WEBVTT 00:00:10.350 --> 00:00:19.390 Hey, if you're tuning in right now, maybe Sunday's 00:00:19.390 --> 00:00:21.250 sunlight streaming through the window, maybe 00:00:21.250 --> 00:00:24.870 midnight static coming on your radio. I want 00:00:24.870 --> 00:00:26.890 to welcome you to the Seminar Seminarian where 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:28.969 Grace doesn't wear a necktie in every story. 00:00:29.769 --> 00:00:32.109 Has a little bit of dirt under its nails. I've 00:00:32.109 --> 00:00:34.890 got a question, though, that will rattle your 00:00:34.890 --> 00:00:38.549 comfort. What if the very thing you thought disqualified 00:00:38.549 --> 00:00:41.590 you is the very thing Jesus wants to use to wake 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:45.130 up the world? See, today we're talking about 00:00:45.130 --> 00:00:49.130 mud. Not the tidy, sterilized kind, but the spit 00:00:49.130 --> 00:00:51.890 and dust kind. The kind that ruins your shoes 00:00:51.890 --> 00:00:55.689 and just might save your soul. What if you let 00:00:55.689 --> 00:00:58.149 Jesus get mud on your face right in front of 00:00:58.149 --> 00:01:01.920 God and everybody? Would you do it? Or are you 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.260 still trying to keep your Sunday best spotless, 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.599 for God is not afraid to kneel in the dirt? This 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.879 episode, Mud and Mercy, How Jesus Turns Our Need 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.079 for Answers into the Gift of Sight, isn't about 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:17.019 easy answers or polished religion. It's about 00:01:17.019 --> 00:01:19.340 getting honest, getting healed, and maybe, just 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:22.859 maybe, finding sight in the last place you look. 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:25.900 If something in this old gospel rattles your 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.159 cage or stirs your memory, don't keep it to yourself. 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:31.150 Share it, like it, subscribe, drop a comment. 00:01:31.250 --> 00:01:33.329 Pass it on to a friend who needs a little dirt 00:01:33.329 --> 00:01:36.390 and a lot of grace. Let's walk this story together. 00:01:37.150 --> 00:01:45.090 I'll see you on the other side. No, I think it's 00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:49.609 great. Okay, so I had just mentioned we've been 00:01:49.609 --> 00:01:51.890 doing parables on Wednesday nights and we have 00:01:51.890 --> 00:01:54.730 been doing the signs on Sunday. What am I talking 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:58.859 about? Talking about... we've been talking about. 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.780 In the book of John, there are several signs 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:06.359 John points to about Jesus, things that Jesus 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:11.699 does that to John are proof that he would like 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:16.539 to show you about Jesus being the Messiah. So 00:02:16.539 --> 00:02:18.699 within the gospel account, according to John, 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.379 there is this little portion within the early 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:24.479 part of the book. that theologians call the book 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:27.180 of signs. And these stories kind of go one after 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:31.219 the other. And unintentionally, I've just started 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:36.840 doing them one after the other. So we first started 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:41.159 talking about Cana. And we learned about grace 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.219 to come to us as unexpected and overabundant 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:49.060 joy. We learned about the healing of the invalid 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:53.080 at the sheep gate. If you guys remember that. 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:59.819 And how grace sometimes can go to the most unexpected 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:04.259 places. And break religious rules. And we're 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:06.939 going to find that same kind of situation again 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:09.900 here today. We're going to look at this story 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:14.580 about Jesus healing the blind man with mud. And 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:20.099 I also want to point out that if... If anyone 00:03:20.099 --> 00:03:22.180 ever asks you, does your preacher actually down 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:24.840 there preach any Bible? Well, I want you to know 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:26.159 your preacher does. We're going to go through 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:28.419 about 40 verses of text today. We're going to 00:03:28.419 --> 00:03:31.460 break it up. But the point being, this whole 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:34.960 story has to be told because this thing is a 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:38.240 banger from beginning to end. So we don't want 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.680 to cut any part of this out. Every bit of this 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.169 teaches us something. So we're going to cut it 00:03:44.169 --> 00:03:46.849 into little slices, but we're going to hear this 00:03:46.849 --> 00:03:49.289 whole story. So we're going to begin right at 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:51.770 the beginning. Attune your ears, my dear friends. 