Tyndale Chapel Podcast

George Sweetman:
This morning, we're so glad to welcome Pastor Jordan Harnum to the community chapel pulpit. Jordan graduated from Tyndale University back in 2014; just missed getting to this campus, he might reflect on that later on. He's originally from Newfoundland and was profoundly impacted and mentored by the late Dr. Bradley Noel.

He now lives in Milton, Ontario with his wife, Rachel and their three children, two sons and a daughter. And he serves the community there as a pastor of Milton Baptist Church, where he's been for approximately a couple years, but he also works a significant amount of time as the Content and Conference Strategist for Impactus Ministries here in Canada.

As we continue as apprentices of Jesus, to mark the season of Lent, we collectively march toward the hill and in the midst of the chaos and conflict of these days, which are so close to us, it can be that that darkness obscures our sight. Where do we find illumination, the ability to see and to see clearly; to offer light in the depths of the night in which we live?

It's Jesus who opens our eyes not just to physical sight, but to a spiritual vision, so we can recognize the light of hope breaking into our world. In today's scriptural passage that Jordan will refer to, he will explore differences in blindness, and where we can, and where, and who can see and by what means. I look forward to his message. Jordan will bring us words that are captivated and inspiring. But before he comes, let's pray together.

God, we have gathered as a community of seekers, scholars and servants, recognizing that we often walk in shadows of our own making. We hide ourselves, we cower from others, we resist your spirit's invitation in our life and exchange life for lies. But you, O God, have given the world a Savior who does not bypass our brokenness, but meets us in the clay of our humanity. You pick us up out of the mud and mire, and You put us on a rock. You teach us a new song.

Jesus, You are the light of the world. We confess that while many have the facts of faith, we often lack the vision of Your spirit. Forgive us when our sight is obscured by barriers; where our vision is dimmed due to our own ambitions. May the tools of our learning be healthy lenses of love and not detachments of judgment.

As we continue this journey that You have invited us on toward Your cross, we ask for the same illumination that You gave the man born blind: remove the scales of cynicism in the sand of routine; anoint our eyes to see Your presence in the margins, in our classrooms and in one another; and grant us the courage to say with a hymnist, "I was blind, but now I see". May we be Your emissaries of light, the ones who cast light because we are illumined by Your love. And may Tyndale be a place where Your truth isn't just studied, but where Your light is lived. We pray these things in the name of the One who turned darkness into day. Amen. Jordan.
Sermon: The Desire to See Clearly

Jordan Harnum:
Good morning. I'm a Pentecostal so I've got to do that again. Good morning. There we are.

Well, it is a great privilege to be here this morning, and a little surreal, to be honest. I was one of the few that admissions told me, in your final year, you will get to be at the new campus. Unfortunately, we did not make it into the promised land, and I'm not sure what that means about us. Well, Tyndale holds a very, very, very, very special place in my heart, and especially the formation that happened in classrooms, but especially in the gym while we played ball hockey and character development just, let's just say, was something as a young man, I had to work on.

You know, just when you think you've seen every single news headline that cannot shock you, another one comes along that just kind of rocks your world and kind of flabbergasts you. And here's one that I saw recently, the "US doctor removes 23 contact lenses stuck in the eye like a stack of pancakes". Isn't that outrageous? The story goes that sometimes she either forgot and she just kept piling these things on. But eventually her vision got so blurry she thought it was a better idea to just put another one on and another one on and another one on.

As I was preparing my message from John 9 today, I could not help but think of how this is really a good illustration of the human experience. You know, one of the things you discover quite quickly in life is that as human beings, we have a deep desire to see clearly. We want to understand reality. We want to know what's true. We want to make sense of the world we're living in.

And coming to a place like Tyndale, we often are having put lens upon lens upon lens, building our worldview, and sometimes the very things we think will help us see only end us up feeling a little more confused. And sometimes it's things not of even our own doing like the convictions that we held so dearly are challenged; or we receive a diagnosis; or we experience the death of someone we love; we watch news headlines that leave us feeling unsure; and sometimes, if we're honest, we're not quite sure what we're looking at anymore. It's hard to make sense of things, and perhaps maybe I'm the only one, but my view of Jesus can become a little blurry or unsure.

We find ourselves in other need of wanting to see Jesus, a reminder of who our God is.
The Context of John 9

The passage we're looking at in John 9 is all about sight, and on the surface, it's a story of a man born blind who receives sight, but also those who, born seeing, not living because of their own blindness, religion, and pride. And one of the questions that comes out of this passage is this: "What keeps us from seeing Jesus clearly?"

