Sermon

January 20, 2002
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
John 9:1-11
Pastor Robert Raasch

Work While It Is Day

1. See the Opportunities
2. Do the Work
3. Waste No Time

It was a dark October night. I was all alone, driving down a lonely stretch of Nebraska highway. My car had just topped the crest of a hill, when there it was right in the middle of the road. It was this huge thing, with unusual lights pointing in every direction, some of them were colored, some were flashing. I could see what looked like smoke coming off of part of it. I'm thinking to myself, "What is this thing? Is it an alien space ship? Have I just witnessed my first real UFO? As I pulled up along side of it, I realized, "Wait a minute. That's not a space ship. It's a combine! You know, a great big, green, John Deere combine." Even though it was the middle of the night, some farmer had been out harvesting his corn. And with all the lights shining off of that contraption in every direction, I can see why. It was like daytime around that machine.

Hmmm. How some things have changed. There once was a time when farmers wouldn't dream of harvesting their crops at night. They couldn't. There was no such thing as electric floodlights and four-way flashers. The only light that farmers could use for bringing in their crops was the light that God gave them, the big golden one up in the sky. In the old days, farmers harvested crops from sun up till sun down. You've maybe heard the expression, "You've got to make hay while the sun shines." Or "You've got to work while it is day!"

Work while it is day. You realize that that's an expression that applies to more than just what farmers do. It also applies to what God calls Christians to do. In fact, here in our text for today, Jesus uses a very similar expression to underscore the urgency of the work which the Father has given his church to carry out. And what Jesus said to his disciples in the first century, still applies to his disciples in the 21st century. Jesus' word to you and me today is simply this: Christians,

Work While It Is Day

In order to do that, we must:

1. See the Opportunities
2. Do the Work
3. Waste No Time

First, we must see the opportunities. During his ministry here on earth, Jesus certainly saw many opportunities to do the work his father had sent him to do. Our text offers one such example. Only in this case, what Jesus saw as an opportunity, his disciples saw as a curse. Isn't that right? The disciples come across this man who was blind from birth and they say to Jesus, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" In other words, "Why did such a terrible thing happen to this man? Did he do something wrong, that God cursed him in this way? Or was it his parents' fault? I mean, there has to be someone to blame for this, right?"

Jesus' answer: No. "Neither this man or his parents sinned." "But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." In other words, this man's illness was not a direct consequence of a particular sin in someone's life. Rather this was an opportunity for Jesus to display his divine power, to restore this man's sight and in so doing, offer this man and many others a reason to put their faith in him as Savior. And of course, those are all good things-things that occurred because Jesus saw this man's hardship for what it really was, namely, as an opportunity for God's work to be carried out.

I wonder how many of us are able to look at hardships in our lives and in the lives of others the same way as Jesus saw them? Are we able to see hardships not as some kind of punishment from God, but rather as opportunities to minister, to serve, to reach out to others? For example maybe someone you know has been struck by a severe illness. Do we immediately start thinking, "Oh God, why is this happening? What did she do to deserve this? How could you allow this to happen?" Or do we look at the situation through the eyes of the Savior and say, "Wait a minute. Maybe this is a unique opportunity for me to do something special for that person, to send her a card, bring her a meal, put her on my personal prayer list. And who knows? Maybe God will use this as an opportunity to answer my prayer and bring about a miraculous recovery. In either case, it will be an opportunity for Gods' work to be displayed.

Or maybe you have a co-worker who has just been through a bitter divorce. Do you simply say, "Oh man, that's too bad! I wonder who's to blame in that one? Thank God that's not happening to me."? Or do we look at that person through the eyes of our Savior? Remember how Jesus treated the woman at Jacob's well? You know, the one who had been divorced like 5 times? Does Jesus say, "Thank God I'm not in your shoes, lady"? No, Jesus reaches out to her. He spends time with her. He tells her what she needs to hear, pointing out her sin, but more importantly, offering her the assurance of God's full and free forgiveness. Jesus offers her what he calls, "living water." Jesus saw that chance encounter with a divorced woman not as another reason to play the blame game, but rather as an opportunity to speak about God's love and God's will for her life.

The question is, "Will you and I take advantage of similar opportunities in our lives? All around us there are people facing unique challenges in their lives. They're dealing with medical problems, job insecurity, financial setbacks. They're wrestling with rebellious teenagers, aging parents, insensitive teachers. They may be carrying a load of guilt or struggling with a death in the family or a breakdown of a personal relationship. To the naked eye, all of these things look like bad things, things that lead us to ask, "Why, God? Who's to blame here?"-just like the disciples did with that man born blind. But through the eyes of Jesus, that is, the eyes of faith, you and I can see things differently, we can see those bad things as opportunities-opportunities for God's work to be displayed through us.

