Why Me, Lord?
ISSUE
We have been exploring scriptures that may connect with our 21st CE predicament, when the inspired stories in our Holy Bible reveal God has already intervened in human history. For instance, preceding the Exodus from Egypt, God sent plagues to punish a powerful, self-serving nation. 1000 years later God raised up young Esther... to save her Jewish people from extermination. God’s intervention failed to achieve the desired results, so God sent Jesus with complete authority over demons, disease, and nature. Jesus told us in Munsonville, as He told his hometown of Nazareth... that God does not intervene in every human tragedy or affliction. As a result, many people struggle to understand God’s loving nature, especially when someone we love is confronted with affliction, disease, or death.
SCRIPTURE
Questioning God’s loving intention drives some toward disbelief in a loving God. If you’ve had the chance to read today’s scripture... you encountered one of several instances that reveal a growing opposition to the Son of God. Chapters 5 thru 12 in John’s gospel reveal... people’s reactions of belief or disbelief... to some of Jesus’ miracles.
APPLYING SCRIPTURE
The story of a man born blind in John’s gospel... chapter 9 begins with His apostles asking Jesus... why a man they encountered was born blind. A long-held 1st CE belief was afflictions... like being poor, crippled, blind, or lame... came from sinning against God. But Jesus says: not so, this man’s blindness must be natural, because God did not cause this affliction. Jesus then uses the man’s affliction to glorify God... and increase people’s faith. Washing the mud from his eyes, as Jesus instructed... the man was healed.
Nowhere in the known world had anyone heard of healing a person born blind. Everyone is bewildered... including the Pharisees. Neighbors first questioned if this was truly the man born blind, or someone who looked like the man. The authorities began with the same questions and then went further, asking about this healer. Firmly confident in their 1400-year-old traditions derived from Moses, God’s most detailed commandment prohibits working on the Sabbath. Because this healing occurred on the Sabbath, the Pharisees logically believed this healer cannot be from God!
This story reveals four distinct reactions to Jesus miracle. Neighbors were surprised and skeptical. The Pharisees showed disbelief and prejudice. The man’s parents believed but kept quiet for fear of the authorities. And the healed man showed consistent, growing faith. If we personalize this lesson for Jesus’ first disciples, when any of us or our loved ones suffer... we should not ask,” why did this happen to me?” or “what did I do wrong”? Whenever confronted with affliction, disease, or death, we should instead ask God... to give us strength for our trial... and ask God for clarity on what is happening.
Like the healed man, none of us need all the answers to share Christ with others. What’s vital to Jesus... is that we humbly share with skeptics how the risen Christ has changed our life. Helping others believe... is exactly the task Jesus left to us!
Last week we talked about our faith being tested... and this healed man’s faith was seriously tested by Jesus and by the religious authorities. He was cured of his affliction and then came to believe in the Son of Man... but he was also evicted from the church... which was the center of 1st CE life. Persecution may come when any of us follow Jesus. We may lose friends and even our life. But God’s ultimate gift to us is reaffirmed every Easter... and no earthly persecution can ever take away the eternal life that Jesus gives true believers.
John’s story also points out how the Pharisees were shocked that Jesus thought they were spiritually blind. By being blind, Jesus meant the authorities were stubborn and stupid. Jesus gave spiritual understanding to those open to a new truth. And Jesus rejected those who were stuck in long held, but wrong beliefs, like healing on the Sabbath. As Jesus rejected the Pharisees, will we avoid helping spiritually blind friends and neighbors? And for heaven’s sake... may none of us become self-righteous, like the Pharisees who were stuck on scripture that seemed so obvious. May we all remember Jesus’ lesson for everyone, that even religious leaders can misinterpret God’s intentions for humanity.
Using this man’s affliction, Jesus taught the apostles and us... how one’s faith can glorify God. As in that 1st CE, we still live in a fallen world... where good behavior is not always rewarded, and bad behavior not always punished. Therefore, innocent people sometimes suffer. Innocent people can be born with an affliction... blindness, a cleft palate, club foot, Zika, Down’s Syndrome, sickle cell anemia, an unusual sexual orientation, or numerous other afflictions... none of these are caused by God, yet each afflicted person is a beloved child of God!
During our distress from this pandemic... today’s question is... given Jesus’ 2000-year-old authority over demons, disease, and nature... could today’s biblical story possibly connect with this global pandemic?
Whether divine or natural... I am comforted by the Easter message... that God’s ultimate gift for true believers was proven on Easter morning. And until our personal resurrection, today’s lesson reveals when encountering some life-threatening illness... such as cancer or plague... it is not helpful to ask, “why me” or “what did I do wrong”? Instead, we should pray to God for strength to endure our suffering... and pray for clarity on what is happening.
We are all God’s agents of grace... and I am here with you, as we all experience some fear of contracting this virus... and anxiety during the recovery. May the loving kindness that is God’s basic nature... equip us, like the man born blind, to share with skeptics the many ways Christ has changed our life... today and every day. AMEN!
