“Flipping Pancakes with God” (Luke 24:28-35)

Good morning, God!

Saturday morning at eight O’clock. That’s when the Hans are all gathered around the table and enjoy homemade pancakes. Oftentimes my children ask Friday evening, “Are we going to eat pancakes tomorrow?” We just love Saturday morning pancake breakfast, not just because we particularly like pancakes, but because we love the atmosphere of our time together. As we make pancakes and prepare the table, Abe and I enjoy fellowship together. When Abe gets up late, I enjoy the time alone with God, flipping pancakes with God. When we are all gathered around the table, we talk about this past week. After the meal, my children enjoy a ‘face-time’ with their grandparents. For me personally, Saturday morning is my highlight of the week because I feel connected most to God and to my family.

There is something about eating together, breaking bread together. In today’s scripture we meet two disciples who were going to a village called Emmaus. It’s interesting to see that they have already heard the news of Christ’s resurrection (vv. 22-24), but they are still “looking sad” (v. 17). The resurrection by itself is not enough to wipe away their sadness. Jesus joins them in their journey, but all along the way in the conversation they don’t recognize Jesus. When they finally arrive in Emmaus, they invite Jesus to come and dine with them, saying, “Abide with us!” (v. 29) So Jesus sits down at the table with them. He takes bread, blesses, and breaks it, and gives it to them. Then, their eyes are open, and they see the risen Christ among them. Then, they understand why their hearts were burning on the way. Then, they understand how Jesus was with them all along the way.

Where do you see God? Where do you see the risen Christ in your daily life?

 

First Room

This past week I personally encountered the risen Christ at an expected time and place. It was Thursday afternoon at our local nursing home. The first person I visited was John (not his real name). He is a skeptic. He has a lot of questions to God. His memory is failing. His health is declining. The last time when I visited him, I told him about the story of Nicodemus and also my conversion story. At the end of the conversation, he said, “I want to read the Bible.” So I brought him an audio Bible, because it was hard for him to read books. Since then, he was listening to the Bible. But the device was not working well, and he asked me to bring another one. So this time brought him a new one. He was glad to have it and promised that he would continue to listen to the Bible. He is forgetting more things each day, but I see him now more intentionally holding on to the Word than before.

In her book From Dry Bones to Living Hope, Missy Buchanan shares her prayer journal this way[1]:

Memory is a peculiar thing. Most days, I can’t recall what I had for lunch. Or I stare blankly into the face of someone familiar because their name has escaped me. O Lord, forgetting things is both embarrassing and terrifying. When my memory falters, I am inclined to panic. I begin to think that dementia has crept in like a deadly vulture waiting to devour me in this wilderness of aging. I start to wonder who I would be without my memories.

On most afternoons I try to stimulate my mind with word puzzles stacked beside my easy chair… O God, I confess that I have tried harder to remember names and faces and facts from my past than I have to remember you. You have never forgotten me, Lord. You still call me by name… I convince myself that I have no purpose and forget how mightily you used Moses and Abraham in their late years… Here in the Valley of Dry Bones, awaken my memories of you, O God. Stir up my recollections of your strength and power. Help me remember . . . help me to remember you.

After the visit, as I was walking out of the room, I heard him saying to me from behind, “Victor, come again. Visit me anytime.” To me, it sounded like a prayer: “Look at me and answer me, O God. Give ear and come to me. Remember me, O God.” I felt the presence and power of the risen Christ in that room.

 

Second Room

The next person I visited was Pat (not her real name). She is suffering from dementia. When I entered the room, she was non-responsive. Every time I visit her, I feel so powerless. There is nothing I can do for her. I pray with her, but she doesn’t even know what I’m doing when I pray. When I was there with Pat in the room, I really didn’t feel that it was a productive use of my time. I didn’t feel that I can contribute anything to her.

