17
GOD’S LOVE IS CONSISTENT – AND UNCONDITIONAL
John 9:1-41
Rev. Paul Wrightman 11/17/24
THIS READING FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
IS ONE OF THE PRIME EXAMPLES
OF WHAT THEOLOGIANS AND BIBLICAL SCHOLARS
CALL NARRATIVE THEOLOGY.
NARRATIVE THEOLOGY CELEBRATES
THE INSIGHTS ABOUT GOD
AND THE INSIGHTS
ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
THAT COME FORTH AS AN ESSENTIAL PART
OF TELLING A STORY;
OUR TEXT THIS MORNING
IS FILLED WITH SUCH INSIGHTS
THAT ARISE AS THE RESULT OF TELLING THE STORY
OF JESUS HEALING A MAN
WHO HAD BEEN BLIND FROM BIRTH.
THE STORY IS TOLD IN SUCH A WAY
THAT WE, THE LISTENERS,
ARE ABLE TO OVERHEAR THE GOOD NEWS.
THE STORY ENCOURAGES US TO BECOME
ACTIVE BYSTANDERS, AS IT WERE,
EMPATHASIZING WITH THE MAN BORN BLIND,
AND MOVING WITH HIM
THROUGH THE VARIOUS STAGES
OF DRAWING CLOSER TO JESUS.
SINCE THIS BIBLICAL STORY IS TOLD IN SUCH A WAY
THAT IT ENCOURAGES ITS LISTENERS
TO BECOME PART OF THE STORY,
THE STORY SEEMS TO SUGGEST
ITS OWN APPROACH IN TERMS OF A SERMON:
TO ENABLE ITS HEARERS TO OVERHEAR
THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS
BY MOVING INTO THE STORY, AS IT WERE,
AND EXPERIENCING FOR ONESELF
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE BEEN THERE.
SO…IMAGINE YOURSELF
AS ONE OF JESUS' ORIGINAL DISCIPLES.
JESUS HAS JUST FINISHED ONE CONFRONTATION
WITH THE HOSTILE LEADERS
OF THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS TIME,
A CONFRONTATION IN WHICH JESUS IS PORTRAYED
AS MAKING THE BREATH-TAKING CLAIM,
"VERY TRULY, I TELL YOU,
BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM,"
(John 8:58)
A PORTRAYAL IN WHICH HE NOT ONLY ASSERTED
THAT HE PREDATED ABRAHAM,
BUT IN WHICH HE CLAIMED
THE DIVINE NAME, "I AM,"
AND APPLIED IT TO HIMSELF.
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THIS SHOWDOWN,
JESUS IS PICTURED
AS WALKING ALONG WITH HIS DISCIPLES
AND COMING UPON "A MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH." (v.1)
HIS DISCIPLES ASK HIM A QUESTION
THAT WAS STANDARD-ISSUE
AT THAT TIME AND PLACE:
"RABBI, WHO SINNED,
THIS MAN OR HIS PARENTS,
THAT HE WAS BORN BLIND?" (v.2)
THIS QUESTION REFLECTS
THE ASSUMPTION OF THAT DAY
THAT ALL ILLNESS WAS THE RESULT OF SIN:
IF ONE COULD NOT FIND FAULT
WITH THE ONE WHO WAS ILL,
THEN THE ILLNESS WAS BLAMED ON THE SIN
OF HIS OR HER PARENTS.
THIS QUESTION ALSO REFLECTS THE FACT THAT
THE TYPICAL JEWISH PERSON OF JESUS' DAY
CONTINUED TO HOLD ON TO
THE OUT-DATED TEACHING
OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS THAT:
"…I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD,
PUNISHING CHILDREN FOR THE SIN
OF THEIR PARENTS,
TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION…"
(Exodus 20:5)
I SAY "OUT-DATED TEACHING BECAUSE
THIS TEACHING WAS AMENDED, OR CORRECTED
BY THE PROPHET EZEKIEL,
WHO REPEATS AS A MANTRA
THROUGHOUT HIS WRITING THAT
ONE IS RESPONSIBLE ONLY FOR ONE'S OWN SINS,
NOT THOSE OF ANYONE ELSE.
