“A BLIND MAN AND A FAITH THAT DOES NOT SEE”

JOHN 9:1-25

9:1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

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.”

6 Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud

7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”

12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight

19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.

21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)

23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

The other day I decided that I am firmly entrenched in my middle aged years.  I say that because when I was growing up I don’t remember life being as complicated as it is today.  For example,  I remember when you did your back to school shopping it was a lot simpler when it came to buying new sneakers.  The only thing you had to decide was whether you wanted the black or the white PF Flyers.  Now there are dozens if not hundreds of different brands and styles of sneakers.  I also was reminded that life is a lot more complicated these days when I was in the supermarket this past week.  Once upon a time when it came to cookies all you had was your basic Oreo cookie.  Now it isn’t that simple.  Not only do you have your basic Oreo cookie, you also have Double Stuffed Oreos, Chocolate Oreos, Peanut Butter Oreos, Mint Oreos, ½ & ½ Oreos, Golden Oreos, and something called Original Golden Oreos.  The list doesn’t end their either.  You also have  Chocolate Covered Oreos, White Fudge Covered Oreos, Spring Purple Crème Oreos, Halloween Orange Oreos and for those who are watching their figures you have Reduced Fat Oreos.  I assume those Oreo cookies aren’t double stuffed.  I was amazed at all those different kinds of Oreo cookies.  So, when I got home I went to the Nabisco Company’s website and discovered that there are actually 42 different kinds of Oreo cookies.  It’s enough to send you into a mental melt down.

Life sure is complicated these days and sometimes we’re the ones who make it complicated.  There are lots of different ways you can do that.  You do it by worrying about things that aren’t really important.  You do it by trying to do to much and have to much.  Another way you can complicate your life is by asking lots and lots of questions and trying to figure everything out.  You ask questions that can’t be answered and questions that really aren’t all that important.  For example, why do bad things happen to good people and what will people think of me if I do this or that?

Before you know it you’re going round and round in circles while life passes you by.  Your analysis leads to paralysis and you find it impossible to embrace life the way the psalmist did when he said,  “This is the day that the LORD has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”  (118:24)   Well, you can’t rejoice and be glad when you’re wrapped up in questions that aren’t important and questions that can’t be answered.  You can’t celebrate life and the blessings that God has given you when you’re trying to figure everything out.

Spend too much time doing that and you’re going to end up just like the three ministers who got into an argument one day.  Each of the ministers had a strong opinion when it came to the best way to pray.  While they debated that question a repair man who was installing a telephone in the office listened to their arguments.  The first minister was convinced that the best way to pray was with your hands out in front of you and your hands raised to the heavens. “No. No. No,” the second minister said.  “The best way to pray is humbly on your knees.”   “You’re both wrong,” the third minister said.  “You should bow your head and close your eyes so you can focus completely on God.”  Just then the ministers heard the repairman chuckling to himself.  So one of the ministers asked him why he was laughing.  “Well,” the repair man said, “I’m not a big theologian or anything like that but the best I ever said happened when I was at the top of a 40 foot telephone pole and hanging by my feet upside down.”

Sometimes we make life a lot more complicated than it needs to be.  Most of the people who were there when Jesus healed that blind man did the same thing.  They asked a lot of questions that couldn’t be answered and questions that really weren’t all that important.

The disciples asked, “Why was this man born blind?”

The people asked, “Is this really the blind man who used to sit here and beg from us?

The Pharisees asked, “What gives Jesus the right to heal this blind man on the Sabbath?”

Now I’ll confess that there are a couple of questions that I probably would have asked if I’d been there.  For one thing why Jesus healed the blind man the way he did. Why did Jesus spit and make the mud pie that he put on the man’s eyes? Why didn’t Jesus just say a prayer and heal the man that way?

Who?  What? When? Where? Why?

The people who were there that day asked all those questions and in doing that they lost sight of the miracle that Jesus performed.  They asked all those questions and in doing that they didn’t see the wonderful thing that God was doing right before their eyes.

None of those questions mattered to the blind man.  That’s why he reacted the way he did when the Pharisees interrogated him.  The Pharisees said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”   In response the blind man said to them, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know…I (once) was blind, now I see.” 