Perhaps our powerlessness is a channel of God’s grace. “My power is made perfect in weakness” (cf. 2 Cor 12:9). Perhaps we are called to simply be with people with dementia in their world rather than to try to do something for them. With, not for. Although he is writing about presence with homeless persons, Sam Well’s words are equally relevant for those with dementia[2]:

You don’t sit and have a coffee with a homeless person because you’re trying to solve their problem—you do so because you want to receive the wealth of wisdom, humanity, and grace that God has to give you through them. You aren’t the source of their salvation: they are the source of yours. . . . Your every effort is to enjoy their being, and share your own, rather than change their reality assuming a script you’ve imposed from elsewhere.

During my visit, I prayed for God’s help and guidance. Then I felt how much Pat is loved by God. I realized Pat’s identity, dignity, and worth do not lie in her mental cognition and capacity. Whether she has memories or not, Pat is made in the image of God. She is a beloved child of God no matter what. After a brief prayer, I played a song, “Because He Lives” on YouTube. Then, I read Psalm 23 to her.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…

 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of forgetfulness,

When memory fades and recognition falters,

When eyes grow dim, and minds are confused,

I will not be afraid,

for you are with me;

your presence and your power they comfort me.

 

Third Room

The third person I visited was Amy (not her real name), a 91-year-old lady. Her mind is still sharp. But she struggles to find the meaning of life. When there were COVID cases in her section, she had to stay in the room for a week. At other times, her routine is to walk from one end to the other twice or three times a day. Her roommate normally looks outside through the window for hours a day.

Where is God in this lonely, mundane life? “God, where are you?” When I sat down, she began to talk about her life story… her husband, her children, her siblings, and so forth. Then, she shared her painful experiences in her journey… how her husband suddenly died of rare disease some thirty years ago, how she felt as if her heart was being broken when she heard the news about her son’s divorce, etc. Then she realized God was there when she was going through the valley. It was God who sustained her and kept her going.  

After listening to her story, I invited her to the communion table. I also invited her roommate. Then I briefly shared why we receive communion – to celebrate the risen Christ among us, to experience his presence and power, as well as to remember his death. Three of us were gathered around the table and ate the body of Christ and drank the blood of Christ by faith. Then, we held our hands together and prayed together. I saw their faces brighten up with new joy. Surely the presence of the risen Christ was there.

 

Lift Up Your Heart to God

Amy is you, John is me, and Pat is us. Wherever we are in our journey, the risen Christ is always very near to us.

In his book The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence shares his wisdom this way:

God does not ask much of us, a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little love, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company. The slightest little remembrance of God will always be the most pleasing to Him. We don’t need to shout out to do this. God is closer to us than we may think.

The risen Christ is near. Some of us may have stronger faith, others weaker faith. But we need to remember that it is not the strength of our faith that saves us, it is the object of faith, as Pastor Tim Keller said. We may have doubting, questioning, weak faith – a little faith just like a mustard seed, but if we have our faith in Christ, that is sufficient. All we need is to open up and lift up our heart to the risen Christ. It is to invite him to come and abide with us in our daily life.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me

  

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[1] Missy Buchanan, From Dry Bones to Living Hope: Embracing God’s Faithfulness in Late Life (Upper Room: TN, 2021), 36-7.

[2] Sam Wells, “The Power of Being With: Jesus’ Model for Ministry,” The Christian Century, June 19, 2015. quoted in Kenneth L Carder, Ministry with the Forgotten (p. 142). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

“Move Toward Him” (1 Cor 15:12-20) - Easter Sunday Message -

 

Faust

Do you like to play chess? My children love to play chess. Even my 3-year-old Hannah plays chess in her own way. It’s hard to beat her.

Pictured on the screen is a painting by Moritz Retzsch in 1831, it was based on a famous German play known as “Faust.” In this story Faust meets a demon named Mephistopheles and agrees to sell his soul in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly success. This painting describes Faust near the end of his life, and is depicted as a chess game. Faust in red has only a few pieces left on the board and seems to be checkmated. The devil is the man in green who has a kind of glee painted on his face, and is seemingly saying, “checkmate in two moves.” Faust is anxiously looking over the chess board, desperately seeking a way out, but it seems that all is lost. Soon the game of life will be over and all will be lost.

