Those of you reviewing math theories are likely to encounter the name Blaise Pascal. It is a name which often appears in the devotional book which I read each morning. Pascal did his work in the 17th Century. Among his writings were these words:
"The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.
"It is the heart which experiences God... This then is faith, God felt by the hear, not by reason...
"Faith is the gift of God; do not believe that we said it was a gift of reasoning. Other religions do not say this of their faith. They only give reasoning in order to arrive at it, and yet it does not bring them to it...
"The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him.
"We know truth not only by reason, but also by the heart and it is in this last way that we know first principles, such as space, time, motion, number, as sure as any of those we get from reasoning. And reason must trust these intuitions of the heart.... And it is as useless and absurd for reason to demand from the heart proofs of her first principles, before admitting them, as it could be for the heart to demand from reason an intuition of all demonstrated principles before accepting them. This inability out, then, to serve only to humble reason, which would judge all."
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Devotion - Monday, April 11
The Gospel text for the Fifth (and final) Sunday in Lent is the resurrection of Lazarus. There are several places in this story where we are encouraged to look forward to the events of Easter.
The one I would like to pick up on this morning is Jesus' delay in going to see about Lazarus.
When told that Lazarus is ill, Jesus does not immediately drop everything and go running. He has other work to do. He goes about that work for several days. Then, he is the one who announces that Lazarus has died.
This is not a point which had been missed by the sisters of Lazarus. They remind him, "If you had been here Lazarus would not have died."
It is not that Jesus doesn't care. Within this story is the verse every contestant at a Bible verse competition loves the most. It is that short verse, "Jesus wept." He cares about Lazarus; he simply didn't make preventing Lazarus' death the most important event.
Doing the work of God, is the work which remains important. Making known God's love and grace, is the task which comes first in Jesus' life.
Death is always feared. Death is to be avoided. But in this story we are reminded that Death is not the worse of possible events. Far worse would be to loose touch with God's grace or God's hope for our lives. Christ comes among those who are sick and ill; Christ becomes one with those who are facing death and assures that not even death will be able to separate us from the love of God.
The one I would like to pick up on this morning is Jesus' delay in going to see about Lazarus.
When told that Lazarus is ill, Jesus does not immediately drop everything and go running. He has other work to do. He goes about that work for several days. Then, he is the one who announces that Lazarus has died.
This is not a point which had been missed by the sisters of Lazarus. They remind him, "If you had been here Lazarus would not have died."
It is not that Jesus doesn't care. Within this story is the verse every contestant at a Bible verse competition loves the most. It is that short verse, "Jesus wept." He cares about Lazarus; he simply didn't make preventing Lazarus' death the most important event.
Doing the work of God, is the work which remains important. Making known God's love and grace, is the task which comes first in Jesus' life.
Death is always feared. Death is to be avoided. But in this story we are reminded that Death is not the worse of possible events. Far worse would be to loose touch with God's grace or God's hope for our lives. Christ comes among those who are sick and ill; Christ becomes one with those who are facing death and assures that not even death will be able to separate us from the love of God.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Devotion - Thursday, April 7
In Jeremiah 22, the prophet warns of God's anger against the kings. He writes: "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing, and does not give him his wages."
As a result of all this, Jeremiah warns, "With the burial of an ass he shall be buried, dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."
Modern readers of Jeremiah dismiss his words. One path is to read them as a warning to Jeremiah. Another is to assume that his abuses were greater than any we might commit. As a result, modern day prophets who re-speak Jeremiah's words are often criticized and ridiculed. It doesn't take them long to learn to keep silent.
As a result, injustice creeps into our system. Over time it gains speed and momentum.
I am often congratulated for the work I do with Habitat for Humanity. "What a great thing - to build those houses and establish homes." But when I share the stories of the homeowners, of their hard work at jobs most of us would never take, the smiles disappear.
One of the advantages to following the Lectionary is that I don't get to pick the verses I read. So this morning, when I was directed to turn to Jeremiah, it was not of my choosing. I would have chosen to read something different. I would have chosen to read words of comfort or assurance. What I read were words which challenge my assumptions.
If it is righteousness that I seek, I must ask questions of justice.
As a result of all this, Jeremiah warns, "With the burial of an ass he shall be buried, dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem."
Modern readers of Jeremiah dismiss his words. One path is to read them as a warning to Jeremiah. Another is to assume that his abuses were greater than any we might commit. As a result, modern day prophets who re-speak Jeremiah's words are often criticized and ridiculed. It doesn't take them long to learn to keep silent.
