SPEAKER_02: The gospel reading is from John 9, verses 1 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: Let us listen to the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: As he walked along, he saw a blind man, a man blind from birth.
SPEAKER_02: His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned?
SPEAKER_02: This man or his parents, that he was born blind.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus answered, Neither this man nor his parents sinned.
SPEAKER_02: He was born blind, so that God's works might be revealed in him.
SPEAKER_02: We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.
SPEAKER_02: Night is coming when no work can be done.
SPEAKER_02: As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
SPEAKER_02: When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent.
SPEAKER_02: Then he went and washed and came back able to see the neighbors and those who had sent him before as a who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?
SPEAKER_02: Some were saying it is he.
SPEAKER_02: Others were saying no.
SPEAKER_02: But it is someone like him.
SPEAKER_02: He kept saying I am the man.
SPEAKER_02: But they kept asking him, Then how are your eyes opened?
SPEAKER_02: He answered The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash.
SPEAKER_02: Then I went and washed and received my sight.
SPEAKER_02: They said to him, Where is he?
SPEAKER_02: He said, I do not know.
SPEAKER_02: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_03: How deep the Father's love for us.
SPEAKER_03: How that beyond all the measure that he should give it almost.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sharing it.
SPEAKER_00: Our next scripture reading comes to us.
SPEAKER_00: Many of us know it very well.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us may have it memorized in a different version.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm of David.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 23.
SPEAKER_00: Let us listen to the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
SPEAKER_00: He makes me lie down in green pastures.
SPEAKER_00: He leads me beside still waters.
SPEAKER_00: He restores my soul.
SPEAKER_00: He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil.
SPEAKER_00: For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
SPEAKER_00: You anoint my head with oil.
SPEAKER_00: My cup overflows.
SPEAKER_00: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_00: In the Lord of the Rings, a fellowship of nine free peoples includes hobbits and men, a wizard, an elf, and a dwarf.
SPEAKER_00: And they're on an epic quest.
SPEAKER_00: Destroy the one ring created to rule the nineteen other rings of power.
SPEAKER_00: It was made in the fires of Mount Doom.
SPEAKER_00: Only there it can be unmade.
SPEAKER_00: And the ring must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.
SPEAKER_00: And as this fellowship walks hundreds of miles to their destination, they evade orcs and trolls, black riders, and the eye of Sauron.
SPEAKER_00: And while they're walking, they learn about courage and loyalty and stick toativeness.
SPEAKER_00: Today in Psalm 23, we hear about walking with the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: We hear how the shepherd leads us beside still waters.
SPEAKER_00: Leads us to in right paths.
SPEAKER_00: And even if things get difficult along the way, we have nothing to fear because the shepherd never leaves our side.
SPEAKER_00: Now I bet some of you have the King James Version of Psalm 23, chapter verse 4, memorized.
SPEAKER_00: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
SPEAKER_00: For thou art with me.
SPEAKER_00: Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: We're reassured by this psalm that we are not walking alone.
SPEAKER_00: So anyone who is in need of help, God is our shepherd, leading us in walking near our side through thick and thin.
SPEAKER_00: Is that enough?
SPEAKER_00: Just keep this psalm in our pocket, knowing that whatever comes our way, we're not walking alone.
SPEAKER_00: I also want to point out that there's walking in our gospel text too.
SPEAKER_00: John 9 1 says, as he, as Jesus, walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
SPEAKER_00: Even though the main crux of the story is about healing a blind man, I I like that we can see Jesus is in the midst of something he does every day.
SPEAKER_00: He walked a lot.
SPEAKER_00: And that's how he got around.
SPEAKER_00: And as Jesus walks along, he doesn't just keep his eyes on the road.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he has his eyes wide open, looking up at people.
SPEAKER_00: At people in need.
SPEAKER_00: And in keeping with the walking theme, I find it interesting how uh today's story ends.
SPEAKER_00: In John 9 12, they said to him they said to uh the blind man, where is he?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, I do not know.
SPEAKER_00: It's as if Jesus paused uh just long enough to see this man, to say a few words, mix some saliva and and mud, and then sent him to be healed.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is nowhere to be found because he kept walking.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever gone on a walk with someone and in the middle of a walk you see something beautiful and you pause?
SPEAKER_00: Or in the middle of walking, you need to pause a bit just to catch your breath.
SPEAKER_00: That's basically the amount of time we're talking here.
SPEAKER_00: And the amount of time it takes most of us to pause, Jesus does this incredible, amazing miracle.
SPEAKER_00: Uh while Jesus was walking, he paused just for a moment and then he kept on walking.
SPEAKER_00: If only we could all walk this way.
SPEAKER_00: Since Rick Steves has been ta taking us with him to Europe for 30 years on PBS, I listened to a podcast with this travel guru.
SPEAKER_00: It was about traveling.
SPEAKER_00: Until I heard this, I had never th thought there were there's different ways of traveling.
SPEAKER_00: Rick Steve says, uh there's La La Land travel.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe to Vegas or Disneyland, maybe a cruise.
SPEAKER_00: There's also reality travel where we get out of our comfort zone, learn more about our home by leaving it and looking at it from a distance.
SPEAKER_00: He says lots of people travel.
SPEAKER_00: But don't travel in a transformational way.
SPEAKER_00: I never thought about this word, travel.
SPEAKER_00: But Rick Steves spent a whole life dedicated to treat it more than just a trip.
SPEAKER_00: He explains the road for different kinds of people.
SPEAKER_00: For a tourist, their road is a playground.
