18 November 2013 - stand out

18 November 2013 - stand out

The people walking in front rebuked him,
telling him to be silent,
We need to cry out to Jesus.  Is society trying to silence us?  Are they telling us to keep it to ourselves?  And do we listen?

Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant,
and whoever observed the law,
was condemned to death by royal decree.
There are forces set against us.  The principalities and powers, the world rulers of this present darkness (cf. Eph 6:12) want to silence our cry for mercy.  They tell us to conform.  They say insist it is not OK to stand out.  They have to keep us quiet because if we cry out the answer is quick and certain.  And if Jesus restores the sight of his people society as we know it will certainly be turned on its head.

“What do you want me to do for you?”
He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”
Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”
He immediately received his sight

So we need to be willing to stand out.  It isn't always just hiding in our inner rooms that we cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"  We sometimes must make this cry in the public square.  And this certainly separates us from the masses in some ways.  Do we feel like our separation from secular society is keeping us from being as happy as we can be?

The proposal was agreeable;
some from among the people promptly went to the king,
and he authorized them to introduce the way of living
of the Gentiles.

We must not be deceived. 

Far from sinners is salvation,
because they seek not your statutes.
We don't want to be party to "the oppression of men" or the attacks of "malicious persecutors" or "the snares of the wicked".  But we will find ourselves consenting to all of these things if we forget God's law or forsake it.  We must pray:

Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your commands.
We must be willing to go against the grain.  We must make our cry for mercy no matter what people think of it.  Chesterton reminds us, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” The alternative is to ignore his laws.  Eventually we find  that we "abandoned the holy covenant".  We must not be silent when "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

Let us learn from the resolve of many in Israel at the time of King Antiochus who do not give in to the demands of society.

But many in Israel were determined
and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean;
they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food
or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.
Terrible affliction was upon Israel.

And let us learn from the blind man who cries out to Jesus.  Although he faces the initial rebuke of the people around, and although he initially finds himself standing apart from them, his actions do not thereby abandon them.  His willingness to stand out even transforms the people around him.

He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.