Watch Your Blind Spot
Reflections on John 9.1-41
RCL Lent 4A
26 March 2017
Saint Faith’s Anglican Church
Vancouver BC
9.1 As [Jesus]
walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or
his parents, that he was born blind?” 3
Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so
that God’s works might be revealed 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 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, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means
Sent). Then he went and washed and came
back able to see. 8 The
neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9
Some were saying, “It is he.” Others
were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”
He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10
But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 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.” 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
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.” 16 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. 17 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.”
18 The [Jewish
authorities] 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 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.” 22 His parents said this because
they were afraid of the [Jewish authorities]; for the [Jewish authorities] had
already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would 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 they said to him, “Give
glory to God! We know that this man is a
sinner.” 25 He answered, “I
do not know whether he is a sinner. One
thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he
do to you? How did he open your
eyes?” 27 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?” 28 Then they
reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to
Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an
astonishing thing! You do not know where
he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does
listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has
it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God,
he could do nothing.” 34 They
answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach
us?” And they drove him out.
35 Jesus heard that
they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the
Son of Man?” 36 He answered,
“And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I
may believe in him.” 37 Jesus
said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I
believe.” And he worshipped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this
world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see
may become blind.” 40 Some of
the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind,
are we?” 41 Jesus said to
them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin
remains.”
When Ron Harrison, the former diocesan Executive
Archdeacon, called a candidate to schedule a job interview, he would sometimes
ask, ‘Do you want to be first or last?’
The first candidate, he explained, set the bar for the interviews that
followed. The last, he added, had the
advantage of being remembered a tad longer.
What Ron was pointing out were the blind spots that often
appear in an interview process. If the
first candidate sets the tone, then he or she influences, for good or for ill,
the reset of the process. The committee
might consciously or unconsciously create a template against which each
successive candidate is measured.
The final candidate faces the risk of an exhausted
committee who just wants the process to be finished. If the final candidate lacks a bit of sparkle
or brings little new to the table, then he or she has little chance of
success. On the other hand, a stellar,
charming final interview might just erase the memories of her or his
predecessors.
Ron’s observations about how one’s place in a list of
candidates to be interviewed provide a necessary perspective on how to make
important decisions. It’s often good to
take a step back, relax and review all the options rather than launch oneself
immediately into a decision or course of action. During my time at Vancouver School of
Theology, we had numerous faculty and staff searches. We often built in a break of a day or two
between candidates for a position.
During the break we could prepare our own notes on the pros and cons of
the candidate or candidates we had must thus far. Our goal was to ensure that did not miss a
diamond in the rough or a subtle hint of trouble. Our motto could have well been: Watch your blind spot!
In today’s gospel reading Jesus takes aim at the blind
spots of his opponents. It must be said
that these opponents are members of a party within the Judaism of the time who
were most likely to sympathize with Jesus’ teaching. This healing of a man born blind is meant to
lead us to question our own blindness to God’s work in the world, especially
when that work occurs in what may be our blind spots.
And what is God’s work in the world? I can think of no better summary of that work
than what is said by the prophet Micah:
[The Lord] has told you, O mortal,
what is good; and what does the Lord
require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with
your God? (Micah 6.8)
We might even hear Jesus
speaking to his opponents: ‘Is it just
that a man born blind is forced to beg just to survive? Is it kind when one has the means to
alleviate his suffering but refuse to do so for some ritual excuse? Is one walking humbly with God if one refuses
to give thanks for an act of mercy and grace performed in God’s name on behalf
of someone in need?’
Fidelity to our religious faith as expressed in its
beliefs, its rituals, its traditions, is intended to open one’s eyes to God’s
activity in the creation, redemption and renewal of the world. In later centuries Judaism would incorporate
a prayer blessing God when one sees or hears or experiences something totally
unexpected or previously unexperienced.
I confess to having more than one blind spot. The one that tends to trip me up more often
than the others is my tendency to hold on to first impressions of people and
situations. I am quick to make an early
assessment and it is difficult to sway me from this position once I’ve made it.
This trait of mine has, in some situations, served me
well, but there have been occasions when it has not. It has blinded me so that I have missed signs
of change or growth in people or situations.
My blind spot prevents me from seeing how God’s grace works in us and
through us over time.
I was blind to the possibilities of how God could bring
healing when a person who has been married and divorced seeks to remarry with
the church’s blessing. I was blind to
the gifts and insights the ordination of women brought to the church. I was blind to the possibility that the
marriage of same-sex couples might actually be a fruit of the Spirit and bring
a renewed understanding of faithful love between two people.
Fortunately I was surrounded by faithful and patient
people who did not let me stay by my own little ‘pool of Siloam’. With the mud and spittle of the Spirit I, who
was blind, now could see. These days
when I attend a meeting, I will sometimes write the following words at the top
of the first page of my notes:
‘Wait. Watch. Listen.
Ponder. Breathe. Then act.’
So, my friends, do you know your own blind spots that may
obscure your view of God’s justice, of loving kindness and of faithful
humility? Through the community gathered
to hear the Scriptures proclaimed and to celebrate the sacraments, God provides
the mud and spittle to cure our blindness so that we can see God at work among
people and in places and in ways we’ve never thought to look. Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can
do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine --- even cure our blindness and
reveal to us God re-creating, redeeming and renewing this ‘fragile earth, our island
home’.
