Fourth Sunday in Lent (John 9:1-41)  3/30/2014

I give thanks this morning for the warmer weather of this weekend and the days ahead, albeit with a bit of rain, but the thermometer is heading in the right direction at least! My wife and I have taken up a Lenten discipline of starting our mornings with a two mile walk and I must admit that this discipline has been sorely tested this past week as the early morning temperatures have been about 18 degrees! But I suppose I should not be surprised, as this is the character of March, a month best described as days of turbulence and turmoil in the weather department. We receive a sunny and pleasant afternoon that tempts us with a foretaste of the warmer spring days ahead; followed by 18 degree mornings that send us scrambling for our wool hats and insulated gloves. Yes, this is the time of year that coat closets contain the full array of our outerwear…and today, every type of waterproof boot or shoe! And we are not alone, the other morning I spotted a beautiful cardinal in the tree outside of my kitchen window; he was trying his best to impress a female a few branches away (his mind on the spring nesting season, no doubt) while at the same time he was bracing himself against the wintry breezes of the early morning. Perhaps March was well designed to shepherd us through the first half of our Lenten season. Today marks the halfway point of our Lenten journey…”half time” you might say. And “March Madness” should not be reserved for the exclusive use of the NCAA basketball tournament! Sure, the tournament is full of excitement, upsets, and surprises, but for real moments of turbulence and surprising revelations we must turn our attention to this morning’s Gospel.

This morning’s lesson from John’s account of the Gospel has a little something for everyone to think about. The lesson begins with the disciples of Jesus seeking his opinion of the ancient notion that illness derives from one’s sinfulness. Jesus quickly dismissed this mistaken understanding of God’s will and then decided to turn the tables on everyone by healing the man of his blindness. Jesus approached the blind beggar and healed him of his lifelong affliction, using a curious method of saliva and mud, and then sent the man off to a pool of water to be cleansed. Jesus initiated a miraculous change in the world…and then he seems to completely disappear, and that’s when all the trouble starts!

The man returned from the pool and this blind man, who sat in the town square and every day begged for his livelihood, was able to see! The townspeople were amazed: “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” they asked. Here, we encounter the first bump of turbulence in our story (just like that first surprising bump on the flight before they tell you to fasten your seat belts), could this really be the man?: “Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.'” The people were surprised and confused, divided in their opinion, you might say, “blind to the truth before them.” But the man stood in their midst, “I am the man,” he kept saying to the crowd. In the midst of the turmoil and turbulence, the man simply witnessed to the truth. Well, the people in the town square finally said: wait a minute, the Pharisees are smart people, they will know what to do!

The man was sent to the Pharisees and he told his story again. The Pharisees were not only amazed at this story, they were shocked to learn the healing happened on the Sabbath! We encounter the second bump of turbulence in our story and the second bump is greater than the first. What to make of this man who can now see, and what to make of this man called Jesus who healed this beggar? “Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided.” Divided in their opinion, you might say, “blind to the truth before them.” But the man stood in their midst, “He said, ‘He is a prophet.'” In the midst of the turmoil and turbulence, the man simply witnessed to the truth. Well, the Pharisees finally said: wait a minute, this man’s parents have known him since birth; they will know the “real” story.

Now it’s time to meet the parents. We hope that the man’s parents are the ones who would love and care for this man, but in their fear of the authorities, they can only manage to speak about the past: “He is our son; He was born blind.” In their fear and in their inward focus, the parents were unable to witness to the truth of the present, unable to proclaim the miraculous grace of God in their midst. And like the man’s parents, the Pharisees were ultimately unable to witness to this truth and proclaim the miraculous grace of God in their midst. So uncomfortable with the miraculous man, the Pharisees drove him away from their presence. Too often in our world, the Pharisees’ self-preserving actions can be so close at hand, so present in our human nature. There can be a great temptation to drive away those things that threaten the stability of our lives.

Lent is a season designed for us to take up the work of stripping earthly things away, a season to reflect and remove our personal preferences, a time for making room for God in all shapes and manner of things. Lent is a season that challenges us to be surprised and not push away, a time to sit in the turbulence and turmoil and look for God’s grace in the midst of all that life sends our way. (Perhaps the month of March has started us on our journey in fine fashion!) Lent encourages us to take the time to put away our earthly trappings and notions that obscure our vision of the miraculous grace of God in our midst. A new vision, a new perspective, can often open our hearts and minds to the miraculous and, sometimes minute, graces of God’s presence. Frederick Buechner, author and theologian, speaks of these daily graces when he wrote: “Here and there even in our world, and now and then, even in ourselves, we catch glimpses of a New Creation, which, fleeting as those glimpses are apt to be, give us hope both for this life and whatever life may await us later on.”¹ Glimpses of God’s grace abound in our midst, and we are blessed to see these miraculous moments of grace through the clear vision of our Lenten journey.

As we mark the midpoint of Lent, I pray that you may take a moment to find the incredible peace and grace of God in your lives. God’s peace is given to us not only in the quiet and sacred places of our world, but God’s peace remains with us in the noise, turbulence and turmoil of our world and in our lives. As we start the second half of our 40 days that lead to the glorious Easter mystery, I invite you to take a moment today to reflect on your Lenten journey; say a prayer, take a walk (if this rain will ever stop!), or perhaps enjoy a beautiful service of Evensong…at 5pm this afternoon in this very place! And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, fill your hearts, keep you in God’s care, and open your eyes to the miraculous wonders of God’s love. AMEN.

¹ Frederick Buechner, Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation.