Clear as Mud

The other day during the bus routes, one of the buses had an alarm going off to check engine soon. So, the driver radioed in to the bus barn for help. The mechanics asked what was going on and the driver told them. They said to find a safe place to pull over and they would bring him a different bus. So, the driver did just that. He pulled over and then contacted the driver that was bringing the replacement bus.

The conversation went a little stupid. That’s right I said it. Hey where you at? I am on dead dog road. (Not actually the name but I don’t remember what road it was) Where is dead dog road? Stay on O passed the turn off for Stella and it is the 3rd road on the left. Its about 100 yards after Old McDonald’s farm. I don’t know where old McDonalds farm is, is there a street sign. No. Someone else chimes in, “Do you know where Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet? It is at that intersection?” I don’t know where that is either. Someone else, do you know where the Jones live? Brian Jones? No, Fred Jones. I don’t know where that is either. You need to get out more.

So, then the bus driver bringing the bus, radios the broke down driver. How far off of O are you? Not far at all you can see my bus and the lights before you get too close.

Have you ever gotten directions like that? Have you ever given directions like that? Shame on you. Sometimes we make things difficult when they really don’t need to be. When that bus broke down it was still dark. How about, “Maybe a half mile after the turn off for Stella, I am on the left side of the road. Look for the lights flashing.”

Just keep it simple and let’s see how our lives can resemble the driver trying to understand the directions or the healing of a blind man. Let’s read our main text found in Mark 8.

Simple right. Hopefully I will do a better job of explaining this than those on the radio giving directions. So, let’s put some pieces together. Point number 1.

1. We have all been blind at one point in our lives.

Mark 8:22, II Corinthians 4:3-4

In January of 1996, I worked at a rock quarry blasting rock in a cave. There was a person that would drill out the spot with a machine about the size of a front-end loader. About every 2 foot was a hole and some of the times the holes were 10 foot deep. Sometimes they were more and sometimes they were less. Me and a couple of guys that worked with me would go to the location we would put some type of explosive in the holes. We would wire it all up and we would set it off from outside of the cave.

After about 10-15 minutes we would go back into the cave and make sure the shot went off ok and that all was clear for the trucks and loaders to come in and clean it up and take it to the crusher. I remember one day that MSHA showed up. Mine Safety and Health Administration. They were a lot like OSHA only their specialty was mines. Anyway, MSHA showed up and we (the blasting crew) were told to go drive the truck way back into the mine and shut the lights off.

I had never felt darkness before but I did this time. I felt like I was completely blind. There weren’t any lights in the cave. We drove far enough back that we couldn’t see the light from the entrance. It was just darkness. In Marvel Cave at SDC they will shut of the lights, but eventually your eyes start to adjust and you can see a little bit of light. Not where we were in the cave.

Someone could have walked right up and we would have never known it. Someone could be right there next to me and I would not have had a clue, maybe even rejected the idea of that even being a possibility.

This is a great example of the World. The truth is right there and they are blind to it. The truth is right there and they will even argue against its existence. Before God made Himself real to us, we were blind to the Truth. It reminds me of the story A Christmas Carol, when Jacob Marley comes back as a ghost to visit Ebenezer Scrooge and he says, “Now I bear the weight of my own blindness; I showed no kindness to those in need.” One day for those who choose to remain blind will face the fate of rejecting Jesus. Spiritual blindness will lead to death and one day the bible tells us that every knee will bow and tongue confess. Every knee including those that don’t believe. Those that are blind. Not only has every experienced blindness, some of us fall under point 2.

2. Sometimes we see but not clearly.

Mark 8:23-24, Mark 8:27-33

Question for those over 40. How many of you, while in a car will turn down the radio to see better? Everyone except the liars. If Cheryl and I are going somewhere that we are not sure about, when we get close, she will turn the radio down. I am like what are you doing? She will say something like, “You need to be able to concentrate.” Oh, come on, like that will help?!!

Many times, if Cheryl and I are on a trip and we are going somewhere that I have not been, I will program it into the phone and have Cheryl not only tell me when to turn, but tell me which lane to be in also. I know that there are road signs that will tell me where to go. I know that if I planned it out ahead of time that would have been helpful.

Sometimes even with a map or GPS, it is possible to miss a turn or end up somewhere other than where you were going. Sometimes even with a map or GPS, we think that we know better and we do not follow the instructions or the path.

The religious leaders in the bible had the information that they needed and they went off on their own path. They loved power and they loved attention, Jesus called them out and even called them blind in Matthew 23:23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

Church goers today do it too, not anyone from this church, but people from other churches. People that look for loopholes in the scriptures. People that will justify sin or say that this or that is okay because the bible really doesn’t talk about that. You know who plants those seeds in your brain? It ain’t the Holy Spirit.

That story of Peter saying that Jesus was the Messiah and then when Jesus was telling the disciples that He would be killed, Peter told Jesus how that was not going to happen and Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me Satan.” Even though Peter saw, he didn’t see it clearly. He didn’t understand. Sometimes we don’t understand, but just like Peter, Jesus doesn’t give up on us either. So, how does this get better? Point 3.

3. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will understand (see).

Mark 8:25, Mark 9:21-29

It has almost been 31 years since Cheryl and I have been married. In the beginning, we were in the over look all the silly things that the other person does, stage and even be on our best behavior by doing things that we really wouldn’t normally do. Like going into Bath and Body works. Oh heavens is that just the most fragrance overwhelming place.

We go to the mall now and I just wait in main walkway by all the kiosks and get asked about 100 times if I need a new case for my phone. I just stand out there and watch all the different people walk by. There are some characters, let me tell you. But in the beginning, I would just shop with her, maybe not in that store but other stores that I really didn’t want to go in. Over the years, I have learned a lot about her and she has learned a lot about me and boy did I pull one over on her.

There are some things that I have learned that are some big things to her, but I do not find them all that meaningful. She has learned that there are some things that are really big to me, that don’t really mean a lot to her, but we both try to do things for each other and with each other that help grow us closer together. We really do compliment each other. I am a spender and she is a saver. I try to make people laugh and she rolls her eyes. Just kidding. The more that I am with her the more I know about her.

The more time that you spend with Jesus, the more that you will know about Him and the more that you will understand about Him. The disciple spent a lot of time with Jesus, watching Him, learning from Him, and growing because of Him. In this story of the little boy and the demon, even though Jesus, kind of scolded the disciples, they learned from Him something that they didn’t know before.

Do you want to have a better understanding of who God is and what He wants from you? You have to spend time with Him. Time reading your bible. Time in prayer, not just speaking, but listening. Time being obedient in the things that He has already told you to do. I don’t know what that looks like in your life, I do know that if you want to have a better understanding, obedience is key. Whether in your study time, in your prayer time, in your finances, or in your church attendance learning from other believers, you must be obedient.

Are you obedient? Are you seeing clearly or is it clear as mud?