INTENTIONAL EVANGELISM JOHN 9:1-25

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "INTENTIONAL EVANGELISM JOHN 9:1-25"

Lionel Pitts
5 years ago
Views:

1 INTENTIONAL EVANGELISM JOHN 9:1-25 Main Idea Evangelism is a technical word for simply telling others what Jesus has done and is doing in your life. I. EVERYONE IS BORN BLIND (VS 1-7) Without Jesus we stumble around blind in life looking for love, security, and purpose. God loves everyone and wants to heal everyone. A. WHOSE FAULT? B. WHO CAN FIX IT? C. WHO WANTS TO SEE? II. SOME WANT TO RECEIVE SIGHT (VS 8-12) Some people will want to hear more of your story and about Jesus. A. FRIENDS AND FAMILY SHOULD SEE A CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE. B. BE PREPARED TO TELL YOUR STORY. C. BE PREPARED TO TELL THEM GOD S STORY OF SALVATION III. SOME WANT TO REMAIN BLIND (VS 13-25) Many people will reject god s plan of salvation. Do not be discouraged. Continue to live out the gospel. A. DON T WANT TO CHANGE THEIR THINKING OR THEIR BEHAVIOR. B. WANT TO DISCREDIT GOD BY DISCREDITING YOU. C. SIMPLY STATE WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU.

2 Intentional Evangelism John 9:1-25 I m sure if you have been a believer for any period of time, we probably have two things in common; we know we should be doing evangelism and we feel guilty that we are not doing it. I have been a Christian for 50 years and a pastor for 30. During that time, I have tried to do evangelism, went through several programs, and tried many methods. I have to say that I have been a terrible evangelist. At times I was so clear and forceful with the Gospel message, that I was obnoxious and offensive. Of course nobody would want to follow the Jesus I portrayed. On the other hand, I have blended in so well with those I was trying to reach that you couldn t tell me from the unbelievers. I didn t have a compelling message of the difference Christ could make. I think my life as an evangelist has been rocky at best; pathetic and ineffectual at the worst. What makes me feel even worse is when I get excited about a food I ve tasted, a form of entertainment I experienced, a place I have visited, or even a new store; I seem excited and effective enough to get my friends to try them. Why can t I get them to try Jesus? Do you struggle with evangelism? I am going to try and reduce this to its most basic form. The main idea of this morning s text is this. EVANGELISM IS A TECHNICAL WORD FOR SIMPLY TELLING OTHERS WHAT JESUS HAS DONE AND IS DOING IN YOUR LIFE. Evangelism is not complicated. It is not about arguing theology or converting someone to a complicated system of morality. Evangelism is offering someone to enter the Kingdom of God. That includes being introduced to Jesus and entering a life of adventure. I. EVERYONE IS BORN BLIND (VS 1-7) In this morning s text, we meet a man who was blind from birth. As the story goes on, Jesus makes it clear that everyone is born blind as described in verses 1-7. WITHOUT JESUS WE STUMBLE AROUND BLIND IN LIFE LOOKING FOR LOVE, SECURITY, AND PURPOSE. GOD LOVES EVERYONE AND WANTS TO HEAL EVERYONE. As Jesus and the Disciples were out for a walk one day, they came across a blind man. He was a beggar because he could not see or get a job. It was probably hard for him to remain ceremonially clean so he probably didn t get much interaction with religious people or have occasion to make it to temple worship. Because of his blindness he was isolated socially and religiously. He was truly alone in the darkness. The question that immediately arises is, Whose fault is this? The common narrative theology of the day was that this man was blind because of his parents sins or his own sin. Since he was blind from birth, it would be hard to believe he was being punished by God for his sin. What sin could he commit as an embryo? On the other hand, it is hard to understand how God could be punishing him for his parents sin. Why wouldn t God simply have blinded his parents? Jesus made a couple of observations. First, the blind man wasn t being punished by God. We must get this false narrative out of our heads. Bad things happen in this world. Good and bad things happen to both righteous and unrighteous people. However, where ever we find ourselves in life; God wants to journey through life with us. The fact is that God created us to be in a love relationship with Him. Love requires freedom so God, having already made His decision to love us before creation even took place, gives us the free Page 2

