“Seeing and Not Seeing”

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett

Preached at Pleasantville UCC, April 3, 2011

Lent 4, Year A, 1 Samuel 16:1-13 & John 9:1-41

“But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see;
they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
(1 Samuel 16:7)

This morning’s lesson from the Revised Common Lectionary offers us two stories that speak to the issue of seeing and not seeing.  The first is a portion of the long saga of ancient Israel’s history, describing the election and anointing of David to be king.  In this portion of the reading, David is a youth, untested except for the responsibilities of tending sheep and, as the youngest, he is almost overlooked by the family, and is a surprise to the prophet!  They do not see as the Lord sees; they do not recognize his gifts and qualities for leadership because they are making their judgments upon outward things.

Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

The second reading comprises the entire ninth chapter of John’s gospel. It is a long and complicated healing story.  Last week, we studied the story of the woman at the well and how Jesus healed her and restored her to a life lived in community by seeing her for who she was and loving her anyway.  This week, we are hearing about how Jesus heals a man blind from birth, and how those seeing people around him prove to be truly blind to the miraculous work of God. Since it is such a long story I’d like to look at it in smaller sections, so let’s listen for the Word of God in this gospel passage:

As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked [Jesus], “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).  Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

This is a story that begins with a physical healing, but quickly detours to a story about spiritual blindness.  And this spiritual blindness theme plays out on three different levels. The first to be spiritually blind are the disciples.  As is so often the case in the gospels, the disciples come off looking no better than Jesus fiercest opponents. 

Jesus sees a man blind from birth and the disciples immediately want to talk theology.  Jesus looks and sees a man in need of healing, and the disciples want to know whose fault it is that the man is blind.  “Who sinned?” they ask, that this should be?  They are articulating the prevailing belief of the time: that illness or disability is a sign of God’s judgment against a person.  And, instead of seeing the man and his need, the disciples quickly go into a theological debate about the causes of this man’s condition; they go into an analysis of the situation that takes them away from dealing with the humanity of the man.

When Jesus responds to their question, you can almost see him shake his head and hear him say, “You’re not getting the point.”  It’s not about who sinned, it’s about God’s glory and God’s grace and God’s mercy. 

Scott Hoezee directs the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary. When he reflects on this passage he notes that “Jesus disappears from this story when the main action is an attempt to define what God would or would not do.”[1]  So long as the “wrangling and wrestling and arguing is going on in an effort to debunk the miracle that had so plainly taken place—Jesus disappears from view.  From verse 7 until verse 35 the Son of God is nowhere to be seen.”[2]  “The minute we start denying the work of God in Christ Jesus our Lord so as to make things neat and tidy and in conformity to how we like things done, it’s pretty tough to see the real Jesus…”[3]

The next folks to be spiritually blind are those who live in the community with the man.  Let’s read the next few verses of the gospel account:

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”  Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”  But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”   He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”   They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”  (vv 8-12)

In this part of the text, the people in the community come off with mixed reviews.  Some recognize the man and know him to be the blind beggar that they see every day in town.  Others don’t recognize him and feel that he cannot be the same man.  There is wonder at this healing: they want to know who healed the man and how it was accomplished.  And they want to meet this Jesus.  But then, after all their questions have been answered, they bring the man who had formerly been blind to the Pharisees for examination.

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 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.  So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” (vv 13-17)

The third folks who demonstrate spiritual blindness are the Pharisees, who have been called upon to examine the validity of the healing.  And from the outset, they are caught in a bind.  Jesus has performed a very public healing and they have to acknowledge it, but they do not want to, because to acknowledge the man’s miraculous healing means to acknowledge God’s Spirit and power at work in Jesus of Nazareth, and they did not want to do that.  So instead of celebrating the miracle which is before their very eyes, they become distracted with the issue of whether the healing occurred on the Sabbath. 

The Pharisees, themselves, are split on the matter.  Some agree that a healing on the Sabbath would be a sign of sin. Others feel that anyone who could perform such signs and miracles could not be a sinner.  The healed man, himself, declares Jesus to be a “prophet.” But the religious leaders of the Jews cannot accept this healing and believe it must have been a trick.

