Louie Giglio - This Is For Me
Last week, when we kicked off this series, I told a story again about climbing the Matterhorn in Switzerland. The reason I tell this story periodically is that if you climb the Matterhorn, you don’t use it one time as a sermon illustration and then leave it in the dust; you talk about it regularly because it’s a pretty major deal. Just a little glimpse of what we’re talking about when we talk about the Matterhorn—your pastor went up that! Okay, that’s pretty significant. I will add, barely, and made it back down again. So that’s the good news.
The first guy who climbed this mountain, by the way, was the last of the French Alps to be conquered by man; he was a pastor from London. His team traveled up the Matterhorn—eight of them, only four of them made it safely back down to Zermatt. I was thinking about pastors going up the Matterhorn the whole time, but I was telling a story about my guide, and I love this guy because he literally ended up getting me off this mountain. It was a pretty amazing experience, both in the good and in the «Oh my goodness, what am I doing up here?» side of things. But he was my fill-in guide; my guide I had been training with all week got sick the night before. I got this guy as a pinch hitter, and all he could think about was, «I gotta get this Louis guy up this mountain and down this mountain. I gotta leave and go to another town to get another guy up another mountain tomorrow.»
So right out of the gate, 4:45 a.m. in the dark, we are booking it way faster than I’ve trained, and it was kind of that idea of what kind of shepherd is leading your life or my life today? Jesus said, «I’m the good shepherd and I lay my life down for the sheep.» I’m not gonna just try to get you up the mountain and down again to do a job, you know, check a box, get paid, and go on to the next thing. I actually care about you. I want to lead you in, and I want to lead you out so you can find good pasture. I want to restore your soul. I want you to lie down in green pastures. I want to lead you beside still waters. I want to anoint your head with oil. I want to be with you through the valley of the shadow of death. I want to prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies. I want your cup to overflow. I want to say to you, «Surely goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.» Why? Because I’m a good shepherd. And if the good shepherd is leading you, the fear meter goes down, the want meter goes down, the stress meter goes down, the rushing and hurrying through life for no reason goes down, and our hearts begin to rest with God knowing that He knows my name.
So, I’m talking about the Matterhorn last week, and there’s a person sitting on the other side of the lens here in Atlanta, Georgia. The person is watching the screen with a photo of the Matterhorn on the wall in the room. Can you imagine how cool that was in the moment? This person has been up the Matterhorn, shared the experience, and all of a sudden is in the story. Everything’s clarifying and personalizing for that person as they’re at church that day, and their story is that they texted during the gathering, like so many have, the word «alive» to 33864, meaning, «I want to put my faith in Jesus. I want a new start with Jesus today.» When that happens, this is the amazing thing: even though there are tens of thousands of people around the world linked into this gathering today, all of a sudden it became about this person, and God is now speaking into my story.
«I’m going to text in and see what happens.» But it’s a big thing at Passion City Church. I don’t know who’s on the other side of my computer screen, but lo and behold, a phone call came, and a conversation happened. In that conversation, the person who saw the Matterhorn understood the story and suddenly realized that God is speaking to me; this is for everybody. This isn’t just for a bunch of people around the planet today; this is for me. That person went from saying, «I don’t know if I’m ever going to be good enough for God. I’m trying to do all the good works to get to heaven,» to saying, «I realize it’s not about me doing good works; it’s about what Jesus has already done on my behalf. I want to put my faith and my trust in the finished work of Jesus.»
I’m not using their name just because we’re all in a brand new relationship together, and I just want to protect that for your sake, but we did double-check into the story to say, «You’re going to share this today.» All of a sudden, a person has realized this—this gospel, this death, burial, and resurrection of the King of Kings—this is for everybody. And that’s what we want to have happen in the minds of every person in the church and every person who’s looking at the church from the outside, wondering if they have a place in the church, is that they would understand this reality. They would be awakened to the possibility that the promises, the purpose, and the power of God can be accessed by everybody, and that you are in the everybody. This isn’t an insiders' club; this isn’t like a hierarchy.
Oh, someone got the password, somebody had the secret code, someone knew the right panel to push on the side of the door, and things opened up. This is for a select few; this is for those who came from the right family or have the right spiritual background or came from the right context. No, this is for everybody! The promises of God, they’re for you. The power of God, this miracle power, is for you. And to get in on the purposes of God—what He’s doing on earth, what He’s doing through the ages, what He is doing in time and space— you have a place in the purposes and the power of God. We love the great assembly at Passion City Church, but we also recognize that everybody needs to get in a circle because it’s in that circle of relationship, belonging, community, and growth—and if I can say it, accountability—that you’re going to tap into everything God is wanting you to be.