3 choice to receive His love and offer our love to Him. God has created the world in a way that we can only find true happiness in Him. James Bryan Smith put it this way; God, please give me happiness and peace, we plead, but let me also live my life as I please. And God answers, I cannot give you that. You are asking for something that does not exist. Jesus constantly invited people to enter God s Kingdom and follow Him. We tend to struggle in three main areas of life; wanting to be loved for who we are, feeling safe and secure, and wanting to live with meaning and purpose. Without Christ, we try to find these things by getting involved sexually with others, jumping from relationship to relationship, using others and being used by others, and looking for other people to fulfill us. We try to be successful by making as much money as we can, buying as much stuff as we can, and influencing and controlling as many people as we can. We try to find success in business, our children s accomplishments, and being esteemed by others. What we find is that these things don t satisfy us. We have seen the dot com crash, the stock market crash, the housing market crash, and the questionable financial practices of banks and our government. We could be extraordinarily rich today and broke tomorrow. We have seen governments raid private bank accounts. We see people who owe more on their houses than their houses are worth. We see acts of terror and murder every day in the newspaper and our own city Chicago has become known as the murder capital of the country. People give their energies to the workplace only to be fired when they make too much money or the costs of their benefits are too high. Our country ships jobs overseas and wonders why the unemployment rate is so high. Add to that the number of broken marriages and children growing up in broken homes. Our friends, family, and neighbors are suffering. They want desperately to feel loved, secure, and meaningful. God offers that to each person. We have been given permission to offer them entrance into God s Kingdom where they will be instantly forgiven of their sins. They are saved. They will be saved at death. In other words, they will spend eternity with God in heaven. However, there is much more to salvation than being forgiven so we can spend eternity in heaven. Salvation is a present continuous event. In other words, our entrance into God s Kingdom and our entrance into heaven have been secured. However, we have a lifetime to live in God s Kingdom here on earth. We call that part of our being saved as sanctification. In other words, we get to live an exciting life here on earth. I want to make this perfectly clear. All human beings, whether Christian or not, will face trials, difficulties, and sufferings of all kinds. That is simply the reality of being human. However, in addition to the forgiveness of sins and the hope of heaven after death, God offers to journey through the ups and downs of this life with us. That s what it means to live in the Kingdom of God here and now. We journey together with God through this life; working with Him to accomplish His work. Who can fix our sin problem? Jesus. The Bible often uses the metaphor of blindness to describe people who live life apart from Jesus. They walk and stumble around in darkness. Jesus reframed the question asked by the disciples. Instead of trying to figure out what sin was the cause of the man s suffering, Jesus is focused on what good can come from it? Jesus, the God of the Universe in the flesh is about to recreate this guy s eyes. Jesus mixed His spit with the dust of the earth, and rubbed it on the guy s eyes. He is touched by God and Jesus has personally given him an invitation to become part of God s Kingdom on earth. We know that the entire Bible portrays God approaching us in love; inviting us into a personal, intimate, and passionate relationship with Him. Page 3

4 Unfortunately, the Bible also describes us as mostly rejecting this offer. Jesus is approaching you, me, our friends, neighbors, and relatives with this gracious offer. The question is not who is invited; everyone is invited. The question is, Who wants to see? After putting the mud on this blind man s eyes, Jesus told him to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. Remember this man is blind. He would have to make his way to the pool using his cane and the good will of others to direct him. It didn t matter. He made it to the pool and washed his eyes. He was definitely rewarded. He received his sight and his life would be changed. He had no idea what life in the future held for him; but whatever life had for him, he would be able to see it. That s the way it is for us. When we receive Jesus and enter a relationship with Him, whatever life holds for us Jesus will be with us. That makes life exciting and new. The upshot of all of this is that human beings will face all sorts of struggles through life. We all want to experience love, security, and purpose. God offers all of that through Jesus. WITHOUT JESUS WE STUMBLE AROUND BLIND IN LIFE LOOKING FOR LOVE, SECURITY, AND PURPOSE. GOD LOVES EVERYONE AND WANTS TO HEAL EVERYONE. II. SOME WANT TO RECEIVE SIGHT (VS 8-12) The point of this for believers is that we ought to know the struggles of unbelievers and we also ought to know how Jesus satisfies these basic needs. We ought to also know the joy of living in the Kingdom of God here on earth even though times of suffering. As we explain this to others, some may want to receive sight as described in verses SOME PEOPLE WILL WANT TO HEAR MORE OF YOUR STORY AND ABOUT JESUS. In other words, as we talk about our life with Jesus, some people will be interested and want to know more. Right off the bat, friends and family should see a change in your life. The once blind man could now see and it caused his neighbors to take notice. They started to ask if indeed this was the blind beggar. There was a lot of discussion about it. As we grow in our faith journey, people should see changes in the way we speak and act. We should be conformed more and more into the image of Jesus. We should be exhibiting more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. In fact, we too should be noticing how we are changing. If we are genuine believers, then God should be changing us. The next step is when people start to ask us about the change in our lives. We must be prepared to tell our stories. When his neighbors asked him, the man was able to tell them exactly what happened. He met a man named Jesus. Jesus mixed some spit and mud and put it on his eyes. Jesus told him to go the Pool of Siloam and wash the mud out. When he did, he could see. Look, there doesn t have to be any fancy presentation. All we need to do is to be able to communicate what Jesus is doing in our lives. How are we changing? What comfort is there in traveling with Jesus? How does knowing Jesus keep us from false ways of trying to satisfy our need for love, security, and purpose? How does Jesus meet our needs to be loved, feel secure, and feel meaningful? All that takes is some quiet times of meditation and reflection. I would Page 4

