OPEN: A man walks into a dentist’s office and says, "Excuse me, can you help me. I think I’m a moth."
The dentist replied "You don’t need a dentist. You need a psychiatrist. His office is just down the hall"
"Yes, I know." Says the man.
"So, why did you come in here?" asked the dentist.
"The light was on..."
APPLY: (He thinks he’s a moth… the light’s on…)
Yeah, I know – it’s a dumb joke, But it serves to illustrate something I want to explain this morning.
· This man had a problem – he thought he was a moth
· He was seeking help, but in the process of seeking that help he got distracted.
· The light was on and it drew him away from the place where he might actually get help.
(SETTING)
In Matthew 20, Jesus is entering the final week of His ministry. He’s on His way to Jerusalem and will soon be betrayed, arrested, and crucified… the crowds will clamor for His blood and cry "Crucify Him!" "Crucify Him!"
But as of now, the crowds still love Him. They line the streets and clamor for His attention. They’ve come to believe that this Jesus is:
The hope of Israel
The Messiah
The Son of David
The promised King of Israel
Everyone is speculating that He will soon claim His crown, throw off the yoke of the hated Romans and restore Israel to its former glory.
But amongst the crowd are 2 blind men.
Everybody knows them. I mean – they’re always sitting by the roadside begging for alms. They cry out “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:30) And the crowd is irritated. This isn’t what they think Jesus is “all about”. Jesus is too important to be bothered by rabble like this.
But Jesus stops and ask these blind men – “What do want me to do for you?”
Now this is an unusual question for two reasons:
1st This is the only time in the Gospels we find Jesus asking anyone what they need done.
2nd You would think it would be obvious what these men needed. They’re blind
Even if Jesus couldn’t have looked into their eyes and seen the cloudiness that is often there in the eyes of the blind, or watched them as they grope about in the ways blind men do… This is Jesus.
He doesn’t need anyone to tell Him what these men were blind. He’s God… He knows these things.
So why ask the question?
Well, it seems obvious to me that He didn’t ask the question for His own benefit (as if He didn’t know what they needed in their lives). So, I’ve come to believe that Jesus asked the question for the benefit of the others who were there that day.
1st – I believe Jesus asked this question for the benefit of the crowds. This crowd is obviously not into helping blind people.
Blind people were a nuisance.
They were a hindrance
They were a distraction to what Jesus’ real purpose ought to be.
And would that “real purpose” be?
* meeting THEIR needs
* building THEIR kingdom
When it becomes obvious, a few days later, that this wasn’t what Jesus had in mind the crowds turned their backs on Him and cry out for His blood.
And so it was intriguing that Jesus didn’t ask the crowds what He could do for them. He asked the blind men.
(pause)
There are times when the Church forgets why it exists.
There are times when Christians forget what Jesus saved them for.
They begin to think church is all about THEM. They think their relationship with Jesus is totally focused on their needs and their agenda. They are literally blind to what their real needs are… and so Jesus can’t really help them.
It’s so easy – living in this present world - to get distracted by the wrong things. Kind of like that man who tho’t he was a moth. He became distracted by a light bulb. So also, we can be distracted by bright things… like “wealth” “success” or “excitement”
James wrote to the church of his day, warning them against that danger:
“Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here’s a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (James 2:2-5)
The folks in James’ church had gotten distracted by the potential of wealthy people.
Now, wealth isn’t bad, and having money isn’t an evil thing. But if we allow earthly attractions like wealth/success/ excitement to distract us… it will be hard for Jesus to help us accomplish His goal in our lives.
ILLUS: I just visited with a couple this past week. The husband lamented that we haven’t had enough money yet to build that new sanctuary we’ve prayed and dreamed about. But then, he told of how didn’t really bother him right now, because he was pleased about the ways God has been working in our congregation. He was excited at the number of people who’s lives have been changed and at the number of ministries (for a church of our size) that we have here.
What that man was telling me was this: He knew God would supply the new sanctuary when God was ready for us to have it… but that didn’t bother him, because he knew God was doing mighty things in this church.
He realized that God wasn’t into building “OUR KINGDOM”… but His.
Now, when we get used to the idea that God should build up OUR kingdom (rather than His) there’s all kinds of things that can distract us from God’s priorities in our lives
· I’ve seen Christians who were willing to attend churches where they knew the doctrine was questionable… but they went because they wanted to go to an “exciting church”
· I’ve seen people abandon their families because they wanted a more satisfying mate.
· I’ve seen people take jobs where they knew they would be asked to do things that would undermine their relationship with God… but they wanted the success that job would supply.
And almost without exception, those who seek out those kind of “light bulbs” in their lives will often justify it by saying it was God’s will they
Ø go to the questionable church
Ø or leave their families
Ø or take that job that undermines their Christianity.