Right now, all the talk’s been about when are we going to be back in church? Listen, the church is doing fine. Jesus said, «I’m going to build my church, and the gates of hell are not going to stand against it.» I guarantee you no pandemic is going to stand against the church that I’m going to build. And He’s building that church right now; He’s building it all over planet earth, and He’s building it in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s building it through our local family at Passion City Church. Here’s the thing: maybe what He’s trying to say to us is don’t focus so much on the big coming together in the thousands and tens of thousands and into arenas and stadiums. Focus on: «Are you in a circle?» By answering this question today: «Who’s in my circle? Who knows me? Where do I fit? Where do I belong? And who have I invited in so that I can be a part of what God wants to do?»
I just was looking at it yesterday and all of a sudden I saw it—two circles, 20/20. You have to think about it for a minute—two circles! That’s what the year’s аbout: two circles. To find your place, to find your circle, to find where you fit, to find where you belong, to find community that can’t be defied, to find a place where you can walk in and say, «These are my people, and these are the people I’m gonna walk with in the process of becoming more like Jesus.» This is the year to circle. 2-0, to circle again.
When we come back together, when buildings are packed and arenas are packed, I believe the church is gonna look stronger, healthier, more vibrant, and more powerful than it’s ever been. I just say get ready for another wave of the great move of the Spirit of Almighty God when this church comes back together. Something’s going to explode—why? Because we’ve all been fragmented and dismayed? No, because we’ve been in our circles and in the Word. We’ve been growing deeper, putting roots down, getting stronger, and letting God refine us so that we can be the people He wants us to be. I’m just trying to help you see today that it’s for you; it’s for everybody.
There are 10 major statements that obviously I can’t preach on today, but hopefully, we can roll them out through our social media over the next couple of days or maybe the next week or so, so you can get a little more of a deep dive into each of these. But here are at least 10 things that God wants for everybody: Everybody can know they matter to God. And I just think about how many people in Atlanta, Georgia today, or in your town today, do not know that they are on heaven’s radar, that they are not ancillary or incidental. They are purposed by God, and they are on the radar of heaven today. God sees them; He knows them; He is aware of them. They are valuable to Him. Their lives matter to God, and it matters to heaven, and it matters on earth, and everybody can know that. Everybody’s got to know that when they wake up and take a breath: «I matter to God Almighty,» and that’s the operating point from which I’m going to move out into the world.
Secondly, everybody can know God’s love. It’s like Eugene Peterson wrote in the Message in this amazing passage in Psalm 36. I love the way he wrote it: «God’s love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomical, His purposes titanic, His verdicts oceanic. Yet in His largeness, nothing gets lost—not a man, not a mouse slips through the cracks.» Everybody can know that God sees them, and more than that, everybody can know that the God who sees them actually loves them. This is for everybody. I pray even today that revelation sight will come to somebody at church today, and you will leave saying, «God doesn’t hate me; God loves me. God is not against me; God is for me. God hasn’t written me off; God wants to write me in.» How do I know? Because His Son stretched out His arms on a cross to say, «I love you, and I am for you.»
Thirdly, everybody can be forgiven. Everybody can be called a child of God. Everybody can be changed and be an agent of change. Everybody has equal access to the things of God. I’ll just tell you what we mean by that when I drop in, and some of this will unfold in the next few days. What does that mean that everybody has equal access to the things of God? Everybody can understand and put to memory the Scriptures, commune with God in a meaningful and intimate way, renew their minds to truth, find their gifting, walk in Spirit power, learn to explain their faith, raise up others, and live in a supernatural story. Everybody has equal access to the things of God, and you do!
See, what the enemy’s story has always been is someone can get that, someone can understand that, someone can walk in that gift, someone can share their faith, someone can see a friend or a co-worker go from death to life, someone can see a vision for their life that changes a city or a community, someone can understand Spirit power, someone can really put to memory the Word of God and operate in its truth and power. But that’s probably not going to be me, and the enemy will help you understand it’s probably not going to be you. But you’ve got to understand that that enemy voice is a lie from hell, and God is the one who is opening the doors today, flinging wide the gates today, and saying, «Let the light in. Everybody is a part of the Gospel story.»