As a result, injustice creeps into our system. Over time it gains speed and momentum.
I am often congratulated for the work I do with Habitat for Humanity. "What a great thing - to build those houses and establish homes." But when I share the stories of the homeowners, of their hard work at jobs most of us would never take, the smiles disappear.
One of the advantages to following the Lectionary is that I don't get to pick the verses I read. So this morning, when I was directed to turn to Jeremiah, it was not of my choosing. I would have chosen to read something different. I would have chosen to read words of comfort or assurance. What I read were words which challenge my assumptions.
If it is righteousness that I seek, I must ask questions of justice.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Devotion - Wednesday, April 6
Writing in the fourth century, Ephraem expressed his faith journey with these words: "Grant me to see my own errors, and not to judge my neighbor." Would that all our prayers contained such insight.
It is much easier to see transgression in others. We are inclined to judge more harshly those errors which we seldom commit. We avoid discussions of those sins which lie close at hand. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the sin of gluttony?
The season of Lent is a time to examine ourselves and identify those parts of our life which are not being lived in accordance to God's Word. It is a time to examine all of our life - not merely the parts that we are accustomed to setting out front and showing off on Sunday morning.
To his disciples Jesus once said, "Judge not, lest you also be judged." One teacher reminded me that all of are inclined to judge; Jesus reminds us to use the same standard in judging ourselves as we would use to judge others.
Look, with charity, upon the actions of others. Ask, in your prayers, that God might expose to you where it is that you need to clean up your own act.
It is much easier to see transgression in others. We are inclined to judge more harshly those errors which we seldom commit. We avoid discussions of those sins which lie close at hand. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the sin of gluttony?
The season of Lent is a time to examine ourselves and identify those parts of our life which are not being lived in accordance to God's Word. It is a time to examine all of our life - not merely the parts that we are accustomed to setting out front and showing off on Sunday morning.
To his disciples Jesus once said, "Judge not, lest you also be judged." One teacher reminded me that all of are inclined to judge; Jesus reminds us to use the same standard in judging ourselves as we would use to judge others.
Look, with charity, upon the actions of others. Ask, in your prayers, that God might expose to you where it is that you need to clean up your own act.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Devotion - Tuesday, April 5
Romans 7:13-25 is a sobering section of Paul's letter. Here he uses lines which have the potential to confuse us; he shares statements which describe us perfectly.
He writes, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do."
Paul speaks of a war within himself. At his core he wills what is right; but in his members he sees another law at work. He knows what he ought to do, but he does not find himself consistently doing it.
All of this is couched in his discussion of "The Law." He says that there is one law in effect with regard to his intentions; another law which directs his actions. "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Perhaps you can relate to Paul's struggle. I know that I can. And like him I become disgusted with myself that I simply can't seem to do what it is that I know I ought to do. But words once spoken can never be retraced; actions will be interpreted by the one who observes them.
Paul's solution to the problem is Christ. Christ is the one who will deliver him. Christ is the one who can deliver me, and you.
The law requires that I do things right. The law insists that I not transgress. Christ invites me to begin with an acknowledgment of that which I find myself incapable of doing. Christ promises to respond to this confession with forgiveness.
It is not an excuse for continuing to do evil and it is not a get-out-of-jail card I can use whenever I want. But it is the assurance that if I place my confidence in Christ I have an escape clause. I have a way of acknowledging that it is not my intention to do harm nor is it my desire to cause unrest. It is an opening encounter in which there is the expressed hope that whatever transpires, it will be interpreted in light of the one who completes what we find to be beyond our reach.
I will forever fail to do what I really intend to do. For this, we express remorse. And we ask that we might be forgiven, in the name of the one who came to offer forgiveness to us all.
He writes, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do."
Paul speaks of a war within himself. At his core he wills what is right; but in his members he sees another law at work. He knows what he ought to do, but he does not find himself consistently doing it.
All of this is couched in his discussion of "The Law." He says that there is one law in effect with regard to his intentions; another law which directs his actions. "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Perhaps you can relate to Paul's struggle. I know that I can. And like him I become disgusted with myself that I simply can't seem to do what it is that I know I ought to do. But words once spoken can never be retraced; actions will be interpreted by the one who observes them.
