Sunday: 4th Sunday in Lent A
Reading: John 9:1-41
Preacher: Peter C. Lane

"Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him." Pray with me: Gracious God, let these words once spoken, now speak again. AMEN.

This man was born blind so that God's work might be revealed in him. Sin had nothing to do with it. But, you know what? The miracle had nothing to do with it either. This man was not born blind so that Jesus could do a miraculous and weird mud and spit, dip in a pool ophthalmological extravaganza. It's not about sin. It's not about miracles. What is our gospel about? Telling stories. And what results when you tell you story. God's work is revealed in telling the story. Three times in our forty one verses the man born blind tells his story. In verse 11, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, `Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." In verse 15, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." And in verse 25, "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." God's work is revealed in telling the story. If we are meant to take something from this Gospel passage, I think it's this: figure out what God is doing in your life and tell people about it. Where were you blind, but now you see?

It sounds simple; but it's the bible, so of course, there's a catch. Telling the story of what God has done in your life causes conflict. Tell you story boldly and it will divide. Our passage begins with a healing story not that different from ones found in the synoptic gospels. But, it livens up into a multi-person drama typical of the Gospel of John. Those multiple people don't agree on much. During most of this intriguing story Jesus is off-stage, but the story being told of his actions wreaks havoc. Giving sight to the blind man riles the system; it makes his blindness public. The result was conflict, conflict at every turn. Let's look at it. First the neighbors of the man born blind can't agree with each other. Is it him? Is it not? I love the ending to this first part. When the neighbors are finally convinced that this man really was the man born blind, they of course want to know where Jesus is. The man's dry response, "I don't know." Conflict number two is when the Pharisees get involved. They can't agree with each other either. Some claim Jesus is a sinner; others claim that a healing proves he's not a sinner. Which is it? They haul the poor parents into the action. These folks, they want nothing more than for this little episode to go away. They understand better than anyone that telling the story of Jesus divides and they want no part in it. "Ask him, he's of age." The parents were of no help, so the Pharisees go back to the man. They ask an incredibly leading question, "Why don't you tell us that Jesus is a sinner." The man, once again, says "I don't know. I'll tell you what I do know. I was blind, now I see. That's what I know." And then really endearing himself to people like me throughout the ages, he gets a bit sarcastic. Gee whiz Pharisees, how many more times do you me to tell the story. Do you want to become his disciples? That pisses them off and even though they have summoned him twice, they blame him for trying to teach them and drive him off. We haven't had a conflict free sentence yet. The final conflict is when Jesus engages with the Pharisees. What does he end up telling them? Basically, he says, "You're blind." "We're blind." You can imagine them looking at each other. "What, we're blind?" When Jesus' work is revealed in story telling, it caused conflict.

Telling our story reveals who we are; telling our story makes our lives public. The blind man, invisible to all, is thrust on stage. Engaging with Jesus, our blindness evaporates. That's scary. We spend a lot of time masking, hiding. Jesus reveals us as blind, prejudice, not environmentally friendly, narcissistic, stingy, war mongers, lustful. Telling those stories causes conflict. Think about the conflict in our country over war, in our church over homosexuality, in our city over education. If my understanding of who God is encourages me to make a bold claim about any of those right here, it will cause conflict. The Iraq war is wrong. Gay marriage is God-given. Teachers unions hold back the schools. See. In healing the blind man, Jesus calls attention to blindness. When our eyes are opened and we tell people, issues appear.

Our passage today really has two levels: Jesus' historical action and the situation of the community in which it was written. The Gospel of John was almost certainly written at a time about fifty years after Jesus' death when there was great conflict between those Jews who recognized Jesus as the Christ and those who did not. The reason the parents of the man born blind were so worried about answering questions is that they didn't want to get kicked out of the synagogue. If they called Jesus the Christ, especially using the Greek word, it would have been obvious in the synagogue. The parents were asked to reveal themselves, to make their convictions public. They refused. Not the son. He was brutally honest. He did not go into some theological treatise about who Jesus is. He just said what Jesus had done for him. I once was blind but now I see. God's work is revealed when we can see our blindness, overcome it and tell the world. But like the man born blind that will not sit well with everybody. At SPR, we think we are pretty radical for saying, "All are welcome at God's table, no matter your faith tradition." What you need to know is what is radical is you coming up here to receive. In doing so, your eyes are opened. You will have to stand up like the man born blind and tell your story. Not everyone is going to like it. The radical hospitality of Jesus is such that to accept the across-the-board welcome, to own one's new sight can induce conflict.

This passage doesn't make much of sin. It doesn't make much of miracles. It does makes much of revealing God's work by standing up and saying what Jesus has done for us. Who are you? Who made you see? I don't know if I'm a sinner. I don't know what to make of this Jesus fellow. The Nicene Creed confuses me. I do know this. Jesus opens my eyes. I see my selfishness, I see poverty, I see pride, and I see deep inequality. At the Easter Vigil, joining the newly baptized, we will all renew our baptismal bows. We will be asked, "Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?" For we Episcopalians, that one makes us a little queasy, we like to stick with "respect the dignity of every human being." But we don't need to have any fancy theology. We just need to follow the bold example of the man born blind with the dry humor and sarcastic retorts. We just say how Jesus opened our eyes. I don't know if I'm a sinner. "One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."