“Wholeness”

Our Text: John 9:1-12

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?  Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.  Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?  He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.  Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.

About This Text

We have spent five years working on this text.

• Two years on God’s house
• One year on hope
• One year on healing
• This year... wholeness

So Many Years... So Little Progress

We as a people are seemingly on a treadmill going nowhere fast.  We still dream Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream, and yet the promised land is still out of reach.  We pray Grandmas’s prayer, and still we are not there yet. 

• In the past, we were told that education would give us all we needed.  Still, we are not yet whole.
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• We were told that integration into the mainstream of society would give us all we needed.  Still, we are not yet whole. 
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• We were told that political power would give us all we needed.  Yet, despite the fact that we have more Black elected officials, we are still not yet whole. 
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• We have even been told that economic clout would get us there, but we are still not whole.

We need more than that... we need the saving power of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the only One Who can make us whole.  I see several things in this text:

1. A Commission for the Church
   In verse four of our text, Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”  We have a charge to keep and a God to glorify.
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2. Hope
   In verse six of our text, we read: “When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay”    The balm on the blind man’s eyes gave him hope.  We need to give hope to our community and to this dying world.
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3. Healing
   In verse seven, Jesus told the blind man what to do.  “And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”  When you obey God, you get your healing.  You must do what God says do in order to receive your blessing.  There is healing power in the blood of Jesus Christ.
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4. Wholeness
   We see, in verse eight, “The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?”  The people knew this boy as the blind beggar.   When they saw him seeing, they didn’t know who he was.

Wholeness

This is the heart of the wholeness portion of this story.  The blind boy was so transformed by the power of God that the people who had known him all of his life didn't even recognize him.  That is how great the transforming power of God is.

Some of us have been healed in our bodies and yet are sick in our spirits.  We need to remember the word of God, which says:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

The Lord wants to make someone new.  Not just on the outside, but:

• a new start
• a new name
• a new nature

Someone could come into the church a sinner and leave a saint.  Someone could come into the church depressed and leave encouraged by the presence of the Almighty God.   You can come in a dope addict and leave a witness for the Lord.  When God takes the dope out, He puts His love in.

Be About the Business of Wholeness

We need to be about the business of wholeness and healing of the mind, body and soul.   Why?  Because God wants us to be whole.  It is not enough to have a great Sunday morning service.  We need to minister during the week to:

• Mothers raising their children
• Married couples trying to stay together
• Young people who need to grow up in Christ
• Senior citizens who need to know they are not forgotten...

God has a plan for you in your 70's, 80's and 90's.  Even if you live to be in your 100's, you can still keep on living for Jesus. 

We need to be about the business of wholeness.  Someone should have a testimony of how Jesus not only healed your body but your soul and spirit.