00:03:52.550 --> 00:03:55.129 Open the door of your heart. The Spirit still 00:03:55.129 --> 00:03:59.009 speaks when the word is read aloud. This is the 00:03:59.009 --> 00:04:01.729 gospel, the account of John, chapter 9, verses 00:04:01.729 --> 00:04:07.289 1 through 13. As he passed by, he saw a man blind 00:04:07.289 --> 00:04:10.270 from birth, and the disciples asked him, Rabbi, 00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:14.919 Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:19.779 was born blind? Jesus answered, It was not that 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:24.120 this man sinned or his parents, but that the 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:29.120 works of God might be displayed in him. We must 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.620 work the works of him who sent me while it is 00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:37.220 day. Night is coming when no one can work. As 00:04:37.220 --> 00:04:40.959 long as I am in the world, I am the light of 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.639 the world. Having said these things, he spit 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:48.480 on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.139 he anointed the man's eyes with mud and said, 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.220 Go wash in the pool of Siloam. It means scent. 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:02.779 So he went and washed and came back seeing. The 00:05:02.779 --> 00:05:06.139 neighbors and those who had seen him before as 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:10.259 a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who 00:05:10.259 --> 00:05:15.759 used to sit and beg? Some said, It is he. Others 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.759 said, No, but he's like him. He kept saying, 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:27.199 I am the man. It's me. So they said to him, Then 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:31.000 how are your eyes opened? He answered, the man 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:34.600 called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.420 said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:42.500 and washed and received my sight. They said to 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:47.639 him, where is he? He said, I do not know. They 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.660 brought to the Pharisees the man who had already 00:05:50.660 --> 00:05:54.930 been formerly been blind and their friends. We 00:05:54.930 --> 00:05:57.550 will pause the reading, but the story is still 00:05:57.550 --> 00:06:00.370 humming in the dust and in your bones. Let the 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:03.910 word find a place to rest in you while we walk 00:06:03.910 --> 00:06:10.629 further. This is something preachers never, ever 00:06:10.629 --> 00:06:14.850 say from the pulpit in a sermon. But let's let 00:06:14.850 --> 00:06:20.569 our minds wander. You're walking the ancient 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:26.009 stones of Jerusalem. The city humming with dust, 00:06:26.209 --> 00:06:30.990 rumor, and memory. Every street is thick with 00:06:30.990 --> 00:06:34.089 stories, every shadow holding a prayer someone 00:06:34.089 --> 00:06:38.790 gave up on years ago. You try to keep pace with 00:06:38.790 --> 00:06:42.569 Jesus, this rabbi who moves with purpose, but 00:06:42.569 --> 00:06:49.310 never rushes past a hurting soul. He stops, not 00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:52.860 for the strong, not for the pious. but for the 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:57.699 one the city has learned to step around. A man 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:01.360 born blind, sitting in the dust, as ordinary 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:05.139 and as overlooked as the stones of the wall themselves. 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:12.379 It's the disciples who voice what everybody is 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:19.740 thinking. Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:25.379 parents? that he'd be born blind. That question, 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:32.800 blame hunting, trying to make suffering manageable, 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:40.160 lives in our bones. Because if you can explain 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:44.279 pain, maybe you can keep it from your own door. 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:52.209 But Jesus refuses the ledger. It was not that 00:07:52.209 --> 00:07:57.089 this man sinned or his parents, but that the 00:07:57.089 --> 00:08:01.649 works of God might be displayed in him. No punishment, 00:08:01.750 --> 00:08:08.689 just possibility. Jesus kneels, he spits in the 00:08:08.689 --> 00:08:11.790 dirt, makes mud, kneads it into the eyes of a 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:15.689 man who's never seen a sunrise, never read a 00:08:15.689 --> 00:08:20.069 face and said, go. Wash in the pool of Siloam. 00:08:20.310 --> 00:08:28.930 No spectacle. Just mud and mercy. You watch the 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:31.310 man stumble through the crowd, mud drying on 00:08:31.310 --> 00:08:33.870 his cheeks. Nobody offers to guide him. Sometimes 00:08:33.870 --> 00:08:38.730 grace comes without witnesses. And then he's 00:08:38.730 --> 00:08:43.549 back, blinking, laughing, seeing, seeing everything 00:08:43.549 --> 00:08:47.850 for the first time. And the neighborhood doesn't 00:08:47.850 --> 00:08:53.169 know what to do. Some say it's him. Others, it 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:58.110 can't be. He insists, yes, it's me. And they 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:02.509 press him. Well, how did it happen? And he tells 00:09:02.509 --> 00:09:06.370 the truth. Very simple. Jesus, mud, wash. Now 00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:12.649 I see. They want a map, a formula, a reason. 00:09:13.929 --> 00:09:18.529 He just has this story. And that story is about 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:23.429 to unsettle every certainty in the room. So they 00:09:23.429 --> 00:09:30.309 haul him to the Pharisees. You'd think a miracle 00:09:30.309 --> 00:09:34.429 would quiet the noise, but instead it stirs it 00:09:34.429 --> 00:09:38.710 up. The city is buzzing. Blame is in the air. 