(Ezekiel 3:20-21, 18:24, 33:14)
HERE WE HAVE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A PRACTICE
WHICH CONTINUES TO WORK HAVOC
AMONG MANY CHRISTIANS TODAY:
WE HANG ONTO A LESSER UNDERSTANDING,
SUCH AS "AN EYE FOR AN EYE
AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH,"
WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR US
TO EMBRACE A GREATER,
SUCH AS "BUT I SAY TO YOU,
RESIST EVIL WITH GOOD."
(Matthew 5:38-39)
THE IMPORTANT POINT HERE
IS THAT JESUS USES THIS OCCASION
OF STUMBLING UPON A MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH,
AND THE DISCIPLES QUESTION
OF WHETHER HIS BLINDNESS
IS THE FAULT OF HIM OR HIS PARENTS,
TO ONCE AGAIN CORRECT
A BASIC MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT GOD.
JESUS STATES CATEGORICALLY:
"NEITHER THIS MAN NOR HIS PARENTS SINNED…"
(v.3a)
IN OTHER WORDS, GOD DOES NOT KEEP SCORE.
MANY OF US HAVE PROBLEMS
WITH THE SECOND PART OF THIS VERSE,
WHICH READS IN MOST ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
TO THE EFFECT THAT
"HE WAS BORN BLIND SO THAT GOD'S WORKS
MIGHT BE REVEALED IN HIM," (v.3b)
WHICH MAKES IT SOUND
LIKE GOD CREATED THIS GUY BLIND ON PURPOSE
SO THAT GOD COULD HAVE THE PLEASURE
OF HEALING HIM.
THE ORIGINAL GREEK DOES NOT CARRY WITH IT
THIS STRONG CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP.
I LIKE THE WAY THAT EUGENE PETERSON,
IN HIS CONTEMPORARY RENDERING
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, PUTS VERSE 3:
"JESUS SAID,
'YOU'RE ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION.
YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME.
THERE IS NO SUCH CAUSE-EFFECT HERE.
LOOK INSTEAD FOR WHAT GOD CAN DO.'"
ONE OF THE CREATIVE JUXTAPOSITIONS
THAT WE FIND IN THE GOSPELS
IS THE COUNTERPOINT BETWEEN
JESUS' REVOLUTIONARY NEW THEOLOGY
AT THE SAME TIME THAT HE LIMITS HIMSELF
TO USING THE STANDARD-OPERATING-PROCEDURE
OF HIS OWN TIME AND PLACE.
THUS, IN ORDER TO HEAL THE MAN
HE MAKES MUD OUT OF HIS OWN SPIT,
WHICH HE THEN APPLIES TO THE MAN'S EYES.
THIS WAS SIMPLY WHAT HEALERS DID BACK THEN.
OFTEN, OF COURSE, WITH NO RESULT AT ALL.
OUR TEXT EMPHASIZES THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN JESUS AND OTHER HEALERS IN V.32,
WHEN IT TELLS US
"NEVER SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN
HAS IT BEEN HEARD THAT ANYONE
OPENED THE EYES OF A PERSON BORN BLIND."
WE WATCH JESUS APPLY THE HEALING-MUD
TO THE BLIND MAN'S EYES,
AND THEN REQUEST FROM HIM
AN ACT OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE:
"GO, WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM." (v.7)
THE BLIND MAN DOES THIS
AND COMES BACK SEEING.
IMMEDIATELY QUESTIONS BEGIN TO FLY.
THE WORDING OF VERSE 8 IN THIS REGARD
IS SIGNIFICANT.
WE ARE TOLD THAT "THE NEIGHBORS
AND THOSE WHO HAD SEEN HIM BEFORE
AS A BEGGAR…"
THE IMPLICATION IS THAT THEY
HAD ALREADY CATEGORIZED THIS GUY
AS A BEGGAR,
AND DID NOT WANT TO HAVE TO BOTHER
WITH SEEING HIM IN A NEW WAY.
