Blind but now I see

 Sermon Notes, Lent 4, 2020 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Have to say: the light of the world has dimmed recently. The coronavirus is a dangerous and hideous destroyer that has worked its way into every corner of the globe. This story of healing and the gift of sight is all about receptors and transmitters, the nerval mechanism by which light is received at the lens of the eye and sent to the brain. To a person suffering from cataracts, light has gone out of the world. The receptors are impaired and vision is partially or totally blocked. The brightness striking the eye hasn’t changed, just the way it’s transferred. The difference isn’t in the light, but in the eye. And therein lies our lesson. Jesus comes across a blind man, blind from birth. Traditional Hebraic teaching says that someone must have seriously sinned for such a curse to be upon one. He, or his parents? Jesus says neither. His blindness is so God’s glory may be revealed in him. There are those who today ask is this pandemic of the coronavirus God’s judgement on our sinfulness? Are we getting what we deserve? Jesus’ answer still applies. In the midst of a plague, the works of God are still on display, for those able to see them. If it seems that the light of the world has dimmed, we need to ask ourselves is it the light that’s dimmed, or our vision. If it’s our vision, then there’s healing to be had. Jesus heals the bland man. It’s not a restoration of sight, it’s sight for the first time in his life. That’s important for 2 reasons: it sets this off as a genuine miracle, or sign in John’s language, of Jesus’ authority and power. The blind man rightfully challenges the deniers to name another occasion when someone blind from birth received his sight. But it’s also important because the light was always there, in the world, waiting to be discovered. It hasn’t dimmed and is now brightened. But always there. We’re reminded of the prologue to John’s Gospel, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” Here’s where I’m going with this: There are times, and we are in one now, that are open to different understandings. It may appear to us that the light of Christ is dimmed because so much that we read about and hear blasted at us incessantly is about despair and gloom. That can even feel like God’s judgement if we are so inclined. It’s true that God uses crises to call his people back from their erring ways and into the loving covenant he intends for them to enjoy. The Old Testament is full of just such crises, and the attendant prophets who call for repentance in the face of calamity. For those caught up in the crisis, it feels like God has abandoned them, or is punishing them. But the totality of scripture teaches something quite different. Seen through the prophets, such difficulties call God’s people back to him. God calls his people back in love, such deep love that he sent his Son Jesus to die in the world so that the world could be rescued and restored. The response of the people is not despair, but rejoicing when they enter again into a righteous relationship with God. The blind man in John’s Gospel knows that he was given his sight because Jesus loved him so much in his blindness that he healed him. He then proclaims what he knows to be true: he was blind but now he sees. His righteousness is in sharp contrast to the Pharisees who still see only in terms of sin and judgement. Their world remains dark. God did not cause the corona virus to afflict the world. It is still day. Jesus is still in the world through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the witness of the Church. But the pandemic is a reminder of how closely night follows day. The night is coming and Jesus tells us when it arrives the time for work is finished. We will have to account for what we did while it was yet day. But for now, He remains the light of the world. May our eyes be fully opened to see him and follow him even through dark times.