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:42.740 And what should have been a quiet healing is 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:48.559 now a storm gathering over the dust. Once more, 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.340 tune your ears and steady your hearts. The dust 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:55.639 is swirling. The spirit is near. We return to 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:02.659 the word. John 9, 14 through 27. Now it was the 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:07.379 Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:11.840 his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.340 he had received his sight. And he said to them, 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:19.340 he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:24.860 Some of the Pharisees say this man is not from 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:31.500 God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others 00:10:31.500 --> 00:10:36.379 said, how could a man who is a sinner do such 00:10:36.379 --> 00:10:40.330 things? And there was a division among them. 00:10:41.669 --> 00:10:44.129 So they said again to the blind man, what do 00:10:44.129 --> 00:10:47.429 you say about him since he has opened your eyes? 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:54.710 He said, he is a prophet. The Jews did not believe 00:10:54.710 --> 00:10:56.990 that he had been blind and had received his sight 00:10:56.990 --> 00:11:01.129 until they called the parents of the man who 00:11:01.129 --> 00:11:04.830 had received his sight and asked them, is this 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:10.000 your son? Who you say was born blind? How then 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:15.759 does he now see? Imagine. His parents answered, 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:21.259 we know that this is our son and that he was 00:11:21.259 --> 00:11:26.480 born blind. But how he now sees, we do not know. 00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:31.039 Nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:36.860 he's of age. He will speak for himself. Parenthetically, 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:39.840 John gives us a little piece of inside baseball 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.019 here. That's why it looks like this in Scripture. 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:45.220 His parents said these things because they feared 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:49.159 the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:51.899 if anyone should confess that Jesus is the Christ, 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:57.399 he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:03.789 his parents said, he's of age, ask him. So for 00:12:03.789 --> 00:12:05.649 the second time they called the man who had been 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:08.450 born blind and said to him, Give glory to God. 00:12:09.149 --> 00:12:14.490 We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, 00:12:14.929 --> 00:12:20.549 Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. 00:12:22.549 --> 00:12:28.309 Only one thing I do know, that though I was blind, 00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:35.120 now I see. They said to him, What did he do to 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.980 you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, 00:12:38.019 --> 00:12:42.539 I have told you already, and you would not listen. 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:48.440 Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:54.139 want to become his disciples? Thus ends this 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:56.820 part of the reading. May the questions linger. 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:01.159 May the truth trouble the waters. For the story 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:06.419 is not done yet. Now you're back in the crowd, 00:13:06.539 --> 00:13:10.220 shoulder to shoulder, with anxiety and confusion. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:16.740 What started out as a mercy has become a courtroom 00:13:16.740 --> 00:13:23.580 drama. You feel the heat rising. The healed man 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:27.320 blinking in the light is brought before the men 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:32.620 who run the show. The Sabbath law hangs in the 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:37.440 air as heavy as the dust. You know what's at 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:43.080 stake. Mud on the wrong day can get you stoned 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:49.919 to death, not celebrated. The Pharisees, keepers 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:54.580 of certainty, guardians of the gate, lean in. 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:59.600 How did you receive your sight? He put mud on 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:06.379 my eyes, I washed, I see. Simple, but not safe. 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:14.539 You hear the schism in the room. Some mutter, 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:20.039 not from God, broke the Sabbath. Others quietly, 00:14:20.419 --> 00:14:26.279 but how could a sinner do this? No one says what 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:33.039 they're really thinking. If this is true, the 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.779 world just got bigger and the old lines just 00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:42.740 got blurry. They press him for theology. He's 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:49.139 just got testimony. He's a prophet. It's the 00:14:49.139 --> 00:14:53.580 best word he's got. And you could see him standing 00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:57.600 up, straighter and straighter. The more honest 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:02.480 he gets, the more dangerous it becomes. They 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:06.360 summon the parents. You watch their faces lined, 00:15:06.700 --> 00:15:10.879 tired, afraid. Is this your son? Was he really 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:15.840 born blind? How does he see? And they hedge, 00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:22.320 terrified. don't make us choose between our child 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:27.740 and our community. So, back to the healed man. 