Fourth Sunday in Lent

Year A

John 9:1-41

The Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Truth That Opens Blind Eyes

Have you ever had the chance to participate in something called a ‘Trust Walk’? This is where you are blindfolded so you can’t see a thing and then someone else leads you around? It can be kind of scary at first to put your trust in someone else to guide you. You have to trust that this person will not let you run into a wall or a chair or something else. It does give you a taste of what it might be like to suffer from sight impairment. I can’t really know what it is like to be blind but I can imagine it has to be so very limiting. For someone who is severely blind, they are dependent on others and adaptive aids to perform everyday activities such as walking and reading. We have come a long way in being able to help those with sight impairment yet still much work needs to be done. Blindness is not something anyone desires.

Yet, if we are truthful with ourselves, we would have to admit that we all are blind in certain ways. Some of us are blinded by outward appearances so that we do not see inner beauty. Some of us are blind to our faults and failures. Others of us cannot see through an untrue story or ruse. A related form of blindness is the inability to recognize the truth when we see it. But, blessings do emerge when we recognize that we all suffer from various kinds of blindness because once we are able to identify our blindness, we can take the necessary steps to correct it, to heal it. Therefore, the healing of blindness has been preached in Lent for almost as long as the church has lived.

As the days lengthen towards more and more sunlight, the scriptures urge us to let more and more light into our lives. The light of Jesus Christ can give us a new perspective, a new and different way to look at things. We begin to look not at mere images and outward appearances, like race or gender but at realities, at the heart of things; this different way of seeing we encounter in each of the lessons today. In the Old Testament lesson the Lord urged a different way of seeing upon Samuel the day he went to Bethlehem to offer sacrifice and find a new leader for the nation. Never mind about outward appearances, God does not see in this human way; it is human to look at appearances, God looks at the heart.

In Ephesians, we encounter light and darkness as metaphors for good and evil. In the bible darkness often is used to stand for ignorance, evil, and separation from God. We, too, use darkness symbolically. When someone is unaware of something, we might say, “He or she is in the dark. In the Ephesians lesson, darkness symbolizes immorality and disobedience to God. In verse 8, the Ephesian’s are reminded that they were once darkness but now are light. The old self is gone and the new self, as children of light in Christ, means doing what is “good and right and true” and what is pleasing to God. We, like the Ephesian’s, are called to follow the one known as the light of the world. When we follow the true light, then we are no longer blind but can see clearly who we are and the spiritual path we are called to travel.

We are fortunate if we are honest and open enough to become aware of the ways that we are blind. For only those who know they are blind have the possibility of opening their eyes and seeing. In the Gospel story today, the light of the world comes to heal the man born blind by opening his eyes and in his story we encounter several different kinds of blindness and different forms of sight. The story begins with Jesus’ disciples demonstrating their blindness when they asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus used their misunderstanding to open their eyes and to teach them about the nature of blindness or darkness, in contrast to sight or light, by proclaiming, “I am the light of the world” and healing the man blind from birth.

There is the blindness of the Pharisees. After hearing of the healing of the blind man, they begin an investigation. They expressed doubt about Jesus, saying, “This man is not from God for he does not observe the Sabbath” In John’s gospel, there are none as blind as those who refuse to see. The ultimate form of blindness is the refusal to see that Jesus is the Christ. That Jesus is the light that has come into the world. They had already judged him to be a sinner because he challenged Sabbath laws and they refused to believe even the possibility that Jesus could be the Christ, the Messiah. Their minds were made up about him based on insufficient or flawed information. There are many today who refuse to see the truth about who Jesus is and what he came to do. He came to reveal his loving concern and divine identity through his miracles, the ‘signs’ that must lead to a revelation of who he is, God in human form.

In the blind man’s story, almost everybody fails him. The community fails. The religious authorities fail. The family fails. The only trustworthy figures in this story are the man born blind and Jesus. The man tells the truth, and even in the face of threats, the abandonment of his community and family, along with expulsion, he sticks to his guns. I was blind, but now I see. Again and again the man witnesses to the saving grace he has experienced in Jesus Christ. Jesus opened his eyes and is the only one the man can trust and he is the only one we can trust. It is Jesus who heals physically, emotionally and spiritually and it is Jesus who can transform lives.

We all know the story of John Newton, the author of the familiar hymn “Amazing Grace,” he was a slave-ship captain who was blind to the inhumanity of what he was doing. One day, his eyes were opened and he became aware of the horrors of slavery. He eventually resigned his ship captaincy and dedicated himself to living a religious life. The words of “Amazing Grace” describe Newton’s spiritual journey. When he wrote, “I was blind, but now I see,” he was describing the recovery of his spiritual sight where he was not only able to see his own wretchedness but also God’s amazing grace.

Truth is revealed when we take this time in Lent to recognize our blindness and open our eyes wide to trust that the light has come into the world in Jesus and that he can transform our lives from blindness to sight. Jesus asks, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Will our answer be like the man born blind? “Lord, I believe.” This is all Jesus asks of us, that we believe and we take seriously his call to take the gospel out into the world and invite others who are blind to see the truth. All I know, he tells the authorities, “is that I was blind, and now I see!”

In a few minutes, I will invite you to come forward to receive the laying on of hands and anointing of oil praying that our Lord will heal our blindness and open our eyes to see the light of the world that is in our midst, because all we need to do is open our eyes and we will be saved.