March 2nd 2008 Sermon By Fr Perry

Sunday, March 2, 2008 John 9:1-13, 28-38 “What’s the problem? Are you blind?”

I don’t know what it is about the male gender, but one of the problems we are accused of having is blindness. I’d like to vehemently deny this accusation but I must admit from time to time I am struck with this condition. For instance, has this ever happened to you? You go to the refrigerator looking for the mayo. You search and search, but can’t find it. It is as if it has disappeared, vanished from sight. You call out for help, “Honey, have you seen the mayo?” A voice responds, “It’s on the top shelf on the left.” “I can’t find it,” you retort. Your spouse returns into the room and says something like, “What’s the problem? Are you blind?” then grabs the mayo that was right in front of your nose. Then she gives you that look. You know, that look that communicates poor IQ and she doesn’t really want to say it. I don’t know how single guys do it. Who finds the mayo for them when they live alone? “Hey, Bill, what did you do this afternoon?” “Oh, I just hung out in my kitchen looking for the mayo. Yeah, I couldn’t find it.” I was never so relieved to learn that I wasn’t the only sighted person who could not see. Blindness comes in many forms and affects a lot of different people in strange and various ways. An illustration by King Duncan makes this point. He recited a story that came from the New York Times Magazine when they reported a strange phenomenon in Long Beach, California. The story concerned 100 women, all of whom were Cambodian refugees who witnessed horrible atrocities in their native country of Cambodia when it was ruled by the Pol Pot regime. Each of the women was certifiably blind, even though doctors said their eyes functioned perfectly well. All these women suffered from psychosomatic and hysterical blindness. Yes, they were blind but not because their eyes did not function. Their blindness was in their mind. We all know that psychosomatic orders are nothing new in the medical field. Medical experts tell us that when there are some types of trauma to the brain, it can affect our senses – sight, hearing, smell. The condition is called blindside and studies have shown that this medical problem shows up when someone has a stroke and damage to the brain. In this specific case, these women have lost their eyesight, not because they can’t see, but because they could not process the information they were seeing. If an object is put in front of them and they are told to reach for it, they say it is impossible but if they are told to try, amazingly they could find the object rather quickly. According to medical experts, they can see just fine, but what they see doesn’t register in their brain. Having shared this information, we can now move on to our Gospel, which raises this whole topic of blindness. In reading our Gospel, we begin to understand that there are different types of blindness – physical, emotional, spiritual. The source of each condition is different but they all result in blindness just the same. So John introduces us to a story about a blind man. The apostle informs us that the man in question had been blind from birth, hinting that it was a long-standing condition.

Due to his condition, it may be safe to assume that he was a poor beggar because the blind in that society were social outcasts. He was an outcast because the ancients believed strongly that such people were sinners. The evidence was the fact that he was blind and God had punished him for his indiscretions. But there is also another possibility. If he had not sinned, perhaps the man was suffering from this condition because of the indiscretions of his father and mother. Jews understood that parents could pass on their sins to the second and third generations. So, was it possible that this man was innocent and his parents were guilty? Now, from our perspective, you may think this is a ridiculous notion based on faulty logic. But before we condemn such thinking too quickly, beloved, let us just quickly look at the family caught up in addictive behaviors as an example. When an alcoholic goes into treatment, the prescribed treatment is not just for the individual in question. Treatment centers will treat the entire family system because with this disease, selfdestructive behavior weaves its tentacles throughout the family unit. Everyone in the family is affected by the disease of alcoholism. Furthermore, these family systems will pass on these selfdestructive behaviors from one generation to the next, that is, until one person goes into treatment and breaks the cycle of behavior. To put it back into biblical terms, the sins of the father will be passed on to the second and third generations. So, puzzled by the man’s blindness, the disciples rightly asked Jesus the question, “Who sinned – this man or his parents?” When Jesus responds, his answer is worth taking note. First, John tells us that Jesus SAW the blind man. I don’t know if we grab the importance of this statement, but the word “saw” is a powerful word and critical to our understanding of this passage and how the man was healed. Let’s go back to the scene and try to imagine what was going on. The man is over on the side of the road, possibly sitting on his cloak. As he sits on his cloak, a little clay jar sits before him and he calls out to passers-by, “Alms for the blind! Alms for the blind!” He called attention to himself because no one really sees him. For many who pass by, he is an invisible person and for the most part, totally ignored. People who pass by see him with their eyes but don’t see him with their mind. He and his condition are blocked out. And we have to ask the question, “who are the blind in the story?” Oh, occasionally someone will observe him and drop a coin in the bowl, but they don’t see him with their heart or see him with their spirit. To really see him, you have to stop what you are doing and be willing to engage the man, talk to him, enter a dialogue, open that door that allows you to see his world, his reality, his need. You see him not as a blind man who needs a handout. To see him, you have to look at him, not as an outcast or a sinner, but as a child of God who deserves his dignity, respect and a place in the world that God had created for him. So when Jesus saw him, he observed the man with his eyes, his emotions and his spirit. Jesus removed all obstacles that blind us and he was then moved to reach out to heal him. Jesus then grabbed some dirt, spit into his hands, wiped the mud on the blind man’s eyes and told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. The mud and spit were believed to have curative value. It was a common treatment in that day and age and within that culture. The blind man then had to take some responsibility for himself. So Jesus told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash himself. Each step to Siloam was a step in faith, believing that Jesus would do what he had done so many times before – restore a person to a sense of wholeness and give them back their sense of dignity and value.

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Consequently, in order for this miraculous sign to take place, the first thing that needed to happen was Jesus needed to see him. See him with his eyes, see him with his heart and see him with his spirit, moving past the three dimensions that blind us in this world. Jesus then needed to stop and give the man back his dignity. That is the wonderful miracle that happens when we move past our own blindness. As I thought about this story, it finally dawned on me. Something very important has taken place within our culture. As a culture, we have witnessed a healing of one aspect of our own blindness. When I was a child growing up in San Francisco, I remember seeing blind men selling pencils on street corners. Then I started thinking as a prepared this message. Where are they now? Many who are blind are now working as computer technicians, lawyers, artists. You don’t see them on street corners begging. You’ll find them in college or a vocational tech program. They have reputable jobs because as a culture we have removed our blindness stigma and said the blind can now do anything they want with their God-given talents. Jesus taught us that they are not sinners to be condemned, but children of God who deserve to live to their potential and radiated with God’s glory. So let us pray that we continue in our spiritual journey during Lent, that our Lord Jesus will continue to heal our blindness in other areas of the social arena so that when we see a person who is different from ourselves, we will not notice the color of their skin or the clothes that they wear, or the accent of their speech. But we will look at them and really see them for the strength of their character, see them for the contributions they make to the human family. And most of all see them as Christ sees them, someone who is wonderfully creative in the image of God and bestowed with special gifts to nurture the family.

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