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:32.679 The circle is closing. Give glory to God. We 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:36.320 know this man is a sinner. He shrugs off their 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.720 categories. Whether he's a sinner, I don't know. 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.080 The only thing I know is I was blind and I see. 00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:47.639 And that line continues to shake the whole room 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:52.240 every single time he says it. You feel it because 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.000 that testimony is much more powerful than an 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:02.340 argument. But they're not finished. What did 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:07.659 he do to you? How did he open your eyes? You 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:12.610 see his patience. beginning to wear thin. I've 00:16:12.610 --> 00:16:17.429 told you already, you wouldn't listen. Why do 00:16:17.429 --> 00:16:20.149 you want to hear it again? Do you also want to 00:16:20.149 --> 00:16:23.250 become his disciples? And you could feel the 00:16:23.250 --> 00:16:28.370 shift there. I saw some of you smile. What started 00:16:28.370 --> 00:16:32.769 out as fear has now become a boldness, even humor. 00:16:34.230 --> 00:16:38.289 He's no longer in the shadows. He's standing 00:16:38.289 --> 00:16:41.549 right in the center of the storm and you're right 00:16:41.549 --> 00:16:47.610 there with him and you realize grace always stirs 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:52.570 things up before it settles anything down. And 00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:58.470 sometimes the price of seeing is being seen and 00:16:58.470 --> 00:17:04.470 being pushed out. You watch as tension reaches 00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:09.720 a breaking point. The healed man is cast out, 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:16.400 but he walks out taller than he came in. Sometimes 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.460 getting thrown out is what it takes to really 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:26.180 belong. One last time, dear friends, attune your 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:30.000 ears, all ye with weary ears. Let the spirit 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.480 blow through the static and the silence. This 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:36.140 is the closing of the story. John chapter... 00:17:36.430 --> 00:17:40.509 9, verses 28 through 41. And they reviled him, 00:17:40.589 --> 00:17:44.930 saying, You are his disciple. But we are disciples 00:17:44.930 --> 00:17:49.650 of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:52.549 but as for this man, we do not know where he 00:17:52.549 --> 00:17:57.150 comes from. The man answered, Why, this is an 00:17:57.150 --> 00:18:01.690 amazing thing. You do not know where he comes 00:18:01.690 --> 00:18:07.079 from, yet he's the one that opened my eyes. We 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.059 know that God does not listen to sinners, but 00:18:11.059 --> 00:18:15.519 if anyone is a worshiper of God and he does his 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:20.039 will, God listens to him. Never since the world 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:22.759 began has it been heard that anyone opened the 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:27.220 eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:32.180 from God, he could do nothing. They answered 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:38.339 him. You were born in utter sin, and would you 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:44.259 teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus had heard 00:18:44.259 --> 00:18:46.299 that they had cast him out, and having found 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:48.140 him, said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:51.579 He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe 00:18:51.579 --> 00:18:56.160 in him? Jesus said to him, You have seen him, 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:01.079 and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:05.359 Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Jesus 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:09.000 said, For judgment I came into this world that 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.519 those who do not see may see, and those who see 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:17.160 may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:20.319 him heard these things and said to him, Are we 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:25.460 also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:28.440 you would have no guilt. But now that you say 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:33.579 we see, your guilt remains. Thus ends the reading 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:36.180 of the word, but the story is never over for 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:39.420 those willing to see. Let this word haunt you, 00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:44.940 heal you, and lead you back home. You stand at 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:47.720 the edge of the crowd, dust swirling around your 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:51.019 sandals, the air full of accusation and revelation. 