1 Samuel 16:1-13, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41, Psalm 23

He was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.  John 9:3a

This morning’s Gospel lesson, the entirety of the John’s ninth chapter, tells of the miraculous healing by Jesus of the beggar blind since birth.  But, it is not simply the account of a miracle performed by Jesus, it is a message of God’s will for us – our human earthiness encompassed and directed by the Holy Spirit to perform God’s work in the world – work thwarted only by our spiritual blindness when we are unwilling to accept the truth about Jesus Christ and God’s will in the redemption of the world.

In the beginning verses of today’s lesson, we encounter the blindness of the disciples themselves in their erroneous assumption that the man of focus in the story was born blind as the result of his sins or those of his parents.  But, Jesus corrects their misconception, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him” –So that God’s works might be revealed in him.

The disciples are preoccupied with the cause of the man’s blindness.  Scholars and theologians and ordinary people have, since the beginning of time, speculated and agonized over the bearing of God’s will in our joys and in our suffering.  Does the all-powerful God cause suffering?  Did the all-powerful God cause the man in our story to sacrifice a life of sight for an ulterior purpose?

None of us can define with any accuracy God’s will or the effect that we humans can have upon that will, and certainly we cannot define the cause of horrendous suffering.

But, through the blind man of today’s story, Jesus brings our speculation to a halt.  For, it is not the cause of the man’s blindness that is of concern to Jesus.  Rather it is the purpose of the man’s blindness.  Jesus’ focus is on the good that God will bring out of the tragedy of the blindness.  The blind man’s purpose is to be an instrument of God’s work; his blindness becomes a vessel for God’s will to which Jesus directs our attention.

Regardless of the cause of the blind man’s suffering or of our suffering, regardless of the enormity of the evil forces in our world, God takes all that is evil – all that is out of order or that is tragic – and brings from it his good – good beyond our ability to assess or understand.  We can mire down in the horrendous evil acts and tragedies in our history as Christians, as Americans, or in our personal lives; OR we can focus on the lessons we have learned from these tragedies, and the good that has come from them, and build on this good.

We humans require very human signs to point us in the right direction toward God’s will.  This incidence of healing of physical blindness is intended to encourage the understanding of spiritual blindness for us and for all those of John’s cast of characters.  The disciples, even after so many months and years under Jesus’ guidance, remained blind to the true meaning of God’s will for discipleship and messiahship.  Their understanding of the truth about Jesus would come slowly, but it would come – as the blind man’s sight would come gradually rather than immediately and would require that he trust and follow carefully the instructions of Jesus.

In our Old Testament lesson this morning we find another example of misdirected sight.  Samuel, prophet and judge referred to by other sources as a “seer,” who is led by God to the home of Jesse.  Here, he has been told he will find the new king of Israel.  But, even the sense of sight of the great seer Samuel is distorted by his haste and diverted by the earthly good looks of Jesse’s older sons.  Upon seeing the first son, Samuel remarks, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.”  But, one by one, God rejects each of Jesse’s robust and handsome sons as the next king of Israel.

The bewildered Samuel asks if these are all of Jesse’s sons.  And, Jesse responds, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.”  When David is brought before Samuel, our lesson tells us the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.”  Samuel, “the great seer,” is led by God to see beyond the outward appearance and into the heart so that God’s works might be revealed.  The result that God desires is achieved through our right response, the meshing of earth and heaven – Samuel’s right seeing of God’s will.

Returning to our lesson from John, we see clearly that the tension is building in Jerusalem; we are drawing closer to the cross and Jesus’ antagonists are growing more and more desperate in their efforts to blind themselves to the truth about him.  In the presence of the disciples, the Pharisees, and the parents, it will be the healed beggar, his physical and spiritual sight restored, who sees the truth and becomes the model of true discipleship – the true disciple who proclaims his belief in Jesus as the Christ accepting that his avowals would lead to his being cast out of the religion and society in which he had spent his entire life.  The greater good is his salvation and discipleship – the works of God to be revealed.

Even in the midst of unspeakable suffering, God’s works are being revealed.  We can effect God’s purpose by allowing Jesus to heal our blindness, to reveal his saving power in the redemption of our human frailty that we might respond to his call to discipleship.

In the weeks to come, we will remember and celebrate the ultimate of Good from Evil – the ultimate suffering of Christ through which God willed Good from Evil to conquer death and reconcile us to him.  Just as Jesus combines the common earth with his own spittle to bring sight to the blind beggar, just as we bring our common bread and wine to be consecrated into the heavenly food, in the same way, our common humanity is united with the sacred will of God so that his works might be revealed in us.  Our focus is not on the cause of our blindness but on the purpose for which we are healed and redeemed.

As we walk the way of the Cross, alongside the earthly Jesus of Nazareth, we become united with him in his earthly suffering.  Along with Jesus, we die to our earthly selves; our earthly blindness is healed.  With Jesus Christ, we rise again, redeemed.  Our eyes are opened to God’s purpose; we receive our sight.