Eternal God, throughout these forty days of Lent, enable us to prepare
ourselves, our hearts, and our minds to receive the new life that you have
for us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As a kid, I hated those math word problems, such as: There are two vehicles
traveling in opposite directions toward each other on Route 37. One is at mile
marker 13 traveling at 45 mph east bound. The other is at mile marker 22
traveling at 71 mph west bound. How long do you have to stop them before they
crash? I would easily get frustrated, and being called to ministry early, I
would begin to practice the funeral ritual: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered
here today to honor and remember those killed in a head-on crash.” Going in
opposite directions is almost always a problem and frequently a disaster. It is
like making a wrong turn down a one-way street, or as Garrison Keillor says,
“You don’t want to be going north when the avalanche is heading south.” You
don’t want to be going opposite the will of God.
Milwaukee Brewers third baseman, Jeff Cirillo, made the 1997 Baseball All-Star
team. As he was stowing his overhead luggage in the plane on his way to the
game, a man behind him asked, “Aren’t you Jeff Cirillo?” Cirillo was shocked
that anyone recognized him. “Yes, I am,” he said proudly. The man said, “Aren’t
you going to the All-Star game in Cleveland?” Cirillo said yes. The man
responded, “This plane is going to Detroit.” We are often going in the opposite
direction from which we should be.
Nothing quite thrills a parent as thinking one’s child is going in the same
direction as you in life. On the way to pre-school, the doctor laid her
stethoscope in the car seat. Her little girl picked it up and began playing with
it. “Be still, my soul,” thought the doctor, “my daughter wants to follow in my
footsteps.” Then the child spoke into the instrument, “Welcome to McDonald’s.
May I take your order?”
Our gospel lesson today is about a man going in the opposite direction from
those around him, another loser whom Jesus encounters. He is a man born blind.
His story is a one-act play in six scenes with a huge cast of characters, as
biblical stories go: disciples, neighbors, Pharisees, parents, Jesus, and the
man himself. The story of the man’s cure takes exactly two verses; the
controversy surrounding the cure, takes 39 verses. This is great material for a
soap opera. The story does not list any specific immoral deeds or proclivities
that might define this man as a sinner. We simple hear a commonly held belief of
the day; his blindness was because either the man or his parents had sinned. His
blindness is a punishment for sin. However, Jesus says to his disciples,
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” Jesus goes on to say that trying to
determine who sinned is immaterial, what is needed is to do God’s work, which is
to help the man see. Jesus is making clear the work of God is always moving in
the direction of health, wholeness, and the fullness of life. When Jesus says
that he is the light of the world it is so we can see the inexhaustible
possibilities of new life that Christ gives us. Jesus says, “I have come that
you might have life and have it abundantly.” God’s movement is always toward a
fuller life for us.
Then begins the controversy. First, the man’s neighbors argue whether or not he
is really the one they knew who was born blind. It is as though they don’t
recognize him. Before we come down too hard of these people as being poor
neighbors, let’s consider something: Take the man or woman who stands at the
intersection and begs; do you ever look that person directly in the eye? We tend
to avert our eyes from those in need or those who are handicapped. It is a very
human reaction. Perhaps we wouldn’t recognize our neighbor either, under new
conditions.
Next, the man is taken to the Pharisees who are not so interested in the man as
they are upset that Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. However, there erupts an
argument among the Pharisees. Some of them claim Jesus is not from God because
he does not observe the Sabbath. Others counter that anyone who is a sinner
could not do such a sign. These religious legal authorities miss both the grace
of the Sabbath and the grace of sight given to the blind. Religions of rules are
often very shortsighted, if not blind, especially to the working of God in their
midst. Pray that our faith is not blind to God’s working in the world today.
Third, the parents of the man are called, but they offer no support at all.
Rather they tell the authorities, “Don’t ask us, he is of age, he will speak for
himself.” The authorities ask the man again about what happened. His response is
very clear, “Though I was blind, now I see.”
These are words made familiar by John Newton a former slave trader in his hymn
“Amazing Grace.” When Newton experienced the love of God in Jesus, the eyes of
his heart were opened to see what was displeasing in the sight of God. He went
in an opposite direction, from being a slave trader to being a fierce proponent
of the abolitionist movement, working to abolish the laws which permitted
slavery. Experiencing Christ brings repentance, turning around, going in the
opposite direction, living Godward. The man goes on to say, “Never since the
world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born
blind. If this man is not from God, he could do nothing.”