Through the years, people come and look up at the painting, and see the hopelessness of the situation. They go away feeling, to some degree, that the artist has captured their own situation – anxious, desperate, hopeless. About 30 years later Rev. R. R. Harrison owns this painting and invites guests over tea and spends the evening together. One of the guests, Paul Morphy, was a well-known chess player of the day. He carefully studied the picture and exclaimed, “It’s a lie! The king still has another move. I could take Faust’s position and win the game.” They set up a chess board with the layout of the painting, and one by one Mr. Morphy took Faust’s position and defeated all the guests there. For 30 years people believed the devil was winning the soul of a man who had sinned much, and all it took was a grand master better than the devil, to defeat and snatch from his grip a soul he was sure he had.[1]

The King Has Another Move

The Bible is full of many such stories, where God’s people were checkmated, hard pressed on every side, but in each one of them God the greatest Grand Master of all stepped into the situation and won the game that seemed hopelessly lost. Daniel was thrown in the lions’ den, but the King had another move. The Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea, but the King had another move and split the Red Sea in two. Most of all, Jesus was hanging on the cross, but the King had another move and could turn it all around for Jesus, raising him from the dead!

In his book The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis tells us the story of Jesus’ resurrection so powerfully. During the Winter Revolution, the White Witch (Satan's figure) tricked Edmund to betray his siblings by revealing their location to her. According to Narnia’s law Edmond now belonged to her as her lawful prey. When the Witch made a claim on Edmund, Aslan (Jesus' figure) spoke to her, offering himself in Edmund's place. The Witch accepted, and that night near the Stone Table, Aslan went up there alone to sacrifice himself in Edmund's stead. The Witch had all her followers gathered at the Table, to witness the mighty lion, the great King of Narnia's fall and death. It was not enough, though, that he simply die, as she wanted him humiliated, tortured, and shamed. So she had him bound, gagged, beaten, and shaved before being dragged over to the Stone Table, where he was executed by the Witch, using her Stone Knife. But what the Witch didn’t know was the Writing upon The Table, saying, "If a willing Victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table will crack; and even death itself would turn backwards." – The Deep Magic. At dawn, there was an almighty crack, and the Table split in two right down the middle. And Aslan was once again alive and well. Edmund is now forgiven and beloved, and has new life without fear and guilt. The King has another move.

Message of Hope

This is what Easter is for us. Easter is a message of hope. The resurrection of Jesus tells us that life is not a dead-end street or a no-exit situation. Because Christ is risen, there is always a way out, there is always a second chance, there is always a new life in him.

This morning I am not standing here to prove Jesus’ resurrection; instead, I am here simply to proclaim the good news of his resurrection – to proclaim the fact how his resurrection changes lives of those to whom he appeared just as the Apostle Paul did. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul declares:

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.

And we all know what happened next to those who had seen the risen Christ. The disciples were afraid, confused, depressed, hiding in the dark. But in a period of less than 50 days they became a group of people so bold, so joyous, so confident. Think about Paul’s life. He confessed that he was the worst sinner (cf. 1 Tim 1:15). He was going everywhere to destroy the church. But after encountering the risen Christ, he was transformed into a person with an unstoppable power and unshakable understanding of his mission.

The Risen Christ Changes Lives Today

The risen Christ changed Paul’s life and the other apostles’ lives. The risen Christ still can change your life and my life – if we will let him.

It is possible to recite the Apostles’ Creed and not be affected by it. It is possible to intellectually agree that he or she believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that same person can live a defeated life. Mary was so preoccupied with grief, and she thought she was talking to a gardener, even though the risen Christ was standing right in front of her. Two disciples on the way to Emmaus were so preoccupied with their own agenda and disappointment, and they did not recognize Jesus, even though the risen Christ was walking right beside them for hours.