Paul's solution to the problem is Christ. Christ is the one who will deliver him. Christ is the one who can deliver me, and you.
The law requires that I do things right. The law insists that I not transgress. Christ invites me to begin with an acknowledgment of that which I find myself incapable of doing. Christ promises to respond to this confession with forgiveness.
It is not an excuse for continuing to do evil and it is not a get-out-of-jail card I can use whenever I want. But it is the assurance that if I place my confidence in Christ I have an escape clause. I have a way of acknowledging that it is not my intention to do harm nor is it my desire to cause unrest. It is an opening encounter in which there is the expressed hope that whatever transpires, it will be interpreted in light of the one who completes what we find to be beyond our reach.
I will forever fail to do what I really intend to do. For this, we express remorse. And we ask that we might be forgiven, in the name of the one who came to offer forgiveness to us all.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Devotion - Monday, April 4
We are beginning the fourth week of Lent. The events of Holy Week are drawing ever closer. There was a line in yesterday's opening hymn which reminds us that "the sheep rise against their shepherd." The crowds which seem to always be around Jesus will cease to sing Alleluias and call for his crucifixion.
This morning I was reading John 6:1-15. It is John's account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Near the end, we have this notation: "Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountains by himself."
Jesus wanted no part of their kingdom; he has in mind the Kingdom of God. He knows that the kingdom they have in mind is self-serving; later he will confront them with whether they came to him to hear the Good News or because they ate their fill of the loaves.
"The crowd" in the biblical story is us. The crowd is what we tend to be. Jesus has compassion on this crowd. He heals their diseases and he feeds them. There is this continual hope that they will come to see. But in so many ways they do not. They come, when there are loaves and fish to be shared. But when the time comes for true change, they turn from Jesus and call for his death.
Life lived as a follower of Jesus is the best of all possible lives. It overflows with grace and abundance. Sharing in the life of Christ, we are united with God and assured that God is united with us. It is a life lived with a purpose. That purpose is to share the Good News and to invite others into this way of living. There is abundance for all - which creates the opportunity for a greedy person to slip in and begin to hoard. When this happens, the community which seeks to live as Jesus begins to crumble. After time, hoarding seems normal and everyone starts to do it.
One spin to put upon the shift between the mood of the crowd in John 6 and the mood on Good Friday is to think of it as the result of hoarders tipping the balance. Rather than receiving what it is that Jesus came to offer, they begin to seek fulfillment for their own desires. They wanted a King of their own making.
Jesus would have no part of this. Their disappointment turns to frustration and their frustration turns to hatred and their hatred leads to murder.
The mood of the crowd changes quickly. Only a few remain faithful throughout. It takes perseverance to remain firm. Forty days is too short a time to be fully prepared.
This morning I was reading John 6:1-15. It is John's account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Near the end, we have this notation: "Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountains by himself."
Jesus wanted no part of their kingdom; he has in mind the Kingdom of God. He knows that the kingdom they have in mind is self-serving; later he will confront them with whether they came to him to hear the Good News or because they ate their fill of the loaves.
"The crowd" in the biblical story is us. The crowd is what we tend to be. Jesus has compassion on this crowd. He heals their diseases and he feeds them. There is this continual hope that they will come to see. But in so many ways they do not. They come, when there are loaves and fish to be shared. But when the time comes for true change, they turn from Jesus and call for his death.
Life lived as a follower of Jesus is the best of all possible lives. It overflows with grace and abundance. Sharing in the life of Christ, we are united with God and assured that God is united with us. It is a life lived with a purpose. That purpose is to share the Good News and to invite others into this way of living. There is abundance for all - which creates the opportunity for a greedy person to slip in and begin to hoard. When this happens, the community which seeks to live as Jesus begins to crumble. After time, hoarding seems normal and everyone starts to do it.
One spin to put upon the shift between the mood of the crowd in John 6 and the mood on Good Friday is to think of it as the result of hoarders tipping the balance. Rather than receiving what it is that Jesus came to offer, they begin to seek fulfillment for their own desires. They wanted a King of their own making.
Jesus would have no part of this. Their disappointment turns to frustration and their frustration turns to hatred and their hatred leads to murder.
The mood of the crowd changes quickly. Only a few remain faithful throughout. It takes perseverance to remain firm. Forty days is too short a time to be fully prepared.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sermon - April 3, 2011
Fourth Sunday in Lent - Year A
John 9:1-41
Incurable Blindness
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?”
