-Jess
The readings for the day can be found at https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=27
May the meditations of my mind and all our hearts be pleasing to you, God, our rock and our foundation. Amen
We all
walk on a pilgrimage to a meaningful relationship with God, but what needs our
focus is not the goal, it’s the journey.
The journey can be clear at times and dangerous at others. Sometimes simple and sometimes difficult to
face. The journey also has many steps we
do not understand and many surprises.
Regardless, Jesus walks with us, not because he needs to, but because
wants that relationship with us.
This
morning the lectionary gives us stories of light and dark. Specifically, stories of God calling into the
light... and there is a lot to preach on in that vein. We could talk about being children of the
light and who is in the light and who is in the darkness in our Gospel. Instead I want to focus on the journeys of
two heroes in our stories.
These
are journeys of seeking truth and trying to understand what God has in store
for these men and those around them: Samuel is trying to discern which of
Jesse’s sons is chosen by God and the Pharisees are trying to figure out why
Jesus would give sight to the blind sinner.
Both stories also end with an element of surprise.
In the
first reading we hear the story of God sending Samuel on a journey to find the
one He has chosen to replace Saul as king.
That shouldn’t be that dangerous, right?? Wrong!
King Saul is alive and well and quite happy as King, even if God is not
happy with him as king. If he finds out
what Samuel is doing, he will kill him!
So,
Samuel embarks on a dangerous journey with the faith that God will protect him…
He will guide him “along pathways for his Name’s sake.” He ventures to the house of Jesse risking his
life. Jesse parades his sons in front of
Samuel so Samuel can declare which one the Lord has chosen. This scene has always reminded me of
Cinderella when the sisters are being paraded around to try on the
slipper. I’m not calling Jesse the
wicked stepmother, but the parent parading their children to be chosen for a
great honor... what's more, we come to
find out that the chosen one is not even in the line up! Surprise!
It’s the boy out sitting with the Sheep!
Also
like a fairy tale, we have a moral in this story. “for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they
look on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks on the heart.” This is a wonderful
moral and something we all try to teach our children.
“Don't judge a book by its cover”
“It's what’s on the inside that counts”
Of course, then God’s chosen one comes
out and we find out he looks like Zac Effron with his “ruddy” and “handsome”
looks... but that is beside the
point. Luckily, God saw that David’s
heart and soul were as beautiful as his eyes.
In our gospel reading we see Jesus heal a
blind man, who, along with his family, is interrogated about it over and over.
Now a quick disclaimer… I am going to admit that there is a lot of
Boring in the rest of this sermon.
Having just finished a class on the New Testament, it was bound to have
some Boring. You see, in preparation for
the official beginning of my formation leading to, God willing and the people
consenting, to my ordination to the vocational diaconate, I decided to get a
head start on my academic work. I took
an online class through Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkley. Starting with just one class at a time, I
chose An Introduction to the New Testament.
The textbook was Boring. No. Literally.
The text was An Introduction to the New Testament by M. Eugene
Boring! Right here on the spine of the
book… BORING… An Introduction to the New Testament. Now, I have to say that if I were a textbook
author and, one would assume, a lecturer in my own right, I might choose a
pseudonym to write and teach under!
That
said, I found the Boring to be anything but, so it was the first place I turned
after reading the lessons for today. Two
things in Boring’s text jumped out at me as I read the section on John, Chapter
9.
The
first is that the man was blind from birth.
John makes sure we are aware of this.
In the course of the story, it is mentioned seven times. In preparing a role in a musical theatre
piece, directors often remind performers that if a lyric is repeated, there is
a reason… don’t just repeat it. I have always found scripture to be the
same way. So why is it repeated? Boring tells us that this is to point out
something different from the other times Jesus has healed people. Since he was born blind, his sight was not restored,
it was given. “Jesus’ life giving
power does not only restore what is lost” (p691); He gives us what we never had
to begin with. “What Jesus does for the
blind man, is what God does for the world in the Christ event”. It is through
Christ’s death and resurrection that we are given everlasting life.
The
second thing in Boring that caught my attention was the journey of this blind
man. This man goes from being a blind
beggar to a sighted disciple of Jesus in a matter of hours and believe it or
not, this journey has lots of steppingstones.
1. He was a blind beggar who was
suddenly given sight by a passerby.
There is nothing in the text to indicate that he had even heard of
Jesus. Possibly he had heard rumblings
of what was going on, but its important to note that this man did not ask Jesus
to be healed. It is just offered and
given. Frankly, if we take the text at
face value, he was minding his own business when a man spits on the ground,
rubs this mud in his eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool… Now here is
where I think it is not unreasonable to think that he might have known who
Jesus was… HE DOES IT! He goes and
washes in the pool with the faith that he will be healed. THAT is an amazing act of faith for someone
who is not already a disciple!