THE MAN BORN BLIND WAS CONSIDERED
TO BE A MAJOR SINNER
BECAUSE HE HAD A MAJOR ILLNESS.
ACCORDING TO THE PREJUDICE OF HIS DAY,
HE WAS CONSIDERED TO BE “UNCLEAN,”
AND BECAUSE HE WAS “UNCLEAN,”
HE WAS RELEGATED TO LIVE THE LIFE
OF A BEGGAR.
(WE INTERRUPT THIS SERMON
TO BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING BREAKING NEWS:
IN CONTEMPORARY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES,
WE NO LONGER ASSIGN PEOPLE THE STATUS
OF “UNCLEAN” BECAUSE THEY HAPPEN TO BE ILL.
BUT WE HAVE CHANNELED OUR DESIRE
TO BE ABLE TO LOOK DOWN ON OTHERS
IN A MULTITUDE OF WAYS, ALL OF THEM
EXPRESSIONS OF WHAT MANY THEOLOGIANS
CONSIDER THE “ORIGINAL” SIN OF REFUSING
TO ACCEPT THE OTHERNESS OF THE OTHER.
SADLY, AMERICAN CHRISTIANS ARE WELL KNOWN
FOR REJECTING THE OTHERNESS
OF THE IMMIGRANT, LGBTQ+ PERSONS,
PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS “TRANS,”
AND PERSONS OF ANY COLOR OTHER THAN WHITE.
SHOCKINGLY, MANY MALE CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA
CONSIDER WOMEN TO BE INFERIOR TO MEN,
AND HAVE MADE ALL SORTS OF PLANS
CONCERNING HOW TO KEEP THEM IN THEIR PLACE,
INCLUDING TAKING AWAY THEIR VOTE,
AND PERHAPS EVEN A PUBLIC EXECUTION OR TWO.
AND MANY CHRISTIANS IN THE UNITED STATES
ARE GUILTY OF RELEGATING BLUE COLLAR PEOPLE
AND PERSONS WHO LACK COLLEGE EDUCATIONS
INTO THE CATEGORY OF “UNCLEAN” AS WELL.
JUST AS JESUS ROUNDLY REJECTED
THE PREJUDICES CONCERING THE “UNCLEAN”
IN HIS DAY, HE REJECTS OUR CONTEMPORARY
PREJUDICES CONCERNING WHO WE LABEL “OTHER.”
END OF INTERRUPTION.)
OUR TEXT PAINTS THE PICTURE
OF A ROWDY GROUP OF NEIGHBORS
AND BUSY-BODIES ARGUING ABOUT
THE GUY'S IDENTITY.
AS SOON AS THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN GIVEN SIGHT
MENTIONS THE FACT THAT IT WAS
"THE MAN CALLED JESUS" (v.11) WHO HEALED HIM,
THEY DRAG HIM TO THE PHARISEES
FOR THEIR OPINION ON THE MATTER.
ONE GETS THE DISTINCT IMPRESSION
THAT THE CROWD THAT HAS GATHERED
IS LOOKING FOR SOME
THEOLOGICAL ENTERTAINMENT,
THAT THEY ENJOY THESE SKIRMISHES
BETWEEN THE UP-START JESUS
AND THE KNOW-IT-ALL PHARISEES,
AND THAT THEY HOPE TO PROVOKE ANOTHER ROW.
GIVEN THE FACT THAT JESUS DID THIS HEALING
ON THE SABBATH,
AND THAT IN DOING SO HE WAS BREAKING
THREE OF THE SABBATH COMMANDMENTS,
THEY WERE GUARANTEED A GOOD SHOW.
