“Boot Camp #1” – John 9

Why are you here?  That question can be taken several ways.  You might take it as, “Why are you here at church?” or “Why are you at THIS church?” or “What do you want to get out of church today?” It could also be taken to have a deeper meaning as in, “For what purpose are we born?” or “Why were we created?” Do you ever think that deep?

Socrates once said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” All through history, people have wondered what the big picture was.  For what reason did God create, not just me, but all of mankind? It seems like a lot of trouble to me, but what do I know? Do you think He was bored?  Maybe He was lonely. Maybe He just needed a friend. Ya think?

Thankfully, scripture is very clear on this.  There are at least two verses that specifically tell us why we are created.  Colossians 1:16 says, “All things were created by him and for him.” I like the verse in Revelation better though. Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” You created us, so we give you glory and honor.  That’s what it boils down to. 

Have you ever tried to use the wrong tool for the job? We’ve probably all been there.  We need a hammer but all we have is a screwdriver and so we bang on the nail the best we can but it just doesn’t work very well. Or maybe you run out of laundry soap and try using dish soap. That could be a big problem. Well, when we live our lives for ourselves and make the decisions we think are best for us and do things that only benefit us individually, it’s sort of like using the wrong tool for the job. You might have some semblance of success but it just doesn’t work as well as it should.

But when we live our lives for the glory and honor of God, then we have that full and abundant life that John 10:10 says we can have. It’s why we are here. It’s what we are made for. Now, how do you think the enemy feels about that? Do you think Satan wants you to live a full and abundant life that glorifies God? No. I say it all the time that Satan prowls around looking to kill you dead (sorta 1 Peter 5:8) and if God won’t allow him to kill you, he will settle for making you miserable.

Satan has a plan for your life. Did you know that? He wants it to be as short and as miserable as possible and he works hard with all of his demons every day to accomplish that goal. He has been doing it for thousands of years and he is extremely powerful. So, do you want to go up against that kind of power and experience by yourself? No sane person would want that.

The good news is that we don’t have to. We have a job to do and a battle to fight but ultimately, as it says in 2 Chronicles 20, the battle is not ours but the Lord’s. Now, the reason we have come to boot camp is to know what our jobs are and what is required of us.  We want to know how to fight and what to fight with so that God fights the battle through us without hindrance.

The first thing we need to learn is why we fight. What is it that is going to inspire you to fight when the battle starts to rage? Who and what is going to be your inspiration to battle on when it seems like you are the only one? When everyone around you is being picked off by the enemy, why are you going to reach down and suck up that last bit of inspiration to do what God calls you to do?

Let’s start with John chapter 9. In the days of Jesus, some people thought that everything bad that happened was caused by sin. We know that sin does have bad consequences but sometimes bad things happen for other reasons and many times we don’t know why. We may never know this side of Heaven. It’s interesting, though, how sometimes sickness, pain or problems of an individual in the Bible are representative of a nation’s problem.

Here we read of a man born physically blind in a nation full of spiritually blind leaders. Leave it to Jesus to bring that point out in this story.  Let’s read John 9:1-41, the whole chapter. It’s an easy read so follow along with me.

As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said. 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. 17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.” 18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” 20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” 24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

I can’t imagine being born blind. I can’t comprehend how difficult it must be not to be able to see your way around nor ever to see the beauty of a sunset or a waterfall or a perfect Blue Heeler like Sara! I can’t understand how hard it must have been to find his way around or to make any money even begging like he had to do.

I know we take our sight for granted. I don’t think I know how not to take it for granted except to be thankful for it. We take a lot of blessings for granted, I’m sure. The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to be thankful for what we have because it’s not always going to be there. You know it’s going to happen to you at some point, don’t you? You will lose what you have, some how, some way.

Maybe you go broke or maybe you die rich but you will suffer loss in your life and the question is, what are you going to do when it happens? How are you going to react? When your doctor gives you a bad diagnosis, when your spouse says, “I don’t love you anymore”, when your boss lays you off or maybe you are born blind, what are you going to do?

