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Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States

Sunday, March 02, 2008

4th Sunday in Lent 3/02/08 Text: John 9:1-39 Title: Surely, we are not blind? Are We?

4th Sunday in Lent
3/02/2008
Text: John 9:1-39
Title: Surely, we are not blind? Are we?
This morning’s Gospel reading, the story of Jesus giving eyesight to the beggar that was born blind, is so full of lessons for us that it is really hard to pick out what to talk to you about this morning. There are the questions, “What part does sin play in the problems we have in life? Does God punish us here, for those things we do? Does God make some people to have terrible things happen to them so that he can look good when they are healed? All of those questions are tough, for if the answer to any of them is yes, we have a God we need to be afraid of.
Then there are the questions of why did Jesus make some mud with clay and spit? Why did he do it on the Sabbath when it could have waited until Sunday? After all, the man was born blind. Why did he tell the man to wash his eyes in the pool at Siloam? Why did the man’s parents refuse to back up their son’s testimony at the synagogue? Why did the Pharisees refuse to believe in Jesus? Why did Jesus; I could go on and on with all types of questions concerning this particular story.
But I will not because there is one particular part of the story that caught my eye. I have been wrestling with it, almost all week. It is easy to miss because there is so much going on in this particular lesson. It is not something directly stated, but still there, particularly in verses 17, 25 though 26. You see it in verse 17 where the man answered his accusers with, “He is a prophet.” In verses 25 and 26 where He tells the Pharisees, “Whether he, speaking of Jesus, is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” And then last but not least you see it in verse 27 where he answers the questions of his accusers with a question of his own. I love it when he asks them, “Do you also want to become his disciples?”
All I can say is, “Wow”. That is a gutsy reply, for you see in that time the Pharisees could kick him out of the temple. And if you were kicked out of the temple, it was almost as if you did not exist. Life was going to get mighty hard. That is why his parents sidestepped the question. They were not going to say anything that would get them kicked out of the Jewish religion.
Now I have to admit that the obvious point of the reading is to show us that the Pharisees were the ones who were blind. The whole story sets up Jesus ending statement in verse, unfortuanatly it is not part of the assigned reading, were Jesus answers the question the Pharisees asked him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus responds with “If you were blind, you have no guilt.” He had told them earlier that being born blind was not the result of sin. He continues on, “But now that you say, we see, your guilt remains.” They are guilty because even though they had the head knowledge about God, there was not, heart knowledge, no faith, for they did not get it. They were spiritually blind and so stood guilty.
As I studied the text, reading over and over one word kept entering my mind. That word is unbelief. As I thought about the unbelief of those in this story as compared to the belief of the man whom Jesus healed I started to see something important, something that I need to share with you this morning.
I saw the difference faith or the lack of faith in Christ makes in one’s world view. What I mean by that is that whether one has faith in Christ or does not have faith in Christ makes a difference in how one perceives the world around them. Now I am going to go one step further. I am going to say that the strength or the weakness of one’s faith also effects how one sees the world around them.
The disciples and the Pharisees see the man born blind as a sinner or at the very least his parents were sinners. In their minds there was no other reason for the man being born blind. The neighbors, who knew him as a beggar saw him as a pretender. Others saw him as a troublemaker. His parents saw him as a person that could get them into trouble with the religious leaders. The Pharisees not only saw him as a sinner, but as a possible fraud, and last but not least as a threat to their religious ways.
You see, it was either their unbelief, or weak faith that kept them from seeing what really happened, the giving of physical sight but also spiritual sight. It was that unbelief or weak faith, depending on who we look at, that made them afraid.
And that fear made the disciples see only punishment when they saw the man who was born blind. The neighbors in their fear saw only trouble and upheaval. The parents in their fear saw only a threat to their well being. The Pharisees in their fear saw a threat to their way of life, for it their laws, their traditions were broken, who knows what would happen next.
Every one of them shared that one come common thing, fear, brought on by either their lack of faith or their weak faith. None of them, except for the blind man got what had happened. He in his healing was bold. He stood up to the religious authorities. He had no fear, for as we read earlier, “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.
I titled this sermon, “Surely, we are not blind? Are we?” because I think it is important for each of us to understand that spiritual blindness, shows up in our lives. I would say that this spiritual blindness in a Christian comes by way of one’s weak faith. While faith, no matter how weak, is still saving faith, weak faith breeds fear.
And fear causes one to have to control others of the faith. It causes one to blame others, to exclude others, to deny others, and last but not least it leads to anger. And anger does not belong in the body of God, his Christian Church.
We each have to look at ourselves, to ask ourselves the same question, “Surely, we are not blind? Are we?” We have to look deep within ourselves and see if the problem is not with others being blind to spiritual things, as we think, but maybe it is with ourselves. Maybe we are blind to the love of God as shown in the Gospel. Maybe we have become so blind with all the have too’s of religion that we have forgotten what it is like to trust in God.
Jesus trusted in God the Father to care for him, to raise him from the dead. I was going to say he had no fear, but I don’t think that is right, for he was troubled by his coming death. He wanted God the Father to provide another way, but his faith in the promises of God enabled him to get past his fear.
The man who was born blind I am sure was quaking in his sandals, if he had any, while the Pharisees were questioning him, but his strong faith in Jesus, even though at the time he had no idea what he looked like, enabled him to get by his fear and give that wonderful testimony we read early.
Do you see the difference between having a strong faith and a weak faith or no faith? Strong faith enables you to stand firm in your life because you know that God’s Church will prevail. It drives out fear, while weak faith on the other hand leads to fear which leads to all sorts of spiritual problems in one’s life, like trying to control others, blaming others, excluding others, denial, and anger.
Which life would you rather have? Which life would you rather have your loved ones live? A life of unbelief or weak faith leading to a live of fear which then leads to all kinds of problems in one’s life. Or would you rather have you and your loved ones live a life in the light, a life of solid faith which leads to trust, confidence, & peace?
The choice is yours, let God strengthen your faith through prayer and Bible study, or continue to live your life in fear of the present and future. Amen