The Hubble telescope was launched in 1990. In its first fifteen years, it took more than 700,000 pictures of distant galaxies and stars like these: When images from the Hubble became blurry, a team of astronauts was sent to repair the telescope. Homer Hickam was one of the NASA specialists who trained this repair team. Hickam once wrote this about Hubble and its images: “The Hubble has changed the very way we understand who we, as citizens of Planet Earth, are and where we are going. Yet, within the magnificent pictures of Hubble is a deeper truth. There are miracles everywhere although sometimes they are concealed, not by God, but by our own eyes. All we need to do is look, and they will be seen.”[i] Hickam is saying there is more to these Hubble photographs than meets the eye. There are miracles here, although they are concealed by our own eyes. God is displaying himself through these images. And if we’ll look closely we’ll see God’s creativity, power, and majesty revealed here. Through these cosmic creations God is displaying himself.
There are miracles everywhere, although sometimes they are concealed. All we need to do is look and they will be seen. Two Sunday’s ago we witnessed the truth of that statement. We read the account of a story in which miracles were everywhere. But not everyone saw what God was displaying: 1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.” (Jn. 9:1-7 ESV). Just as through those galaxies in the heavens pictured by Hubble God is displaying himself, so now through this blind man on earth God is displaying himself. The works of God are being revealed in this circumstance. And the story in John 9 focuses on what it means to see what God is showing.
Looking and listening is the focus on this Sunday morning series. God still has a lot to say if we’ll just listen. God still has a lot to show if we’ll just look. We’ve been talking about how to develop ears that hear what God is saying and eyes that see what God is doing. We’ve looked at Lectio Divina as a way of hearing what God is saying through Scripture. We looked at the Examen as a way of seeing what God is showing through daily circumstances. This morning we return to John 9 for one final lesson on how we might see God and hear from God.
Much of the point of John 9 is revealed through its dialogue. There are eight scenes of dialogue: The disciples and Jesus, Jesus and the blind man, the neighbors and the blind man, the Pharisees and the blind man, the Pharisees and the parents of the blind man, the Pharisees and the blind man again, Jesus and the blind man, and Jesus and the Pharisees. Let’s listen as the dialogue unfolds. Listen to the emphasis on seeing:
| Disciples: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? | Jesus: It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. |
| Jesus: Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. | |
| Neighbors: Is this not the man who used to sit and beg? | |
| Neighbors: It is he. / No, but he is like him. | |
| Blind Man: I am the man. | |
| Neighbors: Then how were your eyes opened? | Blind Man: The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” So I went and washed and received my sight. |
| Neighbors: Where is he? | Blind Man: I do not know. |
| Pharisees: [How did you receive your sight?] | Blind Man: He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see. |
| Pharisees: This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. / How can a man who is a sinner do such signs? | |
| Pharisees: What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes? | Blind Man: He is a prophet. |
| Pharisees: Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? | Parents: We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself. |
| Pharisees: Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. | Blind Man: Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. |
| Pharisees: What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? | Blind Man: I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? |
| Pharisees: You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. | Blind Man: Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. |
| Pharisees: You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? | |
| Jesus: do you believe in the Son of Man? | Blind Man: And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? |
| Jesus: You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. | Blind Man: Lord, I believe.” |
| Jesus: For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. | Pharisees: Are we also blind? |
| Jesus: If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains. |
This story is filled with irony. In this story, a blind person sees what God displays. There are miracles everywhere in this story. But only the blind person sees them. He alone is capable of confessing: “He is a prophet”; “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing”; and “Lord, I believe.” The once-blind man is the only person who sees what God puts on display in this circumstance.
And that’s one of the great things about biblical spirituality. There are people around us who see what God displays. They can look into a situation and see God. Michael Scott, a Highland member, caught me in the hallway a few weeks ago. “I’ve got some news,” he said. I said, “Oh?” expecting something exciting. “Yea,” he said, “I lost my job.” His company had restructured and his position had been eliminated. But just as I was ready to console him, he continued, “But we know God’s going to take care of us. We know he’s going to provide. We know God’s going to work for good in this situation.” Some people might have looked at that situation and saw nothing of God. But Michael was able to look at it and see a lot of God. That’s one of the great things about biblical spirituality. There are people around us who see what God displays. And that’s what’s happening in John 9.
But not only is John 9 a story in which a blind man sees what God displays. In the same story, some seeing people miss what God displays. The Pharisees thought they saw all and knew all. They saw, “We know that this man is a sinner” and “we know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” But Jesus says, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” The Pharisees said, “We see” but it turns out they did not see. The very ones who should have seen what God was doing in this situation did not. They missed what God was displaying.
