Sermon, “Blind One’s Bluff” 4/3/11 Lent 4-A John 9:1-41
Pilgrim Church, UCC B’ham, AL Rev. Janet Boyd Weidler
Quote in bulletin: “My darkness has been filled with the light of intelligence, and behold, the outer day-lit world was stumbling and groping in social blindness.” Helen Keller
Blind Man’s Bluff is a game I remember playing as a child. Maybe you remember it too- it’s a variation of Tag. One player is designated as "It"; “It” is blindfolded and has to grope around attempting to tag the other players without being able to see them, all the other players scatter, hiding in plain sight and sometimes teasing them to make them change direction.
Hiding in plain sight works amazingly well - too well, in far too many situations.
How often do we miss someone “hiding in plain sight,” the homeless person on the street, the child we are too preoccupied to pay attention to, the friend or partner or spouse who has become so familiar that we fail to appreciate them?
The blind man in today’s story was in some ways hiding in plain sight- it seems that when people looked at him, they saw blame and guilt; they saw an object of a theological debate, but they did not really see him.
The disciples and religious leaders were also hiding in plain sight- instead of making their faith visible through their actions, they withheld their compassion and ducked the real issue that was staring them in the face.
Who were these religious leaders? John refers to them in some of the verses as “the Jews,” and it’s verses like these which have been used as a kind of a blanket condemnation of all Jews, when in reality, John was dealing with a very specific and very difficult situation in the latter part of the 1st century, when a split was happening between Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah and those who did not.
The important thing for us to do today is put ourselves in the shoes of the religious leaders, and examine our own sight, or lack thereof. We need to ask ourselves: What or whom are we not seeing?
Someone once said to Helen Keller, "What a pity you have no sight!" Helen Keller replied, "Yes, but what a pity so many have sight but cannot see!"
Hannah Lythe of Sojourners posted a blog entry on Friday entitled, “Can We Stand to Lose 70,000 Children?”
Who are these 70,000 children? According to the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), testifying before a House panel, these children are all those who would die if the House version of the budget bill is passed- these deaths would occur because of cuts to programs that support malaria control, immunizations, and skilled birth attendants. ( Hannah Lythe 4-1-11)
Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, is fasting for the rest of Lent to try to get the U.S. congress and the American public to truly see the devastating impact of federal budget cuts on the most vulnerable of God’s children, both in this country and around the world. Jim’s fast is a protest against the immoral and inhumane impact of the proposed cuts. At a press conference this past week he spoke of the “selective cruelty going on in this budget debate. Instead of focusing on where the real money is, some budget cutters are actually targeting vital and effective programs that support and protect poor people and some initiatives that are literally saving lives. It was not spending on poor people that created this deficit, and these drastic cuts in programs that help poor people will do little to get us out of our deficit. ”
Jim called on all people of faith and conscience to join the “growing movement of people… who together intend to form a circle of protection around vital poverty-fighting programs. Every Christian, regardless of their political affiliation, is called to take up the cause of the poor and the needy because that is God’s heart, and we will be calling every legislator who says they are a Christian or person of conscience to listen to God’s heart as they make their decisions.”
He continues, “Because, ultimately, this is a fast before God, to whom we turn in prayer and hope to change hearts — our hearts, the heart of our lawmakers, the heart of the nation. We will pray and fast, each of us in our own ways, for mercy, compassion, wisdom, strength, and courage as we make the critical budget choices about who and what are most important. A line has been crossed in this budget debate; extreme budget cuts are now being proposed and this fast is a spiritual escalation to bring these critical moral choices to the attention of the nation, and to seek God’s help in doing so.” (Jim Wallis, “Why I am Beginning a Fast Today” 3/28/11 Sojourner’s, “God’s Politics,” A blog by Jim Wallis & friends)
With all the blindness out there, this story can guide us as we seek to clear and enlarge our vision and the vision of others, so that we truly see from God’s heart and through God’s eyes what is right before us.
Did you notice how the story begins? Jesus and his disciples come upon the man who was blind from birth, and the disciples are moved, not by compassion or concern for the man, but by the theological debate about whose sin caused the man’s blindness. It was common belief that sickness and infirmity were punishments for sin, but Jesus would have none of this. Instead of looking for sin, Jesus looks for grace, for how God’s good works can be made manifest in this situation.
It’s not that there is no connection at all between sin and suffering. Birth defects caused by toxic chemicals, terrible injuries caused by child abuse, needless deaths that result from abuse of alcohol, drugs or tobacco are all examples of how human sin can cause suffering. But when looking upon the blind man in the story, Jesus vision is clear and true. Listen to how Eugene Peterson describes what happens in “The Message” (translation of the Bible.)
1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" 3-5Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here…”
So- Jesus sees clearly that there is a person in need here, and he teaches that the faithful response is to look for how God can use us to bring grace and healing, to ask how we can be a part of God’s good work, bringing light to whoever is experiencing darkness.