I realized that with the length of the gospel lesson, I ought to remind you how it began. This whole story unfolds as a result of Jesus’ encounter with the man born blind. It all happens as a result of the disciples questioning Jesus as to whose sin caused this thing to occur. The opening encounter reminds us that this is not a miracle story - it is a lesson on the nature of sin.
I remember preaching on this text in the past, in this congregation. And I remember getting a reaction to what my notes on this text claim. This encounter is about sin. And in order to make sure that understand this is what it is about, John has Jesus engage in questionable activities; activities which many of his initial readers would have considered “sinful.” Earlier, I simply said that Jesus commits a few sins himself. The complaint I got was that his actions were not really “sins,” merely actions that some distorted religious teacher labeled as “sin.”
Whatever spin you want to put on it, what Jesus does do is transgress the laws of Moses in three ways.
First, there is the clay. Jesus didn’t reach down and scoop up some mud from the river bank - he made it himself. The laws of Moses forbid any work on Sunday. The Rabbinic code lists thirty-nine categories of work explicitly forbidden. Kneading is one of them. Jesus is guilty of transgressing the law. He commits what the religious leaders of his day would have considered a “sin.” Exodus 35:2 says anyone who works on the Sabbath is to be put to death.
His second transgression arises from the products from which he made the clay. The liquid with which he combined the dirt was his own spit. Leviticus, chapter: 15, verse: 8 (CEV) reads “If you are spit on by the man, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening.” These two transgressions were committed, in order to bring about a healing. The healing itself is Jesus’ third infraction.
Rabbinical Law does allow one to heal on the Sabbath - but only if a life was in danger. This man was inconvenienced - but his life was not being threatened by his blindness. Jesus commits his third transgression of the laws of Moses by healing one who’s live was not in danger.
Three misdeeds; three transgressions against the book of commandments. This is not a miracle story - it is a lesson on the nature of sin.
In this story, the disciples speak our part. They set the whole thing in motion by trying to figure out what evil action lead to the suffering which they now see. Like too many of us, they believe that bad things happen as a result of some evil deed. “What have I done to deserve this?” is a common cry offered by those who suffer. Other expressions of the same sentiment are found in “What goes around comes around.” or “You shall reap what you sow”. There is the ever popular “She got what she had coming.”
When bad things happen, we try to find some preceding cause, some action which leads to the reaction. We believe that bad things don’t just happen, they happen as a result of some other action.
Now, the case of a man who is born blind presents a particularly troublesome case. What can be said to have lead to this suffering? Is it possible that he committed some sin while still in his mother’s womb? Or did some sin on the part of his parents lead to their having to watch their child grow up without sight? The case of a man who is born blind presents a particularly troublesome case. Who do you blame? Who is responsible? What sin had been committed?
There is a story I like to tell to illustrate this point. Again, it is a story some of you are likely to have heard before. Allow me to repeat it, sharing it for the first time with some of you and reminding others of its horrific ending. It happened as I was serving as the “Chaplain for the day” at Rowan Memorial Hospital, in Salisbury, NC. A thirteen month-old child had been admitted to the pediatrics floor. I was summoned and informed that death would come within a matter of hours. The child had been sick from her birth. She had a liver disorder that was poisoning her whole system. As horrible as it was to see this child suffer, the horror was associated with a story that I slowly coxed out of the mother. She was herself only a child - an unwed teenage mother. Some of her high school classmates had cornered her one day and told her that the child was ill as a result of her promiscuity. They insisted that God’s punishment for her sin would be having to watch as her baby died.
“Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” I can understand why Jesus broke a few laws. When confronted with someone who is utterly convinced that everything bad thing which happens happens as a result of some prior misdeed on our part, the first commandments I am inclined to break are those associated with un-godly utterances.
In this encounter, confronted with those who were hell-bent on finding some justification for the injury to this young man, Jesus finds a way to position himself among those who are being looked upon as being on the wrong side of the morality code. He allows his actions to speak. He is verbal response shows tremendous restraint. He says to them, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.”
He tries to tell his disciples that they should stop thinking in terms of ‘tit for tat’. God doesn’t interact way. And just to prove it, Jesus goes on and commits a few sins of his own. He whips up a batch of clay; making use of his unclean spit; and heals this man of a non life threatening disorder. “If sin results in suffering,” Jesus seems to be saying, “then where is my punishment?”