There was a young man who grew in the church. He thought he believed in God, but actually he didn’t know God. God had little influence on his everyday life. Like everyone else, he became a skeptic. He was no longer able to believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God. Then, he went to the army, and there he became fatally ill. Out of desperation, he cried out to God. And God heard his cry and restored his health. After this, he began to read the Bible from cover to cover for the first time. During this time, he encountered the risen Christ. The young man asked, “Jesus, where were you when I needed you most?” Jesus answered, “My son, I was standing right before you, opening my arms to you, and waiting for 21 years.” And he was never the same after that. The young man was me.

Perhaps some of us may experience “death” – death to hope, death to relationships, death to believing. But today we hear the good news of Easter: The Risen Christ comes to everywhere death is in our lives, and brings life.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through the risen Christ today! Sisters and brothers in Christ, wherever you are in your life journey, remember this: The King has another move. You have another move. Move toward him.

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[1] Maurice McCarthy, “The King Has Another Move” (May 29, 2018), http://fireonyouraltar.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-king-has-another-move.html. Also, Kenneth Chafin, “Easter Means Hope,” Preaching Today, https://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2010/july/eastermeanshope.html

“The Jesus We Never Knew” (John 12:12-19)

The Person I Thought I Knew

Recently I have read a novel by Michele Shocklee, “Count the Nights by Stars.” It’s a story about an elderly lady Priscilla Nichols who is a quiet, reclusive woman residing in the Maxell hotel. One day she suffered from a debilitating stroke. After she was transferred to hospital, Audrey Whitefield was tasked with cleaning out the room. While she was cleaning the room, she found a scrapbook that told a story about Mrs. Nichols’ life – how she fell in love with young Italian immigrant, how she stood up to social injustice, how she fought to end human trafficking, how she ended up adopting a young girl who was an ex-prostitute. Audrey then said to herself, “I wish I’d known Miss Nichols better. I wish I had taken more time to get to know her when she lived at the Maxwell… She is a remarkable woman.” Audrey thought she knew this old woman, but she realized she didn’t.

Not long ago, I had a chance to visit one church member who celebrated her 91^st birthday at a nursing home. I always thought I knew this person. But as I was listening to her story, I realized I didn’t know her.

The Jesus They Thought They Knew

As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem, there were at least three different groups who were coming out to see him: the disciples, the crowd, and the Pharisees.

First, the disciples. Of course, they thought they knew Jesus. One day when Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, one of the disciples answered with confidence, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). But obviously he and the other disciples had a different picture of the Messiah. They thought Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a sign of an “onward and upward” journey. But the Bible says, “[The disciples] did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him” (v. 16). They didn’t know Jesus.

Second, the crowd. They saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. They followed Jesus and welcomed him. They continued to testify. They believed Jesus as someone powerful and useful in their lives, but they didn’t know Jesus.

Then, the Pharisees. They considered Jesus as a “threat”, or “unorthodox”, or “troublemaker” who disturbed their comfortable life. As they watched Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, they said to each other, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him” (v. 19). They didn’t know Jesus.   

The Jesus We Never Knew

It’s just the beginning. Now during this final week they begin to see who Jesus really is. The authors of the Gospels place so much focus on the Holy Week. (ex. John 47%, Matthew 30%, Mark 40%, Luke 20%) Then who is this man? What kind of Messiah he is?”

Monday: Cleansing the temple

Jesus cleansed the temple at least twice – at the beginning and end of his ministry. When Jesus drove out cattle and overturned the money changers’ tables, the Jews asked him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” He was speaking of the temple of his body. He was prophesying how he would cleanse us of our sins once for all. As Jesus was cleansing the temple for the second time, children were coming and crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The religious leaders were angry and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus quoted from a prophet and said, “Out of the mouths of infants, you have prepared praises for yourself.” The disciples didn’t understand these things at that time. Who is this man?

Tuesday: Arguing with the Pharisees

Jesus taught people and argued with the Pharisees in the temple. Jesus told them a parable of the wicked tenants. There was a landowner who leased the vineyard to tenants and went away. When the harvest time came, the owner sent a servant to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Finally, the owner sent his son, saying, “They will respect my son.” But the tenants saw the son and said to themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they killed him. Then Jesus asked, “What will the owner will do?” Here Jesus was prophesying what would happen to him (God’s Son), and urging them to repent and turn to God before it’s too late. Who is this man?