And that’s what Jesus does in this situation: he acts with compassion to bring healing;
Using what is readily to hand- the dust and his own saliva, he makes a paste of mud and puts it on the man’s eyes - (This is not necessarily recommended to be tried at home!) After covering the man’s eyes with the mud paste, Jesus tells the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. This is probably an illusion to baptism and symbolic of the transformation of baptism represents.
Once again, as he did in other instances, Jesus uses the common elements of the earth, dust and water, and makes something transformative out of something so common and messy as mud. And by using the soil of the earth as a resource for healing, I wonder if there’s another message here - imagine if that mud were contaminated with radioactivity- is there perhaps a suggestion here that this good earth has healing and restorative powers, and that our contamination and pollution of this earth can ultimately destroy its life-giving power and the life of everything in it? It seems that Jesus was demonstrating the healing and wholeness God desires not only for each of us but for all creation. God’s grace and God’s will for creation are revealed in a powerful way in this story!
With the healing of the blind man, you would think that everyone would be filled with joy and that there would be singing in the street and a big celebration. But no, everyone is so busy with the technicalities of which rules were broken that they miss the obvious wonder that has taken place right under their noses.
The religious leaders in today’s story are offended because Jesus healed on the Sabbath. In their limited vision, they could not see the bigger picture of what Sabbath-keeping was all about. Are there ways in which we need to broaden our vision of Sabbath? Are there ways in which our views of what is acceptable and holy need to be expanded? What wonders might we be missing? What new ways that God is moving in our midst can we not see because we are blinded by tradition, by what is comfortable for us?
The Rev. Robyn Meyers, a UCC minister, writes about what he calls “The Religion of Mercy.” Meyers describes the ministry of Jesus as being a ministry of “constant and unbridled compassion”. Thus, if we want to truly follow Jesus today, we need to “examine our religious beliefs (and traditions) to see whether they make us more or less merciful, for any (religious practice) that doesn’t make us kinder isn’t worth our time, and may even be hazardous to our health”. Myers advises us to “measure your faith by measuring its mercy”.
As we celebrate Communion this morning, we are celebrating God’s grace that welcomes all of us to this table, and calls us to see in everyone we meet a child of God, who is also welcome at this table of life and love.
As we form our circle later in the service, let us think of those who are not here, those who hunger and thirst, those who are vulnerable here and around the world, who need us to form a circle of protecting love around them. As we share the bread and cup this morning, may our eyes be opened to see the Risen Christ in one another and in all creation. Amen.
Pilgrim Church, UCC B’ham, AL Rev. Janet Boyd Weidler
Quote in bulletin: “My darkness has been filled with the light of intelligence, and behold, the outer day-lit world was stumbling and groping in social blindness.” Helen Keller
Blind Man’s Bluff is a game I remember playing as a child. Maybe you remember it too- it’s a variation of Tag. One player is designated as "It"; “It” is blindfolded and has to grope around attempting to tag the other players without being able to see them, all the other players scatter, hiding in plain sight and sometimes teasing them to make them change direction.
Hiding in plain sight works amazingly well - too well, in far too many situations.
How often do we miss someone “hiding in plain sight,” the homeless person on the street, the child we are too preoccupied to pay attention to, the friend or partner or spouse who has become so familiar that we fail to appreciate them?
The blind man in today’s story was in some ways hiding in plain sight- it seems that when people looked at him, they saw blame and guilt; they saw an object of a theological debate, but they did not really see him.
The disciples and religious leaders were also hiding in plain sight- instead of making their faith visible through their actions, they withheld their compassion and ducked the real issue that was staring them in the face.
Who were these religious leaders? John refers to them in some of the verses as “the Jews,” and it’s verses like these which have been used as a kind of a blanket condemnation of all Jews, when in reality, John was dealing with a very specific and very difficult situation in the latter part of the 1st century, when a split was happening between Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah and those who did not.
The important thing for us to do today is put ourselves in the shoes of the religious leaders, and examine our own sight, or lack thereof. We need to ask ourselves: What or whom are we not seeing?
Someone once said to Helen Keller, "What a pity you have no sight!" Helen Keller replied, "Yes, but what a pity so many have sight but cannot see!"
Hannah Lythe of Sojourners posted a blog entry on Friday entitled, “Can We Stand to Lose 70,000 Children?”