You have some options.  You can do like the disciples did and ask “Why?” and then blame somebody. That’s pretty common, even today. It happens every time there is any kind of mass shooting.  They search and search for motives and then blame everybody and everything. It’s the gun’s fault, his daddy’s fault, society’s fault, whatever. If you have done that and everybody has, at one time or another, asked why and then blamed somebody else, how has that worked out for you in the past?

Did you got all the answers you wanted and then got great peace from that knowledge that led to a full and abundant life or was it a waste of time that led to frustration? I’ve said before that I believe God is fine with us asking respectfully why we are going through something.  There may be a lesson to be learned and He might even tell you and, then again, He might not.

But at some point, you have to decide it doesn’t really matter why. There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t fix it. You can’t solve it. You just have to accept that this is life and you have to deal with it. Now, here’s where it gets good. Here is why we are in boot camp. This is what will inspire you to keep going when it gets difficult and dark and when Satan hammers on you and lies to you and breaks out the big guns against you.

Look at verse 3. Jesus tells us why this man was born blind. He also tells us why the doctor gives bad news, your spouse leaves and the boss fires you. Look at it. 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Do you ever wonder why God does everything He does? Everything God does is for His glory. Everything He allows is for His glory. Everything He causes is for His glory.

No, sin is not for His glory but His allowance of us to have free will is for His glory. I think it was John Wayne that said, “Life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid.” Sometimes we are stupid and we make bad choices and God allows us to and it causes unnecessary problems but in everything that happens to us, there is the opportunity to glorify God. We were created to make God look good. That is our purpose on this earth and when we live our lives looking for every chance to do that, then our lives start to become full and abundant.

When you make the decision to consecrate yourself and make yourself filled up and overflowing with the things of God and you spend your time at work, school, play, in your marriage and in your health making God look good, then watch out, you will be a soldier to contend with! Your life will be hitting on all 12 cylinders, full of peace and joy – and yes, difficulties – but peace and joy never-the-less.

You will be using the right tool for the job because you are the tool doing what you are intended to do, making God look good with the bonus of storing up treasure in Heaven, but that’s another sermon. Sounds pretty good, right? Let me tell you how you start. You can start today, even right now. Go back to verse 25. Your homework this week is to memorize verse 25 but don’t worry. It’s easy.

The Pharisees were peppering the man with questions about how, when and where Jesus healed him, asking him over and over again and finally the man just says, “I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see.” That’s all you need to memorize. “I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see.”

We talked last Sunday night about what we believe and our sense of purpose and how that was our inspiration for going through boot camp. What do we as Christians believe above all things? We believe that God changed us. He created us then He changed us and therefore we will give Him glory. So, when people ask you why God would allow you to go through such difficulty - “I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see.”

Why would God allow a man to be born blind? Why would God allow babies to suffer? Why would He allow poverty or war or the dinosaurs to become extinct? “I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind and now I see.” Then you tell them how God has changed you.

I used to be full of hatred but God changed me. I used to be a gossip. I used to be addicted. I used to be a drunk. I used to be a big ol’ fat meany-head, whatever it is and then tell them how God has changed you.  You don’t have to go into all the gory details.  You don’t have to know all the answers. That’s why I love this verse. I say, “I don’t know” a lot. It’s okay because God gets the glory and that is why I am here.  That’s why you are here.

In Psalm 22 it says that God inhabits praise (Ps. 22:3 KJV) and if God is here when we give Him glory, then do you know where your enemy Satan is? Somewhere else! Oh, he’s waiting on you and he is patient to a fault but when you are giving God glory and honor, he can’t stand that. Resist him today and be a good and successful soldier by making God look good in your life no matter what is happening.

As the music plays, I want to invite you to come down to the front if you need prayer for anything in your life. Maybe you don’t have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus and you want to.  All you have to do is believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no man gets to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). Then allow God to change you like we have talked about this morning. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and repent of those sins and accept His forgiveness. Maybe you need to rededicate your life or join this church. I would love to pray with you right now.