0:0 - Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing and honorable to you, O Lord, our God, our Rock and our Redeemer.
0:9 - I will begin by reading our text this morning as we continue through Luke, Luke chapter 6, verse 39-45.
0:23 - So, this is Jesus, he, Jesus, also told them this parable, can the blind lead the blind?
0:30 - Will they both not fall into a pit?
0:35 - The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
0:41 - Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
0:49 - How can you say to your brother, brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?
0:56 - You hypocrite.
0:57 - First, take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
1:4 - No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
1:9 - Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.
1:12 - People do not pick figs from thorn bushes or grapes from briars.
1:18 - A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.
1:26 - For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
1:30 - Amen.
1:30 - This is the word of the Lord.
1:36 - About 25 years ago, I had the opportunity to go dirt biking in Turkey Point.
1:41 - There's a ton of trails in Turkey Point.
1:43 - I was riding, I think I was riding, there's some of you who really actually care about this.
1:47 - So I'll tell you, I was riding, I think it was an 89 Honda XR 200.
1:52 - Really cool looking bike.
1:52 - You should look it up after the service.
1:54 - Don't look it up now.
1:58 - I was with my two bosses actually.
2:3 - They took me up there and I'd never been there before.
2:6 - Something maybe you know about me or maybe you don't.
2:8 - I have an absolutely terrible sense of direction.
2:12 - I'm really bad at knowing where I am.
2:14 - I was very thankful for my boss who was leading the way with just full confidence, taking us through miles and miles of trails.
2:23 - Every once in a while, we'd get to a spot where it divides and there'd be a sign and he'd stop and look at it for a second and off we'd go.
2:30 - Eventually, we stopped for lunch after riding for three or four hours.
2:34 - I had to let him know, I said, thank you so much because I have no sweet clue where we are right now.
2:40 - I'm very thankful that you're with and he's like, I have no idea.
2:44 - I have no clue where we are right now.
2:48 - It was weird because my feeling changed immediately.
2:52 - I went from feeling confident and comfortable to feeling slightly uneasy and also a little bit betrayed at the same time.
3:0 - It's funny how fast that can happen.
3:2 - I think many of us can imagine a scenario that feels very similar to that.
3:8 - Maybe it's different for you.
3:9 - Maybe it's like going to the Home Depot and you ask where something is, and while you're wandering around the aisles, you realize the person who's taking you around has no clue, has no clue what you're looking for.
3:21 - By the way, Kelsen, we miss you.
3:23 - We miss you very much.
3:27 - So this is a common thing that we understand and that we know about.
3:32 - Jesus teaches on this, pretty straightforward.
3:36 - Trust good teachers, because otherwise it's just the blind leading the blind, and you end up both inside a pit.
3:47 - And we all know this.
3:48 - This is not rocket science.
3:49 - This is not a hard teaching from that perspective.
3:52 - It's pretty simple.
3:53 - I mean, if your car breaks down, where do you bring it?
3:55 - To the dentist?
3:56 - No, obviously you bring it to the mechanic, right?
3:58 - Because they know and understand your car.
4:1 - So you look to people with expertise to get, advice.
4:8 - So it's pretty simple.
4:9 - It's pretty basic.
4:9 - I think we understand that.
4:12 - But it gets stickier and more challenging because this teaching that Jesus offers is not for the student.
4:21 - It's not for the student to look and say, let me find a good person to learn under.
4:27 - It's actually a lesson that is for the teacher.
4:32 - This is a lesson for the teacher.
4:36 - Now, all of a sudden, it changes the question a little bit because going from analyzing who we should talk to or learn from, we have to actually do something that is important to do as members of a church community, and it's called self-examine.
4:51 - It's where we have an opportunity to look in the mirror and say, how am I doing?
5:0 - And if we're honest, all of us are in positions of teaching, or maybe we want to define it differently.
5:7 - How about leadership?
5:9 - Or what about simply influence?
5:12 - We all have roles of influence.
5:16 - Maybe you're a family that showed up here today and professed your faith in front of a church and brought your child forward for baptism and made promises that you will raise them up in the church.
5:30 - Or maybe you've been asked and called to be an elder or a deacon in this community, and you've accepted that call to lead and serve in that way.
5:44 - Or maybe you're a pastor of a church that regularly has to get up here and take God's word and share some insight and meaning.
5:56 - Or maybe you're a member of a church who's convicted on who Jesus is, and you feel a burden, a responsibility, a duty, a joy to share that with others.
6:16 - We all have roles of influence.
6:21 - And given this opportunity of self-examine, how are you doing?