Who are these 70,000 children? According to the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), testifying before a House panel, these children are all those who would die if the House version of the budget bill is passed- these deaths would occur because of cuts to programs that support malaria control, immunizations, and skilled birth attendants. ( Hannah Lythe 4-1-11)
Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, is fasting for the rest of Lent to try to get the U.S. congress and the American public to truly see the devastating impact of federal budget cuts on the most vulnerable of God’s children, both in this country and around the world. Jim’s fast is a protest against the immoral and inhumane impact of the proposed cuts. At a press conference this past week he spoke of the “selective cruelty going on in this budget debate. Instead of focusing on where the real money is, some budget cutters are actually targeting vital and effective programs that support and protect poor people and some initiatives that are literally saving lives. It was not spending on poor people that created this deficit, and these drastic cuts in programs that help poor people will do little to get us out of our deficit. ”
Jim called on all people of faith and conscience to join the “growing movement of people… who together intend to form a circle of protection around vital poverty-fighting programs. Every Christian, regardless of their political affiliation, is called to take up the cause of the poor and the needy because that is God’s heart, and we will be calling every legislator who says they are a Christian or person of conscience to listen to God’s heart as they make their decisions.”
He continues, “Because, ultimately, this is a fast before God, to whom we turn in prayer and hope to change hearts — our hearts, the heart of our lawmakers, the heart of the nation. We will pray and fast, each of us in our own ways, for mercy, compassion, wisdom, strength, and courage as we make the critical budget choices about who and what are most important. A line has been crossed in this budget debate; extreme budget cuts are now being proposed and this fast is a spiritual escalation to bring these critical moral choices to the attention of the nation, and to seek God’s help in doing so.” (Jim Wallis, “Why I am Beginning a Fast Today” 3/28/11 Sojourner’s, “God’s Politics,” A blog by Jim Wallis & friends)
With all the blindness out there, this story can guide us as we seek to clear and enlarge our vision and the vision of others, so that we truly see from God’s heart and through God’s eyes what is right before us.
Did you notice how the story begins? Jesus and his disciples come upon the man who was blind from birth, and the disciples are moved, not by compassion or concern for the man, but by the theological debate about whose sin caused the man’s blindness. It was common belief that sickness and infirmity were punishments for sin, but Jesus would have none of this. Instead of looking for sin, Jesus looks for grace, for how God’s good works can be made manifest in this situation.
It’s not that there is no connection at all between sin and suffering. Birth defects caused by toxic chemicals, terrible injuries caused by child abuse, needless deaths that result from abuse of alcohol, drugs or tobacco are all examples of how human sin can cause suffering. But when looking upon the blind man in the story, Jesus vision is clear and true. Listen to how Eugene Peterson describes what happens in “The Message” (translation of the Bible.)
1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" 3-5Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here…”
So- Jesus sees clearly that there is a person in need here, and he teaches that the faithful response is to look for how God can use us to bring grace and healing, to ask how we can be a part of God’s good work, bringing light to whoever is experiencing darkness.
And that’s what Jesus does in this situation: he acts with compassion to bring healing;
Using what is readily to hand- the dust and his own saliva, he makes a paste of mud and puts it on the man’s eyes - (This is not necessarily recommended to be tried at home!) After covering the man’s eyes with the mud paste, Jesus tells the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. This is probably an illusion to baptism and symbolic of the transformation of baptism represents.
Once again, as he did in other instances, Jesus uses the common elements of the earth, dust and water, and makes something transformative out of something so common and messy as mud. And by using the soil of the earth as a resource for healing, I wonder if there’s another message here - imagine if that mud were contaminated with radioactivity- is there perhaps a suggestion here that this good earth has healing and restorative powers, and that our contamination and pollution of this earth can ultimately destroy its life-giving power and the life of everything in it? It seems that Jesus was demonstrating the healing and wholeness God desires not only for each of us but for all creation. God’s grace and God’s will for creation are revealed in a powerful way in this story!
With the healing of the blind man, you would think that everyone would be filled with joy and that there would be singing in the street and a big celebration. But no, everyone is so busy with the technicalities of which rules were broken that they miss the obvious wonder that has taken place right under their noses.
The religious leaders in today’s story are offended because Jesus healed on the Sabbath. In their limited vision, they could not see the bigger picture of what Sabbath-keeping was all about. Are there ways in which we need to broaden our vision of Sabbath? Are there ways in which our views of what is acceptable and holy need to be expanded? What wonders might we be missing? What new ways that God is moving in our midst can we not see because we are blinded by tradition, by what is comfortable for us?
The Rev. Robyn Meyers, a UCC minister, writes about what he calls “The Religion of Mercy.” Meyers describes the ministry of Jesus as being a ministry of “constant and unbridled compassion”. Thus, if we want to truly follow Jesus today, we need to “examine our religious beliefs (and traditions) to see whether they make us more or less merciful, for any (religious practice) that doesn’t make us kinder isn’t worth our time, and may even be hazardous to our health”. Myers advises us to “measure your faith by measuring its mercy”.
As we celebrate Communion this morning, we are celebrating God’s grace that welcomes all of us to this table, and calls us to see in everyone we meet a child of God, who is also welcome at this table of life and love.
As we form our circle later in the service, let us think of those who are not here, those who hunger and thirst, those who are vulnerable here and around the world, who need us to form a circle of protecting love around them. As we share the bread and cup this morning, may our eyes be opened to see the Risen Christ in one another and in all creation. Amen.
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