Tuesday, April 01, 2014

John 9:1-41



          As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
Another no name, like the Woman at the Well
Named after his condition instead of his person

          “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, "Whose sin was it that caused this man to be born blind? Did he sin, or did his parents?”
Did you hear that
They see sin as a discrete act
A controllable something
Twisted up with suffering
If/Then
If I don’t sin
Then God won’t strike me blind
Then God won’t strike my son blind
If I don’t sin

“He didn’t sin, “Jesus replied, "nor did his parents; it happened so that God's works might be revealed in him.
This thing, hurtful and so defining
Defining him as “The Bind Man”
Can be re-defined by God
Revealing God
That which cripples us
That crippling act won’t have the last laugh
God laughs with us
Joy bubbles up when God upends our pain
We are the broken jar
Glued back together with gold
Our scars reveal majesty
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, and no one can work then. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Day and night again
Day and light stand for belief
Jesus brings belief to us
Jesus says I AM
Again
With a period
For he creates
He creates faith

          With these words, he spat on the ground and made mud from his spittle and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Off you go, wash in the pool called Sent.”
Now that Jesus exits the scene—his longest absence in any gospel
I ask you to close your eyes until his return
To feel the difference between darkness and light
And see what it is like to open your eyes when he appears with you
(Close eyes)

          Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
          His neighbors and those who used to see him before, begging, began observing:
          "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"
          Some were saying, "Yes, it’s him."
          Others were saying, "No, it’s someone like him."
          But the man himself spoke
          “Yes, it is me, I’m the man,” he said.

How frustrating
When someone jumps the box you’ve put them in
You try to shove them back in their place
How frustrating when God acts
--
How liberating when God acts
Proving the identity given to you
The name welded to your flesh on account of your flesh
Isn’t the only name
For you are a beloved Child of God!

          “Well then,” they asked him, “How’d your eyes get opened?”
          He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to the Pool Called Sent and wash.' So I went, and I washed, and I could see!"
          "Where is he?" they asked.
          He replied, "I do not know."
Listen carefully
To how his testimony expands
How this man names his experience more fully
Each time he’s asked

I don’t know
He’s a prophet
I was blind, but now I see.
If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.
Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          They took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees.
          Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had come to see.
          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 keep the sabbath."
This question again and again
What is the purpose of the Sabbath?
Liberation or Rest
Can the captive truly rest?
No says Jesus
Only the Free can Rest
Only the Liberated can Relax

          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? He opened your eyes after all."
He responded, "He is a prophet."
His testimony expands
I don’t know
He’s a prophet
I was blind, but now I see.
If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.
Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          The Judeans did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight. So 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?"
          “Well,” his parents answered, "we know that this is definitely our son, and that he was born blind. That said, we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He’s a grown man after all, he can speak for himself."
          His parents said this because they were afraid of the Judeans; for the Religious Authorities had already decided that anyone who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah would be kicked out of the synagogue.
          Therefore his parents said, "he’s a grown man; ask him."
          So for the second time they called the man who had been blind.
          “Give glory to God!” they said to him, "We know that this man is a sinner."
          He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner or not. There is one thing I do know, I was blind, now I see."
His testimony expands
I don’t know
He’s a prophet
I was blind, but now I see.
If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.
Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
“I’ve already told you,” he replied, “You wouldn’t listen… Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too… do you?"
The questions are so sharp in John
Last week, “He can’t be the messiah… can he?”
Brought a whole village to Jesus’ feet
Today “You don’t want to become his disciples too… do you?”
Cuts to the core of things
You are expending so much energy and words
It must be for good use, right?
Expending so much energy for negative reasons
Would reveal you to be the greatest of fools!
          “You’re his disciple,” they scoffed, "Not us, we’re disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from."
          “Isn’t that a surprise?” The man answered, "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 wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything."
His testimony expands
I don’t know
He’s a prophet
I was blind, but now I see.
If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.
Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          “You were born in sin from head to toe,” they replied, “but you are trying to teach us?"
And they drove him out.
Drove him out
Drove out because he saw
Because he sees
Driven out because he’s someone else
A blind beggar is okay
A man who can see
Never
(Open Eyes)
          Jesus heard that they had driven the man out. So he found him and he said to him, "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."
          The man replied, "Yes sir, I do believe." And he worshiped him.
His testimony expands
I don’t know
He’s a prophet
I was blind, but now I see.
If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.
Do you believe in the son of man? Yes sir, I do believe!

          Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who are blind may see, and those who do see may be blind."
          Some nearby Pharisees heard this and said to Jesus, "What? We’re blind too?"
          Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We can see,' your sin remains.
Did you hear that
Jesus sees Sin
As ignoring the works of God
Refusing to come to terms with the uncontrollable grace of God
A Because/Therefore God
Because I love you
Therefore you are lovable
Because God see his suffering
Therefore the Blind Man gets to see the Jesus
Because God acts for those in need
Therefore their needs are met
Sin is
Refusing to come to terms with a God found in the midst of suffering
A God drove out from the city walls
Out here with us
Jesus is driven out here with us. Amen.