What We Believe is True- or the Blame Game Lent 4 in the midst of COVID19

Sermon John 9:1-41 March 22, 2020 Lent 4 in the midst of COVID19

What We Believe is True- or the Blame Game

This has been another really hard week.

It’s been another week in which everyday showed an increase in positive COVID19 test results and an increase in restrictions.

It has been a week of watching the news minute by minute and turning it off because it was too much to watch.

It has been a week of listening to friends and family talk about losing their jobs, having to work from home, having to leave college, having to miss favorite sports, having to only see friends through facetime, having to be hunkered down for a month.

States of emergency are everywhere.

None of it makes sense.

And in the confusion of trying to understand the uncertainty human nature resorts to the blame game. And in the confusion of uncertainty human nature resorts to gossip born out of worry and fear.

That’s where we find the disciples as they travel with Jesus.

They are worried.

They are confused.

They are filled with fear.

Everything that Jesus has been teaching them seems to create uncertainty and confusion. And confrontation with authorities too.

What is Jesus trying to teach them?

They believe the miracles he’s been doing.

It’s been some really cool stuff. He healed all kinds of people. He’s fed a lot of people with just a little bit of bread. He brought a child back to life. He turned water into wine. They really liked it when he did that. It would be great if he could do that in very town they visit.

They want to know what to believe about him.

They want to know what is true.

They want some certainty in their lives.

Don’t we all.

We too want to know what is true. We too want some certainty in our lives. We too want Jesus to clarify what we are to believe. Are the miracles Jesus does the reason for Jesus being there? Or is there something else? Why do bad things happen? Why can’t health and happiness and wealth be there for everyone? Why do people get sick and die? What is sin anyway?

We ask these question as if our debate over them will bring us the answers that will satisfy our hungry hearts and open our eyes to God. We assume there is a moral solution to everything.

This blind man becomes an object lesson he never intended.

The saddest thing about his story is not his blindness, but the fact that no one noticed he even existed.

No one knew his name.

He was an anonymous beggar on the side of the road that people didn’t want to know.

If they recognized him they would recognize their own poverty of compassion. They would have to acknowledge their own inability to help the poor, the disenfranchised, the one’s not welcome in the community or even the house of worship.

And when Jesus healed him he was cast out from his family, his house of worship, his community.

He had an experience with Jesus that no one wanted to believe.

He had an act of grace happen that could not be explained and rather than acknowledge it he was thrown out.

No one knew who he was before and no one wanted to know him now.

Perhaps that’s what’s hardest for us as we all sit at home and struggle against this unseen enemy.

We want to know who or what it is to blame.

If we can identify it then we can fix it.

That’s what our rationalizing humanness tries to do.

This blind man who has encountered Jesus and now has vision is our hero! He helps us as believers! He helps us as the church! He helps us as a community!

 

My Hero-truth teller-lover of Jesus

He doesn’t debate anything.

He just tells it like it is.

He tells the truth of what happened to him-straight up straight talk.

He tells the world what Jesus did to his eyes.

No one wants to believe him.

Three times he tells his story and each time he tells it the confrontation escalates.

He is still not afraid.

He is still not worried.

He is not confused.

He is absolutely certain of his experience with Jesus and what happened that

no amount of threatening of the world around him will change it.

The stronger the forces against him the stronger he tells his story and the stronger his belief becomes.

We the community, the church, believers, are face to face with a struggle. We are unable to be the church in the way we are familiar.

We are unable to be the church with touching hands. We may feel we are disenfranchised. We may feel we are unnoticed. We may feel are cut off from everyone. But, the truth is here. The truth is revealed in the telling.

The blind man tells the wonder and the joy of his experience over and over again. And each time he tells it his faith becomes a reality.

Isn’t that how our own relationship experiences grow?

We tell the story of our experience with a moment of wonder, a moment of compassion, a moment of generosity, a moment of grace. And the more we share it, the more we notice how our faith grows.

People don’t want us to believe there is compassion and grace in this world.

And yet, there on the side of the road with a flat tire someone comes to our aid and helps us. We lose our job and we are surrounded by people offering us places to apply for a new one. We have no place to live and we have people taking us to housing agencies to find a place. We have no food and meals show up on our doorstep. We discover the gift of love. We discover the unseen grace in the world.

We discover this unseen grace defeats an unseen enemy.

Each time we recognize an act of love, our eyes open to a God of love.

We do not have to be afraid to tell the truth of our experience.

Jesus touched us and we have been changed forever.

Francis Taylor Gench, Gayle O’Day, Neibhur, Calvin, all share how this story shows up to strengthen the church during difficult times.

This story is here to let us know today that if we tell our story over and over again, it will be heard.

And our faith will strengthen.

We will have a stronger and stronger resolve the more we talk about our experience with Jesus. The more we reveal the truth of love and compassion in our lives the more we will believe it ourselves. The more we believe it the more we will be able to share it. And that friends is the church.

We need heroes in times like these.

And in times like these, we the body of Christ,

discover that we are the blind man, healed and made whole and able to tell our story.

We, you, me, are the heroes the world needs.

We can share our stories from our couches.

We can share our stories from our homes.

We can be strong in what we believe.

We can be encouraged by the truth of Jesus in our life the more we share.

We will grow in our faith.

We will grow in our church.

As we look to the life of the blind man, our resolve is that he told the truth of what he believed no matter what struggles he faced.

There is no blaming in this life.

There is no need for gossip.

There are no moral dilemmas to be resolved.

There is only the truth of love, compassion, and grace.

We are the church.

We are stronger than ever.

We may not be the church the way we remember.

We may be confused, worried, conflicted by the world around us and by all that is happening.

Yet, we have the light within us to guide us and show us the way.

We have a story to tell.

No matter how hard the weeks ahead become.

No matter how challenging each day will be.

No amount of separation,

or isolation,

or lockdown can darken the light of the Word.

You are not alone!

We are not alone!

We are the body of Christ and we will keep the vision of love alive!

Friends believe the good news!

What we believe is true now and forever. Amen!

Resources: Encounters with Jesus by Frances Taylor Gench. The Meaning of Revelation by HR Neibhur.