And yet, it must be said that seeing an opportunity and actually doing something about it are two different things. If we are to follow Jesus' advice and work while it is day, if we are going to truly seize the opportunities God has given us, then we must not just look at the opportunities, we must go ahead and: II. Do the Work.

Isn't that the point that Jesus makes here in our text? Jesus tells his disciples, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me." Now, we might ask the question, "What work is Jesus' referring to here? Is he talking about his work of redemption, that is, his living and dying in the place of all sinners?" No, Jesus can't be referring to that work because that is something he would have to do all on his own. Here in our text, Jesus refers to a work that the disciples would do with Jesus. Jesus says, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me." Jesus is referring to that work which the Father has given to Jesus and his disciples to do. Things like preaching and teaching, pointing out sin and correcting false beliefs, consoling, comforting and performing deeds of mercy.

In a sense, aren't those the very things that the Father still gives us to do today? Think of the assignments God has given us in his Word: "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:20). "Do the work of an evangelist." (2 Tim 4:5) "Correct, rebuke encourage-with great patience and careful instruction" (2Tim 4:2). "Do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal. 6:10). "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners." (Heb. 13:3). "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matt 5:44) "Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care." (1Peter 5:2) "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." (1Pt 3:15)

Certainly, God has a lot of things for us to do during our brief span here on earth. And not just things that pastors are to do, but rather, things Christians are to do. Think about it. God has placed into our hands the eternal welfare of countless human souls. He asks each one of us to be responsible for our own spiritual life. But also to be concerned about the Christian faith and life of our children, our spouse and even our parents. God gives Christians the job of taking what we know about God's grace and sharing it with people who don't know it-people who don't have a living relationship with Jesus. Remember, God is not going to send angels to proclaim the good news from the night sky. Rather he's going to send ordinary; human beings like you and me. That's the life-saving work he's given us to do.

My friends, because God has entrusted us with that life-saving work, and because we never know when we'll no longer have an opportunity to carry out that work, Jesus here adds a note of urgency to our text. Jesus tells his disciples then and now, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work." In other words, when it comes to carrying out the work the Father has given us to do, Jesus says that we must: III. Waste No Time.

Boy, there's an admonition that hits close to home, doesn't it? I mean, isn't there a little procrastinator in all of us? Haven't we all said to ourselves on occasion, "Oh, I have plenty of time to do that. Someday I'll get around to reading my Bible on a daily basis. Someday I'll get involved in my church. One of these days I'll sign up for one of those Bible classes. Sometime in the future, I'll think about inviting someone to church with me. One of these days I'm going to start spending quality time with my teenagers. I'm going to talk to my dad about his faith. One of these days…when I get around to it…before it's too late.

My friends, the Bible says, "Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." Who knows how long the window of God's grace will remain open? Right now the sun is shining. Right now God is giving us the opportunity to do his work. But Jesus makes it clear that it will not always be that way. Jesus says that night is coming. And when that happens, whether it be on the Day of Judgment or be it on the day of our own death, at that point, we will no longer be able to work for the salvation of anybody's soul. Is it any wonder that Jesus says to us, "Christian, work while it is day"? See the opportunities. Do the work the Father gives you. And don't waste any time. That's God's will for your life and mine.

But maybe, if you're anything like me, you're sitting there thinking, "Yeah, that's what God's will is alright-and I'm not doing a very good job of any of it. I hear what Jesus expects of me as a Christian and it just leaves me feeling guilty, feeling like I haven't measured up, feeling like I'm a failure."

But you know, that's where having the God we have makes all the difference in the world. On the one hand, God doesn't disagree that each one of us has failed to measure up to his standards. But then Jesus steps in and says, "Wait a minute. I'm not going to let you carry the weight of all those failures. I'm not going to let you beat yourself up for all the things you should have done. I'm taking all that guilt away from you. What does the Bible say? "As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed your transgressions from you." Now, Jesus says, "Christian, in my eyes, you are no longer a failure. Now you are dressed in my holiness. And by the call of the Holy Spirit, you are my disciple, my evangelist, my steward of the spiritual treasures. And now that I've equipped you with all those gifts, now I'm sending you. You will me my witness. You will be an ambassador of my love."

My friends, God only knows how much time there is left in the day. So, let's take advantage of it while we can. God has given us work to do. Let's see the opportunities he presents in our life. Let's waste no time. Yes, by God's grace and with his strength, let us work while it is day. Amen.

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