7/19 Are You Ready to be a Sign?

This is written in honor of all those anonymous Christians including an unnamed Jew, who without any special theological background, evangelistic training, and in more than a few cases, a short span of walking with the Lord, have been powerful witnesses to Christ's redeeming work. In John 9, we read about someone who is simply described as "a man who was blind from birth," who was miraculously given sight by Jesus. He had been sitting at his usual place in the temple on a Sabbath day hoping that people would take notice of his wretched state and impoverished condition. But then Jesus passed by. The Master looked at him with that penetrating gaze that could immediately plumb the depths of the human heart, size up an opportunity for the manifestation of God's grace and immerse the needy in gushing streams of Godly compassion. This was in contrast to the nonchalant reaction of some of his disciples who saw this as an occasion for convening an instant seminar on the causes of evil and human suffering.

I believe that this contrast in reactions to the plight of this man with congenital blindness, underscores the difference between those who mourn the alarming moral decline of our nation (as reflected in the recent public glorification of a man who was immersed in the drug culture not to mention reports of his likely pedophilia) and those who are seemingly untouched by the moral degradation that infects our nation's soul like a deadly plague. Even Christians are challenged by this increasing trend toward moral malaise, but are frustrated if not intimidated by the growing opposition of many Americans, especially many in prominent national leadership roles, who reject the gospel and demean Biblical Christianity. On this note, we are just beginning to witness Christians with Biblical convictions being accused of "hate crimes" because of their public opposition to abortion, sexual perversion, and their preaching that Jesus is the only Savior.

But getting back to our text, the one who was blind but now could see, becomes the model for what Jesus is calling all Chistians to be in the face of so much resistance to the gospel. After Jesus heals him, he is questioned by his incredulous neighbors who initially have trouble recognizing or acknowledging him let alone his healing until they finally yield to his persistent witness that: "I am he." One commentator remarked that this man who barely knew the Lord at this point already bore the name of the Lord (I AM, e.g., John 8:58). But then he undergoes the inquisition of the hostile (to Jesus) religious authorities and holds them at bay with an uncanny effectiveness usually demonstrated by the likes of an Apostle Paul, a Stephen, or a Martin Luther boldly taking on a papal tribunal. This man was unsophisticated, uneducated, and as I said above he barely knew the Lord at that point, yet he had one mighty weapon at his disposal. He had his personal testimony that embarrassed and frustrated his powerful opponents. When asked to comment on the character of Jesus and the source of His power, our intrepid witness simply said: "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know is that I once was blind but now I see." He had a personal experience that could not be shaken. We, too, are called to be witnesses to our Lord's saving and healing power. We are to be signs to an unbelieving and scornful generation which has rejected its spiritual roots. In the face of smug opposition we are to be signs that militate against faulty basic assumptions in the name of science and we are to jar people into becoming aware of that insidious social conditioning that has rendered them spiritually insensitive. Are you ready to be a sign?