I love stories.
I especially love stories that touch the heart and soul. I love the stories about the realities of life-from tragedies to triumphs. I love stories that end with truth and justice prevailing. But life's stories don't always have happy endings. And sometimes, while living out our own stories, we are faced with unhappy endings. While we search for answers, sometimes we just come up empty.
I was thinking about one of my favorite Bible stories. It's found in John chapter 9. Here's a recap:
So Jesus is walking along with His disciples and here sits this blind man begging. The disciples ask Jesus who had sinned the man or his parents. What had caused him to be born blind. Jesus says no one sinned, this man is going to be used to display the good works of God. So Jesus spits on some dirt, rubs it on the man's eyes and sends him to wash it off in the pool of Siloam. The man washes and goes home seeing.
So great story, right? Blind beggar with no hope for any kind of future is given a new lease on life. Yay, good wins.
Then come the townspeople, and they start talking... "Hey is this the same dude who was a blind beggar?" "Naw bro, that's not him, he just looks like him" The man says "It's really me. See this Jesus came and he made some mud with dirt and spit, rubbed the stuff on my eyes, and told me to go wash it off over at Siloam. So I did that, and now I can see. Isn't that awesome?"
The townspeople didn't think it was so awesome. It WAS the Sabbath day, after all. They brought the man to the Pharisees who demanded answers. Who was this Jesus, why was He healing on the Sabbath Day, surely He wasn't from God. HOW did he do this? I love the man's response. He's says "I don't know. All I know is that I was blind, and now I can see."
The man's parents didn't want to stand up to the Pharisees, so they gracefully bowed out of the situation and said, "Ask our son yourselves, he's a grown man." So the Pharisees continued to grill the man, asking him all kinds of questions about Jesus. The man pointed out that no one else had ever opened the eyes of a blind man, so this Jesus must be from God. With more and more questions, the man replied in the same way he had all long. I don't know who He is or where He has gone. Here's what I know-I was blind and now I can see." Then the Pharisees, sent him out. Excommunicated. Shunned from the community.
Now I love this next part. Jesus hears they booted the man out and He goes to him.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
The man didn't attempt to understand complicated theology, he just said "Lord, I believe." He didn't argue theology with the Pharisees. He simply said "All I know is that I was blind and now I can see." Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying there's no point to theology. Biblical knowledge, studying and understanding the scriptures are important. But sometimes I think we complicate the Gospel. The Gospel simply says "Come, all you who are weary and heavy and I'll give you rest" The gospel says "Jesus will take your story, no matter how tragic or worthless it's been and make it into something new." The gospel may even say "This tragedy is part of your story, but because of that, God is now glorified." The gospel, the GOOD news, isn't to be re-adjusted so it fits into our religious theology. At least not the kind gospel that Jesus presented to the blind man.
With Jesus it really was quite simple. Here's some dirt, some spit and some water to wash it off. Jesus used simple methods to do miraculous things. The man then told his "good news" to others by telling his story of how his whole life was completely changed. "I was blind and now I see."
How often do we keep parts of our story hidden? How might our own stories present the gospel, the good news, to others? How do our triumphs, and yes, even our tragedies point to the beauty of Jesus? Even in the unhappy endings we face in this life, we have a comforter and a community. Even when we search for answers and come up empty, we are filled with the Spirit of the living God. Do we share those things, or do we put on a smile and mask of religious superiority. Are we real, or do we follow a protocol of religion? Do we say "God can help YOU, but I'm good." Do we fail to connect because we don't want to take that risk? Or do we open ourselves up and say, "ya know what? I was lost and this is how Jesus came to me. I was alone and I called out to Jesus and He heard me. I was a train wreck and Jesus put me back on track. Sometimes I am a big bottle of crazy sauce with a side of nuts, but this is how Jesus is still transforming my life. This is my story and it isn't over yet. Because of grace, I can see the beauty of Christ in the world and in every situation that I face in this life. I was blind, but now I see."
See, we can argue theology, we can make our points and drive them home with a page full of scripture to back us up. We can engage in those arguments of theology and life's tough questions so long that the good news of the gospel becomes secondary to making our point. What did Jesus do? He connected with the man in a simple way. What then did the man do? He connected to others with His story. And even though that particular connection got him shunned, Jesus went to him. The good news of gospel may not always be well received, but Jesus will always come to us. And the gospel will always change our lives.
Maybe we don't have all the theological answers, but one thing we do have is our story. Our story of how the love of Jesus has changed our lives, comforted us in the darkness of life's hard times, gave us hope in hopeless situations, and how God is STILL continuing to give us grace and mercy when we least deserve it. Our story can present the gospel in a way that connects us all as people who need Jesus. Connection that says:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11
One thing that no one in the story of this blind man could deny: The man was born blind, and now he could see.
The Bible doesn't tell us anymore about the man and what happened for the rest of his life. I would like to think that when asked about his story, he would continue to answer questions in the same way. "This Jesus changed my life. I'm not really sure how or why He did it; All I know is that I was blind and now I can see."
Share your stories, share yourselves, make connections. The gospel is all about connection anyway, the connection through the finished work of Jesus back to the heart of the Father. If we could put away our arguments just for a minute and connect, maybe the Gospel could be heard in it's purest and most simple form.
"I was blind, but now I can see"
