I’d like to try something a little unique today.
Someone commented to me before Lent this year, “I hope we can discuss these 40 Days of Purpose questions, and not just be told about them!”
And we haven’t had a lot of time to discuss them together.
So I’d like us to look at the questions of ‘who we are as the church’ and ‘why are we here’ from the perspective of the man born blind in today’s gospel reading, and talk about that with one another.
To really get into this story it’s very important that we experience it, and not just hear it as an ancient story but experience our part in it.
But before we get to this incredible reading about Jesus healing a man born blind, I’d like to make a few introductory remarks about the story that you can keep in mind as you hear it.
1) Marginalization of John’s community. The man born blind is kicked out of the temple = John’s community being sent out? When do we feel marginalized, and when does faith in Jesus make us marginalized?
2) A story about sin. Disciples say sin = an effect, an action. Jesus = it’s the cause. It’s a sickness we are all born with. In this story, sin is broadened to mean more than just doing something bad—or worse, being ‘burdened’ with a disability like blindness. Sin is an illness we are all stricken with. Realizing the depths of how deep our sin goes gives us perspective in this story to see how deep Jesus’ love is for the man born blind.
3) Many of us may say we abide by the phrase, “seeing is believing.” I’ll believe it when I see it! For the man born blind, when Jesus heals him, the opposite is true. “Believing is seeing.” The man is given sight because of his faith that he trusts God is present in the person of Jesus Christ—not because he can see, but because he experiences God in this man.
Let’s number off by 3:
#1’s will have their eyes closed during the whole reading
#2’s will close their eyes at the beginning, but regain sight when the
man born blind does
#3’s will have their eyes open the whole time.
After the reading we will talk with each other about what we experienced.
As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
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 Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "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." They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains." (John 9:1-41)
Discuss the following questions on your quarter-sheet:
1) When have you felt isolated or abandoned? How do you think this passage addressed those feelings in John’s community? How might this story address United Lutherans when we feel left out, alone or marginalized?
2) How do we define “sin”? Is it a cause, an effect, or both? How does this story broaden our understanding of both sin and grace?
3) Where do we feel blind in our lives? Where has United Lutheran experienced a sense of new sight, new life, a new chance to be the persons we have been called to be?
I hope you have found this story as enriching as I have.
Story of my preaching professor at seminary, one of the best preachers I have ever heard, who is legally blind.
He says this story helps teach us that those whom we label disabled are not necessarily “those whom receive our ministry.”
The man born blind is our teacher, teaching us about the power that faith in the healing presence of Jesus can give us.
Importance of calling him “the man born blind.” Not “the blind man”.
Jesus calls him a human first. A child of God—first.
Reminds me of pictures in the civil rights era when African-Americans marched in segregated communities with placards on them saying: “I am a man.”
We as the church can feel like that. We can feel like we are disabled, compared to what gets valued in society. United Lutheran Church can feel disabled now by not being what it once was.
But this church, like the man born blind, has a story to tell.
This church meets Jesus today. In the Word. In touching his body andblood. Like this man we have an incredible story to share with the world. A story that makes us whole.
“One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (9:25)
“One thing I do know: that as United Lutheran Church, Jesus promises to see this church as dignified, whole people—no matter how disabled we may seem. One thing I do know: that we are sent from this place today with the presence of Jesus—a presence powerful enough to accept us and all who we encounter as vulnerable, treasured gifts of God.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
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