“Blind Guides and The Cross at the Top” Mt. 15:1-4;
Pr. 3:5-6 1-19-20
Forty years ago this year, Kay and I went on our honeymoon to Nassau in the Bahamas. We were very young- we flew there and I really didn’t know what I was doing in designing this trip. We took a taxi to Fort Charlotte which has a great view of the island. There a young man started telling us about Fort Charlotte and the British and the history of Nassau. It was very interesting. He even steered us to a good place for lunch. But when I asked him where he learned all this, he said he just listened to the real tour guides telling the stories- that he was not really a tour guide at all. I still gave him a tip. After I gave him the tip he admitted he made some of that stuff up. Okay- nice story- but maybe not real. In life there are lots of people who love to be in charge and love to give out information that SNOPES will tell you isn’t real. Jesus in this passage is warning us not to trust everybody; He is also subtly saying that truth matters, and that there is such thing. If it doesn’t matter where people guide you, or what they say, then Jesus’ criticism of people being “blind guides” wouldn’t hold water. In Jesus’ day the blind guides were Pharisees. In our day it is those who give advice but leave God out.
I. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE GUIDES IN LIFE- Sometimes we are blinded to which way we should go, by our limited and self-tinged perspective. Many times we need encouragement along our journey. God is the ultimate guide in such times.
How does God guide us? He guides us by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has said time after time after time that He speaks through scripture. Millions have affirmed this too. The Ten Commandments are not just ten good ideas. Jesus affirmed every one of them in his teachings and said not one jot or tittle- the smallest strokes of a pen will disappear from God’s Word.
God guides us through people. The Bible says with many advisors plans succeed. Scripture encourages us to seek godly counsel about things. Such counsel is found or at least cultivated through coming to Sunday School, Bible study, or church.
God guides us through providence. Providence is how God governs the world. God guides us through giving us in His providence, abilities and talents. We are able to do some things and not able to do others. I am not called to be a carpenter, but I can play the guitar a little. Sometimes doors open- Jesus clearly calls us to drop our nets and follow Him. Paul had a door close when he wanted to go to Asia but God wanted him to go to Europe and Paul just couldn’t seem to go forward into Europe.
Daniel Boone was one of America’s first and greatest guides and pioneer. He once was asked if he ever got lost- he said, “No but I was bewildered in the woods once for three days.” He was born in Pennsylvania to a Quaker family, but he spent his young adult years in NC. He is one of the earliest American heroes for his perseverance and hope. He never gave up trying to start a colony in Kentucky. He blazed and cut the Wilderness Trail. He lost battles; saw one of his sons killed by the native americans; he had another son killed in the last battle of the American Revolution; he had his daughter kidnapped by the Shawnee- but he pursued her and her kidnappers like Abraham pursued Lot and his kidnappers. He caught up with them and rescued her. He was captured in the Shawnee tortured and threatened with death- but then adopted by the tribe. But he never forgot who he was and when he heard of an attack on his settlement he escaped and warned Boonesborough and defended the city against the attack. He was a great guide because he never lost his bearings- he remembered who he was; and he was willing to risk in order to achieve a greater goal. He never gave up though his life was tremendously hard. At the end of his life he wrote a letter to his sister-in-law describing his reliance on God as his great guide. We live in a day where people have lost courage and the will to persevere. We let the problems of life overwhelm us. We need the kind of purpose and perseverance that Boone had- or perhaps that Jesus had- persevering all the way through the cross to the resurrection.
II. SOME GUIDES ARE BLIND AND SOME ARE NOT- Four times Jesus called the Pharisees blind- twice blind guides; In Mt. 23 Jesus called them blind guides who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. In other words they would get the little things right but miss the bigger picture. In John 9 Jesus heals a blind man and is criticized for the way he did it. Jesus told the healed blind man he has come “so the blind may see and those who see may become blind.” There are blind guides out there.
In our day, there are people who say “everyone is blind.” They might say- your guess about God and life is as good as mine- so it really doesn’t matter at all. They do not have faith. Let’s call this what it is- hopelessness and being lost- without a purpose, without someone holding you accountable, without knowing God loves you-even when others do not; People of faith believe that it is possible to see, that there is a destination, and it is possible to get off of the right path.
The blind guides of our day are, I say again, those who claim to see but don’t know where they are going. They are lost in the woods and they want other people to accompany them. For many they don’t believe it matters, and are adamant that no one can tell them the right path. Don’t tell me Jesus has opened your eyes- everyone is blind. Those who are insisting there is no purpose in life, no need to persevere, no need to be strong in the hard times of life are leading us to destruction.
There is an old parable that is often used to say there is no such thing as truth only perspective. It is about several men who are trying to describe an elephant to the king. One blind man touches the side of the elephant and says it is like a wall; Another touches the trunk and says it is like a snake. Another touches a leg and says it is like a tree. The point is we Leslie Newbegin was a Christian missionary who was often told this in India. His reply was- well what if the king was also blind? It is arrogant to assume we see things like the king and know that everyone else only has a piece of the puzzle. Tim Keller puts it like this: “How could you know that each blind man only sees part of the elephant unless you claim to be able to see the whole elephant? … How could you possibly know that no religion can see the whole truth unless you yourself have the superior, comprehensive knowledge of spiritual reality you just claimed that none of the religions have?”