6:30 - How's it going so far when Jesus says, you know, if you've got something in your own eye, deal with that first before you go and look at someone else, before you try to teach, influence, instruct another, make sure you've dealt with the plank inside your own eye, which is carrying on, of course, in the analogy of seeing, right?
6:53 - What he's saying is, is there sin, suffering?
6:58 - Are there hurdles and barriers in your life?
7:0 - Do you have blind spots?
7:2 - Do you have weaknesses?
7:3 - Do you have ways that you fall short?
7:8 - And we have to ask ourselves, do we?
7:12 - Do we have a hidden habitual sin that is holding us back?
7:20 - Are we facing some kind of conflict that, if we're honest, we have to take some responsibility for?
7:28 - Some broken relationship that we contributed to?
7:33 - What about a sense of pride that we know is unhealthy?
7:39 - What about some deep-seated anger that comes out in unhealthy ways?
7:43 - Maybe a short fuse or a temper.
7:46 - What about judging, quickly condemning others?
7:52 - How are we doing?
7:54 - Do we face and wrestle with any of those things?
7:59 - I think if we're honest, we have to admit that we do.
8:3 - Maybe all of them in our own ways, some more prominently than others based on who we are and what our woundings are, what our hurt is, we all struggle.
8:18 - So as we look in the mirror, and as we hear this teaching from Jesus, now what?
8:23 - We've just been told, well, clean that up before you instruct or teach someone else.
8:32 - So what does that mean?
8:33 - Does that mean that we're supposed to just stay in our own lane?
8:38 - Maybe teaching is a lofty goal that we shouldn't take part of, we should keep our influence to ourselves, we should just kind of maybe leave that for someone who's a little bit more put together, or has themselves figured out a little bit better, maybe someone a little more well-healed, as some might say.
9:2 - Well, I don't think that's the answer.
9:6 - And I think the reality is in our lives, we're never gonna reach the point where we've got it all figured out, where we're perfect, where we've achieved this place where we can say, yup, our vision is perfectly clear.
9:16 - We are now ready to influence other people in a healthy way.
9:21 - That is not part of living this life.
9:25 - So if it's not one and it's not the other, then where are we and what do we do?
9:33 - As I was wrestling with this this week, I landed on another story of Jesus as I was thinking through this message and ways to share this with you.
9:47 - I simply started searching for other stories of blindness in the Bible.
9:51 - It's a huge theme in the Old Testament.
9:53 - The prophets are always calling Israel, pointing out their blindness and calling them back.
9:58 - So this is not an arbitrary example or metaphor that Jesus is giving.
10:2 - It's anchored in the entire narrative of scripture.
10:8 - Then I came across John 9, which is a place where Jesus heals a man who was born blind.
10:17 - As I studied that and came across that, I decided it's actually best to pretty much read it to you and allow the text to speak for itself.
10:27 - So hear these words, hear the story from John 9.
10:31 - It's a great one.
10:33 - It's written well, and it's an easy one to just hear.
10:40 - So as Jesus went along, he saw a man that was blind from birth.
10:47 - And skipping a few verses, Jesus spit on the ground and he made some mud with saliva and he put it on the man's eyes.
10:56 - And he told him, go wash in the pool of Salome.
10:59 - This word means sent.
11:2 - So the man went and washed and came home seeing.
11:7 - His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?
11:16 - Some claimed that he was, others said, no, he only looks like him, so there's some controversy here.
11:21 - But he himself insisted, yeah, I am the man.
11:26 - How, then, were your eyes open, they asked.
11:28 - He replied, the man they called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes, and he told me to go to Salome and wash, so I went and washed and then I could see.
11:39 - Where is this man?
11:41 - They asked him.
11:42 - I love his answer.
11:44 - I don't know, he said.
11:49 - So they brought this to the Pharisees.
11:52 - They brought this man to the Pharisees who had been blind.
11:55 - Then there's some, I'll skip a few verses, but there's controversy, of course, because this happened on the Sabbath.
12:1 - So they ask him about it and he says, he put mud in my eyes and I was washed and now I see.
12:10 - Some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.
12:15 - But others asked, how can a sinner perform such signs?
12:18 - So they're totally divided on this.
12:21 - Then they turned again to the blind man.
12:24 - What have you to say about him?
12:25 - It was your eyes that he opened.
12:28 - The man replied, he is a prophet.
12:31 - They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents.
12:39 - They're doing some very good investigation here.
12:43 - Is this your son?
12:44 - They asked.
12:45 - Is this the one you say was born blind?
12:47 - How is it now that he can see?