SPEAKER_00: A traveler's road is a school.
SPEAKER_00: A pilgrim's road is a church.
SPEAKER_00: He says his task is to inspire and encourage and enable travelers to raise the bar and not just be going to La La Land, but travel in a way that gets you closer to God, that helps you better love your neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: For years, when he traveled to St.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's Basilica, he he's Lutheran.
SPEAKER_00: When he saw the place, all the saints and all the excess that made him uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: But eventually he learned that the traveler can't go in as a Protestant through 2025 eyes.
SPEAKER_00: He learned to go in as a traveler, to be open and curious.
SPEAKER_00: Go in as a temporary Roman Catholic, appreciate it on its terms, look at it through 1500 eyes when this church was built.
SPEAKER_00: They had not had the Reformation yet, and this was the best they could do to glorify God, to get them close to God, was to build this amazing church.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I can accept it, enjoy it on its terms.
SPEAKER_00: And ever since then, my visits to the Vatican have been much more pleasant.
SPEAKER_00: Essentially, Rick Steve says that travelers travel with purpose.
SPEAKER_00: We can go through life and even bring God into it.
SPEAKER_00: But God doesn't just want us to live as a la land tourist, to be just at the surface level.
SPEAKER_00: God wants us to be travelers in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Where we travel with purpose.
SPEAKER_00: We're not on a luxury or tourist trip where our road is a playground.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, we're called to be travelers with Christ, where our road is a school.
SPEAKER_00: And during Lent, as we walk on the road to Jerusalem with Jesus, Jesus sees those struggling among us and pauses long enough that the shepherd leads us to still waters.
SPEAKER_00: And in this case, to pool.
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd repairs our sight, leading us into right path.
SPEAKER_00: During Lent, as travelers to the cross, we're called to get out of our comfort zone.
SPEAKER_00: And not just travel like everyone else, but to travel in a transformational way.
SPEAKER_00: And the beauty of this is we don't have to walk in faith on our own because we walk with a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: All we have to do is follow Jesus' example to be open and curious.
SPEAKER_00: For God to move us.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully it extends beyond Lent.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but since the shepherd cares and goes deeper, it makes me think differently about what I want to do when I go away from here.
SPEAKER_00: I don't just want to be a tourist.
SPEAKER_00: It makes me want to be a traveler.
SPEAKER_00: Especially since it involves our faith.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to go very far to be a traveler.
SPEAKER_00: While it might be more exciting and exotic to go to far-off places like Africa and Scotland and Haiti.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to look very far to discover that there are people in need all around us.
SPEAKER_00: In our country, there's folks struggling struggling to be seen and heard and cared for.
SPEAKER_00: There's folks in our town.
SPEAKER_00: Even in our neighborhoods.
SPEAKER_00: The next time you take a walk, just keep your eyes open to look for need.
SPEAKER_00: Now it can be plain to see a need in unkempt yards.
SPEAKER_00: But I'd imagine that there's likely just as much need in the neat and orderly places.
SPEAKER_00: It's just a little bit harder to see.
SPEAKER_00: You might have to get to know your neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: But it goes far beyond just terminology on a show.
SPEAKER_00: In 2024, when he found out that he had prostate cancer his whole life, he'd always been active and healthy.
SPEAKER_00: This shocked him to his core.
SPEAKER_00: He says, when I got that diagnosis, I'd never been there before, and I thought I'm gonna tackle this like a traveler.
SPEAKER_00: To be positive, to be curious, to see it as a voyage, to recognize you need help.
SPEAKER_00: And it was like going into a foreign language.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't speak the language.
SPEAKER_00: Now on our journey, we can easily walk with our head down or in the clouds, unable to see the reality of our world.
SPEAKER_00: Or we can go deeper and tackle it like a traveler with our heads up, eyes open.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Jesus, we can pause long enough to get to know our neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: Rick Steves continues.
SPEAKER_00: I thought of the whole experience kind of like a journey.
SPEAKER_00: To me, the hospital was the ship.
SPEAKER_00: I I was in a storm, and the captain of the ship was my wonderful surgeon, and powered that ship with sails.
SPEAKER_00: And when you let people know that you've got cancer or something like that, you get so many thoughts and prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And those prayers and those warm thoughts, they take on this kind of tangibility and they fill the sails.
SPEAKER_00: And they powered that boat through that storm.
SPEAKER_00: So as we go from this place, I send you away with words keep on traveling.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but I want to go deeper.
SPEAKER_00: Not to be tourists, but to be a traveler with Christ and travel with purpose so that my road is a school.
SPEAKER_00: When we're walking and traveling near and far out there, we don't do it alone.
SPEAKER_00: But we're walking with the shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And as travelers, we keep our eyes open in order to pause along the way, and no matter what comes our way, we're open and positive and curious.
SPEAKER_00: Keep on traveling in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: If you found this podcast inspirational and would like to support the First Love Ministry programs at First Presbyterian Church, please send any contributions to First Presbyterian Church at 870 West College, Jacksonville, Illinois.
SPEAKER_01: Our zip code is 62650.
SPEAKER_01: Our phone is 217-245-4189.
SPEAKER_01: You can contact our secretary there.
SPEAKER_01: R-S-T P-R-E-S-JAX.
SPEAKER_01: We have a choir that meets from 7 to 8 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: every Thursday night, and we welcome all who are willing to sing.
SPEAKER_01: We look forward to hearing from you either by email, mail, or phone.
SPEAKER_01: God bless, and may you have a peaceful and safe year.