March 19, 2023 St. Andrew Church Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Ephesians 5:8-14
8 for once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness; rather, expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly, 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Second Lesson: John 9:1-17, 24-41
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 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, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 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?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 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.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 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.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 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.”
24 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.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 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?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 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.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Ann Landers tells this story, “Mrs. Smith was stark-naked and just about to step into the shower when the doorbell rang. She hollered, “Who is it?” He shouted back, “It’s the blind man.” She figured it was safe, so she opened the door. He looked at her in shock and asked, “Where do you want me to hang these blinds, lady?” (The Washington Post, October 13, 1998).
Of course today we are considering the other kind of blind, the lack of sight, and for some the sin that caused it. The disciples ask who sinned to cause the blindness? But Jesus refutes this idea, claiming it is for the glory of God. The Pharisee want to blame someone for sinning because the man was healed on the sabbath. This drama of sin and blame makes more sense when we see this story as possibly a Greek drama. With each scene the blind man gets bolder in telling his miraculous healing.
Interestingly, the Pharisees do not want to know who healed the man as much as how. Repeatedly the blind man talks about the spit, mud on his eyes and going to the pool. However, the Pharisees get stuck on the process rather than its source. When we are talking about sin, that is often the case. In our book study on Freeing Jesus, we had a great discussion on Jesus as Savior and how fundamental sin is in that paradigm. Of course, we all know we have sinned and that helps us to humble ourselves before God and seek forgiveness. But if the focus is exclusively on sin rather than love, mercy, and grace, then we get reduced to being people of sin, born of original sin, and plagued with guilt. I found the discussion quite liberating to see ourselves as good people who sin, rather than sinful people desperate for a Savior. If that sounds like heresy, I invite you to reach out and we can have a discussion on this because it is far bigger topic than fits in this sermon. Yet I do think how we see ourselves in relationship to sin will help us to open our eyes to the ways God sees us and what we are called to do as disciples of Jesus.
Before Jesus heals the man he declares himself the light of the world for the second time. The light Jesus brings comes first in the specific healing of the man born blind and them to the entire world. Once again Jesus shares an I Am statement and declares I am he like he did last week reminiscent of God’s name, I Am. All of this helps each one of us to become the children of the Light, promised in Ephesians. God’s love through Christ opens our eyes to all that we can be and allows the light of Christ to shine within you.
There is a story of a beggar who was sitting across the street from an artist’s studio. The artist saw him and thought he would make an interesting portrait study so from a distance he painted the defeated man whose shoulders drooped, and whose eyes were downcast and sad. When he was finished, he took the portrait over to the beggar so he could look at it.
“Who is that?” the beggar questioned. The painting bore a slight resemblance to himself, but in the painting before him he saw a person of dignity, with squared shoulders and bright uplifted eyes, almost handsome! He asked the artist, “Is that me? I don’t look like that.” But the artist replied, “but that is the person I see in you” (Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com Adapted from New Vision in Christ, by Rev. Michael J. Fish). Jesus did not see a man born blind, he saw the man who would proclaim him a prophet, the man who had the strength to stand up to the Pharisees, the man who called him “Lord” before worshipping him. We are all so much more than our shortcomings, the things that hold us back. Jesus sees us beyond our weakness, beyond our sinfulness and see us as we can be as Children of the light, shining forth his love. Jesus sees us in the fullness of who we are and can be. May we open our eyes to see ourselves in much the same way. Patrick Henry Hughes was born blind. He offers an example of just such a story.