And the invitation is really to allow Jesus to remove the things that blur our vision of who He truly is. And so for the next 15 minutes, I'll try to unpack 44 verses in hopes of walking out of here with a clearer picture of who Jesus is. And on that note, if my preaching professor is here, I need some grace.

The story in John 9 is embedded in the Feast of Tabernacles, where the city would be filled with people celebrating in the temple; and in the courts of the women were these giant lamp stands filled with oil, and they would be lit illuminating the walls of the city. And you could see from a distance where there was no street lights or lamps or flashlights. It was a wondrous sight.

In chapter eight, before we get to chapter nine, Jesus says, "I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." This is the greatest object lesson of all time. "You think these giant lamp stands are bright? I am the light of the world." And we're about to see Jesus prove not only that He is but that He'll show how it's done.
The Miracle and the Mud

We learn that Jesus and His disciples in chapter nine are walking about, and they come across a man born blind. Let's read what happens here. It says this, "As he went along, he saw this man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'"

These are some good students, right? Asking a good theological question. What I love about this moment is Jesus pushed past this question as if it's a topic to be discussed, and He sees the image bearer who deeply needs Christ, and He brings some perspective.

See, to be born blind in this day was to be marginalized, outcast and often resulting in a life of begging, independence and shame. Their blindness was not just a matter of biology, but of morality. Who sinned that this man is born blind? Jesus brings some helpful perspective in verse three, it says this, "'Neither this man or his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the works of God may be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.'"

Jesus, pointing to His death and eventual departure of earth He says, "We got to keep working while I'm still here." And He does this incredible thing where He picks up this mud and He spits in it. And it kind of disturbs you when you think of it. He wipes it on the face and the eyes of this man, and He tells them to go and to wash in the pool of Siloam, so that when the man went and washed, he came home seeing.

I don't know about you, but I imagine it was quite a jarring experience for this man that cannot see, and all of a sudden there's this, perhaps cold, wet mud on his face. I can just for some reason, obviously this is not in the scriptures, but I can hear Peter saying, "Dude, it's just mud. Seriously, don't worry about it's just mud." And the guys are all looking at each other, like, "What is going on?"

What we see here is that He tells this man to not only just have this mud on his face, but to go and wash in this pool. There's some pretty radical stuff. I wonder if he needed help getting there, if maybe someone held him by the arm and walked him there, and he's like, man, that man they called Jesus told me to do this. Nevertheless, he goes and he washes and he's healed.
The Lens of Obedience

Just try for a moment to put your mind and your feet in this man's shoes, or maybe sandals. What was it like to walk back towards the city? And perhaps maybe in the evening, saw the lamp stands glowing and thinking about the words of Jesus when He said, "I'm the light of the world", perhaps greater than all that later in this chapter, we see that he eventually sees the very face of the man that healed him.

What we see here is that one of the layers, one of the lenses that often don't allow us to see Jesus clearly, is disobedience. Like I wonder what would have happened if this man did not go and wash in the pool. What if he said, "This is ridiculous—mud, face... now I got to go for this walk. What are you talking about?" But he did it, and his obedience to Jesus' words led to his healing and his ability to finally see Jesus for who He is.

You know, my experience, friends, is that oftentimes I get a greater and a clearer picture of Jesus on the other side of my obedience to His words. When I do what He says, I understand Him in a greater way.

Seven years after I had graduated from this wonderful university, my wife and I found ourselves in the middle of a real challenge, and through discernment and prayer and reading the scriptures and community, we felt that the Lord was asking of us and asking of me to resign from my position as a pastor at my father-in-law's church.

There's just a few problems. I didn't have another job lined up. We were renting an apartment at the time for $900 and the cheapest apartment or the house we could find at the time was $2,500 a month. And we had a one-year-old. Fellas in the room, if you really want to impress your girlfriend or your wife or your in-laws, tell them you're quitting with no plan in future.

It felt foolish, in many ways, but we were convinced that this is what the Lord was asking of us. And so what we did is we resigned not knowing what was coming. And I remember the night before the email was going to go out to the church that I was resigning, we were sitting down, and we were eating, and our daughter's in the high chair next to us, and we're just going, "What are we doing? Is this really the right thing?"