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:55.680 The Pharisees, red -faced and rigid, snap at 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.819 the man, you're his disciple. We are disciples 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:02.509 of Moses. We know God spoke to Moses, but this 00:20:02.509 --> 00:20:05.650 man, we don't know where he comes from. And the 00:20:05.650 --> 00:20:09.089 healed man who started this day in utter darkness 00:20:09.089 --> 00:20:14.710 now stands in the light of his own courage. That's 00:20:14.710 --> 00:20:19.130 remarkable. You don't know where he comes from, 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:22.349 yet he's the one who opened my eyes since the 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:26.509 world has begun, the former blind man says. Nobody 00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:30.579 has done that. If this man weren't from God, 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:32.940 could he do something like that? Of course he 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:35.039 couldn't. You guys would have to agree with that. 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:37.700 And you don't know where this man came from? 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:42.759 You can feel the tables turning. The ones with 00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:46.559 all of the answers are now exposed as the blind. 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:52.059 And the one with only a testimony stands in the 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:59.069 light. And they cast him out. Not just out of 00:20:59.069 --> 00:21:05.150 the room, out of belonging. But the story doesn't 00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:10.690 end there. Grace comes looking for him. Jesus 00:21:10.690 --> 00:21:13.829 finds him on the edge where the cast outs gather. 00:21:14.829 --> 00:21:16.769 Do you believe in the Son of Man? Who is he? 00:21:17.549 --> 00:21:21.210 You've seen him. He's speaking to you. And in 00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:25.460 that moment, A man who'd never seen before looks 00:21:25.460 --> 00:21:32.660 his Savior in the eyes and says, I believe. And 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:36.259 you standing on the edge, heart pounding, realize 00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:40.700 the greatest blindness is thinking you know everything. 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:45.660 And the truest sign comes to those who trust 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:53.509 Jesus to meet them, sometimes in the mud. So, 00:21:53.509 --> 00:21:56.569 what do you see now that this story's been told? 00:21:58.569 --> 00:22:04.329 Are you still hunting for someone to blame? Or 00:22:04.329 --> 00:22:06.650 are you willing to let grace get a little mud 00:22:06.650 --> 00:22:12.769 in your eyes? Maybe the miracle isn't in seeing 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:19.210 clearly, but being seen, loved, named, sent out, 00:22:19.349 --> 00:22:24.930 found again. Sometimes the clearest vision is 00:22:24.930 --> 00:22:27.730 born out of dirt, out of trouble, out of mercy 00:22:27.730 --> 00:22:33.670 you never saw coming. Maybe you leave here willing 00:22:33.670 --> 00:22:38.130 to walk through the dust, to let Jesus put mud 00:22:38.130 --> 00:22:42.390 on your eyes and to testify, come what may. I 00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:55.539 was blind, but now I see. Amen? Amen. So now 00:22:55.539 --> 00:22:57.779 the dust's beginning to settle and the question 00:22:57.779 --> 00:23:00.019 still hangs in the air like the scent of rain 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:03.339 and red earth. What do you see now that the story's 00:23:03.339 --> 00:23:06.579 been told? Are you willing to let grace make 00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:10.660 a mess of your answers? Or will you hold tight 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:14.119 to your certainty and miss the miracle? There's 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:16.400 a reckoning in the gospel of mud and mercy. Sometimes 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.779 it's not your spotless record, but your open 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:23.509 wounds that God chooses for his canvas. A man 00:23:23.509 --> 00:23:25.609 born blind didn't ask for the dirt, didn't argue 00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:28.150 for a miracle, he just received it. And when 00:23:28.150 --> 00:23:31.049 the world wanted answers, all he had was a story. 00:23:31.190 --> 00:23:34.950 I was blind, but now I see. It's not just ancient 00:23:34.950 --> 00:23:38.250 history, it's your invitation. Maybe you've spent 00:23:38.250 --> 00:23:40.430 years dodging the mess, hiding your need, or 00:23:40.430 --> 00:23:42.730 blaming yourself for things you couldn't fix, 00:23:42.849 --> 00:23:46.269 but here's the hope and the sting. Jesus meets 00:23:46.269 --> 00:23:48.509 you right in the in -between, gets his hands 00:23:48.509 --> 00:23:51.150 dirty and says, let me show you something new. 00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:55.220 If this story spoke to your soul, if it unsettled, 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:57.740 comforted, called you out, don't walk away in 00:23:57.740 --> 00:24:00.839 silence. Share it with someone walking down their 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:04.240 own dusty road. Subscribe, leave a comment, join 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.880 the porch front conversation wherever you listen. 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.680 And as you go, may the mud and the mercy of Jesus 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:13.759 open your eyes, trouble your certainties, bring 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:17.359 you home blinking and new to the grace that waits 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:34.230 the edge of every question. Amen. Ruth chapter 00:24:34.230 --> 00:24:38.049 6. Therefore, leading the principles of the doctrine 00:24:38.049 --> 00:24:40.029 of Christ, let us go on.