second time they summoned the man who’d been blind. 'Give glory to God, ' they said, 'We know this man’s a sinner.' And he said, 'Well, he’s a sinner or not. I don’t know. Let me tell you what I do know, I was blind and I can see you! '» «You say what you need to say. I’m in a better spot, I’m going with him».
This man’s got a breakthrough coming. Do you know how easy it would have been for him to have said, «I’m not going to Siloam. In fact, I’m turning you in, you’re humiliating me. I’m pretty sure that’s an expression of hate speech. I’ll get your license revoked. How dare you mock me». He’d have missed his breakthrough. He made his way to Siloam, and he washed the mud off his eyes, and he came home seeing. And you think, «Well, yeah, sure he would, anybody…» No, anybody wouldn’t! Most people won’t. Wait and see how many people say «yes» when you invite them to read the Gospels with you. He came home seeing and now you think, «Well, anybody that knows him is gonna celebrate».
How many people do you know born blind that can see you? And they bring his parents in and you think, «Well, no, this is a slam dunk, they’ll be overjoyed»! Not really, «That’s our kid, but… we’re not standing with him today». Verse 26 they said, «What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes»? He said, «I’ve told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too»? Makes perfect sense to him! Why wouldn’t you follow somebody that could open the eyes of the blind? Well, because it would mean change, and realignment, and somebody will make fun of you. How many times have you declined invitations because you didn’t want to be associated with somebody? I mean, «I can’t do that. What would people say? What would they think? I’m not telling that». «They hurled insults at him and they said, 'You’re this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ' We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from».
Sounds a lot like the church, today. We wanna talk about culture in the first century, but we don’t wanna talk about it in the 21st century. «That’s being political». Oh, give me a break. Jesus is disrupting the political structure of Jerusalem, it gets him killed, condemned to death, by the Roman governor and the most powerful Jewish political leaders in the city. Don’t hide behind bad theology. We’re not that different, we turn down breakthrough opportunities, we walk past them because we recognize they’re gonna bring separation. That there’ll be a leaving behind that not everybody’s gonna cheer. Jesus told us, he said, «It’s gonna be hard to enter the kingdom of God». He said, «There will be things you leave behind. They’ll be restored to you, but persecutions will come with that. It won’t be an easy journey».
And we understand that, we intuit that, or we’ve experienced that, and so it makes us reluctant to accept invitations. The man in verse 30, he’s so overjoyed, he’s unfiltered. He’s received so much, he’s not being sensitive to his audience. In verse 30, he said, «The man answered, 'Now, that’s remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.'» «You’re supposed to be spiritual leaders,» he said. «We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody’s ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man weren’t from God, he couldn’t do this». I mean, he is pushing hard on them. Can you see them? «And to this, they replied, 'You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us! ' And they threw him out».
Stupid blind man that can see. And everybody in that narrative is a part of the covenant people of God. They go to temple, they keep all their dietary rules, they celebrate the right holidays, they wear the right clothes, they do the scripture readings in the synagogue on every Shabbat. They’re checking every box. They’re living in the midst of the covenant that is present to them, but there’s an invitation from God that is being put in front of them, in a rather bold manner, and they’re saying, «Nuh-uh».
I think the best comparison, given the larger context of the story, is that they’re spiritually blind, they can’t see. I would submit to you that spiritual blindness is a tremendous disability. It’s a tremendous disability. And yet, I find in my journey amongst people of faith that we consider discernment, which is really a fancy word for «spiritual insight». We consider discernment to be a luxury. It’s not really something essential. So somebody talks to us about what spirit is causing this or what spirit influences that or, «I wouldn’t engage in that behavior because it could have spiritual consequences». We seem to shut that down pretty quickly and go, «Oh, I don’t believe in all that». That’s like raising you your hand and saying, «I just want to announce, I’m spiritually blind». We haven’t really valued spiritual awareness.
There’s some expressions of spiritual blindness we can deduce from that little narrative. The refusal to acknowledge what God is doing, isn’t that what happened? God healed that man, and they had a debate about it. «He was never blind». Well then, finally, his parents roll up and say, «No, no, he was born blind». «Well, the man that did it was a sinner»! I mean, it it’s like some of the narratives we followed through the media, in recent years. «No matter what the facts are, it did not come from China! And if it did, it had nothing to do with the laboratory. It was wet market stuff. Well, it may have been a laboratory, but it wasn’t on purpose! Sneaky virus». I mean, we watch this stuff all the time. A refusal to acknowledge what a stubborn rejection of the truth.