They got distracted because their relationship with Jesus was all about THEIR kingdom… not His.
So, I believe Jesus asked that question: “What would you have me do for you?” for the benefit of the crowd.
But I also believe He asked the question because it was a question the blind men needed to answer.
ILLUS: Any good counselor will tell you that one of the best questions he can ask people - who come for counseling - is this:
“Why are you here?” or
“What do you want me to do for you in this counseling session?”
Now, why would a counselor ask that question? Because the people in his office may not know what they want done. All they know is that they have a problem and this guy is supposed to be able to fix problems. But they may not really know what they really want done.
And so, the counselor (if he doesn’t clarify the issue) may end trying to fix something they don’t want fixed, or he may try to fix their problem in a way they won’t accept, or won’t cooperate.
And so, the wise counselor has to define what this person really wants done.
I don’t know what these blind men expected of Jesus when they first cried out for mercy, but I do know that when they’d ask passersby for “mercy” they were usually seeking alms. People passed by and it was hit or miss as to whether mercy was to be found. Maybe people would give them money. Maybe bread. Maybe (all too often) nothing.
A lifetime of that begging kind of engrains itself into you till you get to the point where - whenever there’s a crowd - you cry out like you always have: “HAVE MERCY ON ME”
They’re not sure anyone will pay attention to them this time. They’ve been ignored before. And there’s absolutely no reason Jesus – or anyone else - would pay attention to them now.
So, it must have come as something of a shock when Jesus stopped… stooped down… and asked them “What would you have me do for you?”
I don’t think they really expected Him to do anything like this.
They might have expected a coin, or a piece of bread.
Or perhaps just a little attention from the Son of David… but now
Now, the King of King, the Lord of Lords has personally asked them what they’d like.
And they suddenly realize they can ask Him for whatever they want… and He just might grant it.
And so, with a boldness born of desperation they cry out "Lord, we want our sight." (Matthew 20:33) And Matthew 20:34 tells us “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”
Now, my point is this.
There are Christians who receive nothing from Jesus because they don’t ask. That’s what James said:
“You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3)
What’s James saying?
He’s saying that – as Christians – we can get distracted.
We have a need. We have a problem.
But when we go to try to solve that problem or meet that need, we can often end up seeking our answers in the wrong places.
It’s as if there’s this bright earthly light that catches our attention and like a moth we’re drawn to that light –that solution - because that’s what moths do.
As Christians, we find ourselves in all kinds of frustrating situations that we can’t easily solve.
So what do we do?
We do what all moths (human beings do)
… we get upset
… we get angry
… we get quarrelsome
… we seek to resolve our problems by force or by manipulation
And James says: “Wrong light bulb!”
“You do not have, because you do not ask God”
We run into problems in our lives because we try to solve the problems all by our lonesome.
It’s as if we didn’t hear the still small voice of Jesus as He stoops down to you and asks: “What would you have me do for you”
One of the most assuring verses in the Bible for me is Romans 8:32 which says
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
What that verse is saying is this: “What Would You Have Me Do For You? I gave my Son for you. If I would be willing to sacrifice My Son for your salvation don’t you think I’d give you practically anything else you might need?”
It’s as if the King of King, the Lord of Lords has personally asked you what you would like.
But too often, thought, we ignore that offer/ that promise/ because we’re afraid of what would happen in our lives if we actually took Him up on it
CLOSE: I have some friends that I just spent some time with recently. I was counseling with them about a problem they had in their lives. They had made a bad decision and they wanted my input on how to deal with that issue. The answer to their problem wasn’t all that hard to figure out. I gave them explicit instructions of how God would have them deal with their need.
And they agreed that I was right in what I was saying.
But then they hesitated. They weren’t at all sure they wanted to follow God’s advice on how to deal with their problem because they foresaw complications and difficulties for their family and others.
They were afraid of the consequences of obeying God. The choices they had to make were hard ones.
It was then that I asked them to turn with me to Romans 8:28. There God assures us that: “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
and “…greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world..” 1 John 4:4
It took the longest time for them to be able to recognize the hope in those verses... but in the end they made the courageous decisions they needed to make. And once they made those decisions, they were prepared to follow Jesus even more faithfully.
That what we find was true of the Blind men in this story. Once they knew the decisions they needed to make, we’re told they got up and "followed Him."
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
There Be Monsters; Mark 4:35-4:41
Don’t Leave Jesus Behind; Matthew 16:13-16:23
What Would You Have Me Do For You? Matthew 20:29-20:34
How Shall You Escape Hell? Matthew 23:15-23:33
If you’d like to HEAR any of these sermons, go to www.churchchrist.net