The message of Christianity has never been, “Everyone is blind to the truth about God except for us!” That would be ridiculously self-righteous. Rather, Christianity believes that there is a king who can see the whole “elephant,” and he told everyone about it. That king, of course, is Jesus. The truth of the parable is that we cannot know without someone showing us. We need a guide- not just a bunch of blind people offering up cheap advice- we need Jesus.” We can’t see around the corner- but God can.
III. IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRUST IN GOD’S GUIDANCE. My favorite verse is the one we read today, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path" (Pr. 3:5,6). It is important, when you are in the valley of the shadow to trust that God will lead you to green pastures and still waters in this life and into His presence in the next. Trust in God is important to perseverance.
Forty years ago this year, Kay and I went on our honeymoon to Nassau in the Bahamas. We were very young- we flew there and I really didn’t know what I was doing in designing this trip. We took a taxi to Fort Charlotte which has a great view of the island. There a young man started telling us about Fort Charlotte and the British and the history of Nassau. It was very interesting. He even steered us to a good place for lunch. But when I asked him where he learned all this, he said he just listened to the real tour guides telling the stories- that he was not really a tour guide at all. I still gave him a tip. After I gave him the tip he admitted he made some of that stuff up. Okay- nice story- but maybe not real. In life there are lots of people who love to be in charge and love to give out information that SNOPES will tell you isn’t real. Jesus in this passage is warning us not to trust everybody; He is also subtly saying that truth matters, and that there is such thing. If it doesn’t matter where people guide you, or what they say, then Jesus’ criticism of people being “blind guides” wouldn’t hold water. In Jesus’ day the blind guides were Pharisees. In our day it is those who give advice but leave God out.
I. IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE GUIDES IN LIFE- Sometimes we are blinded to which way we should go, by our limited and self-tinged perspective. Many times we need encouragement along our journey. God is the ultimate guide in such times.
How does God guide us? He guides us by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has said time after time after time that He speaks through scripture. Millions have affirmed this too. The Ten Commandments are not just ten good ideas. Jesus affirmed every one of them in his teachings and said not one jot or tittle- the smallest strokes of a pen will disappear from God’s Word.
God guides us through people. The Bible says with many advisors plans succeed. Scripture encourages us to seek godly counsel about things. Such counsel is found or at least cultivated through coming to Sunday School, Bible study, or church.
God guides us through providence. Providence is how God governs the world. God guides us through giving us in His providence, abilities and talents. We are able to do some things and not able to do others. I am not called to be a carpenter, but I can play the guitar a little. Sometimes doors open- Jesus clearly calls us to drop our nets and follow Him. Paul had a door close when he wanted to go to Asia but God wanted him to go to Europe and Paul just couldn’t seem to go forward into Europe.
Daniel Boone was one of America’s first and greatest guides and pioneer. He once was asked if he ever got lost- he said, “No but I was bewildered in the woods once for three days.” He was born in Pennsylvania to a Quaker family, but he spent his young adult years in NC. He is one of the earliest American heroes for his perseverance and hope. He never gave up trying to start a colony in Kentucky. He blazed and cut the Wilderness Trail. He lost battles; saw one of his sons killed by the native americans; he had another son killed in the last battle of the American Revolution; he had his daughter kidnapped by the Shawnee- but he pursued her and her kidnappers like Abraham pursued Lot and his kidnappers. He caught up with them and rescued her. He was captured in the Shawnee tortured and threatened with death- but then adopted by the tribe. But he never forgot who he was and when he heard of an attack on his settlement he escaped and warned Boonesborough and defended the city against the attack. He was a great guide because he never lost his bearings- he remembered who he was; and he was willing to risk in order to achieve a greater goal. He never gave up though his life was tremendously hard. At the end of his life he wrote a letter to his sister-in-law describing his reliance on God as his great guide. We live in a day where people have lost courage and the will to persevere. We let the problems of life overwhelm us. We need the kind of purpose and perseverance that Boone had- or perhaps that Jesus had- persevering all the way through the cross to the resurrection.
II. SOME GUIDES ARE BLIND AND SOME ARE NOT- Four times Jesus called the Pharisees blind- twice blind guides; In Mt. 23 Jesus called them blind guides who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. In other words they would get the little things right but miss the bigger picture. In John 9 Jesus heals a blind man and is criticized for the way he did it. Jesus told the healed blind man he has come “so the blind may see and those who see may become blind.” There are blind guides out there.
In our day, there are people who say “everyone is blind.” They might say- your guess about God and life is as good as mine- so it really doesn’t matter at all. They do not have faith. Let’s call this what it is- hopelessness and being lost- without a purpose, without someone holding you accountable, without knowing God loves you-even when others do not; People of faith believe that it is possible to see, that there is a destination, and it is possible to get off of the right path.