2. Now he is quizzed about what happened
and who does he say did it? “The man called Jesus”
3. Next, he is interrogated by the
Pharisees who are already upset with Jesus because he has been healing on the
Sabbath, which we know from Mathew, Mark and Luke, they find to be against the
law of Moses. Now, when asked by the
Pharisees about it, the man formerly known as the blind man, refers to Jesus,
who was “the man” the first time now as “a prophet.” The Pharisees try to piece together who Jesus
is, what he is doing and why he would choose a blind sinner to be the recipient
of such a gift of salvation.
4. Now his parents are called into
questioning. They confirm he was born
blind and then essentially say, “what happened?? He’s a grown man… go ask
him!” Again, this phrase is repeated. Its repeated after the explanation of how
dangerous this line of questioning is.
Just like Samuel’s journey to Jesse’s house, there is a lot at stake
here! This time when we hear “he is of
age, ask him” it resonates with the gravity of the situation.
5. Now when the formerly blind man is
questioned… again, “I have told you already and you would not listen.” (Here,
in my opinion, he starts to get a little sassy, and I love it!) “Why do you want to hear it again? Do you
also want to become his disciples?” You
keep asking me about him… do you want an application?? The man understands that they have already
made up their mind and nothing he says will convince them. However, here we witness the next step in
this man’s journey. He identifies Jesus
as being “from God.”
6. The Pharisees did not enjoy his
sassiness as much as I do, as they excommunicate the man, which is no real surprise. Because the man was born blind, he was deemed
a sinner since birth… or even before his birth.
It would not be uncommon for people to have believed that he was blind
because his mother sinned while he was in the womb. Even the disciples believe this to be true
and ask Jesus about it at the beginning of the gospel.
7. Now the formerly blind man finds
Jesus who reveals to him that he is the Son of Man, to which our friend says,
“Lord, I believe.” His relationship with
Jesus is now solid and the man begins his new journey as a follower of Christ.
8. Finally, Jesus schools the Pharisees
on who is ACTUALLY blind. SURPRISE! It’s them, not the man!
The
blind man understands Jesus’ true identity gradually through the story. Jesus goes from “man” to “prophet” to “man
from God” and, finally, “Lord.”
This
man’s journey and relationship with Christ reminds me of my own journey, and I
am willing to bet, is also very similar to many of yours.
Our
earliest memories of Jesus are what? Bible
stories we hear in Sunday School. We are
told these fantastical stories about a man who can control the weather, walk on
water, heal people and who rises from the dead.
We hear the stories and we enjoy them, and what kid wouldn’t?? They have all the things that adventure
stories are made of. We are told that
Jesus loves us, but its not until later that we even start to understand what
all of this means.
Then as
you get older you learn more about the teachings of Jesus and you start to
develop a relationship with Christ. The
more you learn, the more you recognize Christ’s work in your life. The Franciscan theologian Richard Rohr points
out that, in our Gospel story, “Belief in and love of Jesus come after the
fact, subsequent to the healing. Perfect
faith or motivation is not always a prerequisite for God’s action.” We grow closer to Jesus as we recognize his
work in our lives… Jesus does not work in our lives because of our love and
devotion. As Rohr says, “God does things
for God’s own purposes.”
Finally,
we say, “Lord, I believe!” We see God’s
work in our lives, and we decide to deepen our relationship. We find a faith community with whom to
worship. Perhaps we join a Bible study,
pray the daily office, get more involved at church… volunteer to be an
acolyte… To riff on Lao Tzu for a
moment, we take steps, one by one to travel a journey of a thousand miles.
For me,
one of those steps was over a year ago when I heard the Holy Spirit calling me
to a life in the church as a vocational deacon.
For me, now, my next step continues in June when I officially begin St. Phoebe’s
School for Deacons.
As St.
Andrews, our next step will begin in the next few months as we welcome a new
Priest-in-Charge and start the next chapter in our communal journey of faith.
My
prayer for you as we hit the halfway point of Lent, is to spend some time in
reflection to discern what your next step will be in your relationship with
Jesus. What is the Holy Spirit calling
you to do? Be it anything from teaching
Sunday School, reading the Bible with your children… Acolyting… or maybe it’s
as simple as saying good morning to that person in the office who you really
don’t care for… maybe its praying for those who cut you off in traffic rather
than some other choice words you might usually have. No matter what it is, take some time to
listen to what the Spirit is telling you and take your relationship with Jesus
to its next level.
In the
name of one God, creator, redeemer and sustainer. Amen.
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