What happened that day was really simple.  Jesus healed a blind man.  Things got complicated because everyone was too busy asking their questions and trying to make what happened fit into their idea of how the world should work.  The blind man was the only one who really wanted to give glory to God.

Do you ever make life more complicated than it needs to be?  A father made that mistake one day when his six year old son came to him with a question that every parent knows they’re going to have to answer sooner or later.  “Dad,” the six year old said, “where did I come from?”  The father’s mind immediately began to race as he pondered how to answer the question.  The father thought to himself, “I don’t want to tell him too much too soon. Then again I don’t want to avoid the question and have him think that I’m not being honest with him.”  Finally, the father took a deep breath and began his lecture on the birds and the bees.  He chose his words carefully and did his best to anticipate any follow up questions his son might have.  The lecture went on for about ten minutes.  When the father finished the son gave him a puzzled look.  “Dad,” he said, “That really interesting but you didn’t tell me where I came from.  My friend Tommy says his family came from Cleveland and I was wondering where we came from.”

Sometimes we make life a lot more complicated than it really needs to be.  When you do that you don’t see God’s blessings.  You don’t see God’s hand at work in the world around you or your own life.  You don’t see God’s little miracles that are all around you.

There’s a wonderful story that may be an urban legend, but I’m not going to ask a lot of questions and try and figure it out.  I’m just going to have faith that the gist of the story is true.  It’s about a boy who lived in a small town in the Pacific Northwest.  His name was Paul and before he was old enough to go to school his family got its first telephone.  Shortly after they got the telephone Paul discovered that somewhere inside that telephone lived an amazing person.  Her name was “Information Please” and she knew just about everything.  She knew everyone’s telephone number and she could even give you the correct time.  One day while Paul was home alone he hit his thumb with a hammer.  As he stood there with his thumb throbbing he wondered what he should do.  Suddenly he got an idea.  He went to the phone and said, “Information Please.”  After a couple of clicks Paul heard the woman’s voice.  “I hurt my finger,” Paul wailed.”  The reassuring voice from the phone asked, “Are you bleeding?”  “No,” Paul said.  “Can you open your ice-box?”  “Yes,” Paul said.  “Then go get some ice and hold it to your finger.”  Paul did and it helped a lot.   In the years that followed Paul called “Information Please” for lots of different kinds of help.  She helped him with his geography.  She taught him how to spell the word “fix.”  She told him what to feed his pet chipmunk.  Then when Paul’s canary died, she listened to his tears and then gently said, “Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.”  Those words reassured Paul and made him feel better.”

When Paul was nine years old, his family moved to Boston.  He never forgot the woman who lived inside the telephone though.  Years later when Paul went to college his plane landed in Seattle.  He dialed his home town operator and said, “Information Please.”  Miraculously, he heard the same voice that he knew so well from his childhood.  Without thinking about it Paul blurted out, “How do you spell the word ‘fix?’”  There was a soft laugh.  “I guess your finger must be all healed by now?” the operator said.  Paul then asked the operator, “Do you know how much your calls meant to me when I was a little boy?”  There was a pause and then the operator said, “I wonder if you know how much your calls meant to me?  I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls so much.”

Paul then asked the operator if he could call her when he was in Seattle again.  “Please do,” the operator said. “Just ask for Sally.”  Three months later, Paul was back in Seattle.  This time a different voice answered when he said, “Information Please.”  He asked for Sally.  The operator asked if he was a friend.  “Yes,” Paul said, “a very old friend.”  “Well,” the operator said, “I’m sorry to tell you this but Sally passed away five weeks ago.”  Before he could hang up though the operator asked if his name was Paul by any change.  When he said “yes” the operator replied, “Sally left a message for you.  She wrote it down.”  The operator then read note:  “When Paul calls, tell him that I still say  ‘there are other worlds to sing in.’  He’ll know what I mean.”

Maybe we’d all have a lot more grace filled moments like that if we didn’t make life so complicated.  The Pharisees, the disciples, the people in the crowd were all asking questions and trying to figure out exactly what happened that day.  All the blind man wanted to do was give glory to God.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

March 2, 2008