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Introduction – <\/strong>(Gets a mug and a thermos with hot water) <\/em>If you don\u2019t like coffee, w<\/em>hat I have here will change your life. I found a way that you can have a taste of it even when you are not a coffee drinker.<\/p>\n (Pours hot water)<\/em> Here it is. Want to try?<\/p>\n (Waits for reactions)<\/em> What? Isn’t this coffee? Well, I know this is plain hot water, but come on \u2014 this is 50% coffee, isn’t it? Coffee is water and ground coffee. So if I show you hot water, you have to concede that this is at least 50% coffee. Now, here’s a mug, and coffee is frequently savoured from mugs. That adds to my thesis. Then, think about it \u2014 ground coffee is just a few yards from here, in the kitchen. That should count too. Plus: I am using the word “coffee” to describe what I have here, so you shouldn’t be so closed-minded or judgmental \u2014 you should just accept my use of the word.<\/p>\n Still not convinced? Good \u2014 because you shouldn’t be. No matter the mental gymnastics I do here, this is not coffee. Period. Coffee is not something you can have 50% of. You either have it or you don’t.<\/p>\n What I’m doing here can be called Confirmation Bias.<\/em> I have a thesis, an idea, and I use whatever is at hand to confirm it to myself. In this sermon, I call it Selective Blindness<\/strong> \u2014 we close our eyes to what is inconvenient and look only at what we want to see.<\/p>\n Let’s see how it happens in the Gospel today, and how Paul helps us stay grounded in the full counsel of God.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In John 9, there is a blind man who meets Jesus and is healed. Praise God \u2014 what a miracle! We would all be happy about it, right? No. The Jewish leaders are not happy. A man recovers his sight, and all they want to do is find theological failure in what happened right before their eyes. They practice Selective Blindness.<\/em><\/p>\n The text shows it happening on at least three levels.<\/p>\n In dealing with Scripture.<\/em> “Who sinned so that he was born blind?” ask the disciples. “It must be a fraud, for He does not keep the Sabbath,” say the Pharisees. When Scripture is used correctly, it interprets itself \u2014 and the outcome is good. When it is misused \u2014 filtered through tradition, the spirit of the moment, cultural preferences, our mood, or our desires \u2014 the outcome is harmful. The Word is the power of God for salvation when handled rightly; when misused, it becomes a tool for condemnation.<\/p>\n In dealing with a person.<\/em> “You were born in sin and you wish to teach us?” Sometimes our blind spots or imprecise interpretation of the Word lead us to arrogance or contempt toward others \u2014 especially those who don’t share our exact convictions. We must not retreat even one inch when it comes to right teaching. But we must also take care that wrong applications of right teaching doesn’t wound people and drive them away from the presence of Christ.<\/p>\n In dealing with Jesus.<\/em> “Give glory to God.” The leaders might have accepted Jesus \u2014 given him some honor, even \u2014 if he would just change a little to fit their mold. And This is how the world treats Jesus\u2019 words even today. And sometimes it is how even Christians are tempted to treat him. “Okay, Jesus \u2014 you are love, you bring peace, you want people to be well \u2014 all of that is wonderful. But could you please don\u2019t mention…\u201d \u2014 and here we might fill with whatever the spirit of the age is demanding we soften or silence: heaven and hell, salvation exclusively through Christ, the Triune God, what love really means, the beginning and end of life. The world wants us to stay asleep \u2014 or to reshape Jesus into a mold of our own making.<\/p>\n Before we move on \u2014 don’t let the Pharisees take the heat alone. When was the last time you questioned an opinion you hold strongly? Or noticed a Bible passage that makes you uncomfortable and… moved on? That’s me. That’s you. The 50% coffee cup is in our hands too. This is us. We are sinners under constant danger of reading Scripture poorly, and therefore of distorting who Jesus is and failing to love our neighbors with the fullness that Scripture \u2014 both Law and Gospel \u2014 demands of us. Like the Pharisees, we are tempted to use tradition or the spirit of the moment to stay in the dark, because the dark may be comfortable.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n A man is born blind, and Jesus heals him. What, then, is the cure for our own selective blindness when it takes hold of us?<\/p>\n First, we are reminded of our condition: we were lost sinners who could not see the path to God. Jesus comes and heals us \u2014 He chooses us, calls us to belong to Him. Now, by faith, we see. We see Him. We see truth from the Word. <\/strong>Or, to use Paul’s language: he has awakened us from our sleep and given us eyes wide open to the wonders of his love. Jesus identifies himself as the Light of the World. He is the sun rising to end the night. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord \u2014 for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.<\/em>[2]<\/a><\/p>\n He calls us now to live our faith in the world. Last week we spoke about how you can sleep in peace when you are in Him. Today we are reminded that in our waking hours, we need to be fully<\/em> awake. How does that happen?<\/p>\n Paul calls us to be awake in God\u2019s Word and in the practice of faith.\u00a0 In practical terms, this means:<\/p>\n Bible open.<\/em> This sounds obvious, but it’s the place to start. You cannot be shaped by something you are not in contact with.\u00a0 Staying in constant contact with the Scriptures is not a religious duty to check off; it is how you keep hearing the voice of the One who called you out of darkness in the first place. Here\u2019s a very concrete way of doing so: Before you get angry at the world or a neighbor, ask: “Have I let the Word speak to this, or am I just holding my 50% coffee cup?”