Message 07-23-06

 

Series:            Longing for Life

Scripture:            John 8:12-30

 

Title:                                                    Direction

 

 12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

 13The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."

 14Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."

 19Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"

   "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.

 21Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."

 22This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?"

 23But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

 25"Who are you?" they asked.

   "Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. 26"I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."

 27They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." 30Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

 

 

Intro:

            Jesus is speaking to the people at the end of a festival. The Festival of Tabernacles was a large celebration that brought thousands of people to the area of Jerusalem. The people lived in little booths for a week – kind of like camping out – to remind themselves that the people of Israel had to wander in the desert and live in little booths. Every day there would be a ceremonial pouring of water on the altar in front of all the people. It was probably at this time that Jesus had called out saying, “If anyone is thirsty he should come to me and drink.” Every evening during the festival in the Women’s Court – the part of the temple where everyone would pass through and where the collection was received.

            Don’t judge.

            Follow.

            Depend on the one leading

            On the last night I was in Wales I went for a walk. Lampeter, where the university stands is an old market town that has been in existence for ages but it is a ways out in the countryside so it is not very large. I could walk through the place in 20-30 minutes. It was a breezy evening and about 60 degrees and so I wore a sweater, and decided to just walk through the village one more time. As I came through the center of town there a little fountain on one corner with some benches and out of the corner of my eye I saw somebody jump up and walk quickly after me.

It was a tall younger man and he called out to me, just like “hey!”

I was immediately on guard not knowing what he was looking for. From the way he looked and acted I felt like he was going to ask me for money. So I began fingering the money in my pocket trying to remember by touch what I had and what I could give him.

He was right there beside me, but then he handed me a flyer for a band that was coming to town to perform in one of the pubs. I looked at the dates and started to hand it back to him saying that it looked good but that I’d be gone. I was leaving the next morning.

I still didn’t lose that feeling that at some point I was going to be asked for money, but as soon as I spoke he said, “Where in the States do you come from?” I told him Florida and he launched into a diatribe against our president. I won’t go into the actual words he used, but he wasn’t “pro” President Bush. He ended his talk by pointing at man who was passing us. He was a darker skinned man, with black hair and a middle-eastern look to me. The guy with the flyers said as he pointed “… we’re going to be taken out by them.”

The dark haired man gave us a quick look and then passed on a little quicker.

The man with the flyers said to me, “Right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

Right then coming from behind me a voice rang out and a couple came up. The man with me brightened right up saying, “Hey, you guys!” And then they were talking and greeting each other and I just stepped away, waved good bye and continued walking… in another direction.

I felt like I escaped.

 

Can you hear all the judgment in the story?

 

I knew the guy was just a panhandler looking for money.

The guy knew President Bush was… well, any assortment of names.

The guy knew I must be against President Bush.

The guy knew that Middle Eastern people were enemies.

The Middle Eastern man seemed to know we might hurt him.

I thought the man looked Middle Eastern

 

There was a lot of judgment floating around and I didn’t come away feeling very clean.

 

The difference between God’s judgment and our judgment.

The importance of discernment

The fact that we are the light of the world as well.

 

Of the incarnate Word we have already learned that the life ‘was the light of men’ (cf. notes on 1:4). The light metaphor is steeped in Old Testament allusions. The glory of the very presence of God in the cloud led the people to the promised land (Ex. 13:21-22) and protected them from those who would destroy them (Ex. 14:19-25). The Israelites were trained to sing, ‘The LORD is my light and my salvation’ (Ps. 27:1). The word of God, the law of God, is a light to guide the path of those who cherish instruction (Ps. 119:105; Pr. 6:23); God’s light is shed abroad in revelation (Ezk. 1:4, 13, 26-28) and salvation (Hab. 3:3-4). ‘Light is Yahweh in action, Ps. 44:3’ (H. Conzelmann, TDNT 9, 320). Isaiah tells us that the servant of the LORD was appointed as a light to the Gentiles, that he might bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth (Is. 49:6). The coming eschatological age would be a time when the LORD himself would be the light for his people (Is. 60:19-22; cf. Rev. 21:23-24). Perhaps Zechariah 14:5b-7 is especially significant, with its promise of continual light on the last day, followed by the promise of living waters flowing from Jerusalem—this passage probably forming part of the liturgical readings of this Feast…

D. A. Carson

 

4. Do you ever question God like the Pharisees and Jews questioned

Jesus? Are you confident in trusting Jesus’ word and the testimonies that

affirm Him? What areas do you still find difficult to trust God with?

The underlying assumption of spiritual direction is that God acts in every area of our lives. God is present in our marriages and families, our work and working relationships, our leisure and our quiet times. God is there in our doubt as well as our certainty, in our weakness as well as our wholeness. To receive the gift of this ministry we need to accept God's presence in all areas of our lives. We need to commit ourselves to be as honest as we are able about our Christian life, and be willing to trust in the transforming power of God's love.

Spiritual direction is a ministry of listening, discernment, and prayer in a confidential setting of encouragement and compassion. Through this ministry one finds a spiritual companion who can listen to the stories of one's life and help discern the presence and work of God's Spirit. Though we believe God is always calling us and leading us, sometimes we need a "soul friend" to help us to recognize God's voice and respond to his presence. This companion intentionally sets aside the concerns of his or her own life to listen and attend to the experience of God in the life of the other. The ministry of spiritual direction is the ministry of being such a listener and friend. The goal of spiritual direction is that those who enter into direction would grow closer to God and become more the persons God created us to be in Jesus Christ.