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.”

Well, it’s official.  I am firmly entrenched in my middle aged years and maybe even pushing the far end of my middle aged years.  I say that because I don’t remember life being this complicated back in the good old days.   Take the Oreo cookie for example.  It used to really simple.  You went to the grocery story and you bought your basic Oreo cookies.  Not any more.  Now it isn’t that simple.  Take a look the next time you’re in the grocery store. Not only do you have your basic Oreo cookie but you also have your Double Stuffed Oreos,  you Peanut Butter Oreos, Mint Oreos, ½ & ½ Oreos, Golden Oreos, and something called the Original Golden Oreo.  The list doesn’t end their either.  You also have  Chocolate Covered Oreos, White Fudge Covered Oreos, Purple Crème Oreos for Easter, Orange Oreos for Halloween and for those who are watching their figures you have Reduced Fat Oreos.  I assume those Oreos aren’t double stuffed. 

If you go to the Nabisco Company’s website you’ll see that there are actually 101 different kinds of Oreos.  With all of those choices it’s enough to send you into a mental melt down.

Life sure is complicated these days.  Just look at all the technology that’s out there.  Have you tried programming your DVD player recently?  You almost need a PhD to do it.  The stress that technology can bring into your every day life can be seen in a comedy routine that some of you saw at our talent show last year.  The comedy routine is a modern day version of the old Abbott and Costello skit “Who’s On First” only in the modern version Lou is trying to buy his first computer and some software to go with it.  After Lou finally decides to buy a Windows based computer he says,   “I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business.  Can you recommend anything?”  When Abbott recommends Microsoft Office they’re off to the races.  “Yeah,” Lou says, “for my office.  Can you recommend anything?”

Abbott:             I just did.

Costello:             You did what?

Abbott:             Recommend something.

Costello:             You recommended something?

Abbott:             Yes.

Costello:             For my office?

Abbott:             Yes.

Costello:              OK, what did you recommend for my office?

Abbott:              Office.

Costello:             Yes, for my office!

Abbott:             I recommend Office with Windows.

Costello:             I already have a window in my office!

Eventually they get it all sorted out.  Later that day though Lou goes back to the Super Duper Computer Store with another question.

Costello:             How do I turn my computer off?

Abbott:             Just click on “Start.”

Yes life is very complicated these days and sometimes we’re the ones who make life more complicated than it needs to be.  There are lots of ways you can do that.  You do it by worrying about something that happened in the past that can’t be changed.  You do it by worrying about something that may or may not happen tomorrow.  You do it by analyzing the pros and cons of every decision that you make and trying to figure everything out.

Before you know it your head is going around 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 proclaimed,  “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 trying to figure everything out.

That’s what happened to most of the people who were there when Jesus healed that blind man.   They didn’t celebrate the miracle that took place because they were too busy trying to figure everything out.  They didn’t celebrate the miracle because they were too busy asking all kinds of questions. 

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 into the dirt to make that mud pie that he put on the blind man’s eyes? Why didn’t Jesus just say a prayer and heal the blind man that way?

Who?  What? When? Where? Why? And How?

None of those questions mattered to the blind man.  That’s why he reacted the way he did when the Pharisees interrogated him.  When the Pharisees tell him to give glory to God by condemning Jesus as a sinner the blind man says, “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. It was a miracle.  So cue the music.  Strike up the band.  Let the party begin.  Only there wasn’t a party that day because everyone was too busy trying to figure out what happened.  The blind man was the only one who wanted to celebrate and 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 took a big breath and began his lecture on the birds and the bees.  When he finished his son gave him a puzzled look.  “Dad,” he said, “that’s very interesting but you didn’t answer my question.  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.

Many years ago I had a supervisor in Clinical Pastoral Education who said something that I’ll never forget.  My supervisor was a nun who was as tough as nails.  One day she said to me, “You know you’re very good at analyzing the apple.  Don’t you think it’s time to just eat the apple?

Sometimes you need to stop trying to figure everything out so you can just eat the apple.

That’s what a sailor had to back in 1942.  Elgin Staples was stationed on the U.S.S. Astoia when he was swept overboard in a battle with a Japanese destroyer.  Staples was wounded in both legs and in shock when he went into the water.  He would have drowned but he was kept alive by a narrow life belt around his waist.  He was eventually rescued and sent home to recover.   One day while he was home he mentioned the life belt to his mother.  He did that because, during the war, his mother worked for the Firestone Company, the company that made the life belts.  One thing that Staples wondered about was the number that was stitched into the lining of his life belt.  His mother explained that during the war the Firestone Company insisted on everyone taking personal responsibility for the war effort.  So, each person who inspected the life belts was given their own personal number and that number was stitched into the lining of the life belt.  When Elgin Staples told his mother the number that was stitched into his life belt she looked at him and said, “That’s my number.”  Without realizing it his mother actually helped save her son’s life.

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 celebrate and give glory to God and eat the apple.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

March 30, 2014