4 Lent, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Lent 4, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
John 9:1-41 St. Andrew’s on-the-Hill
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifying Spirit. Amen.
Perspective matters.
Our perspective matters.
The ways that we approach ourselves and the people around us is of ultimate importance.
There are ways that we see
and ways that we are blinded…
such is the topic of today’s Gospel story.
As we all know, two different people who encounter a situation may see that situation and respond in entirely different ways.
It is also possible that one person may see and respond to a similar situation in entirely different ways at different times in their life.
“Seeing” is a complicated thing.
As Jesus and his disciples walked along the road,
they came upon a man who had been blind from birth.
Their approaches - their vision –
upon seeing this man
were entirely different.
Upon seeing the man, the disciples ask Jesus:
“Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
Now, the perspective of the disciples was informed by the belief
that if someone were afflicted with an illness or poverty or poor circumstance,
then either that person or their parents had sinned.
So, according to their belief,
either this man or his parents had been condemned as sinners from his very birth.
This man never had a hope.
But, in his response Jesus rejects the notion that either this man or his parents had sinned.
Instead, he sees an occasion here to celebrate the glory of God.
Let’s take a moment to look at the differences in perspective,
the differences between Jesus and the disciples in their seeing:
As Jesus came upon this man, he saw a person in need of healing;
the disciples hopped on the “blame train” to determine who was at fault.
Jesus saw a human being who could receive new life;
the disciples saw someone trapped in sin.
Jesus found in this encounter an opportunity to transform evil;
the disciples found a chance to talk about it.
Jesus viewed this man from the standpoint of future possibility.
The disciples saw him only in terms of the past.
Jesus saw an opportunity for redemption;
the disciples were focused on guilt and punishment.
The difference in perspective that we see between Jesus and the disciples does not end here…it carries on through the conversations between the Pharisees, the Jews, the parents and neighbors of the man born blind, and the man himself.
The conversations go something like this:
Neighbors: Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit on the street corner?
Yes, well… maybe.
No, no, it’s not him but someone like him.
Couldn’t be him.
Pharisees: Hey, man, how did you receive your sight?
Healed man: Well, a guy put mud on my eyes and told me to wash and now I see.
He must be a prophet.
Pharisees: No, he’s a sinner. Sinners dishonor the Sabbath.
Healed man: Well, all I know is that I was blind and now I see. How can anyone who is not from God heal the blind?
Jews to parents: Is this your son who was born blind? How does he now see?
Parents: Yes, he’s our son, who was born blind, and now he sees, but we don’t know how. Ask him! He can speak for himself.
Did you notice that the neighbors and townsfolk had so incorporated the identity of this man as a blind man that they could not even recognize him when he had been healed.
They had apparently never bothered to learn his name
or his hopes
or his fears
or anything else that made him a human being,
so that when he was healed of his only identifying characteristic – being blind –
they weren’t even sure who he was any more.
The vision of the Pharisees and other questioning Jews were so focused on upholding the Law:
“Honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy”
that they couldn’t see that Jesus’ healing power could only come from God.
They were so intent on destroying this blasphemer
and protecting their own religious authority
that they missed God’s Grace-filled and healing activity right under their noses.
The man’s parents were so trapped in fear of protecting themselves so that they would not get kicked out of the Temple, that they turned over all acknowledgement of God’s healing grace for their son.
They were so afraid of what might happen to them that they could not even revel in the fact that their son could now see for the first time in his life.
Gratitude for new life for their son seems to have escaped them.
Remarkably, Jesus appears only two times in this very long story.
The first time he offers healing.
The second time he offers an invitation to abundant life.
When we hear this story,
I wonder with whom we identify.
Perhaps we identify with the man who was healed,
and we are dismayed that others keep us trapped in our past life.
Or maybe, if we are honest,
we hear ourselves engaging the fears and blaming of all the other characters.
Do we ever become preoccupied with what sin another has committed
instead of seeing a child of God who is hurting and in need of healing?
How often do we obsess about who is not following the “rules,”
trying to justify our own righteousness?
How often do we define people by their life circumstances?
Whether they are rich or poor?
By their mental status or physical ability?
Their job? Or why don’t they have one?
Perhaps even the person who seems to have it all:
money, job, family, status…
is really deeply broken inside and suffers loneliness and possibly even despair.
I have found myself, at some point in my life, in each of these places.
The truth is:
We really don’t know anyone until we engage them in a relationship
and see them for who they really are.
This is what God offers each of us.
God looks upon us as we really are –
as human beings,
as beloved children of God,
issuing us the invitation of Grace and healing.
And… God invites us to share in this same perspective toward each person we meet.
As Jesus ascended from this world,
the Holy Spirit was sent to strengthen and guide us
as we continue the ministry of reconciliation in this broken and sinful world.
Lent is about pulling the plank out of our own eye, so that we may see with God’s vision!
This Gospel invites us to look anew at each person we meet…
our families, our friends, our neighbors, the stranger in our midst, even ourselves.
We are invited to look deeply,
and lovingly,
with the tender compassion of our God.
God’s power can work in and through us far more than we can possibly ask or imagine.
And for this we say: thanks be to God! Amen.