Sometimes that happens to us, doesn’t it? Many years ago a Christian friend shared that she was engaged to be married. Several of us knew her and her fiancé well. And spiritually speaking, there could not have been a greater mismatch. This friend was certain that her fiancé was a gift from God. The rest of us could see that he was not from God. She believed this marriage was the answer to all her prayers. We could see it was not God’s answer to any prayer. It was obvious to us that God has planted a STOP sign in the middle of that relationship. But she couldn’t see it. And sadly, in the end, we were right. The marriage fell apart. Sometimes God is trying to show us something and we miss it. Sometimes the very people who should see miss what God is displaying.
But the good news of John 9 is that there are people who can help us see what we miss. Listen again to the dialogue between the Pharisees and the blind man:
| Pharisees: [How did you receive your sight?] | Blind Man: He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see. |
| Pharisees: This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. / How can a man who is a sinner do such signs? | |
| Pharisees: What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes? | Blind Man: He is a prophet. |
| Pharisees: Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. | Blind Man: Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. |
| Pharisees: What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? | Blind Man: I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? |
| Pharisees: You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. | Blind Man: Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. |
| Pharisees: You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? |
The good news in the story is that a blind person tells the seeing people what God displays. Twice the blind man appears before the Pharisees. Twice he testifies to what he has seen and what they have missed. Miracles are everywhere. The Pharisees have missed them. So the blind man tells them. Two times they have the opportunity to hear from someone with greater vision. Twice God speaks to them through the blind man so they can finally get what they missed.
And what a blessing this can be. Sometimes we miss what God is doing or saying at a certain time. Thankfully, God often sends us someone to point out what we missed. God frequently speaks to us through another person who has gotten what we have overlooked. And that points to a third way in which we listen up. We listen up as God speaks through Scripture to us. We listen up as God speaks through circumstance to us. And we listen up as God speaks through other people to us. The people around us can be the very means by which God tries to get us to see what we have missed.
In our text, a blind man is the one who is sent. In our own lives, it can be similarly unlikely people who reveal to us what God is communicating. For me, critics have been these people. I remember a time several years ago when a man came to my office and said my preaching was shallow and unspiritual. He said there wasn’t enough God in my preaching. I was wounded. I was upset. I wished he’d been a little more loving in the way he delivered his message. But after several weeks of nursing that wound, I realized he was right. I didn’t want him to be right. But he was. I came to believe that God had spoken to me through him. I would have never chosen that person for that purpose. But God did. Sometimes it’s the most unlikely people whom God sends to help us see what we have missed.
So our role is to learn to listen. That’s the real challenge of this text: Some seeing people still miss what God displays because they won’t listen to the blind person. The blind man puts it well: I have told you already, and you would not listen. The blind man sees what God wants to communicate. And he’s tried to tell the Pharisees twice about it. But they will not listen. God frequently sends the blind person to us. But we still miss what God’s saying because we refuse to listen.
Many of you know Allen Black. He is a professor of New Testament at Harding University Graduate School of Religion and a staff member at Highland. I’ve come to learn the hard way that God often shares very solid wisdom with me through Allen. There have been a small number of times in my ministry when I have ignored Allen’s advice about an issue. And literally every time I’ve not listened to Allen, I’ve gotten myself into trouble. I’m not suggesting Allen is Moses and God speaks directly to Allen and then Allen speaks to me. But I’ve come to believe that God does share wisdom through Allen. And sometimes I’ve missed that wisdom because I refused to listen.
In his book When God Calls Glenn Pemberton explores times in Scripture when people were called by God.[ii] There are some extraordinary accounts of people being called by God through unusual means (like God speaking through an angel). But Pemberton writes that the way God most commonly called people in Scripture was through others. When God wanted to reach out to someone in the Bible, he usually did so by sending another person to that individual. God often speaks to us through others. But we’ve got to learn to listen.
Even when God sends the most unlikely person, we’ve got to learn to listen. Cindy Ralston, a Highland member, recently experienced this in her life. As she was wrestling with some anxiety, God sent someone to speak to her. And it was a most unlikely messenger…
Cindy Ralston- Listen Up Silas Story
Highland, listen up. God still has a lot to say. He still has a lot to display. And while he definitely communicates through Scripture and reveals things through circumstances, one of the most powerful ways he may choose to reach out to you this week is through another person. Listen up. God is speaking.
[i] Lisa Stilwell, editor, The Heavens Proclaim His Glory (Thomas Nelson, 2010).
[ii] Glenn Pemberton, When God Calls (21st Century Christian, 2007), 142.
