Spiritual Blindness, Spiritual Sight
| John Wilkinson |
Third Presbyterian Church |
| March 2, 2008 |
John 9:1-41 |
Let us pray. O God, we once were lost but now are found, blind
but now see. Be thou our vision. Help us to catch a glimpse
of who you are through the eyes of your startling vision. We
pray for many things, including our friends now on their way
to New Orleans. And we ask you to open your word unto us –
and help us to see, and help us to hear, and help us to know.
For Christ’s sake. Amen.
Interpreters of this story are often quick to dismiss the physical
healing. On our way to the central point this morning, I would
not want us to be so quick. A man is blind, physically blind.
The disciples seek to blame; Jesus seeks to heal. And he does.
We know those, or are among those, who are blind, physically,
or hearing impaired, or have been inflicted with cancer or HIV,
or face addiction, or depression, or dementia. We pray for our
own healing or for their healing, even as we rely on the marvels
of medicine at the dawning of this new millennium. We are not
cavalier about prayer, nor do we think it irrelevant.
Clearly, the placement of the story in John’s gospel
lets us know both of Jesus’ compassion – for one
whom society and religion ignored – and power –
for doing something no one else could. But clearly as well,
the players in this story represent so much more than this immediate
incident, as miraculous as it is.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
That reminder from Proverbs would be enough of a reminder this
morning.
Here is how it seems to work:
* The disciples lacked vision by blaming the blind man for
his blindness. Where they attached fault, Jesus attached opportunity.
* The blind man’s neighbors lacked vision by being unable
to believe what they saw in front of them – the one they
knew to be blind from birth now with sight.
* The Pharisees lacked vision by latching on to a legalistic
debate about Sabbath observation rather than thanking God for
what had happened.
* Other religious authorities – called “the Jews”
in this episode – lacked vision because they did not believe
that man had been blind to begin with, that somehow Jesus had
been performing a kind of parlor trick.
* The blind man’s parents – full of fear because
they did not want to be kicked out of the synagogue –
sought vision more than anyone else – they knew the problematic
implications of what they saw, but they knew and believed what
was in front of them.
* And the blind man – the one who lacked physical vision.
He receives it and so much more.
Time and time again, he is questioned. “I have told
you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear
it again?” And the ones who know they lack vision, in
fact, are on their way to seeing best of all.
This story matters to each one of us. And it matters to all
of us, even as we gather as a church today for an annual meeting.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. I do not know
what that is for you, and only at times know what that is for
me. But I do know that God’s vision for our lives is one
of freedom and grace, of one where every impediment is removed
that prevents us from living the full life that God intended
for us.
Where gifts are fully utilized. Where relationships are fully
healed. Where sprits soar. Where differences can be made in
a world in need. Where religion is used not to keep people down
through oppressive legalism, but rather where your faith, and
our faith, serves as a conduit for allowing the vision to take
root and take wing and take us to places never imagined.
Whether it is the disciples or the Pharisees in your head
or spirit – blaming you and telling you it cannot be,
or whether it is the disciples and Pharisees in our church and
culture, telling us the very same thing, we must ignore those
voices and rather follow the voice of the one who says I am
the light of the world.
Seek that light, Jesus is saying, seek my vision, and no other
voice, light, vision, will ever make a difference. We may be
mocked and we may be discredited, as the blind man was, but
we know what we know, and we know that because of this light,
we can see.
This story, Sandra Schneiders reminds us, is filled with irony
and paradox. (Written That You May Believe, page 30) So is life
itself. But notice, throughout, with the man representing each
of us and the man representing the church, what true sight looks
like.
True sight, Charles Cousar (see Texts for Preaching, Year
A, pp. 215-217) reminds us, is not sight that insists there
is no sin, or assesses sin to others. True sight is honest about
sin, so that is may be confessed and forgiven.
The disciples blame the man. The Pharisees blame Jesus. Jesus
forgives. The man sees. And because the blind man is as aware
of his own shortcomings as anyone, not only does he see, but
through the story moves closer and closer to real sight, to
knowledge of who Jesus is.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Conversely, we would posit, where there is vision, the people
thrive. So we ask the question, as we continue the Lenten journey
and as we gather as a church community to conduct the church’s
business.
“Hey, you, what’s your vision?”
Can it be of a community of seekers and pilgrims, aware of
their own shortcomings but not immobilized by them, able to
acknowledge, in a culture that insists on self- sufficiency,
grace’s, amazing grace’s, full sufficiency.
We will talk about vision today – the vision for our
program, the vision of our bold and creative capital campaign.
But there is a vision behind and beyond the vision, of a community
– young and old, every color, every constellation and
affection, who, having our spiritual vision restored, live into
the knowledge of Jesus to God’s glory and the healing
of the world, in this generation and every generation to follow.
Ernesto Cardenal wrote that “all human eyes have longing
in them.” What is that longing for you, and what is our
longing, together, as a church?
That longing is our journey, made possible only by the one
who welcomes us, accepts us, and heals us. Amen.
