March 24, 2003
April 13
___John 9:1-7; 9:3910:19
Spiritual blindness is a real handicap
___By Craig Vire
___Helen Keller was 19 months old when a severe attack of brain fever deprived her of sight and hearing. Unable to communicate with others, she was cut off from humanity in the most profound isolation imaginable.
___Anne Sullivan of the Perkins Institute for the Blind broke through the darkness and silence of Helen's world using the sense of touch to teach the child a system of finger spelling. Words pressed into her palm opened a world of relationships and possibilities she never had known.
___Helen overcame the disability of blindness and aggressively pursued her dreams. She learned to speak, graduated with honors from Radcliff College, made several lecture tours and became an author. She championed the needs of the physically handicapped and shared a message of hope with veterans who found themselves disabled following World War II.
___In the process, she learned physical blindness is not the greatest disability humans face. "The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision," she once observed.
___Spiritual sight is a choice
___We live in a world of paradox. Sometimes people blessed with physical sight lose the objectivity necessary to perceive the realities confronting them. At other times, the blind participate in life with a clarity of insight far beyond their sighted counterparts.
___In our lesson, the Pharisees face a dilemma created by Jesus' healing of a man blind from birth. Numerous witnesses confirm the identity of the man and attest to his former condition. Sensible minds acknowledge something wonderful has happened.
___However, the Pharisees are unwilling to attribute the recovery of the man's sight to the work of Jesus. Doing so leads down a slippery slope ending in an acknowledgment that Jesus is sent from God. Since this is a confession they are not ready to make, the Pharisees close their eyes to the truth. They choose blindness over sight.
___A man blind all his life awakens not only to the reality of a physical world he never has seen but to spiritual insights which make possible eternal life. Once confronted with the reality of Jesus' power and identity, the man determines he will not be bullied into living in the shadows of denial.
___Can we see the glory?
___"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" the disciples inquire of Jesus. They give voice to a still prevalent assumption that people suffering from disability are encountering the punishment of God. Either God is visiting the sins of the fathers upon the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5) or the man sinned while still in his mother's womb.
___Jesus clears the man and his parents of culpability. He declares his intention to use the blind man's situation as an instrument through which God's glory will be communicated. The healing of this man will serve as a parable to the religious leaders of his day. The apostasy and denial of the Pharisees will stand out in stark relief when contrasted with the clarity of the man's restored sight and newfound faith in Christ.
___Our weaknesses are an opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed to others. We are frequently challenged to be good stewards of the blessings we receive from God. More foreign to us is the concept that we also are called to be good stewards of the difficulties of life that come our way. Both our blessings and difficulties provide an avenue for the glory of God to break into our world.
___A visit to the home of a terminally ill church member left the pastor wondering how to ease the man's suffering as he knocked on the door. In the conversation that followed, the man shared how well-intentioned friends consoled him with the thought he would soon be at home with Jesus.
___He spoke with the pastor in thoughtful tones wistfully reflecting upon the limited amount of time to be shared with family and friends. The days in eternity with Jesus would be infinite, but only a few finite days of his earthly life remained. His guests failed to comprehend that the shortness of his days in this life only made each one more precious and not less so.
___A dying man confronted this pastor with the precious value of life and how it should be cherished. A suffering man saw more clearly than many healthy people that each day is a blessing to be treasured and savored. The glory of God was on display in the moments shared that afternoon.
___Can we see the need?
___The thorough investigation the Pharisees conduct demonstrates they have no concern for the needs of others. They are oblivious to the suffering of those around them. The pursuit of their own agenda is their only focus. They are quite prepared to sacrifice the truth in the process.
___During repeated questionings the healed man tells how Jesus made mud, placed it on his eyes and instructed him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He passes the test of faith and is obedient to Christ's instruction. While he cannot explain how the treatment is effective, he is confident the restoration of his sight is directly associated with the compassion and the command of Jesus.
___The Pharisees dismiss the credibility of his testimony on the grounds he is depraved and tainted with sin from birth. Such a man cannot be believed, and he is summarily expelled from their presence. Their seeing eyes no longer possess the sensitivity necessary for discerning the needs of suffering people. They cannot find joy in the restored sight of a man once blind.
___The Pharisees also reject the testimony of Jesus' own works. They cite as evidence that he is a law breaker. His crimes are making mud and performing an act of healing. Both break the Sabbath. Such a person cannot be sent from God in their judgment. Besides, they don't know anything about his background or his credentials.
___Others in the gathering crowd offer a different perspective. They reason God would not empower a sinner to do such miraculous signs. That would be illogical. The man who received his sight declares, "If this man were not of God, he would be powerless." Jesus' works testify more eloquently than words about the place of his origin and the source of his power.
___Can we see the Shepherd?
___Jesus contrasts the role God sends him to fill with the role the Pharisees choose for themselves. The metaphors he uses communicate clearly.
___Jesus is like the good shepherd who enters at the door of the sheepfold. He is direct and straight forward in making his presence known to helpless and suffering individuals. They are his sheep, and they know one another intimately. They find in him a compassionate caregiver who leads them to know abundant life. When danger comes he places himself between the sheep and harm's way. He willingly lays down his life on their behalf.
___Heavy-handed manipulation and fancy falsehood are the tools of the Pharisees. They are thieves and robbers seeking to break in, steal and destroy. When danger comes, they are like hired hands. They abandon those under their care to the wolves in order to save their own skins.
___The differing perspectives from which Jesus and the Pharisees draw their motivation account for the contrast in their chosen tasks. The Pharisees exploit the suffering of others for their own ends. Jesus is motivated by a sincere compassion for the needs of those who follow him.
___Although Helen Keller faced numerous obstacles due to her blindness and deafness, she chose not to focus on the limitations of life. Instead she endeavored to view the abundant possibilities made available to her by her creator. She felt the presence of a Good Shepherd guiding her though the dark places of life.
___Keller said it this way: "For three things I thank God every day of my life: thanks that he has vouchsafed me knowledge of his work; deep thanks that he has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to--a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song."
___Dying to see
___Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who wrote "An Anthropologist on Mars," tells the story of a man named Virgil who was blind from early childhood. At age 50, doctors preformed a surgical procedure to restore his sight.
___Initially, he could see colors and movement, but his brain was not capable of arranging this information in a comprehensible manner. With time and practice he learned to identify objects around him but his habits and behaviors still were those of a blind man.
___Sacks indicates the transition from being blind to becoming a sighted person was a trying and excruciating experience. He stated, "One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo ... that is so terrible."
___Learning to see life from God's perspective requires we die to our old ways of thinking and interpreting the world around us. We must learn to view circumstances and people through the compassionate eyes of Jesus.
___Perhaps John the Baptist describes that process best when he says, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Only then will we learn to see our place in the world and our relationship to others from a new perspective.
___Questions for discussion
___ What thought processes and attitudes contribute to our blindness to the ways of God?
___ Why is it more comfortable at times to remain blind to the world around us? What frightens us about seeing life from God's perspective?
___ How is seeing the world as God sees it an asset to our lives? What would have to change in your life for you to more clearly view life as God does?
___ Can you identify some specific places in life where you are confronted with a choice of being blind versus seeing as God sees?
___ How does knowing and following Christ change your perspective on the world in which you live? How does that change in perspective alter the way you live?
___ In what ways are we as believers blind to the needs of suffering people around us? How do we dismiss their concerns?
___ Can you identify individuals in your community who are in need of the compassion of Christ?
___ How is seeing a need also hearing a call?
___ In what ways should the local church share in Christ's vocation as shepherd?
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