The election advertisements are behind us (hopefully … perhaps the only good thought I have about them is how much they help the economy). The weather looks as though it might finally be cooling down (not that I am complaining about the wonderful fall we have had thus far). And I was all set to write about how important our Christian witness is in lifting up the people we meet – and how three words to consider as we seek to be more effective are 1) intentional, 2) inspirational, and 3) invitational.
And then I started re-reading the interesting story John tells about a man born blind. He actually uses an entire chapter to tell the story (John 9 … all 42 verses). It starts with Jesus exiting from the temple and noticing a man who was “blind from birth.” (9.1). The disciples, in their typical judgmental mode, assume the blindness is a curse upon the man and ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” (9.2) Jesus, in his own way, tells the disciples that “for those who love God all things work together for good.” (Romans 8.28) And then he uses the rest of the chapter as a “teachable moment” for both the disciples and the man born blind (and perhaps a few others).
He starts off by telling the disciples how important it is for us to intentionally seize every opportunity to witness that comes our way. He says, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (9.4-5) It was just in the previous chapter that Jesus had said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (8.12) And it is a few chapters later that Jesus expands this thought telling his disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (14.6)
We must connect these words of Jesus to the closing promise he makes in giving us the Great Commission. “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28.20) Jesus – the light of the world – did not leave us when he ascended into heaven. In other words, he is still in the world … it is still day … and still “we must work the works of him who sent (us) while it is day.” (9.4) In this first week of November it remains important for us to intentionally seize every opportunity to witness that comes our way!
You can read the story on your own of how Jesus heals the man and the fascinating conversation that takes place between the man, his neighbors and parents, and the Pharisees (9.6-34) without the man ever actually seeing Jesus. As you read it, you cannot help but notice how inspirational Jesus was for this man – his life was instantly changed. Afterwards Jesus intentionally finds the man, introduces himself in a very invitational way saying, “You have seen him (that is, the Son of Man who healed you), and it is he who is speaking to you.” (9.37) The man responds, “Lord, I believe” (9.38) and then worships Jesus.
John doesn’t tell us anything more about this man who was blind but now sees. We are allowed to finish the story any way we wish. I like to think that he followed Jesus and retold his story many times in the years following … and that he was quite intentional, inspirational, and invitational as he told it. If you read the verses I skipped over you will find those words aptly describe his first tellings of the story.
Which brings me back to us … and the fact that, in perhaps a round-about way, today I am writing about how important our Christian witness is in lifting up the people we meet – and how three words to consider as we seek to be more effective are 1) intentional, 2) inspirational, and 3) invitational. The intentional part I think we all immediately understand (this it is not something we start off automatically doing). It’s the inspirational and invitational that often are the bigger challenges. Generally we have to get to know a person before we can expect to in any way inspire them (call this creating a relationship). And, since what they really need is for this horizontal relationship to grow into a vertical one (I think you know what I mean), it is just as important that we invite them to hear more (call this growing relationships) … “that those who do not see may see” (9.39) and have their lives changed even as Jesus is changing ours.
And, in closing, as I look at the letters between “in” and “tentional” I see the words “spirit” (2) and “vital” (3) which come as a clear reminder to me of who is doing the real work through it all.
In …. tional