How To Be Consequential

John 9:1-17

1. Learning to see is a choice, v. 1

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” -Helen Keller

2. We look for blame, God looks for opportunity, v. 2-3

“I just don’t believe the God of Christianity exists.  God allows terrible suffering in the world.  So he might be either all-powerful but not good enough to end evil and suffering, or else he might be all-good but not powerful enough to end evil and suffering.  Either way the all-good, all-powerful God of the bible couldn’t exist.” 

Framework for thinking about evil and suffering...

a. When you think about it, the existence of evil and suffering is actually evidence for the existence of God because people have a sense that what is happening is wrong and shouldn’t be happening. 

b. Upon what is this sense of injustice founded?  How do you know this is wrong?  If there is no God then why do you know to expect better, desire it and are angry when it doesn’t happen?                                                                                                                        

c. Evil and suffering  causes us to feel the limits of our humanity. We can feel how deeply we want to stop the suffering all around us but cannot because of our human limitations.  Therefore, it is hard to conceive of a God who has the capacity, who is all powerful and yet he chooses not to do something about all of this. 

d. God has done something but He didn’t do what we would have done if we were God.  We all want to do away with evil and suffering in ways that are insufficient because they are temporary.  God has chosen to deal with the problem of evil and suffering in a way that is eternal. 

e. Because Jesus did come, God put himself on the hook of human suffering in the person of Jesus.  Because of this, evil and suffering has a context, God is making all things new.  He created the world to be governed by love and goodness and it will one day be.  In the meantime, our lives can be used as single candle, added to the flame of God’s goodness that announces to a dark and suffering world that because God has come to us, there is a way out of the darkness. 

3. There is an urgency that is born of identity, v. 4-5

4. Obedience leads to experience, v. 6-7

5. Evangelism born of explanation, v. 8-17