ISSUE
We have been exploring scriptures that may connect with our 21st CE predicament, when the inspired stories in our Holy Bible reveal God has already intervened in human history. For instance, preceding the Exodus from Egypt, God sent plagues to punish a powerful, self-serving nation. 1000 years later God raised up young Esther... to save her Jewish people from extermination. God’s intervention failed to achieve the desired results, so God sent Jesus with complete authority over demons, disease, and nature. Jesus told us in Munsonville, as He told his hometown of Nazareth... that God does not intervene in every human tragedy or affliction. As a result, many people struggle to understand God’s loving nature, especially when someone we love is confronted with affliction, disease, or death.
SCRIPTURE
Questioning God’s loving intention drives some toward disbelief in a loving God. If you’ve had the chance to read today’s scripture... you encountered one of several instances that reveal a growing opposition to the Son of God. Chapters 5 thru 12 in John’s gospel reveal... people’s reactions of belief or disbelief... to some of Jesus’ miracles.
APPLYING SCRIPTURE
The story of a man born blind in John’s gospel... chapter 9 begins with His apostles asking Jesus... why a man they encountered was born blind. A long-held 1st CE belief was afflictions... like being poor, crippled, blind, or lame... came from sinning against God. But Jesus says: not so, this man’s blindness must be natural, because God did not cause this affliction. Jesus then uses the man’s affliction to glorify God... and increase people’s faith. Washing the mud from his eyes, as Jesus instructed... the man was healed.
Nowhere in the known world had anyone heard of healing a person born blind. Everyone is bewildered... including the Pharisees. Neighbors first questioned if this was truly the man born blind, or someone who looked like the man. The authorities began with the same questions and then went further, asking about this healer. Firmly confident in their 1400-year-old traditions derived from Moses, God’s most detailed commandment prohibits working on the Sabbath. Because this healing occurred on the Sabbath, the Pharisees logically believed this healer cannot be from God!
This story reveals four distinct reactions to Jesus miracle. Neighbors were surprised and skeptical. The Pharisees showed disbelief and prejudice. The man’s parents believed but kept quiet for fear of the authorities. And the healed man showed consistent, growing faith. If we personalize this lesson for Jesus’ first disciples, when any of us or our loved ones suffer... we should not ask,” why did this happen to me?” or “what did I do wrong”? Whenever confronted with affliction, disease, or death, we should instead ask God... to give us strength for our trial... and ask God for clarity on what is happening.
Like the healed man, none of us need all the answers to share Christ with others. What’s vital to Jesus... is that we humbly share with skeptics how the risen Christ has changed our life. Helping others believe... is exactly the task Jesus left to us!
Last week we talked about our faith being tested... and this healed man’s faith was seriously tested by Jesus and by the religious authorities. He was cured of his affliction and then came to believe in the Son of Man... but he was also evicted from the church... which was the center of 1st CE life. Persecution may come when any of us follow Jesus. We may lose friends and even our life. But God’s ultimate gift to us is reaffirmed every Easter... and no earthly persecution can ever take away the eternal life that Jesus gives true believers.
John’s story also points out how the Pharisees were shocked that Jesus thought they were spiritually blind. By being blind, Jesus meant the authorities were stubborn and stupid. Jesus gave spiritual understanding to those open to a new truth. And Jesus rejected those who were stuck in long held, but wrong beliefs, like healing on the Sabbath. As Jesus rejected the Pharisees, will we avoid helping spiritually blind friends and neighbors? And for heaven’s sake... may none of us become self-righteous, like the Pharisees who were stuck on scripture that seemed so obvious. May we all remember Jesus’ lesson for everyone, that even religious leaders can misinterpret God’s intentions for humanity.
Using this man’s affliction, Jesus taught the apostles and us... how one’s faith can glorify God. As in that 1st CE, we still live in a fallen world... where good behavior is not always rewarded, and bad behavior not always punished. Therefore, innocent people sometimes suffer. Innocent people can be born with an affliction... blindness, a cleft palate, club foot, Zika, Down’s Syndrome, sickle cell anemia, an unusual sexual orientation, or numerous other afflictions... none of these are caused by God, yet each afflicted person is a beloved child of God!
During our distress from this pandemic... today’s question is... given Jesus’ 2000-year-old authority over demons, disease, and nature... could today’s biblical story possibly connect with this global pandemic?
Whether divine or natural... I am comforted by the Easter message... that God’s ultimate gift for true believers was proven on Easter morning. And until our personal resurrection, today’s lesson reveals when encountering some life-threatening illness... such as cancer or plague... it is not helpful to ask, “why me” or “what did I do wrong”? Instead, we should pray to God for strength to endure our suffering... and pray for clarity on what is happening.
We are all God’s agents of grace... and I am here with you, as we all experience some fear of contracting this virus... and anxiety during the recovery. May the loving kindness that is God’s basic nature... equip us, like the man born blind, to share with skeptics the many ways Christ has changed our life... today and every day. AMEN!