Wednesday: 3^rd anointing of Jesus

Jesus was first anointed by a sinful woman. Then he declared to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were at the table with him said among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus was then anointed by Mary, Lazarus’ sister, for the second time six days before the Passover. And now for the third time he was anointed by a woman in the house of Simon the leper two days before the Passover. The disciples didn’t understand and said to themselves, “Why this waste?” They didn’t know who Jesus really was. But Jesus said to them, “Leave her alone. She did a beautiful thing…. She has prepared me for my burial.” He came to die. And the hour has come. Who is this man?

Thursday: The Last Supper 

Jesus knew that his hour had come. He had loved his disciples, and now he loved them to the very end. While he was having the last supper with the disciples, the last thing he did was to wash their feet, even if he knew that they would desert him and disown him within a few hours. The last words he said to them was to love one another and to wash one another’s feet. Who is this man?

Friday: The trials and crucifixion

Perhaps Jesus faced as many as six interrogations. In his memoir Pierre Van Paassen tells us a story about an elderly Jewish rabbi taken to the Nazi headquarters. The captors stripped him naked and commanded him to preach the sermon that he was going to preach that week. In the far end of the same room, two other captors were beating another Jew to death. The rabbi asked if he could wear his kippa, they agreed, thinking it added to the joke. The trembling rabbi began to deliver his sermon in a raspy voice on what it means to walk humbly with God, all the while being poked and prodded by the hotting Nazis.1

The Jews blindfolded Jesus, struck him, “Prophesy, you Messiah! Who struck you?” Later, the Romans stripped Jesus and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him and struck him on the head again and again. Jesus then died the most painful, shameful, criminal’s death on the cross. He was hung on the cross for 6 hours.  The six hours that changed the world! Jesus did take away the sin of the world. He took away your sin and my sin. He absorbed evil, he disarmed evil, he conquered its power by his sacrificial death on the cross. Who is this man?

Walking with Jesus through the Holy Week

Sisters and brothers in Christ, I exhort you to carve out the time this week and mediate on each day’s passage. Use your imagination, try to imagine what Jesus was doing at each hour of each day, and try to put yourself in his place to feel what he was feeling. My prayer is that as we walk with Jesus through this Holy Week, we may come to know and believe Jesus we never knew before. Amen.

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1. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (p. 199). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Modern Calendar Days	Event of the Holy Week
	Arrival in Bethany (John 12:1)
Sunday	Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, John 12:12-18) Jesus surveys the temple area (Mark 11:11) Return to Bethany (Matt. 21:17, Mark 11:11)
Monday	Cursing the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14) Clearing the temple (Matt. 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17) Miracles and challenges in the temple (Matt. 21:14-16, Mark 1:18) Return to Bethany (Mark 11:19)
Tuesday	Reaction to cursing the fig tree on the way back to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:20-22, Mark 11:20-21) Debates with religious leaders in Jerusalem and teaching in the temple (Matt. 21:23-23:39, Mark 11:27-12:44) End Times Discourse on the Mount of Olives on the return to Bethany (Matt. 24:1-25:46, Mark 13:1 37)
Wednesday	Jesus and disciples remain in Bethany for last time of fellowship A woman anoints Jesus (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9) Judas returns alone to Jerusalem to make arrangements for the betrayal (Matt. 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11)

 

Thursday	Preparations for Passover (Matt. 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16) After sundown: Passover meal and Last Supper (Matt. 26:20-35, Mark 14:17-26) Upper Room discourses (John 13-17) Prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36- 46, Mark 14:32-42)
Friday	Sometime perhaps after midnight: Betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:47-56, Mark 14:43- 52) Jewish trial–Jesus appears in three phases in front of:   -Annas (John 18:13-24)   -Caiaphas and partial Sanhedrin (Matt. 26:57-75, Mark 14:53-65)   -Sanhedrin fully assembled (perhaps after sunrise) (Matt. 27:1-2, Mark 15:1) Roman trial – Jesus appears in three phases before:   -Pilate (Matt. 27:2-14, Mark 15:2-5)   -Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6-12)   -Pilate (Matt. 27:15-26, Mark 15:6-15) Crucifixion (approx. 9:00 am to 3:00 pm) (Matt 27:27-66, Mark 15:16-39)
Sunday	Resurrection witnesses (Matt. 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12) Resurrection appearances (Matt. 28:9-20, Luke 24:13-53, John 20-21)

 *This chart is slightly adjusted from Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, NIVAC (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 709-10.