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 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?”  His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes.  Ask him; he is of age.  He will speak for himself.”  His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”  So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”  He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (vv 18-25)

His parents confirm that this is their son, but they are unwilling to explain the source of his healing because those who confess Jesus’ power are being thrown out of the synagogue; cast out of the worshiping community.  And when the Pharisees ask the man for a second time how his healing occurred, he answers with profound simplicity: “I do not know whether he is a sinner.  One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

Unwilling to accept his answer, the Pharisees press the man again and this time he becomes irritated with those who are interrogating him: 

They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”  He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”   Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”  The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.   If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”  They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.  (vv 26-34)

This is a story about seeing and not seeing.  The religious authorities are threatened by the healing which has taken place in this man.  It is in their best interest not to see it.  Their blindness and lack of imagination runs so deep they cannot see the truth of what has happened.  A miracle has taken place, and they cannot or will not see it.  Things like this just don’t happen.  It must have been a trick.  It must be blasphemy.  They are so unaccustomed to recognizing God’s hand at work in this man’s life that they throw him and the miracle that he is out into the street.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”  Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”  He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. (vv 35-38)

Jesus does two things in this story: 1) he sees the blind man and he heals him; 2) he hears that the religious authorities had driven the blind man out of the synagogue, and Jesus goes and finds him.  Jesus’ actions are simple, miraculous and true: he sees the need and he responds to it; he reaches out and conveys the love of God.  He does not stop to question whether it is right to heal this man on this day or that.  He does not wonder whether, in the long run, it will be better for the man to be healed – or whether it would be better for him to remain blind because the adjustment to his new life of sight might be more than he can take.  Jesus sees the situation and he responds to the need; his vision is acute and his response immediate.

The passage ends with a teaching from Jesus on spiritual blindness:

Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. (vv 39-41)

This is the ultimate, “no good deed goes unpunished” story.  The man’s need is present and Jesus responds.  But instead of celebrating God’s power at work in one of their own, instead of this man’s healing becoming a witness for faith and a cause for celebration, the majority of the people in this story simply don’t get it.  They want to analyze the situation, they want to turn it into a theological debate, they doubt the truthfulness of the healing and think a trick has been played upon them, and when all else fails they resort to small, mean practices that undermine the health and wellbeing of the community, throwing the very one who has experienced God’s miraculous power out of the community altogether.

It’s a real picture of how the world operates.  Frequently, we are put off by the thing which falls outside our experience. If we are pushed beyond our comfort level, if we are challenged to grow spiritually and emotionally, it is not usually a pleasant experience.  People don’t change because everything feels good and life is going swell.  People change because they’ve hit a wall and what they’ve been doing isn’t working anymore.

In this gospel story, no one is expecting a miracle – no one, except, the man who is healed himself.  In this story, no one is expecting an ending that will break through their notions of what is possible.  The man born blind will always be blind.  The people cast out of the synagogue will never be welcome back.  There is nothing new under the sun and those who are unaccustomed to expecting a miracle in their lives will not recognize it when it arrives.  They will not see it, even if it stares them in the face. 

There is a classic psychological study called the red spade experiment performed by Jerome Bruner and Leo Postman.  In it, a deck of cards is shuffled in front of an observer.  Into that deck are placed a number of cards in which have their suit symbols are reversed – so for instance – there will be cards that show red spades or black hearts.  The experiment studies whether people will notice those cards as they are shuffled by.  Even when the shuffling process is slowed down, folks won’t even notice them.  It’s not what they’re expecting to see; so they don’t.

If we live in expectation that God does and will move with power in our lives, then we are far more likely to see the hand of God at work in our midst.  If we live as if God’s miracles are happening around us everyday, then we will be alert for them when they show up.  But it takes some effort to train our hearts to recognize these miracles.  It takes some work to train our eyes to see them; to train our ears to hear them.  If we do not do the important imaginative and sacred work of seeing the Light when we encounter it, then we will forever go about our business living as if God never loved this world and long ago turned his back on it.

This is a story about seeing and not seeing.  The one who had been born blind in this story had no trouble seeing the power of God at work in Jesus at all.  But those who ought to have been able to see kept casting about to find a more palatable explanation for what they had witnessed.  We need to train our eyes to see the light of Christ wherever it shows up in our world; to see as God sees.

Abraham Joshua Heschel was a leading Jewish theologian and philosopher of the 20^th center.  Rabbi Heschel described prayer as, “dreaming in league with God.”  To dream in league with God means to align our will and our thoughts more fully with the Lord of Life.  And that takes practice.  It takes practice to try to see as Christ sees: to see the need and address it.  It takes practice to hear the cry for help and respond to it. 

This is a story about seeing and not seeing.  But it isn’t just a story about one person and their healing.  This is a story about an entire community, and its ability to see or not see.  This is a story about a people so frightened by the miraculous possibilities of God, that they couldn’t see what was clearly in their midst.

Here, in the midst of the body of Christ, we are invited to refine our vision; we are challenged and encouraged to grow in maturity of spirit so that we are able to see the light of Christ wherever it shows up in the world.  And when we see the power of God at work in our sister and our brothers, strengthening them for ministry, empowering them with vision, gifting them with the blessings of the Holy Spirit, then it is our responsibility as the Body of Christ to recognize God’s holy work among us and to celebrate it.  To dream in league with God is what we are here for, and it is our job to practice it.

This is a story about seeing and not seeing.  May God give us grace to dream in league with Him, so that we will see things we have never seen before and our lives will be transformed because of it. May it be so.  Amen.