There were those around who wanted to see him punished. The Pharisees and the keepers of the book of laws interrogate everyone they can find, trying to assign guilt. First, they try to say that a switch has occurred. That the one who sees is not the same as the one who had been born blind. When that doesn’t work, they try to get the man to find fault with Jesus. They condemn Jesus saying, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Next, they move to the parents, asking them whether this child of theirs had indeed been born blind. Finally, they bring the man back in and insist that he join them in their condemnation of Jesus.
“He is a sinner!” They say. “How can he be of God?” It was too much for them to accept. They could not understand how someone could be of God, and yet act in clear violation of the Law of Moses. It is troublesome question, isn’t it?
Running throughout the story, there is a delightful play on sight and what sight means. Sight - with the eyes - is juxtaposed with spiritual seeing. The man who is born blind cannot see, but in the middle verses, he is the one who does sees Jesus as who he really is. In this man’s second encounter with the Pharisees, he becomes the teacher. He says to them, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he (Jesus) 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.”
The man without sight is the one who sees. The blind man sees what they cannot.
This is not a miracle story - it is a lesson on the nature of sin.
As the story is coming to a close, the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask 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.”
The first character in the story is born blind. But, his inability to see did not prevent him from recognizing Christ. The other characters in the story have full vision, but their blindness of heart prevents them from accepting God’s Messiah. The man who was born blind is healed; those who refuse to see remain in their sin.
It sometimes seems as if there is an endless barrage of questions regarding this action or that. Folks want to know whether this is a sin or whether that is a transgression. It is easier to follow a religious tradition which asks little of us beyond living up to a moral code. Even when that moral code is extremely rigid and demanding - at least we know exactly what is expected of us. Jesus understood that no code of ethics was ever going to set us free. We can only be the children God hopes we will become when as we set aside the moral codes and enter into a faith-filled relationship with God.
For many, sin consists of breaking the rules or transgressing the law. For Jesus, sin is linked with an unwillingness to accept him and an inability to emulate God’s compassion.
“Who sinned?” ... Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” In him, and through his story, we are encouraged to see that God’s commandment is for us to be made whole; God’s law demands that eyes be opened and that hearts be softened.
Amen.
John 9:1-41
Incurable Blindness
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?”
I realized that with the length of the gospel lesson, I ought to remind you how it began. This whole story unfolds as a result of Jesus’ encounter with the man born blind. It all happens as a result of the disciples questioning Jesus as to whose sin caused this thing to occur. The opening encounter reminds us that this is not a miracle story - it is a lesson on the nature of sin.
I remember preaching on this text in the past, in this congregation. And I remember getting a reaction to what my notes on this text claim. This encounter is about sin. And in order to make sure that understand this is what it is about, John has Jesus engage in questionable activities; activities which many of his initial readers would have considered “sinful.” Earlier, I simply said that Jesus commits a few sins himself. The complaint I got was that his actions were not really “sins,” merely actions that some distorted religious teacher labeled as “sin.”
Whatever spin you want to put on it, what Jesus does do is transgress the laws of Moses in three ways.
First, there is the clay. Jesus didn’t reach down and scoop up some mud from the river bank - he made it himself. The laws of Moses forbid any work on Sunday. The Rabbinic code lists thirty-nine categories of work explicitly forbidden. Kneading is one of them. Jesus is guilty of transgressing the law. He commits what the religious leaders of his day would have considered a “sin.” Exodus 35:2 says anyone who works on the Sabbath is to be put to death.
His second transgression arises from the products from which he made the clay. The liquid with which he combined the dirt was his own spit. Leviticus, chapter: 15, verse: 8 (CEV) reads “If you are spit on by the man, you must wash your clothes and take a bath, but you still remain unclean until evening.” These two transgressions were committed, in order to bring about a healing. The healing itself is Jesus’ third infraction.
Rabbinical Law does allow one to heal on the Sabbath - but only if a life was in danger. This man was inconvenienced - but his life was not being threatened by his blindness. Jesus commits his third transgression of the laws of Moses by healing one who’s live was not in danger.
Three misdeeds; three transgressions against the book of commandments. This is not a miracle story - it is a lesson on the nature of sin.
In this story, the disciples speak our part. They set the whole thing in motion by trying to figure out what evil action lead to the suffering which they now see. Like too many of us, they believe that bad things happen as a result of some evil deed. “What have I done to deserve this?” is a common cry offered by those who suffer. Other expressions of the same sentiment are found in “What goes around comes around.” or “You shall reap what you sow”. There is the ever popular “She got what she had coming.”