The blind guides of our day are, I say again, those who claim to see but don’t know where they are going. They are lost in the woods and they want other people to accompany them. For many they don’t believe it matters, and are adamant that no one can tell them the right path. Don’t tell me Jesus has opened your eyes- everyone is blind. Those who are insisting there is no purpose in life, no need to persevere, no need to be strong in the hard times of life are leading us to destruction.
There is an old parable that is often used to say there is no such thing as truth only perspective. It is about several men who are trying to describe an elephant to the king. One blind man touches the side of the elephant and says it is like a wall; Another touches the trunk and says it is like a snake. Another touches a leg and says it is like a tree. The point is we Leslie Newbegin was a Christian missionary who was often told this in India. His reply was- well what if the king was also blind? It is arrogant to assume we see things like the king and know that everyone else only has a piece of the puzzle. Tim Keller puts it like this: “How could you know that each blind man only sees part of the elephant unless you claim to be able to see the whole elephant? … How could you possibly know that no religion can see the whole truth unless you yourself have the superior, comprehensive knowledge of spiritual reality you just claimed that none of the religions have?”
The message of Christianity has never been, “Everyone is blind to the truth about God except for us!” That would be ridiculously self-righteous. Rather, Christianity believes that there is a king who can see the whole “elephant,” and he told everyone about it. That king, of course, is Jesus. The truth of the parable is that we cannot know without someone showing us. We need a guide- not just a bunch of blind people offering up cheap advice- we need Jesus.” We can’t see around the corner- but God can.
III. IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRUST IN GOD’S GUIDANCE. My favorite verse is the one we read today, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path" (Pr. 3:5,6). It is important, when you are in the valley of the shadow to trust that God will lead you to green pastures and still waters in this life and into His presence in the next. Trust in God is important to perseverance.
This past week in Chapin there were two tragic deaths. I wish these were isolated cases, but they are not. Suicide has gone up 50% since the year 2000 among teens and 24% among the overall population. At the same time as suicide and drug abuse go up the number of those saying they have faith is decreasing. This is not an accident. Faith breeds hope. Even Christians can get caught up in the whirlpool of despair and feeling lost to the point that we think the easiest thing is to give up. But God's will for us is to persevere. Every breath we take is a gift from God.
We need God's guidance, not just in our decision making but in guiding us and leading us through the dark valleys of the shadow of death. We need God because life matters and we cannot fully see. We only see through a mirror dimly. We only see a partial picture (only a part of
the elephant so to speak). We are
partially a product of our own culture and environment. But we need the One who made the world to
help us to love others. Without God, your
life will purposefully and not surprisingly go nowhere and be a waste. But if you believe love is better than
indifference; if you believe that life is a gift not just an accident; if you
believe that God has a plan for you rather than you just are like a rat going
through a maze; then let God guide
you. Take His hand. Listen to His voice. Let Him help you through the sickness, the struggles,
the heartaches. But also let Him lead
you into green pastures, still waters, heaven itself. Let Him teach you the way you should go.
I asked the elders and deacons at the officers’ retreat if they ever noticed the cross on top of the Honor Tower moving. Most of them said they did not- but it moves. There are a few people that this movement drives crazy. It does not spin, it moves too slow to notice in the wind or when a bird lands on it. It has this huge bolt on the top and bottom of the steeple so it will never fall off. We didn’t plan for it to move- but they said the way it was if they tightened it, it would not necessarily end up the way we wanted it. But to me, it is a symbol of LMPC and of our faith. The cross is firmly anchored- it will not fly off- the cross will not disappear. Yet it turns to face the winds and issues of life. The cross is our anchor- firm and steady but it also allows us to face the problems of life head on. The cross turns toward and even with the wind, but its message of love and truth is always the same. God is never irrelevant. He is the only One who is truly relevant to both life and to us. The question is will we turn away from God to follow blind guides who are not firmly anchored in truth but just blow around with every wind and wave.
I asked the elders and deacons at the officers’ retreat if they ever noticed the cross on top of the Honor Tower moving. Most of them said they did not- but it moves. There are a few people that this movement drives crazy. It does not spin, it moves too slow to notice in the wind or when a bird lands on it. It has this huge bolt on the top and bottom of the steeple so it will never fall off. We didn’t plan for it to move- but they said the way it was if they tightened it, it would not necessarily end up the way we wanted it. But to me, it is a symbol of LMPC and of our faith. The cross is firmly anchored- it will not fly off- the cross will not disappear. Yet it turns to face the winds and issues of life. The cross is our anchor- firm and steady but it also allows us to face the problems of life head on. The cross turns toward and even with the wind, but its message of love and truth is always the same. God is never irrelevant. He is the only One who is truly relevant to both life and to us. The question is will we turn away from God to follow blind guides who are not firmly anchored in truth but just blow around with every wind and wave.