The Jewish authorities do not question the man’s rather sweeping observation but
rather they take issue with him saying anything, “You were born in sin, yet you
teach us?” Then they drive him out of the synagogue. They excommunicate him. The
man once pitied for his blindness is the only one in the drama who has spiritual
sight, but now he is to be pitied because of the isolation he experiences. His
confession of faith in Jesus has terrible consequences for him. He is cast out
of the religious community. He is cut off from Torah, family, the sweet-smelling
incense of the Sabbath, and the certitude of the Law. The man is growing in one
direction while everyone else is sliding in the opposite direction. The man is
going from physical blindness to spiritual sight. Everyone else is going from
physical sight to spiritual blindness. We can see the growth in the man’s
insight in that his identification of Jesus goes from a man, to a prophet, to a
man come from God, to believing in Jesus and worshipping him as Lord. His
spiritual sight keeps improving, while his inquisitors keep colliding in the
darkness of their own blindness.
This is not a Christian versus Jewish drama; this is a human legalism verse the
power of God’s grace drama. By the time we get to the end of the story we
realize the man born blind is no longer a loser but all those around him
certainly are. The man who was blind, though isolated from the others in the
story, now has a relationship with God. All the other characters have fallen
into spiritual blindness.
This story brings two questions to our attention. One is, to what are we
blind? Periodically we will hear in the news about a person who sees God, or
Jesus, or the Virgin Mary in some object. Is it real or not? A Native American
medicine person will perform a healing service and a patient’s cancer goes away.
Is it real or not? People worship in a frenzied state of being, or at the total
other extreme, in complete silence, and both claim to experience God. Is it real
or not? Someone to whom you are close, and you think is normal, one day reports
they have heard God. Is it real or not? You may have an experience of God, but
others question you. Is it real or not?
There are a lot of amazing things that happen in life that may or may not have
to do with God. Some may be the result of powerful imaginations. Some may be the
result of purposeful deception. Some may be the presence of God. Are we so
legalistic in our faith (which by definition is not really faith or trust), that
we are missing God? Have we narrowed our faith down so much that we are blind to
God’s presence in our midst?
The second question is, if we are open to God’s presence, are we moving
with God, or are we moving in the opposite direction? Perhaps you have seen
the commercial on TV about avatars, digital representations of ourselves and
others. I don’t have an avatar, don’t know how to get one, and wouldn’t know
what to do if I had one. (I know, I lead a pretty boring life!) However, I read
recently that many people create their avatars to be stronger, better looking,
more intelligent, sexier, younger, or more aggressive than they are in real
life. There may be some therapeutic value to projecting ourselves in these ways.
However, I wonder if anyone projects themselves as more caring, more
compassionate, more just, more prayerful, more faithful than they are in real
life? In other words, in real life, or in our imaginations, do we seek to be
moving with God, doing God’s will, living in God’s love, seeking God’s way of
joy, wholeness, and hope for all people?
When I served at Creighton Church in Phoenix, one of the stories the people
told was about Muriel Moore. When the congregation moved to a new site and built
their first facility, Muriel was totally against a big kitchen and spoke
strongly against the expenditure. However, the congregation decided to build a
large kitchen to make it easier to have many large church dinners, to fix
funeral meals, to feed the hungry. After the decision was made, even though it
was not what she had wanted, Muriel gave the money for a commercial dishwasher
in the kitchen and was often the first to sign up to work in the kitchen for
food preparation.
In our congregation here in San Diego there is a similar story. I learned
recently about the story of Howard Christman. When the church was contemplating
moving here to Mission Valley, Howard was vigorously and vocally opposed to the
move. However, after the decision was made and the move took place, Howard
planted and hand watered the trees along the present west drive here at the
church. Neither Muriel or Howard could ever be accused of being reticent or
blind followers, but once they sensed the movement of the Spirit among the
people in one direction they ceased trying to go in an opposite direction.
May we as individuals and as a congregation, take the time in this Lent to
discern the movement of God’s presence in our midst. May we take time in
worship, study and prayer to be open to God. May we ask God to heal any
blindness in our lives. As sons and daughters of John Wesley may we honestly
recognize our own spiritual needs and seek a new or renewed relationship with
God, and may we compassionately see the need of those around us and serve them.
May we not crash into the movement of God going in the opposite direction, but
may we turn and go Godward.*
Thanks be to God.
- - - - -
[*]
Notes: The Jeff Cirillo story is from Tim Kurkjian, Is This a Great
Game or What? p. 8. The information about avatars is from Sharon Begley,
Newsweek, February 25, 2008, p. 49..
