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SERMONS

The Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 10, 2002

By David Christian

I was talking recently with an old college teacher of mine. We chatted a while about what has been going on in our lives over the past thirty years. Then we caught up on what has happened with various classmates of mine. Some who stood out in their studies have done well. Others who showed early promise have not fulfilled that promise. And some who were not at all exceptional in school have gone on to live quite impressive lives.

We talked for a while about how difficult it can be to predict who will do well over the long term and who will fade. She told me that there is one characteristic that she has found that seems to distinguish those who will flourish from those who will not. Those students who come into class who recognize how little they know and are ready and willing to learn will continue to learn and to grow for the rest of their lives. Those who come into her class who recognize just how much they already know and have no need of further knowledge will shrivel up and die on the vine. The most important requirement for gaining wisdom, according to her, is recognizing that we are not wise.

Today's gospel tells the story of the healing of a man born blind. Jesus and his disciples come upon the man, and Jesus heals him. The healing, coming as it does on the Sabbath, leads to trouble. It violates the prohibition against doing work on the Sabbath and the Pharisees object. They, of course, are very concerned with following the Law exactly.

It is important, as I have said before, to remember that the Pharisees really were honorable people who tried to obey God. And they knew precisely how to do that; by following the Law. So when someone like Jesus came along who knowingly and casually violated that Law, the only reasonable conclusion was that that person was violating the will of God.

The blind man, on the other hand, only knew one thing: he was blind. He recognized his need; his need to be healed, to be made whole. Because he entered the situation aware of this need he was open and could accept the gift given to him by God through Jesus. His openness allowed him to see more than even the Pharisees. It allowed him to recognize the source of the gift; it allowed him to recognize the action of God in his life. J

esus makes this point in the verses that immediately follow today's gospel. The end of the reading tells us that after the man was rejected by the Pharisees because of what had happened, Jesus went and found him. When Jesus revealed who he was to the man, the man responded in faith and worshipped him.

The story then continues: "Jesus said, 'I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.' Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, 'Surely we are not blind, are we?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind you would not have sin. But now that you say, "We see," your sin remains.' "

The Pharisees knew how God acted. They had objective criteria with which to judge whether or not any particular action came from God. Because of their knowledge they were unable to see the hand of God in the healing of the blind man. And they were unable to recognize their need for God's healing action in their own lives. The blind man, on the other hand, knew only one thing. He knew that he was blind, that he needed to be healed. And the recognition of that need made the space in his life for God to act.

In our attempts to build secure lives for ourselves and for those we love, it is tempting to believe that we have got it all together, to believe that we have the answers. But as we struggle to become secure in ourselves, we may squeeze God out of our lives. We may leave no room for God to act.

As we move toward Holy Week and prepare ourselves for the great drama of our Lord's passion, it is important for us to remember that Jesus did not come to save the self-sufficient. He did not come to save those with perfect vision, those who know all the answers. Jesus came to save the blind, to save the struggling, to save the frightened, to save those who recognize their need of a savior. Jesus came to raise the dead.

Lent is a time for us to recognize our need for healing. It is a time for us to make room in our lives and in our hearts for God. It is a time to remember our own blindness so that with the blind man we can see the Lord.

David Christian
The Chapel of the Cross
Madison, Mississippi

1 Samuel 16.1-13
Ephesians 5.(1-7)8-14
John 9.1-38