Readings: Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-41
Let us pray: May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your
sight O God, our rock and our sustainer.
Amen.
What is our
immediate reaction when we emerge out of a darkened space into full bright
light? We tend to squint a bit until our
eyes get used to it. Other times it is
altogether too much and we head back indoors for our sunglasses. But however we react it is a time of
blindness. Imagine how it must have been
for the man who had been blind from birth.
Whether surgery or glasses, one suspects, and specialists will know
this, that it is a gradual awareness as your eyes get adjusted and your whole
system copes with this new perspective on how life looks. It was very much like this for the man who
encountered Jesus one Sabbath day all those years ago. Blind from birth he was suddenly given the
gift of sight – both physical and spiritual.
And certainly spiritually he took some time to understand what was going
on, who this man Jesus was and the depth of the change that he brought to his
life.
Both readings
today are about blindness and the coming of the light. Both encourage us to question how we respond,
how we understand the coming of Jesus into our lives. Here blindness is defined
not as the loss of physical vision but as our capacity to understand the
provision of God in our lives and how it transforms us into people of the
light.
Let us look at the
story from the Gospel today a bit more closely.
We begin with
disciples and their concept that blindness is the result of sinning – either of
the man or his parents – which Jesus quickly puts to bed. He tells us that this healing is a sign of
God’s work in the world, and that being differently abled as we can call it is
not a judgement on our living. The work
of healing was about revealing the glory of God, the light that had come into
the world through Jesus. The light that
would sustain through the darkness that was to come.
And he goes on to
suggest that the people around this man suffer from a blindness far in excess
of the one he healed. There were the
neighbours who walked by him each day but didn’t know him enough to be sure of
who he was outside of the context to begging.
Is this the man??
How often do we
see people as types rather than actually getting to know them ad individuals,
each wonderfully made and each precious in God’s sight. The homeless, the silent, the belligerent –
is the encounter just to solidify our preconceptions or do we spend time
hearing their story, offering our own for who knows, we might be the object
of their preconceptions too.
Then there are the
Pharisees – fixated on their understanding of how to live in the way of
faith. There were so many things Jesus
had done wrong: spit and mud was just unclean, disrespectful, ungodly as a
means of healing. Then it was an affront
to God to heal on the Sabbath. The
argument went something like this: you can’t be from God if you heal on the
Sabbath. But he seems to have healed
someone so how can he be a sinner? So, ipso facto, the man was never blind to
begin with. The fact that the parents
swore he was born blind kind of put a hole in that argument but it probably
didn’t put much of a stop on their condemnation of him as a sinner.
In other words,
they committed all sorts of theological gymnastics to rationalise doing things
that circumvent the way of Jesus almost entirely.
How often do we
hold fiercely to our arguments and conclusions because to allow that Jesus
might be pointing us in another direction would mean giving up our vested
interests and views. Do we sit in the
safety of rules and regulations or do we have the awareness and courage to
acknowledge that we might head off down the wrong track with the best of
intentions? What do we do in our faith
life that, if Jesus were to walk in on us unexpectedly, he would say our sight
is dimmed if not gone altogether? I was
part of a church that was divided over the minister staying or going – and it
became a kind of flinging back and forward of rules of the church but each was
held separate from the anchor of God’s love – forgiveness without
accountability, judgement without reconciliation, and it was a situation that hurt
a great many people. Likewise each time we adhere to rules that are far removed
from how it is that Jesus teaches us to live: in love, reconciled with God and
each other, compassionate, merciful, full of grace then our sight and our light
is dimming, is it not? It is good to ask ourselves often if what we hold so
tightly too is still anchored in Christ or has taken on the inflexibility of
institutional blindness.
Then we have the
parents – they were somewhat lacking in courage one could say. Either that or they were politicians, hedging
their bets. Yes he was definitely blind
at birth, no we don’t know how he can now see, no we don’t know who did it (I
mean wouldn’t you be wanting to at least say thank you) and he’s of age – why
don’t you ask him? We are told that they
were frightened of the possibility that they might be asked to leave the
synagogue if they appeared to side with this man Jesus so they sidestepped
instead.
These people
remind me of the times when we do not question or challenge that which is
challengable simply because we are frightened of the consequences. Doesn’t’ Jesus tell us that he will be with
us in all that we do? Doesn’t he tell us
that we each have a responsibility to become mature in faith so that we as a
congregation, as a church can walk the way of the cross in truth and
light? We have a responsibility to stand
up against that which we believe is leading us away from God, to constantly be
alert to the crooked paths of convenience and safety.
And finally we have the man
himself. When he was first asked what
had happened he gave the story in a very practical way – well first he mad mud
then he spread it on my eyes and then I washed it off and then I could see.
When the Pharisees questioned him it was the same answer and it was only when
they pressed him for an insight into the man who had healed him all he could
say was that he was a prophet, a man of God. Trying to lead him into words of
condemnation, the next time they talked they began the conversation with the
statement ‘this man is a sinner…’ – and again his reply is quite pragmantic –
you say he is a sinner – I don’t know about that - all I know is that I can see
again. And then the light begins to increase.
He takes them on at their own game:
Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and
yet he opened my eyes. We know
that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him
and obeys his will. Never since
the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born
blind. If this man were not from
God, he could do nothing.’ Their answer
comes from their place of defensive rightness, hitting out at someone who has a
troubling truth: ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to
teach us?’ Like we might say as children “ I don’t’ care, I still hate
you. And they drove him out. Recently blind man 1, Pharisees nil!
And then the light becomes even
brighter – Jesus seeks him out and presents himself and the man says: Lord I
believe. The blind have become sighted
and the ones who should have sight have shown themselves to be blind.
Jesus elaborates
on this, the nature of sin at the end of the reading, offering the priests a
troubling challenge – that if you have never known the light, your blindness is
understandable but if you know the light you need to be aware of the lurking
darkness, be careful that your light does not dim and takes you away from the
truth of living in the light of Christ.
Paul tells us that
the fruit of light is to be found in all that is good and right and true and
that we are to be constantly finding out, discerning what pleases God and
exposing that which is unfruitful, of the dark.
Christ is that
light, the one we follow, the one who challenges us and asks us to be vigilant
and imaginative and open always to the spirit guiding us in new and better
ways. For it is then that we will be walking the way of the cross here in this
place. Then the light of Christ will
shine in us and through us for the healing of the blindness of the world. Amen
Margaret Garland
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