“Spiritual Eyes” (John 9:1-41)

Blindness

Helen Keller lost her sight and her hearing when she was 19 months old. At the age of seven, she met her first teacher and lifelong companion Anne Sullivan. Keller recalls her childhood this way:

“Gradually I got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded me and forgot that it had ever been different until she came — my teacher — who set my spirit free.”

 Silence and darkness. Probably, a blind beggar in today’s scripture was not much different. He was blind from birth. Darkness was all he had ever known. He had never seen a million glories of nature – the white of snow, the green of spring grass, the magic of a sunset. He had never seen the beautiful faces of his loved ones. He was always in the dark.

Then, one day Jesus came. The blind man heard that someone kneel close to him and gently spit on the ground. He then felt gentle hands rub the clay paste on his eyes and heard the voice, saying, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam.” As he washed in Siloam, his eyes were flooded with light. Then he could see! Perhaps first he saw his own reflection, then water, ski, trees, people’s faces. Perhaps then he ran to his house and shouted out, “I can see!”

Spiritual Blindness

What’s even more amazing is that later this man received “spiritual eyes” as well as physical ones. He recognized Jesus as the Messiah and said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Jesus. But ironically, people around him who had physical sight turned out that they were living with spiritual blindness. In this story we meet three different groups of people spiritually blind with different reasons. 

The first blind group is his neighbors. Soon after the man’s eyes were opened, the whole town was buzzing. His neighbors asked each other, “What happened? Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg? Or is it someone like him?” The man kept saying, “I am he!” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened? He clearly answered what happened again and again. But they were still doubting. So finally, they took the man to the Pharisees for further interrogation. Doubts had blinded their eyes.

The Pharisees are the second group spiritually blind. They kept asking how the man had received his sight. He kept answering what happened to him. But they didn’t believe it. Their eyes were closed because of their ignorance and pride. They said to the man, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” According to the tradition of the elders, rubbing the mud on the eyes on Sabbath was considered as work. What total ignorance! They didn’t know God. They didn’t know God’s character. They didn’t know God’s sabbath. But they insisted, “We know what we are doing,” “We see.” Charles Spurgeon rightly said,  

It is not our littleness that hinders Christ; but our bigness. It is not our weakness that hinders Christ; it is our strength. It is not our darkness that hinders Christ; it is our supposed light that holds back his hand.[1]

So Jesus said to them, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure” (v. 41 MSG). The eyes of the Pharisees were closed because of their pride.

The third group spiritually blind is the blind man’s parents. Actually, they were firsthand witnesses. But when they were called to testify before the Pharisees, they passed the responsibility to the son because of fear, saying, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” They were afraid. They had let fear blind them.

Spiritual Blindness Today

We may have a 20/20 vision. But we may not see well spiritually because of our doubts, unbelief, ignorance, pride, and fear.

I belong to several different clergy groups. One group consists of deeply conservative members both politically and theologically. They listen to Fox News and get information from the websites like the Daily Caller and Breitbart. They read books written by conservative pundits or popular conservative ministers. Another group that I am part of is fairly progressive. They subscribe the New York Times, listen to NPR News, and watch PBS. They often visit websites like Vox, the Atlantic, and FiveThirtyEight for in-depth study. Each of them from both groups is brilliant and sincere. Each one knows his or her stuff. What is striking is how little each one knows anyone else’s stuff. In other words, they live in their own small closed world. Their eyes are closed because of fear, pride, ignorance.