In other words, this isn’t limited to a few missionaries that went on a mission trip, or an evangelist that really likes to tell people about Jesus, or our door holder on the other side of the Matterhorn conversation this week, who pretty much leads somebody to Jesus every single week. It’s not limited to just a few people who’ve had evangelism training or memorized a few verses in the Bible and know how to lead somebody to put their faith in Jesus. This Gospel story is for everybody. Everybody is a part of the Gospel story.
Everybody can shape history through prayer. Amazingly, the church doesn’t pray. The average Christian doesn’t pray; the average dad doesn’t pray. We work; we’re busy. We attend; we come; we sit in seats; we sit in the building; we may have a devotional reading, but the average Christian doesn’t pray. Oh, we pray when we face hardship or difficulty—when our family’s going through the fire, yes, then we pray, or we get a phone call from a friend, or our business is on the rocks, we send out prayers in those moments. But consistently, faithfully, regularly, on our knees saying, «God, I believe what I do right here can change my city, can change my family, can change my community, can change my brother over here, and can change the direction of this nation. I believe I can topple governments and change history right here.»
Everybody can access the throne of God through faithful prayer. The enemy says, «You don’t need to worry about that; you’re not one of the intercessors; you don’t have that spiritual prayer thing; that’s for like the ladies in the church.» No! That’s for you through the power of Jesus to change and shape history through prayer. And lastly, everybody can live and die with purpose. Not just a few people! Who are they gonna say about you at your memorial service? «Man, she really lived; she crushed it,» and people are standing up to applaud the way that you impacted their lives and their stories and your world and the community that you live in—that there’s a legacy and remembrance that five years later, ten years later, fifty years later, a hundred years later, they’ll still be talking about you because you lived and died with purpose in your life. Everybody, everybody can live and die with purpose, and this is God’s promise for you and me.
Last week, we talked about the shepherd and the sheep in John chapter 10, but there’s a beautiful illustration of this everybody idea in the chapter before, in chapter 9, and it is our text today. It doesn’t really need a lot of preaching around it—that’s the good news of the Bible. You can just read it in chapter 9 and see the beauty and the power of the somebody and Jesus trumping it with the everybody. So I just want to walk through it with you. If you have your Scripture, John chapter 9, this Gospel, this promise, this power, is for everybody.
It says in verse 1, talking about Jesus, as He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. Now, that’s a problem. His disciples asked Him, «Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?» «Neither this man nor his parents sinned,» said Jesus, «but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I, Jesus, am the light of the world.»
Having said this, Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. «Go,» He told him, «wash in the pool of Siloam.» (This word means «sent.») So the man went and washed and came home seeing. Now, just going to give a little break right there so that we don’t get stuck in the text and shift into our Sunday School Bible study mentality here and you just realize what just happened! So I’m going to read that one more time. And in your den or living room, out on the porch or wherever you are right now, there should be some kind of interjection at that point because this same Jesus is in the room with us right now. So the man went and washed and came home seeing! Okay, not bad! A pretty good miracle! Decent miracle!
His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, «Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?» Well, some claim that he was, and others said, «No, he only looks like him.» But he himself insisted, «I am the man.» So, what a great story! I have been born blind! This guy just rolls up! I’m not asking him—I’m not looking for mud and saliva. He just walks up, spits on the ground, makes mud, puts it on my eyes, tells me what to do, and voila, I see! My next encounter is people going, «No, you’re not the guy that was blind. No, you’re not that guy! Come on, we know you’re not the same guy. We’ve seen you day after day after day after day begging here by the road.» And he’s like, «No, no, no, no! I’m right here, guys! I am that man!»
«Then how were your eyes opened?» they demanded. He replied, «The man they called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went, and I washed, and then I could see.» «Well, where is this man?» they asked him. «I don’t know,» he said.
I mean, can’t you hear some of the undercurrent of the Christian culture in this? It’s like, «Oh really, oh really!» Well, this guy’s had a miracle happen in his life! This guy was a somebody over here that this is never going to happen to you. Do you understand? You’re never going to be a part of the synagogue in full; you’re never really going to tap into the promises of God—why? Because obviously there’s something wrong with you; you were born blind, so you’re not going to be in the inner circle, you’re not going to be in the in-crowd, you’re not going to be one of those who walks closely with God because there’s something wrong with you. You’re the somebody who’s not gonna get it.
