Musical Prelude and Service.

John 9:1-41
As is usually the case, there are phrases that jump out in today’s scripture reading that don’t sit
lightly on me. Statements that leave me troubled; that at first glance I find myself saying, ‘Oh, I don’t
think I agree with that. Even if it is attributed to Jesus.’ This challenge came up in our bible study on
Monday.
Questions and concerns over this came up and I had to agree it gave me more than a few problems:
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in
him.”
It starts great. The man’s blindness is not a consequence of sin. This notion, even though discredited
in scripture such as Ezekial and Job, continues to hold a great deal of power in Jesus’ s time.
Sickness or infirmity is connected to your sin. If you are blind, you must have done something to
anger God. Or your parents did. Jesus is blunt. That’s not why this man is blind. But what follows is
problematic for me.
God made this man blind for a reason.
I will admit simply looking at this statement in this way is very troubling. I don’t think God
intentionally torments people, just as part of some grand master plan. It is true that people suffer
injury and challenge. They must endure pain and heartbreak. Some people suffer far more than
others and life is very rarely what we would call fair. And where do we find God in these moments?
Because again, I think even in those moments that we seem all alone – those times and occasion
when we can feel abandoned or oppressed, God is still with us offering us blessing and hope.
‘That God’s works might be revealed in him.’
There are seven events in the Gospel of John that are described as signs; incredible actions that in
other places would be called miracles, that reveal who Jesus is and his divine nature. Here he gives
sight to a man who was born blind. A man who has never known what it means to see. It is in this
sign that Jesus declares himself the Light of the World. It is through Jesus that we all can see in the
darkness of this world.
Because as is the case in so much of John’s Gospel, there is a great deal more going on than a
simple story of a miracle. The story quickly becomes something bigger than Jesus providing sight to
one man. As profound as that in itself might be.
As the Pharisees continue to interrogate this man about what happened, and who Jesus is, and how
he could do such a thing on the Sabbath, this man becomes more and more clear in his view of who
Jesus is. He moves from stating the facts; he made mud and put it on my eyes and told me to bathe;
to declaring Jesus a prophet to naming Jesus ‘the son of man;.
This man is given physical sight, but also is able to truly see who Jesus is. He has the spiritual ability
to see and recognize Jesus through this sign.
Meanwhile, many of the Pharisees – even with their ability to see physically, cannot get past their
entrenched view of the world and their ideas of how God relates to the world. It is wrong for people
to knead on the sabbath. So for Jesus to knead and fashion mud on this day is sinful, and therefore
could not be used to give this man sight. To heal him. They are so certain of their spiritual purity that
they cannot celebrate the good news breaking out right in front of them. They are so blinded by their
adherence to a set of rules that they have created that they cannot express Joy for this man and his
family. They are creating fear and hatred in their midst and cannot recognize the sign of God’s
healing love and hope I the midst.
They do not see how this blind man can be a lesson in faith and hope. A lesson of strength and
endurance; of wisdom. In their jaundiced view and sense of superiority, they cannot imagine this
man as chosen by God to share the Good News of God’s presence and work in our world.
A great many years ago when I was still a newspaper reporter, I was assigned a story to interview a
sign language interpreter and her two clients; twins in our community. Both born deaf. They were
teenagers at this time. Both remarkable young people. They worked at communicating with people
like me through this interpreter. They may have been able to mitigate their condition through hearing
aids or implants, but made the decision to simply accept that they could not hear. It was who they
were. It was not something to be cured. It was left to the community at some point to accept them,
celebrate them for who they were and learn how to live alongside them with love and justice.
That interview and that story was a significant learning moment for me. It is a moment I return to
frequently and continue to learn from. In a world rife with ablism, it can be easy to forget and to
slide into viewing people with physical or mental challenges, or disabilities as being a problem to be
solved. Not beautiful human beings blessed by God with distinct ways to contribute to our
wonderfully diverse communities.
We can lose sight of how much people can and do contribute to our community; regardless of their
level of ability, if we are only capable of viewing them with pity or scorn.
If we only see people’s wheelchairs or walkers or canes.
If we only see their support animals, then we are missing so much more about who they are and
what they offer. We betray our own blindness, our willful blindness. We in essence deny the
invitation to live in the light that Jesus offers us.
So when I look back on Jesus’s response to his disciples who wonder why this man is blind.
Whose at fault? His answer, ‘he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him’ still
gives me pause. But if I can say to myself that I am who I am so that God’s works may be revealed
in me or through me, how could I ever deny that my neighbour, whether they are blind, deaf,
neurodivergent, or living with another disability that same blessing. That they too may reveal God’s
works in them.
We are all wonderfully made. We are all looked upon with love by our creator. May we be inspired by
the example of this man who when he witnesses Christ’s love and Christ’s healing sees who Jesus
truly is and chooses to follow him and listen to him.
May our eyes be opened, and may we see the light of the world that is Jesus the Christ.
Thanks be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789