When bad things happen, we try to find some preceding cause, some action which leads to the reaction. We believe that bad things don’t just happen, they happen as a result of some other action.
Now, the case of a man who is born blind presents a particularly troublesome case. What can be said to have lead to this suffering? Is it possible that he committed some sin while still in his mother’s womb? Or did some sin on the part of his parents lead to their having to watch their child grow up without sight? The case of a man who is born blind presents a particularly troublesome case. Who do you blame? Who is responsible? What sin had been committed?
There is a story I like to tell to illustrate this point. Again, it is a story some of you are likely to have heard before. Allow me to repeat it, sharing it for the first time with some of you and reminding others of its horrific ending. It happened as I was serving as the “Chaplain for the day” at Rowan Memorial Hospital, in Salisbury, NC. A thirteen month-old child had been admitted to the pediatrics floor. I was summoned and informed that death would come within a matter of hours. The child had been sick from her birth. She had a liver disorder that was poisoning her whole system. As horrible as it was to see this child suffer, the horror was associated with a story that I slowly coxed out of the mother. She was herself only a child - an unwed teenage mother. Some of her high school classmates had cornered her one day and told her that the child was ill as a result of her promiscuity. They insisted that God’s punishment for her sin would be having to watch as her baby died.
“Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” I can understand why Jesus broke a few laws. When confronted with someone who is utterly convinced that everything bad thing which happens happens as a result of some prior misdeed on our part, the first commandments I am inclined to break are those associated with un-godly utterances.
In this encounter, confronted with those who were hell-bent on finding some justification for the injury to this young man, Jesus finds a way to position himself among those who are being looked upon as being on the wrong side of the morality code. He allows his actions to speak. He is verbal response shows tremendous restraint. He says to them, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.”
He tries to tell his disciples that they should stop thinking in terms of ‘tit for tat’. God doesn’t interact way. And just to prove it, Jesus goes on and commits a few sins of his own. He whips up a batch of clay; making use of his unclean spit; and heals this man of a non life threatening disorder. “If sin results in suffering,” Jesus seems to be saying, “then where is my punishment?”
There were those around who wanted to see him punished. The Pharisees and the keepers of the book of laws interrogate everyone they can find, trying to assign guilt. First, they try to say that a switch has occurred. That the one who sees is not the same as the one who had been born blind. When that doesn’t work, they try to get the man to find fault with Jesus. They condemn Jesus saying, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Next, they move to the parents, asking them whether this child of theirs had indeed been born blind. Finally, they bring the man back in and insist that he join them in their condemnation of Jesus.
“He is a sinner!” They say. “How can he be of God?” It was too much for them to accept. They could not understand how someone could be of God, and yet act in clear violation of the Law of Moses. It is troublesome question, isn’t it?
Running throughout the story, there is a delightful play on sight and what sight means. Sight - with the eyes - is juxtaposed with spiritual seeing. The man who is born blind cannot see, but in the middle verses, he is the one who does sees Jesus as who he really is. In this man’s second encounter with the Pharisees, he becomes the teacher. He says to them, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he (Jesus) 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.”
The man without sight is the one who sees. The blind man sees what they cannot.
This is not a miracle story - it is a lesson on the nature of sin.
As the story is coming to a close, the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask 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.”
The first character in the story is born blind. But, his inability to see did not prevent him from recognizing Christ. The other characters in the story have full vision, but their blindness of heart prevents them from accepting God’s Messiah. The man who was born blind is healed; those who refuse to see remain in their sin.
It sometimes seems as if there is an endless barrage of questions regarding this action or that. Folks want to know whether this is a sin or whether that is a transgression. It is easier to follow a religious tradition which asks little of us beyond living up to a moral code. Even when that moral code is extremely rigid and demanding - at least we know exactly what is expected of us. Jesus understood that no code of ethics was ever going to set us free. We can only be the children God hopes we will become when as we set aside the moral codes and enter into a faith-filled relationship with God.
For many, sin consists of breaking the rules or transgressing the law. For Jesus, sin is linked with an unwillingness to accept him and an inability to emulate God’s compassion.
“Who sinned?” ... Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” In him, and through his story, we are encouraged to see that God’s commandment is for us to be made whole; God’s law demands that eyes be opened and that hearts be softened.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