I am not an exception. I am one of them. God has been nudging me, challenging my perspective, and stretching my mind especially over the past three or four years. I grew up in a theologically conservative Korean Methodist church. There had been some struggles here and there along the way, but overall my theology was working well to see and interpret the world around me until the pandemic broke out in 2020. Then the death of George Floyd. Then presidential election. And now homosexuality issue in the UMC. Now I am more aware of my own ignorance, my fear, my prejudice and pride than before. So now I practice wide reading, and wide listening. I subscribe Christianity Today, but also reads Christian Century and Sojourners. I listen to The Russell Moore Show podcast as well as The Soul of the Nation with Jim Wallis.

Recently, Joyce attended a local pastor licensing school. As part of a class activity, there was a Q & A session with Bishop Peggy Johnson. Joyce asked some questions and talked about the challenges the local churches were going through because of the homosexuality issue. After this, Bishop Johnson graciously sent Joyce and me her newly published autobiographical book, The Ever-Expansive Spirit of God: For All Who Feel Left out. Joyce and I thanked her via email, and she replied this way:

“[This book] describes how I worked with people on all sides of the debate around homosexuality. I did not succeed in making peace. It is a difficult thing. The best we can do is agree on Jesus Christ and love on people.”

 In her book Bishop Johnson shares with us a deeply personal story, full of honest reflections on her journey as a Christian, and a leader in the church. We may not agree with her stance on same-gender marriage, sexual orientations, gender identity, and so forth. But we can still listen to her story with our heart and see where she is coming from with a non-judgmental spirit.  

“Lord, I Want to See”

Today we are surrounded by many troubles within and without. But we are not crushed, because God is still with us. Once Elisha and his city Dothan was surrounded by the enemy. Elisha’s servant found this and was terrified, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” Elisha replied, “Don’t be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” Then he prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes that he may see.”  Then the LORD opened the servant's spiritual eyes, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2Kg 6:17).

 

The Apostle Paul offers the same prayer for the Christians in Ephesus. At that time some of them in the Ephesian church felt a lack of purpose, some felt a sense of poverty, some suffered from a feeling of powerlessness. So Paul prayed. He said to them, “Friends, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance he has given to you, and his incomparably great power for you who believe” (Eph 1:18-19).

 

I need this prayer. Have you ever felt or talked to yourself, “I am purposeless. I am not enough. I am powerless”? Then, join me in this prayer. Do you resonate with the blind man’s story, the neighbors’ unbelief and doubts, the parents’ fear, the Pharisees’ ignorance and pride? Then, join me in this prayer.

           Lord God, I pray that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened,

    so that I may know the hope to which you have called me,

    the riches of your glorious inheritance you have given to Christians,

    and your incomparably great power for us who believe.

Lord Jesus, help me to see.

    Open my eyes to know you as I have never before. 

    Open my eyes to see all people as you see them. Amen

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[1] R. Kent. Hughes, John: That You May Believe (Preaching the Word) (p. 262). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

“Who Is Jesus to You?” (John 4:1-42)

Lens

A traveler nearing a great city asked an old man seated by the road, “What are the people like in this city?”

“What were they like where you came from?” the man asked. 

“Horrible,” the traveler reported. “Mean, untrustworthy, detestable in all respects.”

“Ah,” said the old man, “you will find them the same in the city ahead.”

Soon after, another traveler stopped to inquire about the people in the city before him. Again the old man asked about the people in the place the traveler has just left.

“They were fine people: honest, industrious, and generous to a fault,” described the second traveler. “I was sorry to leave.”

The old man responded, “That’s exactly how you’ll find the people here.”[1]

The “lens” we see others is a reflection of ourselves: If I am a trusting person, I will see others as trustworthy. If I am a critical person, I will see others as critical. If I am a caring person, I will see others as compassionate.

Nothing

Our lens is the way we see the world. Let’s think about it this way. Many of us use cell phones. Do you ever use filters to edit your photos – such as, vivid, dramatic, mono, and so forth? For example, my phone has at least more than ten filters, though I don’t use them all. Our world looks very different, depending on which lens filter we use.

