March 30, 2014 Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 9:1-41

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
   3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
   6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
   8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
   Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
   But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
   10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
   11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
   12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
   “I don’t know,” he said.
    13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
   16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
   But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
   17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
   The man replied, “He is a prophet.”
   18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
   20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
   24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
   25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
   26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
   27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
   28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
   30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
   34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
   35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
   36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
   37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
   38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
   39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
   40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
   41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

“Was Blind But Now I See”

The man born blind was healed.  It was a miracle.  No one could take that away from him.  His eyes were opened not only to the beauty of the world around him but also to the beauty of the world within him.  He saw not only a sunset;  he also saw the Son of Man, and he worshipped him.  He saw life anew through the eyes of faith and he was indeed born anew in the Kingdom of Heaven.

To stand with him is to dare believe in miracles and to dare confess that we are often blind and cannot see...that we need “light in the darkness of our hearts” .

Is this not our challenge not once but over and over again in our lives.
To see beyond the moment to that which is eternal and to see in the moment that which is truly joyful and joy giving?

And is it not a miracle when our eyes are opened and we see more clearly - even through it is always as “in a mirror dimly” - the power of love to transform our lives and to give us joy and hope.

The movie “The Bucket List” portrays this truth for us in what was for me a powerful way.

It is the story of two men - Carter, played by Morgan Freeman
and   Edward, played by Jack Nicholson,  who meet in a hospital room where both of them find themselves with terminal cancer.
Carter - Morgan Freeman - and intellectual who was forced by family obligations to become an auto mechanic is making out a list of what he wants to do before he kicks the bucket.
It contains such noble things as “witness something truly majestic, help a complete stranger for good, laugh until he cries, and even drive a Shelby Mustang.”

Edward- Jack Nicholson -  sees the list and wants to join the fun.  He adds skydiving, seeing the Taj Mahal, getting a tattoo, sitting on top of the Egyptian pyramids, and kissing the prettiest girl in the world.

So they start out together with Edward’s money, and it is wild ride.  Especially for Carter who hasn’t done anything this wild in his life.  And as they go about all the exciting things Carter shares with Edward some of his inner self.  Like, on seeing the brilliant stars in the black night he says, “This is one of God’s most amazing wonders.”  Edward sneers at it and they enter in a discussion which ends up with Carter asking, “What do you believe?  To which Edward replies, “We live, we die and wheels on the bus go round and round...unless you think you know something I don’t know?”  And Carter responds. “No, I just have faith.”

They also talk about their families and it becomes apparent that Edward is divorced numerous times and estranged from his only daughter.  Somehow in the subtleties of the time spent together - and there only hints of this in the movie, like when Carter asks Edward as they sit on the top of the Egyptian pyramid, two questions:  “Have you found joy?” and “Has your life brought joy to others?”

Somehow Edward begins to see his blindness - his failure in spite of his great financial success and he ends up going to his daughter to seek reconciliation and it is there that for me, the miracle of the story happens. He discovers he has a granddaughter and she, perhaps 2 years old, gives him a hug and he kisses her cheek.

The next scene shows him scratching off the bucket list the item - “to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world.”

And the miracle happens again.  The blind see!  Life is given joy!  Salvation has come to his house!

At Carters funeral Edward says - “He saved my life and he knew it before I did.”

Is this not how it is with us?
Is this not the miracle which happens in our lives - not once, not twice, but many times as we are led out of our blindness into the light of God’s love which transforms our living, brings joy to our hearts, and causes us to live so others can know joy too?

A question we might all well ask ourselves is, how do my beliefs keep me from seeing Jesus present in toady's world?  How does what I believe keep me from seeing and believing in “ Thy Kingdom come, Thy will  be done, on earth as it is in heaven”?