You see, when you reject truth, it doesn’t have to be something you perceive as spiritual truth, it’s just true. When you reject it, you facilitate spiritual blindness because you become a part of the deception. Spiritual blindness focuses on wrong things. The parents were more concerned about being put out of the synagogue than standing in the midst of this amazing blessing that is emerging around their son. Do you not think it would have brought good things to them, had they been cooperative? A better response from the parents, «We will go find this man. I know you didn’t see him», because we have no record that they said, «What did he look like»? «I don’t know, I didn’t see him. I was blind, remember»?
A healthier response from those parents is, «We’ll go find this Jesus of Nazareth, we’ve heard about him. Let us go find him, we’ll say thanks on your behalf». But they didn’t have that. They’re focused on the wrong things. «We don’t wanna give up our pla…» Who gives a hoot about your place in the synagogue? And the third expression is an incorrect valuation. You’ve put your eggs in the wrong basket, you bet on the wrong horse, you attach value to something that doesn’t deserve what you’ve attached value to. The religious leaders that are making the evaluation, the jury, the panel of jurists in this case, they said, «We’re disciples of Moses»!
Moses was a good guy, but Jesus is in the house. And the book of Hebrews goes way out of its way, I spared you those passages, to tell us why Jesus was faithful in a way that Moses wasn’t. And Jesus is in their midst, opening the eyes of people born blind, and it’s not the only miracle they’re aware of. They know Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. But they’re spiritually blind and they’re attaching more value to the thing they can control than to the thing they can’t, rather than submit and follow Jesus. Rather than perhaps give up their place and acknowledge he has an authority they don’t. They act like they can’t see and hear, they won’t accept the facts, they reject the truth, they refuse to acknowledge what God is doing. They’ll stay focused on the wrong things no matter what the facts suggest, and they’ll continue to attach value to that same thing they know to be false and incomplete, even if they have to murder the one who is challenging them.
Spiritual blindness, in the midst of the most religious people on the face of the planet, there’s nobody in all the earth more closely connected to the purposes of God than the people carrying on that inquiry. So if we were gonna look for spiritual blindness, we wouldn’t look for it amongst the pagans, and the ungodly. We don’t expect them to have any spiritual insight. They’re not spiritually alive. In «Jesus language» they belong to their father, the devil. The place you expect there to be some discernment would be amongst those who have spiritual life, who have been born again, who are engaged with the kingdom. Those are the places where the breakthroughs are most likely. And we’ve been invited into this mindset where we think, «The ungodly need the breakthroughs»!
Folks, we need the breakthroughs! We need to live in the midst of what God will do, to the point that it causes the ungodly to say, «How can we get in on some of that»? Well, why don’t you read the Gospels with me, in January and February? «Well, why would I do that»? I don’t know, it’s helping me change, I think you might enjoy it, let’s just do it, together. «Well, I don’t know». I know, but come on, I’ll check back and see.
I brought you a prayer, I took it from the book of Ruth. I put the passage in your notes because I wanted you to get it. This passage of scripture is typically attached to weddings. I’ve done a number of weddings where the bridal, the couple wants me to read this. Typically, it’s an attachment for the bride, echoing the attitude of Ruth, saying that she will go with her mother-in-law, Naomi. I’ll read you the passage and then we’ll read the prayer, together. «Ruth replied, 'Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.' And when Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her to leave».
So from that, I built the prayer. It’s really an affirmation of intent on our part to say «yes» to the Lord. Where he’s going, I wanna go. If he’s not going, I don’t wanna go. Whatever he’s up to, I wanna be a part of it. I don’t wanna leave. You up for that? Let’s stand together, we’ll read this prayer as our conclusion. Not original to me, folks. I have distilled this from the passage in Ruth and I gave you the passage. So if it offends you, you write your own prayer from that scripture. Well, let’s read it together.
Heavenly Father, my determination is to follow you, to never turn back or to depart from your presence. Where you lead, I will go. When you direct me to stay, I will rest. I delight in your people and the honor of being included with them. Teach me your ways and establish me in your kingdom. Grant me an understanding heart and the wisdom to serve you with all my strength, in Jesus’s name, amen.