And for some reason, some shape or form, I stood up from my seat and I said, "I have to go check the mail." And my wife said, "We don't check the mail, our landlord checks the mail, and he puts it in the garage." I'm like, "Yeah, but I got a key. I got to go check the mail." So I run into the mailbox, not very fast, because it was a couple years since I had played ball hockey. I got there, I opened it up, and there was a card from a couple six hours away that had no idea of what was happening. In fact, no one did. And in that card was our first and last month's rent: $5,000.

You know, I had heard many of pastors tell stories like that, and I believe that they were making it up. But in that moment, on the other side of our obedience, we discovered and saw Jesus in a way we would have not have: as Provider. It wasn't until we were obedient to Christ that we truly experienced Him in this way. And I'm curious what greater revelation of Jesus is on the other side of your obedience? What is the Savior asking of you?
The Lens of Fear

The story continues that this man heads back home healed, and you can imagine the neighborhood who would have saw this young man, you know, begging, and they had watched him grow up with the struggles of being blind in this day; and they're awestruck. They kind of say, "Is this the man who he is?" And he keeps telling them, "Yes, it's me. Yes, it's me." And eventually they ask him, who healed him? And he says this, "The man they call Jesus. Made some mud. He put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. And I went and washed, and now I can see."

Of course, with all the commotion, they bring him before the Pharisees, and they do what they do best, and they crash a good celebration. They're upset because he was healed on the Sabbath. They say, "Listen, this man cannot be from God, because he healed on the Sabbath."

And in verse 17, we see this: "'What do you have to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' The man responds, 'He is a prophet.'" Did you notice that at first to the neighborhood, it says, "The man they called Jesus" is the one who healed them. Now before the Pharisees, it says, "He's a prophet".

Let's keep reading in verse 18: "They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they had sent for the man's parents. 'Is this your son? Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it now that he can see?' 'We know he is our son,' the parents answered, 'and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, and who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him. He is of age; and he will speak for himself.'"

Get this: "His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That's why his parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.'"

I mean, think about this for a second, friends, this is fascinating stuff. These are the parents that watched their own child be marginalized, outcast, unable to work, not welcomed into friend groups. They probably carried the shame of people questioning their morality as the cause of his illness; some heavy stuff. And then in a moment, everything changed. Perhaps their prayers finally answered. He can finally work, find a wife. Hope is bursting onto the scene, and yet, when the moment comes to acknowledge Christ, they shrink back. Why? They were afraid.

Friends, if obedience helps us see Jesus more clearly, fear will cloud it. They were afraid of being put out of the synagogue and losing their community and their reputation and belonging. And so instead of acknowledging Jesus, they've distanced themselves and say, "Ask him for yourself".

It's striking, isn't it? They can see the miracle, but fear keeps them from seeing Jesus for who He is. And I don't know about you, in this day and age, fear has a good way of doing that, doesn't it? It narrows our vision. It causes us to focus on what we might lose rather than what we have gained in Christ Himself.
Courage and Identity

Yet we see this blind man again surprise us. He does the complete opposite. He's not filled with fear, but with courage and with confidence. He challenges them. In verse 30, it says this: "Now the man answered, 'Now, that is remarkable'". You can hear kind of his new found confidence, right? "This is remarkable. You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes? We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he would do nothing."

To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth. How dare you lecture us?" And they threw him out.

He's unimpressed with these religious leaders. They should know that Isaiah prophesied about a Messiah that would come and open the eyes of the blind. And do you see what's happening here? As the pressure increases, his vision of Jesus becomes clearer and clearer. Where the parents step back in fear, this man steps forward in courage, and the result is he sees Jesus more clearly than anyone else in the story.

So we've seen this blind man say, "It's just a man they call Jesus; it's just a prophet". Now he's saying, "A man sent from God".

I'm curious. What are you truly afraid of? Is it the wars and conflict which overwhelm us? Perhaps some of you have aging parents, and you're thinking about who's going to care for them. Is it the job market, inflation, cost of living? Is it student debt? If you're not careful, the fears of this world will be like an eclipse that moves in front of the light of the sun.

But what if the very fear you're experiencing is an opportunity to discover Jesus in a way you haven't yet? You know, my experience is that you often get to learn parts of Jesus we haven't seen, in times we've never been. You learn Him to be protector when you feel only in danger. You learn Him to be a strong tower only when you're running from something scary. You learn Him to be healer only when you're sick. You learn Him to be father when you need to be comforted.