But Jesus, He’s not interested in somebodies getting it; He’s interested in everybody getting it, and He’s trying to make a big giant point of how that happens. They’ve asked him, «Where is this man?» and he says, «I don’t know.» Then it gets worse. The religious leaders show up—the Pharisees—the people who are holier than everybody else and outwardly more religious than everybody else. They show up. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day which Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore, the Pharisees, red flag, can’t do that! No, no, no, no, no! Nobody who’s born blind gets to see on the Sabbath if making mud is involved. So, they’re frustrated.
They say, also asking him how he had received his sight. I’m down in verse 15. «He put mud on my eyes,» he’s telling it again, the man replied, «and I washed and now I see.» Some of the Pharisees said, «This man,» speaking of Jesus, «is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.» But others asked, «How can a sinner do such marvelous signs?» So they were divided. Okay, just a heads up: that’s not a 2020 thing; that’s a human thing. You can have a dude who’s born blind standing right in front of you who can see, and half the people are going to say, «I don’t think so,» and the other half are going to say, «Wow, this is amazing.» Half the people are going to say, «This guy is from the devil,» the other half are going to say, «I don’t know, looks like he’s got miracle power, I don’t know where you get that from.»
So, we’ve got to keep our eyes on Jesus in the midst and follow along with how He’s trying to help us understand the process. They were divided in verse 16. Finally, they turned again to the blind man, «What have you to say about him? It was your eyes that he opened.» The man replied, «He’s a prophet.» That’s what I got to say. I don’t know more than that, but this guy has got something!
The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. «Is this your son?» they asked. «Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?» Boy, you talk about taking the safe road. «We know that he’s our son,» the parents answered, «and we know that he was born blind. But how can he see now, or who opened his eyes? We don’t know. Ask him, he’s of age; he’ll speak for himself.» So, his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, «He’s of age; ask him.»
The second time they summoned the man—can you imagine this guy by now, who had been blind? «Give glory to God,» they said. «We know this man,» speaking of Jesus, «is a sinner.» He replied, «Whether he’s a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see.» You see how he instantly got into the Gospel story?
I don’t know when he went to evangelism training; it doesn’t say in the paragraph above when he went to his evangelism training class or when someone told him, «Oh, by the way, you’re gonna need to share your faith.» I miss that verse. I’m sure it’s in here, and it’s probably just because John didn’t have time to write the entire conversation down where they said, «Okay, now that you have seen, you’re gonna have to go out and tell other people about Jesus and what He’s done in your life.»
Now see, that’s just a natural part of being touched by the power of Almighty God. When He touches you, and gives you a story of grace, you then have a story of grace to tell. You don’t need a whole lot of training necessarily; you just need to be able to speak up and say, «I don’t know, I’m not sure, I don’t know where this is all going. I can tell you one thing: I used to couldn’t see and now I can see! I was blind, but I’m looking right at you right now.»
See, they were called the Pharisees, but they couldn’t see. They’re looking right at Jesus and can’t see Him. They’re looking right at the miracle but can’t see it. They’re looking right at God in their midst, saying, «Listen, guys, everything’s changing right here, and the power of God right now is for everybody who wants to reach out and take hold of me!»
And they’re like, «Well, we’ve got questions, and we’ve got hurdles, and we’ve got laws, and we’ve got Moses, and we’ve got the Sabbath to deal with.» They can’t see what God’s doing right in front of them. The blind guy, he didn’t have all those hurdles because all he’d seen all his life was your out, and now he had seen that he was in. The only thing standing between him and fellowship in a circle in the family of God were the religious leaders of the day and whether they let him in or not.
So it comes down to verse 26. I just want to finish this out; I love it. And they asked him, «What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?» You can tell he’s already, you know, got a measure of patience. He says, «Well, I’ve told you already, and you didn’t listen, so why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples too?»
And then they hurled insults at him. Is going good for this guy? Parents don’t want to really stand with him; people are divided whether he’s even the guy that couldn’t see, and now the religious leaders are hurling insults at him. They said, «You are this fellow’s disciple, and we are the disciples of Moses,» trying to divide right away, which side are you on? You, Moses, or Jesus? They didn’t understand Jesus said, «I’m here to fulfill the law, Moses, and all of the prophets. I’m here to bring it all together through the cross, my death, burial, and resurrection. I’m here to bring it all together into one glorious family where everybody has access to the promises and the power and the purposes of God through me, Jesus Christ.»