5 encourage you to have a short 3 minute description in each of these categories in case someone asks us about Jesus. Finally, be prepared to tell them God s story of salvation. The simple plan of salvation is to confess our sins, submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior, and invite Him into our lives so we can journey together in life. If you want to refresh yourselves on the basics, pick up a booklet we have here at church called, The Four Spiritual Laws. The fact is that SOME PEOPLE WILL WANT TO HEAR MORE OF YOUR STORY AND ABOUT JESUS. The key is that we know our story and Jesus story. III. SOME WANT TO REMAIN BLIND (VS 13-25) Some people will want to hear more about Jesus but the sad fact is that there are many more people who want to remain blind as described in verses MANY PEOPLE WILL REJECT GOD S PLAN OF SALVATION. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. CONTINUE TO LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL. To keep things in perspective, let s remember that even though many people chose to follow Jesus and give their lives to Him in faith, there were many people who rejected Him and plotted to have Him killed. The main reason people reject Jesus is that they don t want to change their thinking or their behavior. The next group the healed man faces is the religious leaders of the day. They were rich, powerful, and revered. They were the elite of society and they wanted people to believe they occupied those positions because of God s favor. Along came Jesus and opened entrance into God s Kingdom to the poor, the disadvantaged, the sick, and all sorts of social outcasts. In fact, Jesus said that whoever wanted to enter the Kingdom could do so by simply placing their faith in Him. People in our culture want to do and believe what they want to. They don t want God telling them what to do. People reject God because they want to continue in their immoral life styles. People want to make their own sexual rules, want to be able to cheat in business, and gather up more and more wealth and power without God s interference. Therefore, like the religious people of Jesus day, they will want to discredit God by discrediting you. The religious leaders kept badgering this poor guy who had been healed. He didn t know much so he kept telling these leaders the same story. They tried to get him to make theological statements which he had no way of answering. If you tell people you are a Christian, you can be sure they will be watching the way you speak and act. They will be looking for inconsistencies so if they can discredit you, they can dismiss God. Our culture is out to destroy traditional Judaism and Christianity. If a celebrity claims to be a Christian, the entire culture goes on the offensive; trying to catch that person in some inconsistency. Just as people with good hearts will be looking for the good changes in your life; you can be sure that those who don t want to have anything to do with God will be trying to find sin in your life. All we are required to do is what the healed man did; simply state what God has done for you. The man who was healed didn t engage these religious leaders in theological debate. All he said was, I was blind and now I see. He was living proof of God s power. At the same time a couple of days Page 5

6 ago, he was blind and begging; today he was standing before the social and religious elite able to see. Don t get religious and walk around with an attitude. Simply live your life with the grace of Jesus. State what joy and peace you feel. Don t make it complicated. Keep it simple. Your changed life should discredit those who try to discredit you. MANY PEOPLE WILL REJECT GOD S PLAN OF SALVATION. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. CONTINUE TO LIVE OUT THE GOSPEL. Let me stress this one more time. Evangelism is not meant to be complicated. EVANGELISM IS A TECHNICAL WORD FOR SIMPLY TELLING OTHERS WHAT JESUS HAS DONE AND IS DOING IN YOUR LIFE. We belong to a great God and a great message. Listen to how Gary Moon summed it up: I encountered a teaching on the uniting themes of Scripture that I ve never been able to forget. It was posited that if you step inside the Bible, anywhere between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21, you would not have to turn many pages before bumping into four repeated themes: God loves people and has prepared a suitable dwelling place both as an inheritance and a place of being together; God desires to be with His people in loving relationship; Humanity continues to reject both the inheritance and the offer of presence and relationship; God does not give up on His offer to be with the ones He loves. It seems to me that if God is not willing to give up on human beings, they we should be willing to continue on with Him by telling and living out our personal stories of salvation. Discussion Questions In a few short sentences, try to state what God has done for you. Tell a story about how God has worked in your life in each area; fulfilling your need for love, security, and purpose. Explain the plan of salvation in a couple of short sentences. Page 6

I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE John 9:8-34 (No. 53) Treasuring Christ Church Pastor Boyd Johnson January 7, 2018

I WAS BLIND, BUT NOW I SEE John 9:8-34 (No. 53) Treasuring Christ Church Pastor Boyd Johnson January 7, 2018 INTRODUCTION Review of 9:1 7 It s been about a month since we were last in this chapter, so