Sometimes friends, the clearest vision of Christ comes not when life is easy, but actually when we courageously trust Him in the middle of uncertainty. This blind man, when his own parents won't acknowledge the truth of what's going on, and the very religious leaders that should care for him cast him out, he courageously embraces this newfound identity.
The Irony of Sight

As the story moves on, we see something very beautiful happen, this irony come to the surface; the ones who pridefully claim they can see, are truly blind; and this man, who's humble enough to admit he's blind, can finally see.

In verse 35 we see this: "Jesus heard they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?'" I love this verse. The Pharisees and the religious elite throw him out of synagogue, and the very Messiah they're looking forward to goes and finds him. That's who our Jesus is, the one who finds us.

But that's a sermon for another time. Verse 36 says, "'Who is he?' the man asked. 'Tell me that I might believe in him.' Jesus said, 'You have now seen him; in fact, he's the one speaking with you.' Then the man said, 'Lord, I believe,' and worshiped him."

Finally, he sees Him for all He truly is. Not just the man that they call Jesus; not just a prophet or a man sent from God, but Lord. And he's overwhelmed with awe, and he worships Him.

I couldn't help but think—if you've had children, there's this really cool thing that happens. They don't give you a manual at the hospital. You can't adopt a pet without going home with a binder, but with a baby, you're on your own! I remember in those early days learning that babies don't have perfect eyesight as soon as they come out of the womb. They often can just see eight inches in front of them, just high contrast shapes and colors.

But over time, as they grow, that newborn baby with blurry vision begins to see the shapes and colors and wrinkles and smiles and the eyes of those to whom they belong. And this new convert is, over time, beginning to see the full magnificence of the love of Christ. That's the invitation of discipleship; for us to continually grow and discover how beautiful and magnificent He is.
The Warning: Familiarity and Pride

But the story is a stark warning that not everyone will do that. In verse 39, Jesus brings a bit of a judgment: "'For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind.' And some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this, and said, 'What? Are we blind, too?'"

It's like man, if you've got to ask the question, then you know the answer. Jesus says, "If you were born blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

This is a fascinating passage, as they are the most educated and well-respected people in the room. They were experts in the scriptures, yet they completely missed Jesus. It wasn't because of a lack of information, but a lack of humility.

Is it possible that in the busyness and discipline of study and ministry and working in a Christian environment, do we still see Him? Do we see His face? Do we see Him at work in our lives? Do we talk about Him but not to Him? Do we read about Him but not see Him? Do we discuss Him but not continue to discover Him? The great danger of the life of the Pharisee is to allow familiarity to rob us of our wonder and awe.
Closing: The Hidden Masterpiece

I'm going to close with a story that I found fascinating. In June of 2019, there was this 90-year-old woman near Paris who needed to downsize her apartment, and she called her family and said, "we're going to throw all this stuff in the junk."

And they said, "Hey, hold on, you got some old stuff in there. Let's just get an auctioneer to come in." The auctioneer walks through and notices a picture on the wall above her oven. The auctioneer said, "You know what? We should just pause and just see if this is worth anything. It looks really, really old."

And sure enough, it was. It went to auction and was expected to sell for $6.5 million; it ended up selling for $35 million. The painting was painted by Cimabue; it was a painting of Jesus being mocked from 1280. It was such a masterpiece that eventually was considered a national treasure and hung in the Louvre.

I could not help but think about the Pharisees, and how this lady walked by this painting in her kitchen every day, completely missing what was in front of her—a piece of decoration, unadored, unnoticed and unappreciated. Friends, may that not be true of us. May we take Jesus and put Him in His rightful place, acknowledging His rightful value and taking our rightful posture, which is saying, "Lord, I believe", and worship Him.

Friends, in a world where vision can become so blurry, will you see Jesus clearly in this season? Like the man in John 9, may we be people who walk in obedience, who trust Him with courage, who remain humble enough to admit that we still need Him to open our eyes.
Final Prayer

Jordan Harnum:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for each and every person that is here, God. Our desire is that You would illuminate Your Scripture even now as it has been spoken, Lord Jesus. And we pray that the light of Christ would shine in our hearts and minds.

God, I pray that we would not fall victim to the same common phenomenon we so often see where familiarity can sometimes make us casual about who You are. Father, I pray for those in the room that are walking through difficult seasons and valleys. Heavenly Father, I pray that the pain of their situation would not eclipse the brightness of Your glory and beauty.

Father, we pray that in the midst of trial we would discover You to be faithful; discover You to be provider; protector, our father, our comforter. And Lord Jesus, may we be people who, in humble obedience, say yes to Your word and be people who see You clearly today. Amen and Amen. Thank you.