“Is the Lord in our midst or not?” the scripture lesson asked last week. We get out of a warm bed on a Sunday morning, we gather as a people in this place because we believe that God is here. Today the scripture readings take us a step further. They ask, “Can we see that God is here?” There is a children’s book series called “Where’s Waldo?” Have you ever noticed them? They consist of pictures chock-a-block with all sorts of figures. The object of the game is to find in the midst of all the confusion the character called Waldo. I can never find him. The Waldo books reminds us that something can be there and you might not be able to see it. This Sunday we are being asked to look through the booming, buzzing confusion of our lives and see in the midst of it all that God is with us. There are many things that can blind us to the presence of God. When we have troubles and difficulties and hurts we can look around and not see God. When we have our hearts set on something and don’t get it we can wonder if we’ll ever see God. When we are doing things we shouldn’t, or living in a way that we mustn’t, we don’t want to look around to see God. Today we should open up our eyes, look around, and see. The Gospel story of Jesus curing the man who was born blind calls us to see God is with us in all things.
The actual miracle itself is told pretty straightforwardly. Jesus smeared mud on the man’s eyes and when he had washed it off he came back able to see. Then the story gets interesting. Saint John reports three distinct reactions to the miracle of sight. The first is that some of the Pharisees object to the miracle of sight because it violates the way they have always done things. They have their way of operating at it doesn’t include making mud pies on the Sabbath. If they admit that God is present in the miracle of sight then their notion of God and the ways of God must change. Once they see that God is present in the action of Jesus they will have to see that they can’t hold on to the familiar ways of acting. Their choice is ours as well. Once we see that God is here with us then we will have to change. Once we see God is in the midst of this motley group then we can’t cling to those hurts and resentments that happen when people rub shoulders with one another. Our sight requires that we change into the forgiving, accepting and merciful people God wants us to be. Once we see God is here we give thanks for the many ways that God has blessed us. Our sight requires that we change from wanting more and more to being grateful for what we already have. Once we see God is here we realize that only reason we can do anything, the only reason we can put one foot ahead of another in the morning, is because the Spirit of God dwells within. Our sight requires that we change from needing people to notice and praise and applaud what we do. From now on we are content knowing that whatever we do is done in and with and for God. Seeing God with us will lead us to change our attitudes and actions.
The second reaction to the miracle of sight occurs on the part of the parents of the man born blind. They refused to commit themselves, to get involved, because they were afraid it would cost them if they did. Don’t ask us. “Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” Let him be responsible. Like those parents we are confronted with a choice today. When we see that Jesus is here we are challenged to involve ourselves, to make a commitment even if it will cost us. We see Jesus in the children and youth so we must get involved in their lives. It will cost us time and energy but when we see Jesus is with them what else can we do! We see Jesus in the hungry and the needy, the used, abused and utterly messed up so we must get involved in helping make our community a better place. It will cost us some of our personal space but when we see Jesus is with them what else can we do! We see Jesus in this church so we must get involved. We’ll have to go out of our way, give of ourselves and risk criticism to make this the kind of parish God intends us to be. When we see Jesus is here, what else can we do? Seeing the presence of Jesus in our midst requires that we commit ourselves to becoming a people who reflect the glory of God no matter what the cost.
The third reaction to the miracle of sight was that of the man who was healed himself. As St. John tells the story there was a gradual movement on the part of the cured man. He moved from sight to insight. Who cured you, the onlookers wanted to know? That man they call Jesus, he answered. He knew who cured him. What do you have to say about him, asked the Pharisees? The man could observe more clearly who Jesus was by then. “He is a prophet,” he answered. And, as the grilling got more intense, the newly-sighted man said that he was “from God.” Finally, after being expelled from the synagogue, the former blind man encountered Jesus and could fully see and confess who Jesus was, the Son of Man. He moved from sight to insight. Notice that what made that movement possible was difficulty, trouble, adversity, suffering. The problems the man faced because his blindness was cured forced him to grow in insight about the meaning of Jesus in his life. It was the suffering he endured that enabled him to see clearly.
This gospel is specifically chosen for the fourth Sunday of Lent to help those preparing for baptism on Easter. It is their story and that of all of us who are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. We too must move from sight to insight. Once we see that Jesus is here, then we will make the changes that are necessary to reflect his presence. Once we see that Jesus is here then we will involve ourselves in making his presence real to others. Once we see that Jesus is here the difficulties and suffering of life do not destroy us but invite us to discover that God is with us in all things. From sight to insight, from hope to glory, from cross to crown, from light to light, now until forever.