They’re trying to split it all up. «We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.» And then look at the insight of the blind guy who can see. The man answered, «Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.»
And listen to his theological understanding of that right off the bat: «We know that God does not listen to sinners; He listens to the godly man who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.» To this, they replied, «You are steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us?» And they threw him out!
You know, sometimes, the church hasn’t had the best track record, but Jesus is here to give sight. Now whenever we say something like «everybody,» there’s always a little ruffle around the edges of like, «Yeah, everybody can come, Louie, but make sure you tell them that they all have to believe in Jesus and they all have to understand He’s the way, the truth, and the life.» That’s just a few verses later right here, and they all have to understand that it’s a narrow gate, and they have to understand they’re going to be changed and transformed and become disciples, and they’re going to have to be made into the image of Jesus.
Of course, all of that is true! Jesus, though, is the one who’s standing on planet Earth, God in human skin. He didn’t walk up to this guy born blind and say, «Hey, what I’m going to do is spit in the mud and put it in your eyes, and then you’re going to have to do A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P,» and then we’re going to put you through the thing, and do the thing, and do the thing, and do the thing, and then all of us who are already in are going to vote on you as to whether you can be in or not.
He just said, «You need to see. Go wash in the pool of Siloam.» See what happens—miracle sight! So, as we’ve said before, everybody is welcome; it’s the Lord’s table. He sets the pace; He teaches us the manners; He transforms by the power of the Spirit so that ultimately He gets glory as we become more and more like Jesus.
But how quickly do we want to say who’s in and who’s out without saying, «You can be changed! You can be forgiven! You can experience a transformation; your life can be totally changed! That can happen to you!» I was reading the other day about Chuck Colson. I don’t know if that name rings a bell or not, but back in the 70s when I was coming through high school and into college, the biggest story in America was Watergate. It was a giant political mess where one party broke into some of the campaign headquarters of the other party, and a whole lot of mess went down—a president ended up resigning in the midst of it, and a bunch of guys went to prison. One of those guys was a special counsel to the president named Chuck Colson.
Chuck Colson was convicted of crimes and went to federal prison. So this is a guy that’s highly educated; he’s got his Juris Doctorate from George Washington University. He has worked his way up to becoming a special counsel to the president, and they said about him that he was the hatchet man of the president. Imagine having that job. He was the guy that you did not want to run across. Okay, so we got a smart dude; we got a guy with a lot of experience; we got a guy with political motive; we got a guy who will do just about anything. This is Chuck Colson.
Okay, so he’s indicted and arrested, in the process of which, a friend of his—who’s the CEO of a major corporation in America, in the world—comes to his friend Chuck Colson and gives him a copy of C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity and says, «You’ve got some time on your hands; you’re gonna be sitting around for a little while, you need to read this.» Chuck Colson opens the pages to Mere Christianity, reads this brilliant essay by C.S. Lewis, and Chuck Colson sees God; spits on the ground and puts mud in his eyes!
While he’s reading the pages, he sees Jesus, gives his life to Jesus, surrenders to the Lordship of Christ in his life, becomes a born-again Christian, writes a book—a classic, one of the best-selling books of the age called Born Again—and goes to prison. He realizes there’s a lot of injustice in prison; he realizes there’s a lot of inequity in the system of incarceration; he starts caring more about that than he ever had before; he realizes that his dad and a generation before had cared about the justice system and about equality and about the injustices that are woven into incarceration. So, he now starts lifting up the cause of prison reform, and then he starts a ministry called Prison Fellowship, which still exists to this day—taking the Gospel to tens if not hundreds of thousands of prisoners around the world right now. They’ve seen countless people come to know Jesus behind prison bars: baptized, discipled, and churches started inside prisons—all because of a radical conversion of Chuck Colson, a guy I’m guessing that most people would have written off.
«You’re probably not gonna get in,» and Jesus said, «Don’t ever write anybody off because this Gospel is for everybody.» You can be the hatchet man of a president, and you can go to prison for your crimes, and right there, the doorway will open to a brand new life. Do not let Satan write you off today. «Oh, you’ve been through that with your relationship. You’ve been through these failures; you’ve got this baggage; you’ve got this history; that’s not your kind of people; that’s not your family; you’re not a church type person.» Who’s telling you that? The enemy’s telling you that?