WHEN WE READ THE GOSPELS,
JESUS COMES ACROSS AS GOING OUT OF HIS WAY
TO BREAK THE SABBATH COMMANDMENTS,
WHICH HE CONSIDERED TO BE
BASED ON HUMAN TRADITION,
AND NOT ON GOD'S WILL, WHICH WAS THAT
"THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR HUMAN GOOD,
NOT THE GOOD OF THE SABBATH IN ITSELF."
(Matthew 12:1-12; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-9)
THE THREE SABBATH COMMANDMENTS
THAT JESUS BROKE WHEN HE HEALED
THE MAN BORN BLIND WERE:
ONE: VIOLATING THE LAW
OF NOT WORKING ON THE SABBATH,
SINCE MAKING CLAY
WAS CONSIDERED TO BE "WORK."
TWO: VIOLATING THE LAW
OF NOT HEALING ON THE SABBATH,
SINCE HEALING
WAS CONSIDERED TO BE "WORK."
THREE: VIOLATING THE SPECIFIC INJUNCTION:
"AS TO SPITTLE, IT IS NOT LAWFUL ON THE SABBATH
AS TO PUT IT EVEN SO MUCH AS UPON THE EYELIDS."
(See William Barclay, The Gospel of John, pp. 51-52)
WE SEE HERE IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
THE BREATH-TAKING WAY IN WHICH
JESUS SIMPLY ACTS AS IF COMMANDMENTS
WHICH ARE CONTRARY TO HUMAN GOOD
SIMPLY DID NOT EXIST.
SO THE CROWD DRAGS THE HEALED GUY
TO THE PHARISEES,
WHO DULY BEGIN
A LONG PROCESS OF INTERROGATION,
A PROCESS OF INTERROGATION WHICH
INVOLVES EVEN THE GUY'S PARENTS,
WHO DEFTLY REFUSE
TO INCRIMINATE THEMSELVES:
"ASK HIM; HE IS OF AGE.
HE WILL SPEAK FOR HIMSELF." (v.21)
THE PHARISEES NOW GET DEADLY SERIOUS,
USING THE LAWCOURT PHRASE
"GIVE GLORY TO GOD," (v.24)
MEANING "SPEAK THE TRUTH IN GOD'S PRESENCE,"
AND BEING THE EQUIVALENT IN OUR DAY
OF SWEARING TO SPEAK THE TRUTH
BY PLACING OUR RIGHT HAND ON THE BIBLE.
AT THIS POINT THE HEALED MAN
MAKES ONE OF THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT STATEMENTS
THAT WE FIND IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE:
"I DO NOT KNOW
WHETHER HE IS A SINNER.
ONE THING I DO KNOW,
THAT THOUGH I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE."
(v.25)
THIS STATEMENT IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE
IT ESTABLISHES THE PRECEDENT
THAT IT IS ONE'S OWN
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF GOD THAT MATTERS,
AND NOT WHAT SOMEONE ELSE TELLS YOU
THAT YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SAY.
GOD RESPECTS THE INSIGHTS --
AND THE LIMITATIONS --
THAT OUR OWN EXPERIENCE OF GOD GIVES US.
WE ARE NOT REQUIRED BY GOD
TO BE AT A PLACE WHERE WE ARE NOT.
THIS IS LARGELY WHAT WE MEAN
HERE AT COMMUNITY CHURCH
WITH OUR CORE VALUE THAT
"WHEREVER YOU ARE ON YOUR LIFE JOURNEY,
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE."
THE PHARISEES KEEP PUSHING
THE PERSON WHO WAS HEALED,
AND WHEN HE CONTINUES
TO HONOR HIS OWN EXPERIENCE OF JESUS,
THEY FINALLY DRIVE HIM OUT, (v.35)
WITH ITS UNDERTONE OF EXCOMMUNICATION:
HE CAN NO LONGER CONSIDER HIMSELF TO BE
ONE OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL.
IT IS PRECISELY HERE
THAT JESUS DOES ONE OF THOSE
MAGNIFICENT INTERVENTIONS
THAT HE HAS COME TO BE KNOWN FOR.
JESUS HAD LEFT THE SCENE
RIGHT AFTER THE HEALING.
