The Holy Gospel Lesson
Today's Holy Gospel lesson is written in John 9:1-41
As he 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?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 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, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 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?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 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." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 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." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. 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." The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 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." He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 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?" Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he 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." They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. 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." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to 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. (ESV)
Here ends the Gospel lesson for today
Glory be to Thee ,O Christ!
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, in our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus, your beloved Son, you have redeemed us from sin and death, and claimed us as your own. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to realize that our new birth in baptism continues to unfold throughout our lives, and that you will never abandon us. This we ask, in Christ’s holy name. Amen
Words, words, words! There is a long-standing university class exercise where you are to take a long piece of work and capture the meaning in a sentence or two. These 41 verses might be summed up as, “A man is healed, people found it hard to believe it but he is still healed” Why all the words?
Jesus saw a man who was blind and did what was needed -- he healed the man. That is where the problem begins. He did it on the wrong day, to the wrong person, without proper witnesses, all wrong! The religious authorities are only so willing to tell him so and Jesus is only too willing to play word games with these masters of words. The healed man, on the other hand, is just happy to be healed.
Someone once said that every age has, from time to time, the need to refresh its theology. What is theology? Theology is simply words that we use to speak of God. We need words to make sense, in our little world and little minds, of a God who transcends all we can possibly understand. So we create theology. Theology is more than words because the words we use reveal how we think of God and how we relate to God. Good theology keeps our relationship with God and one another in proper perspective. Bad theology places God subject to our thinking, makes God act according to our bidding, or make God into something that God is not.
In today’s Gospel we see Jesus poking holes in the bad theology of his day, and we see the theologians fighting to defend their carefully built theology. Jesus came to heal the sick and the blind, and the religious leaders want to protect the rules.
Jesus’ attack on bad theology is also a time for us to reflect on the bad theology which has crept into our worship of God, twisting God to fit into our image of what we think God should look like and how God should act. There is an old saying, “Remember to keep the main thing, the main thing.” This is what good theology is all about. God is to be given glory and praise.
“Who sinned, this man or his parents?”
In bad theology, sickness, tragedy and misfortune are often seen as results of not living right. We are told that AIDS is God’s judgment on immoral nations. Some have suggested that the terrorist attack on Sept. 11 was God’s judgment on the US for its stand on abortion, the lax laws on morality and any number of things these people are against. This theology takes shape in the less dramatic statement of wondering, “Why him and not me?” when good fortune strikes. The standard funeral eulogy these days seem to suggest that if you paint the life of the deceased in glowing enough terms, God will have to let them into heaven. Recently, Canada Lutheran had an article about funerals and the author recounts several incidents of bad theology that he has heard. He writes in one account, “I recently attended a funeral for someone who had died in a skiing accident. The homily questioned why such a tragedy should befall someone so good and loving. ‘This shouldn’t have happened to someone as good as Edward.’”
The other side of this bad theology would suggest that wealth is a sign of God’s blessing. God’s “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” is wealth of the true believers. You can find “proof” in any Christian bookstore. Then there are the books that if you recite an obscure Old Testament prayer, you are guaranteed of blessing.
His blindness has nothing to do with sin -- he is blind. Rain falls on the just and the unjust. Good things happen to bad people, Bad things happen to good people. Read the book of Job. This blindness presents the opportunity for God’s work to be revealed. God loves you simply because God created you and continues to love you no matter what.
“This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.”
Yes, we need to take time to worship God, to take time to prove to ourselves that the world will continue without our 24/7 attention. It is wonderful to gather with other Christians in worship but to demand rigid adherence to a time or a place is to make the day more important than the worship. We can get to the point that by rigidly observing the day we think we have fulfilled some duty, all that is required of us. We can look down on those who do not. We can be lead to believe that we live our faith one hour a week and leave our care and concern for others inside the church as we walk out. We gather to give glory to God, the more the merrier.
The Pharisees had it figured out how many steps you could take, how much of a meal you could prepare before you broke the Sabbath.
Nurses and doctors, pastors and others need to be about their callings on all days of the week. Good theology leads us to give glory to God at all times and places, together with others and alone, to be open to caring for people when and where we find them.
“How can a man who is a sinner, perform such signs.”
We can get caught up behavior. Elections are won and loss over the slightest indiscretion of the candidate. Media go to great length to prove that a person is unfit to govern because he or she committed some questionable act. There is nothing like a sexual indiscretion to dry up the support of a tele-evangelist. We hear comments such as “Who does he think he is?”, “I am not worthy to assist at worship.” All with the implication that somehow we earn the right to be about the work that God sets before us.
We are all sinners, people whom God desires to forgive. At the same time saint and sinner. All people gifted by God to be about the work of the body of Christ. Our history, our failings do nothing to change that fact that Jesus died for each one of us. The magnitude of our service says nothing about our worthiness.
“Ask him, he is of age.”
The parents of the man who was healed did not want to be pulled into this argument, and who could blame them. The religious authorities had immense power over their lives. It was they who could throw them out of the synagogue. Bad theology gives religious leaders more power than God. Bad theology leads us to fear those in power and do as they say rather than what God requires of us. God does not follow our rules, so God will have to go!
We know about this one. I just have to remember the “Hymn book wars” of the past and I am reluctant to tell you that there is a new hymn-book being explored. The church can be a place of turf protection for those who have power rather than a place of welcome where people see, without any confusion, the love of God being lived out by all those present.
“Do you want to become his disciples?”
A tongue-in-cheek poke at the Pharisees. They knew God so well, they knew better than God what God expected. Bad theology makes God a buddy who is always there when we need a hand. Someone we are comfortable with and need no formality. No, God is beyond our comprehension, all powerful and yet at the same time so loving that God came to live among us so that we might not fear death or anything else that life may throw at us.
Jesus Christ is not to be our buddy but our Savior. One who died that we might not die. Our place is to fall to our knees and give God the glory. It is our privilege to give glory to God and to seek to live as disciples, lives transformed through faithful obedience to all that Jesus commands.
“You were born entirely in sins, and you are trying to teach us?”
When all else fails, check credentials. Grace is not earned but a free gift. This blind man is healed, he knows the grace of God first hand, his sin has nothing to do with it. Bad theology would suggest that there are good people and there are bad people. The good people have credibility and the bad do not. Oh, yes, and the ones using this criteria are always the good. Good theology focuses on sin and grace. We all sin, we all are showered by grace. There is no distinction between us, and certainly not based upon sin.
Enough of bad theology! The ‘bottom line’ of this story – the “Main thing” – is that one who was blind can now see. Give glory to God. God has blessed us with life and salvation – why would we not give glory to God? In response we are to be about transforming lives, to be a part of the ministry that Jesus was about. Healing because healing is needed. Lifting up those who are bowed down because people need to be lifted up. Sight returned to the blind, because people are not able to see God clearly.
Theology is of use only to the degree it helps us to see God for who God is, to help us give God the glory due. This is why our mission statement is so important. “As members of the body of Christ and because of God’s unconditional love, Ichthus Fellowship seeks to nurture all peoples through worship and community, and to walk with others in the journey through the realities of life.” God has transformed our lives through love and acceptance – can we do any less for those around us?
Thanks be to God!
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New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted. Sermon shared by Roger Haugen on Mar 7, 2002.
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