Well, I’ve never really seen myself as one of the followers of Jesus. Why not? Because the enemy told you that? Or because you met some of the Pharisees who couldn’t see, and you were like, «I don’t know if I really want to be in there or not?» But I’m telling you, Jesus wants to open your eyes! You’re like, «You don’t know; I’ve been to prison.» So what? «You don’t know; I’ve got a story.» So what? «You don’t know; I’m successful; I built a business.» So what? «You don’t know how much I’ve got in the bank.» So what? «You don’t know what water has gone under the bridge.» So what?
I know what blood has flowed down the cross, and that’s all that matters. The difference between you being in and being out, and that is available for everybody. So, all of a sudden, a guy born blind, basically an ID card for «you’re never getting in,» even so much that Jesus' own followers said, «What is this guy’s problem? Is it him or his parents? Because something went down wrong here.» Jesus said, «No, neither one! This guy was born blind so that I could stand right here today and show all of you that what we need is revelation sight. I’m going to do it in the natural so that you can understand that it can happen in the spirit.»
So, look at the conclusion; it’s pretty great. It always comes down to this, and that’s where we’re closing right now. It always comes down to this great story, crazy Pharisees again missing the point; family caught up in the tension of, «Did we stand with our son, or do we stay in the church?» People in the community want to talk more about whether the guy’s even the guy or not before they just go, «I don’t know where to go; which direction did this Jesus guy go in? Because I’m going after him.» Great story, but this is where it always comes down. Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so He went and found him. Isn’t that cool?
Can I just pause one second? I know a lot of you’ve been out of church for a minute, and you’re not sure if you want to be back in or if you even can be back in. Can I just tell you, if you’re out of church right now, you know what Jesus does? He comes and finds you! So, when the 99 sheep were in the pen, the shepherd didn’t go, «Are you kidding me? We got 99 attendance today; that’s gonna be like the best attendance in the city! I’m gonna get a plaque; I’m gonna get a lapel pin; we’re gonna get an award! 99 attendance at church today—we are killing it!»
He said, «Uh oh, there’s a sheep that’s not here. You guys good? All right, cool, can you watch the gate for a second? I gotta go get this guy.» And then He does what? He comes back with the lamb on His shoulders! Yeah!
And all the other sheep are like, «Baa! This is so good!» We don’t know why the sheep got lost; could have wandered off, could have got caught in a thicket, could have been an idiot, could have been stubborn, could have been rebellious, could have just not been paying attention. But Jesus comes and finds you, and He’s coming right now for you. Jesus said to him, «Do you believe in the Son of Man?» «Who is he, sir?» the man asked. «Tell me so that I might believe in him.»
And Jesus said, «You have now seen Him; in fact, He’s the one speaking with you.» And then the man said, «Lord, I believe,» and he worshipped Jesus. At some point, you have to have revelation. You can hear a thousand sermons; you can go to church hundreds of times; your grandma can be a believer, and your mom can be a believer, and your dad could have been a pastor. But there’s a moment in time where Jesus spits in the ground, and He puts the mud in your eyes, and you take that step, and you go wash in the pool, and all of a sudden, it’s like, «You’ve got to be kidding me! I was blind, but now I see!»
And if you need one more step, Jesus will come find you. «Do you believe in the Son of Man?» «I don’t know; who is He?» «You’re looking at Him.» And He said, «I knew it.» And he worshipped Jesus! He said, «You’re the one!» About my heart, about my affection, about my life to you. I’m just asking you today: has God been taking layers off? Has He been clarifying? Has He been bringing things more into focus?
And maybe today’s the day that all of a sudden it’s like, «Wow, this is my Matterhorn day—Jesus is standing here, and He wants me in! I matter; He loves me; I can be forgiven!» Yeah, this scarlet letter became His scarlet letter, and I can walk clean, I can walk forgiven, I can walk knowing that I’m in the righteousness of Jesus, I can be a game changer and a history maker. I can be changed and transformed; I can be turned into a brand new person and be a part of seeing that happen in the lives of other people. I can access the things of God; I can walk in the Spirit; I can know the Word; I can learn how to share my faith; I can be a part of this grand story. I can live a generous life; I can live and die with purpose. I can.