WHEN HE LEARNS THAT THE PHARISEES
HAD DRIVEN OUT THE PERSON
WHOM HE HAS HEALED, WHAT DOES JESUS DO?
--HE GOES AND FINDS THE PERSON!
HE GOES AND FINDS THE PERSON,
GIVING HIM A DEEPER EXPERIENCE
AND UNDERSTANDING OF WHO HE, JESUS,
REALLY IS.
IN THE CASE OF THE MAN BORN BLIND
WHO HAS NOW RECEIVED HIS SIGHT,
HE COMES TO KNOW JESUS AS THE "SON OF MAN,"
(v.35),
A MYSTERIOUS PHRASE FROM THE BOOK OF DANIEL
THAT IS JESUS' FAVORITE SELF-DESCRIPTION
BECAUSE IT ALLOWS HIM
TO FILL IT WITH HIS OWN CONTENT.
THE CONTENT THAT JESUS GIVES THIS PHRASE
IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
IS THAT IN HIM GOD'S PRESENCE FULLY DWELLS;
THAT TO KNOW JESUS IS TO KNOW GOD.
I BELIEVE THAT THIS ACTION
ON THE PART OF JESUS --
TAKING THE INITIATIVE TO FIND THIS PERSON --
IS PARADIGMATIC.
IN OTHER WORDS, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING
THAT IS LIMITED TO THIS PERSON
IN THIS TIME AND PLACE,
BUT IS AN ACTION WHICH JESUS DOES
FOR ALL PEOPLE
IN ALL TIMES AND ALL PLACES.
IT'S CALLED GOD'S GRACE,
AND IS FREE AND AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE.
HAVE WE BEEN DRIVEN OUT OF
OUR TRUE EXPERIENCE AND IDENTITY
BY HOSTILE FAMILY MEMBERS
OR BY A HOSTILE CHURCH?
--IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS CONTEXT OF LOSS
THAT JESUS WILL COME AND MEET US
AND LEAD US INTO A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD.
HAVE WE BEEN DRIVEN OUT OF OUR HEALTH
BY SERIOUS ILLNESS?
--IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS CONTEXT OF LOSS
THAT JESUS WILL COME AND MEET US
AND LEAD US INTO A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD.
DOES THE EXTENT OF EVIL IN THIS WORLD
DRIVE US OUT OF A SETTLED BELIEF IN GOD
AND FORCE US TO QUESTION
WHETHER GOD EVEN EXISTS?
--IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS CONTEXT OF LOSS
THAT JESUS WILL COME AND MEET US
AND LEAD US INTO A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD.
I WOULD LIKE TO BRING THIS SERMON
TO A CLOSE BY LOOKING AT
AN INSIGHT FROM ST. FRANCIS
IN THE “AS WE GATHER. . .” SECTION
OF TODAY’S BULLETIN:
"NO ONE LIVES OUTSIDE THE WALLS
OF THIS SACRED PLACE, EXISTENCE."
THE MAN WHO WAS BLIND FROM BIRTH,
WHILE DESPISED BY MANY
BECAUSE HE OR HIS PARENTS
MUST HAVE BEEN BIG-TIME SINNERS
TO HAVE WARRANTED THIS BIG-TIME HANDICAP,
WAS, IN REALITY,
A PERSON WHO WAS LOVED BY GOD
BECAUSE OF THE MERE FACT OF HIS EXISTENCE.
EVEN THOUGH THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
OF THE DAY CLAIMED THAT HE
"LIVED OUTSIDE THE WALLS,"
JESUS REVEALS, TO THE CONTRARY,
THAT HE IS VERY MUCH INCLUDED
IN GOD'S FAMILY.
JUST AS JESUS WALKED WITH THE MAN BORN BLIND,
JESUS WILL WALK WITH US
THROUGH OUR ILLNESSES,
AND OUR REJECTIONS,
AND EVEN OUR QUESTIONS.
WE ARE NOT ALONE.
THANKS BE TO GOD!
AMEN.