The Lord's Mud People

Scripture: John 9:1-41 (cf. verses 1-14)

Title: The LORD'S MUD People

Proposition: M.U.D. – 1. People MADE by God 2. UNITED in Jesus 3. Co-partners in the LORD'S DESIGN (Salvation/Healing)

INTRO:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world. I am so glad you are with us this morning!

One of the greatest blessings in life is that of being a mom or dad. Psalm 127:5 shares that "Blessed is the person whose quiver is full of them… " Rebekah and I have been blessed with three wonderful children; Joshua, Danielle and Katherine.

We all understand that each child is unique and each gender is unique. This morning if you have a girl or a boy you know what I am talking about. You know there is some differences in raising a son or a daughter. Each gender has their own distinctiveness and particularities.

Girls usually enjoy doing different things than boys. With our girls I enjoyed tea parties, manicures and was the practice person for all kinds of make-up and hair styles. All of that kind of playing was new for me. I am the youngest child of my family and my sisters are quite a bit older. More than likely I was their live baby doll that they got to take care of for our mom. I don't remember any tea parties or manicures.

Perhaps the most unusual thing that I ever had to do happened one day when Danielle was playing cook. We were outside working when she decided that she needed to make some mud pies. That is to say, she decided that she needed to make me some mud pies. Everything went well until she also decided that I needed to take a bite of her mud pies.

I did my best to attempt to fool her in taking a bite. I tried breaking off a piece of it and tossing it away acting like I had really eaten it. But then she caught me. She looked so hurt and sad that I would not take a bite of her pie. So, I figured a little dirt really wouldn’t hurt that much and so I took a small bite of her mud pie. Sure enough it tasted just like I thought it would; sloppy wet dirt.

She was ecstatic. She had made something for me and I had eaten it. She was so happy that it made the whole experience worthwhile. It wasn’t too long after that we decided that it was time for her to get an EASY-BAKE OVEN. That way at least what she fixed wouldn’t be mud – it might be a little burnt – but at least it would not be mud.

Mud is an interesting mixture. In John chapter nine we read the story where Jesus made some clay mud. He picked up some clay dirt in his hands, mixed in a little spit and made some mud. He then put the mud on the blind man’s eyes. After that, he then told the man to go and wash the clay mud off in the pool of Siloam and then he would receive his sight.

The man followed Jesus' instruction to the letter. He went as quickly as he could to wash in the pool and for the first time in his life he was able to see. Never before had he experienced what it meant to physically see the world around him. This was an unheard of miracle. This was a miracle many believed was greater than raising someone from the dead. The prophets Elijah and Elisha were reported to have brought people back to life, but, never had anyone been able to give sight to a man who had been born blind.

John chapter nine is full of a great many spiritual truths. There is of course the story of Jesus great healing power. There is Jesus sharing the revelation that He is the light of the world. There is the witness of this man's faith, trust and obedience. There is the revealed truth concerning generational sin and how to properly obey the Sabbath.

Over the years, I have studied and meditated on this particular miracle a great deal. I wanted to live in the moments of this story. I have desired to know what the man experienced in being able to see for the very first time. I sought to know how he felt when he heard Jesus reveal to him that He was the Son of Man. I wanted to know how he worshipped Jesus. And I wanted to know more about this mud that Jesus used to bring about healing and wholeness.

For that is the part of the story I would like for us to lift up this morning. As I was praying, studying and meditating on this story, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me to look at the mud. To look at this mixture of clay soil and spit and how it was used by Jesus to bring healing and wholeness. In particular, this morning to see how we can be God's Mud that He can use to bring healing and wholeness to the lives that surround us.