In today’s passage we find that there are at least three different lenses to see who Jesus is. When we see Jesus through the first lens, we see Jesus as nothing. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” The woman replied, “How come, you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (v. 9) In those days Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other. The Samaritan woman saw Jesus as just one of many typical Jewish men. Jesus was nothing to her.

On one occasion, Jesus came to his hometown and began to teach the people. They were amazed and said, “Where does he get his wisdom and the power to do miracles?” But then they scoffed, “We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” (cf. Matt 13:54-57, MSG) And because of their unbelief, Jesus was not able to do much of anything there. The people in his hometown saw Jesus merely from a human point of view. Jesus was nothing to them. Jesus had no influence on their lives.

Something

The second lens through which we see Jesus is, “Jesus is something.” At first, Jesus was nothing to the Samaritan woman. But then she began to see him as a prophet (v. 19). The Samaritan woman asked Jesus, “You have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water from the well will get thirsty again and again. But anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst. That water will become a well of water for you, springing up to eternal life.” The woman said, “Sir, give me this water.” Then Jesus replied, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.” “I have no husband,” she answered him. Jesus said to her, “You are right. You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” Then, the woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.”  

Oxford Dictionary defines prophet as a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. In Jesus’ time many people saw Jesus as a prophet – someone who was teaching God’s will, helping them, guiding them. They wanted to use Jesus as a ticket to heaven. They wanted to use Jesus to make their lives better. They wanted to use Jesus to make themselves important. But not more than that. Jesus still had little influence on their lives. They were not willing to change the course of their lives. They were not willing to turn, repent, deny themselves. When Jesus fed the people with five loaves and two fish, they were all satisfied. But when Jesus clearly proclaimed who he was and why he came, saying, “I am the bread of life. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you,” they were not happy. They were not ready. They were not willing. They complained and said, “This teaching is difficult. It’s too much for me.” After this, many of them turned away and no longer followed him. For them, Jesus was someone useful or helpful for their lives, but not more than that.

Everything

With the third lens we see Jesus as everything. The Samaritan woman had an unquenchable thirst for life. So she asked Jesus about the place of worship and God’s Messiah. At the end of the conversion, she said, “I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I AM the Messiah! You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further” (v. 26). She found the answer. Her thirst was quenched. She was fully known, accepted, and loved. Then she ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who knows me inside and out. Could this be the Messiah?” Her heart changed. Her eyes changed. Her eyes were opened progressively. At first, she saw Jesus as nothing (“Jew”), then as something (“prophet”), and eventually as everything (“Messiah”).

Who is Jesus to you? I want you to think carefully about this question, as you listen to the following poem, titled The Flower written by Chun-soo Kim[2]:

Before I called your name,

you were nothing

more than a gesture.

When I called your name,

you came to me

and became a flower.

Like I called your name,

will you please call my name

that suits my light and fragrance?

I, too, long to come to you

and become your flower.

We all long to be something.

You, to me, and I, to you,

long to become a gaze that won't be forgotten.

Who Is Jesus to You?

So who is Jesus to you? In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, who was once an atheist then converted to Christianity, rightly said this way:

“People often say about Jesus: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”[3]

Who is Jesus to you? And what will you do with Jesus? I believe that the life of C. T. Studd can be a shining example. C.T. Studd was a rich and famous English athlete in the 19^th century. But one day when missionary Hudson Taylor visited and called for missionaries to come to China, C.T. Studd surrendered his life to be a missionary to China. All his loved ones were against his decision. They said, “What a waste!” But, C.T. Studd said to them, “If Jesus Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

Who is Jesus to you? Isaac Watts, in his hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, invites us to join him at the foot of the cross and witness the pain of Jesus’ death: “See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.” Watts shows us what kind of Messiah Jesus was, giving us a new lens, then calls us to make our choice.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were a present far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

May this be my prayer… and our prayer. Amen.

 

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[1] John C. Maxwell, The Maxwell Daily Reader (HarperColllins Leadership, 2007), 6.

[2] Translated by Dr. Chae-Pyong Song

[3] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (HarperOne, 2009), 52.