Reflections on "Do Whatever He Says" John 2: 1-11; John 9:13-33

If you want sermon to be a like a cafeteria, full of nice options that you can put together to be fed, then you might like this sermon.  I think there are several different ideas that have merit.  If you want a sermon to be like a gourmet meal, with different spices and and foods blended into one meal of fine dining, you will probably not appreciate this sermon -- too many ideas not blended together into one theme.

These are the two stories that Hamilton uses in his chapter this week on "miraculous signs."  I tried not to give too much information from Hamilton's chapter, but I did choose to explore both stories.  Perhaps I should have narrowed the focus even more and just used one of the stories.

(John 9: 13-33) They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”“Do Whatever He Tells You” February 21, 2016; FPC, Troy John 2: 1-11; John 9: 13-33

Introduction: A friend of mine asked if Jesus had practiced turning water into wine before this moment at the wedding in Cana (Dennis Piermont, sermon preached, copyright, 2016)

Isn't that a ritual of being a kid? Trying to be a magician.

Brought back memories of a magic kit that I had as a kid. A black cape. A magic wand. A table I could put together to set things on and hide my sleight of hand behind. Didn't have much sleight of hand. I had one magic show for siblings and neighbors – a few magic tricks performed while they were shouting out what I was doing. maybe a card trick or tow worked.

History repeated itself when one my daughters received a magic kit as a Christmas gift one year. I think the magic wand was used, but most of the other stuff stayed in the box.

But Jesus was pretty good. Maybe he had been practicing more..

Can't you hear his mother, “Jesus, have you turned the water into wine again?”

“Stop that. You know you're not allowed to drink wine!”

a. This time he is at a wedding.

1. At the wedding we meet Jesus' mother for the first time in the Gospel of John.

2. Remember the Gospel of John does not have a birth narrative, no Mary in Bethlehem.

3.  Now here she is, although the Gospel of John calls her the “mother of Jesus” (although we might note that in the Gospel of John, she is never called Mary; instead, she is always referred to as the mother of Jesus – New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX, 536).

b. The mother of Jesus discovers they have run out of wine.

1. She imposes on Jesus to do something about it.

2. find it fascinating that Jesus really does not want to get involved.
3. I can see him enjoying the conversation at his table, and here comes his mother. “Jesus, they're out of wine.”

4. Instead of “c'mon mom, leave me alone,” he answers with “My hour has not yet come.”

5. a phrase we will discover several more times in the Gospel of John.
6. A phrase that means the time of fulfillment is not quite here.

7. perhaps Jesus making a theological statement; perhaps just blowing off his mother.

c. She ignores him.

1. She tells the servants, “do whatever he tells you.”

2.  No grand pronouncement that something exciting is about to happen.

3.  No setting the stage for the appearance of the Son of God.

2. No “Wait until you see what miraculous thing my son is going to do.”

5. Just, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6. The servants may not yet know who Jesus is, but his mother gives them a pretty good modus operandi: “do whatever he tells you.”

500. They do.

1. Not magic.
2.  No waving of a magic wand; instead instructions to fill the stone jars used for purification rituals with water.

3.  Lots of water. 150 – 180 gallons.

4.  Then, when the jars are filled to the brim Jesus turns the water into wine.

5.  The stone jars being transformed from their use in rituals to housing the first of Jesus' miraculous signs in the Gospel of John.

6.  Note – The Gospel of John does not have miracles.

3. It has miraculous signs.

4. Remember from last week, in john the event is more than the event itself.

d. the turning of water into wine is not just a good way to extend the reception, but it also points to who Jesus is.

1. the one who brings new life in abundacne.
2. The one who transofrms the rituals of first century Judaism into signs of the abundant life to which jesus invites them.

3. this miraculous sign reveals what can happen when we “do wahtever Jesus tells us.”

Move 2: the blind beggar discover what can happen when he does whatever Jesus tells him.

a. We know his story is an important one because it takes up a whole chapter of the Gospel of John (roughly 5% of John is this single story).

1. The story contains a lot of back and forth with the Pharisees.

2. Clearly, the point being made is more than the healing of blind man.

b. From the beginning, this story reveals a truth about Jesus.

1. note that the story is told in the context of the question: who sinned to make this man blind? The man himself or his parents?

2. the question reflects their understanding that illness and handicaps were an indication of sinfulness.

3.  Jesus debunks this theory.

4. To have new life in Christ means new understandings, one of which is to no longer blame people's difficulties on their sinfulness.

5. To have life in Christ means moving beyond that negative understanding of God and to grow into the life-giving understanding of God.

b. the blind beggar does not make things complicated.

1. Jesus puts a mud salve on his eyes and tells him to go wash off the mud in the pool of Siloam.

2. He does what Jesus tells him to do, and he regains his sight.

3. The simplicity of that response feels similar to the water into wine miracle at the wedding in Cana.

4. “do whatever he tells you,” leads to new life.

c. Contrast that simple response with the Pharisees.

1. The Pharisees seem to care little about the healing that has taken place.

2.  They are too busy wondering if Jesus had violated the law against working on the sabbath by performing a healing on the sabbath.

3.  They want to know who gave Jesus the authority to heal.

4.  They want to uncover the deeper truth of who Jesus is, and they assume that truth will reveal Jesus as some sort of sinner.

5. But the no-longer blind man will have nothing to do with that.

6. He will not try to and guess who Jesus is or make any assumptions about Jesus. He just knows that he was blind and now he sees (Note – Hamilton refers to the story of John Newton, the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace, who was a slave trader turned pastor, and who penned his hymn based on his transformative experience).

7.  Pretty simple for him.

“Do whatever he tells you” worked pretty well for the blind man.

Move 3: As we read about these miraculous signs this week, you are invited to lay claim to what they reveal about Christ.

a. Our Lenten journey does not reveal a magician, but the one who invites us to new life.

b. I saw the movie Risen this week-end.

1. as you may know, the movie follows a Roman centurion, Pontius Pilate's right hand man, as he sees the crucifixion and then leads the investigation into what happened to the body of Christ after the tomb is discovered to be empty.

2. Late in the movie the Roman centurion who is tracking down the disciples had joined them on the beach at the Sea of Galilee where the resurrected Christ joins them (the movie seems to be following the Gospel of John at this point).

2. The camera moves away from the disciples and reveals a man with leprosy being discarded on the ground, banished from being around anyone.

4.  As this is happening, the centurion has a has a conversation with one of the disciples.

“Did you know Jesus was going to be raised from the dead?.”

“he had told us, but we doubted.”

“Why then do you believe?”

“Watch this,” the disciple responds, and they watch as Jesus heals a man who had been isolated and ostracized for his leprosy.

The miraculous sign was more than the healing in the moment – it was the reason for disciples to believe, to have new life in Christ, to hope in the resurrection.

c. “do what he tells you?”

1. It worked for the servants at the wedding in Cana.

2. Do what he tells you and discover life in Christ.

1. Discover a life of abundance.

4. discover new life in Christ that is not bound by the rules and regulations of the religious authorities.

5. Lay claim to the one who makes the blind see.

d. Discover that life now.

1. the water was changed into wine and drunk at the reception.

2. The blind man did not have to wait for his sight to return at some time down the road.

3. the life to which Christ invites us begins now.

Conclusion: We are back to the reason the gospel of John was written – so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah and have new life in his name. Amen.