<\/p>\n There is no substitute for studying your Bible. Knowing more about Jesus. Knowing more about how the Word applies to your life. Jesus is the Truth standing before our eyes \u2014 not just part of it, but the<\/strong> Truth we need.<\/p>\n There are gray areas, for sure. Not every single moral question is settled, and we need patience and understanding in our dialogue with one another. But we don’t want to look at only part<\/em> of the truth and claim it to be the whole. From that angle, I could “prove” that the Bible says “there is no God” \u2014 until you see the full verse: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”<\/em> (Psalm 14:1). Context matters.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Cost:<\/strong> Waking up comes with a cost. Like the blind man who was put out of the synagogue, standing in the light may leave us without a welcoming place in the eyes of the world. That is a real loss \u2014 community, belonging, familiarity. Jesus doesn’t pretend otherwise.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n The Gift: <\/strong>But notice what the man gained. Jesus walked back to find him personally. When the world shows you the door, Christ is already on the other side of it. You don’t wake up into isolation \u2014 you wake up into him.<\/p>\n Compassion, Not Contempt.<\/strong> And being awake doesn’t make us better than others \u2014 it makes us grateful. That gratitude removes arrogance and replaces it with compassion for those still asleep. Instead of contempt, we carry the same light that once found us in our own darkness and offer it freely to others.<\/p>\n Conclusion \u2013 <\/strong>So here is a little play on words to close with. The Portuguese word for coffee is caf\u00e9<\/em>. And the Portuguese word for faith is f\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n You want to stay awake? For your daily tasks, maybe coffee is what you need. But for your spiritual life, what you need is f\u00e9<\/em> \u2014 faith. Jesus pours his grace into your heart through faith, and that changes everything. Instead of Confirmation Bias \u2014 picking and choosing what we want to see \u2014 we are grounded<\/em> in the Full Truth. Not a partial truth. Not a 50% cup. The whole thing. And that Truth is not a system, not a set of rules, not a theological framework. That Truth is a Person: Jesus. And he is ours \u2014 by f\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n _____________________________<\/p>\n Abstract: This sermon overview explores the spiritual dangers of selective blindness, using a humorous analogy of hot water being passed off as coffee to illustrate confirmation bias. Drawing from the story of Jesus healing a blind man in John 9, the text warns against filtering Scripture through personal preferences or cultural trends. The author highlights how the Pharisees chose legalism and arrogance over celebrating a miracle, suggesting that modern believers often face the same temptation to ignore inconvenient truths. To combat this, the source encourages staying spiritually awake by engaging deeply with the Bible and viewing life through the lens of faith. Ultimately, the message emphasizes that while following Christ\u2019s light may lead to social hostility, it provides the clarity needed to replace judgment with compassion and gratitude.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> -The blind man was so grateful for what Jesus done for him that he did not shy away of giving a powerful witness before powerful people: \u201cHe is a prophet.\u201d Gratitude for what Jesus did, does and will do for us is the only real \u201cstrength\u201d that can prompt us to give our powerful witness before a world growing hostile to the Christian faith: Jesus is the Lord. And what happens when we confess that Jesus is the Lord and that the Bible is His word? Hostility and enmity with the World.<\/p>\n -A beggar comes before the Pharisees and turns the tables. A \u201ccriminal\u201d dies on a cross and turns the world tables. Jesus.<\/p>\n -God\u2019s works and wonders are frequently hidden in our world, so He uses ways to make them known, as in the sign performed by Jesus. When you are facing difficult times, don\u2019t look back for a cause, a sin, a mistake, a punishment. Look forward, to what God is making, to what he promised He Will make and what you know that will happen.\u00a0 Look to Scriptures and to Jesus as Christ, the Light of the World.<\/p>\n\n
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\nBible in context.<\/em> Reading the Bible in context means letting Scripture interpret Scripture, rather than using a text as a pretext for our own thesis. That is what the Pharisees were doing \u2014 they had verses, they had arguments. What they lacked was the honesty to let the whole counsel of God speak, not just the parts that confirmed the tradition they latched on to. A text pulled from its context can be made to say almost anything. That’s not Bible reading \u2014 that’s the 50% coffee cup again. When we read in context \u2014 paying attention to who is speaking, to whom, in what situation, and how it fits the whole story of Scripture \u2014 we protect ourselves from the very selective blindness this sermon is about.
\nBible in real life.<\/em> The Word is not meant to stay on the page \u2014 it is meant to walk with you into your Monday morning. Into a hard conversation with your teenager. Into a decision at work. Into a moment where you must choose between what is easy and what is true. And here is where patience also comes in. On topics that Scripture leaves room for dialogue, we can disagree with grace, listen without contempt, and trust that the Spirit is at work in others too. What we guard carefully is the clear teaching of the Word. What we hold with open hands is our own certainty on the questions that are genuinely open.<\/p>\n\n