March 4, 2007

Spiritual Blindness: Narrowness

Guidelines for Holy Living

Mark 9:2-8

Opening Words:” The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good then your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad then your whole body will be filled with darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?” Those words were first spoken by Jesus. They are recorded in Matthew 6:22-23. Those are powerful words and act as a theme for this entire sermons I have called Spiritual Blindness.

The truth is most are spiritually blind. Most people haven’t seen God a work in our world for a long time. Between February 25 and March 25 we are going to be looking at eight reasons why our spiritual eyesight is so poor. Each sin acts like a filter, blocking out a little more light. The more filters are added the less light can enter the eye. In the end, like the passage says, only darkness remains. What are these filters? They are our prejudices, our narrowness, our arrogance, our jealousy, our self-importance, our mixed up-priorities, our selfish ambitions and our exclusiveness. Each one robs us of perfect spiritual vision. It is my hope to help you eliminate to these filters from your eyes so light can enter your body, so you can see God at work in our world. This morning we look at the sin of being narrow minded. Our scripture reading is Mark 9:2-8.

Mark 9:2-8 ²After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. ³His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁶(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

⁷Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

⁸Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

We find ourselves this morning in the ninth chapter of Mark. It is the story of the transfiguration. Jesus has taken Peter, James and John, the inner circle, to the top of a mountain, far away from the problems of their world. Tradition tells us they are on top of Mount Hermon. The Bible tells us the miraculous took place. Verses 2 and 3 tell us the Master was suddenly transfigured. I do not believe the words hold the full meaning but the Bible says the Master’s body and clothes became whiter then white. Peter, James and John are shocked at Jesus’ appearance. They could not believe their eyes, when suddenly the great law giver and the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, appear. It truly was a mountaintop experience! It was a wonderful experience for the disciples but it is over as fast as it began. This experience changed the disciples’ understanding. They thought Jesus had come to be a political Messiah, to re-establish a Jewish kingdom in the Middle East. It was only then that they discovered he came for so much more. That is what that experience meant to Peter, James and John.

What does this story say to you and me? How do we apply this strange passage to our lives? I found in this strange story today is a warning. This story warns us to be on guard against narrowness. The story stretched the disciples. They could not just be consumed by the things of this world. It is the eternal that is truly important. I believe this story demands the same thing of us.

Today, I want to give you some guidelines for holy living. These guidelines will help you cultivate a new perspective, an external perspective. There are three guidelines. Let me give them to you up front. Each one is illustrated in this story. First, you stop. Second, you look. Third, you listen. So if you are ready for three guidelines for holy living say, “Amen!”

We Stop

If you were to read the entire gospel of Mark in one sitting you would find Jesus has just completed a successful trip into Galilee. The Master’s popularity had never been higher, and why not? He had been healing people, helping people, inspiring people, confronting people and drawing great crowds. Everything was going great in Galilee but he wasn’t staying in Galilee, Jesus was headed to Jerusalem. Jerusalem should have been a city of prayer but it had become a city of prey. It was the home of Jesus’ enemies. Jesus stops to whole parade because he needs to rest and refocus his ministry. Have you ever felt like you need so rest?

We live busy fast paced lives. We can’t get it all done because the days aren’t long enough. I know it is true for you because it is true for me. That is why we hear so much about sleeping disorders. It is hard for us to stop and even rest. To be honest with you I fall asleep quickly but I find myself awake about 2:00, thinking about the day I have just finished and the day that is still to come. If I called you at 2:00 in the morning would you be awake? We need to slow down and rediscover what is really important.

Several years ago I saw a play at YSU. You know the play, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. In the play a young woman dies by the name of Emily. She goes to heaven and is allowed to return to any day in her life. She chooses her twelfth birthday. When she sees that day again she notices something she missed the first time. Everyone is moving so fast to get everything done that they are missing the really important things in life, relationships! As she is being lead back to heaven she asks the question that still haunts me, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they are living it?” I am guilty so I will say this for your benefit and mine. We need to slow down and celebrate everyday, spend some time with the people in our lives and we need to spend some time with the God of the universe. Jesus stopped the whole parade to focus on what was really important and so do you. And all of God people said, “Amen!” The first guideline for holy living is to stop. The second guideline for holy living is to look.

We Look

When Peter, James and John were on the mountaintop they saw miracles. They saw Jesus transfigured, he was whiter then white. They say Moses and Elijah. They saw these things because they looked. If they would not have looked they would have missed everything. How much of life are you missing because you just are looking?

There is an old preaching story about an artist who was walking along the seashore with a group of people. She was pointing out things of interest. She was looking at them with the eyes of an artist. She told them about the colors and the textures. A little girl was playing in the sand and heard the artist describe the scene. She ran up to the artist and said, “Wait right here! I want my mother to see the water.” The artist responded, “Your mother has seen the water millions of times.” The little girl said, “Not through your eyes.” If you could see life through Christ’s eyes how would your perspective change?”

Jesus saw eternal lessons in nature. Jesus saw Zaccheaus in the tree in the middle of a crowd. Jesus saw the forgotten. Jesus sees you and Jesus sees me. Peter, James and John saw a miracle because they were looking. What are you looking at? We need to look at this world from God’s perspective. And all of God people said, “Amen!” The first guideline for holy living is to stop. The second guideline for holy living is to look.

We Listen

Go back to the story one more time. Jesus is transfigured. Moses and Elijah have appeared. This was such a special moment in their lives that Peter, James and John wanted to stay. Verse 5 says Peter wanted to put up shelters so they could stay. But no construction happened that day. The miracle suddenly ended and the disciples were on their way down the mountainside. As they descended they remembered the words that were spoken by God, Himself. "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Listening sounds so easy but it is so complex. Why do we have such a hard time listening?

Several weeks after the McCaughey septuplets were born the babies’ grandmother was interviewed. She was asked about the daily handling and care of the seven babies. She was asked if you could identify each one. She said, “yes.” Each one had their own personality. She marveled at the babies’ mother because she had the ability already to identify each baby’s cry or coo. When a baby or two cried she had the ability to identify which one or ones were crying.

The voice in the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Wouldn’t it be something if we could turn out all the sounds in our world and only hear God? And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

As we come to this communion table may we admit our narrowness and develop and eternal perspective. First, may we stop refocus our lives on God. Second, may we look for God in our world. Third, may we listen for what God is saying to us? And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”