12:51 - We know he is our son, the parents answered, and we know he was born blind.
12:57 - But how he can see or who opened his eyes, we don't know.
13:3 - Ask him, he is of age, he will speak himself.
13:6 - Then it gives the commentary on this.
13:8 - It says, his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.
13:13 - They already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah, would be put out of the synagogue.
13:20 - And so that's why the parents had said, he's of age, ask him.
13:25 - So a second time, they summoned the man who had been blind, give glory to God by telling the truth.
13:30 - They said, we know this man is a sinner.
13:34 - He replied, whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know.
13:39 - One thing I do know, I was blind, now I see.
13:45 - Then he asked him, they asked him this, what did he do to you?
13:49 - How did he open your eyes?
13:53 - He answered, I've told you already, and you did not listen.
13:57 - Why do you want to hear it again?
13:59 - Do you want to become his disciples too?
14:1 - Maybe a bit of cynicism there.
14:4 - Then they hurled insults at him and said, you are his fellow disciple.
14:9 - We are disciples of Moses.
14:11 - We know that God spoke to Moses, as he did for this fellow.
14:15 - We don't know where he comes from.
14:19 - And the man answered, now that is remarkable.
14:23 - You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
14:28 - We know that God does not listen to sinners.
14:31 - He listens to the godly person who does his will.
14:34 - Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind.
14:39 - If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.
14:44 - To this they replied, you were steeped in sin at birth.
14:47 - How dare you lecture us?
14:48 - And they threw him out.
14:53 - Now we get more of an inside scoop because the next section is Jesus' commentary on this whole thing.
15:0 - So Jesus had heard that they had thrown him out.
15:6 - And when he found him, he said, do you believe in the son of man?
15:10 - So now Jesus goes to this man.
15:13 - Who is he, sir?
15:15 - The man asks.
15:17 - Tell me so that I may believe in him.
15:21 - Jesus said, you have now seen him.
15:24 - In fact, he is the one speaking with you.
15:27 - Then the man said, Lord, I believe.
15:31 - And he worshiped him.
15:33 - And Jesus said, for judgment, come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.
15:41 - Some Pharisees who were with them heard him say this and asked, what, are we blind too?
15:47 - Very confrontational.
15:49 - And Jesus said, if you were blind, you would not, if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin.
15:55 - But now that you claim you can see your guilt remains.
16:2 - How does this story answer our question of this tension we find ourselves in?
16:8 - What I love about this story is this man was blind and then he can see Jesus.
16:18 - But when Jesus left this earth, he sent the Holy Spirit of God to advocate for us, to teach us, to show us even more than what this man knew.
16:35 - Here's the reality.
16:37 - We are blind.
16:39 - We are blind guides.
16:42 - We will always be on this side of heaven.
16:46 - We will always have a broken understanding of who God is, who we are to God.
16:50 - We are fallen and sinful.
16:53 - Our calling is to point to him.
16:57 - He is the only guide who is not blind.
17:0 - He is the only one that can lead us and teach us and bring us into righteousness.
17:8 - And that is how we live as guides.
17:11 - We point to Jesus.
17:16 - There's a verse in John 14 that helps to understand this.
17:20 - Now Cadets, it starts with verse 15.
17:23 - Do you know what?
17:24 - What is it?
17:25 - Cadets, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.
17:32 - Now what about verses 16 and 17?
17:34 - Do you know what those are too?
17:37 - Maybe not.
17:38 - It's important for us to pay attention to all of scripture, because it goes on to say this, if you love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth.
17:55 - The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He lives in you and will be in you.
18:10 - This is where our sight comes from.
18:13 - We know Jesus, and the Holy Spirit lives active inside of us.
18:18 - It's the greatest miracle, and it's the only way we can even help to walk alongside others is by living a life of love and pointing to Christ.
18:30 - Let's pray together.
18:34 - Lord God, you have mission and purpose for us, yet we often overemphasize what that looks like.
18:43 - We think we have a list of things to do, to accomplish, that we have to wipe our own slate clean, that we have to rid ourselves of all of our sin before you can use us.
18:56 - But that is not true.
18:58 - It is in and through the sanctifying work of your spirit that we grow in the understanding of who you are, that out of gratitude we want to live for you and learn more, and that we have the humility, compassion, patience and grace to influence others in this life that you have called us to influence.
19:19 - Lord God, help us.
19:22 - Help us to place the priorities in the right place.
19:26 - Help us to live this out in the ways that you call us to, and help us to not try to do the work that you've already done, but to give witness to the truth and reality of how it changes lives.
19:40 - In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.