Reflection on Mark 10:2-16

He didn’t talk about it, but we all knew that it was happening.  Even by third grade, you know that someone whose family is experiencing a divorce should be left alone.  So, we did leave our classmate alone.  We didn’t talk about his family breaking into two.  We didn’t talk about what it was like to have two bedrooms.  We didn’t talk about his sadness.  We left him space to be alone on the playground.  We especially didn’t talk about the uncertainty and anxiety that we ourselves starting to feel about life if the one thing you trusted to remain the same…your parents…was falling apart.  We learned very well that you don’t talk about divorce beyond jokes, quips, and jabs.

The church usually doesn’t fare any better than the playground.  We don’t talk about divorce, except on the day that this text arises.  Then, on this day one of two things happen, either the pastors blabber on apologetically in order to just get it over with (that is the course that I usually choose), or the pastor launches into a moral diatribe about the ungodliness of divorce and the need to strengthen marriages.  I guess there is the third option, to joke about it.  “When we got divorced we split the house 50/50, she got the inside and I got the outside.”  In a way, the joke gets closer to things that we don’t talk about than the other two approaches: it at least acknowledges the loss and pain of one splitting back into two.  Of course there are other things we don’t talk about: the confusion of how extended family should now treat the cast away family member, the sense of failure divorced people feel, and we certainly will not talk about the confused sense of relief and happiness that comes when the daily arguing is finally over and life seems to be getting better.

Most of us think that we know what Jesus says about divorce…that it is against God’s plan to unite the two into one…and that either drives us to be moralistic or silent.  But, a God of grace and love who desires to pull all things together and reconcile the entire world would not respond either way.  The God of grace and love, instead, flips the subject of divorce on its head and forces us to focus on what is important.

So, I am inviting you to look at this subject up-side-down.  Pretend that you are on a swing, and that you lean all the way back and see the sky as the ground and the ground as the sky.  Feel the exhilaration of falling away from the ground into the vastness of something new.  Look at Jesus’ concern in a new way.

As a test, someone asks Jesus, “Can a man divorce his wife?”  There really are two answers Jesus could give to this ancient Hebrew question: “No, not unless she cheated and broke the marriage contract,” or “Yes, of course.  If she isn’t pleasing and fulfilling her role as wife and caretaker of the household to your satisfaction you can divorce her…kind of like being fired from a job.”  So Jesus, which is it?

The problem with either one of these answers is that they forget two very important things: God and the fact that the woman is a real person with real needs like food, shelter, and love.  Marriage is neither a contract nor a job description.  As you lean back in your swing and look at the world up-side-down, the first thing that you will discover is that Jesus doesn’t answer yes and no questions.  The world seen right-side-up is about right and wrong…divorce: yes or no, but the world seen up-side-down is about relationships and caring for the weak.

In Jesus’ up-side-down world, Jesus sees that marriage is a small step toward God’s bigger concern, to draw all things together in grace.  It is a beautiful thing to see, when a couple gazes into each other’s eyes and “the two are made one flesh” in marriage; just like it is beautiful to see two siblings who hated each other for years, finally take a walk in the park together; or just like when two former enemies are seen eating at the same lunch table.  What God does in marriage is just a tiny sample of what Jesus does for all creation on the cross; drawing all things back together in grace and love.

In Jesus’ up-side-down world, Jesus cares that an ancient divorce truly affects the woman.  Instead of breaking a contract against the woman’s father, the divorce is “against her.”  God does not simply walk past the poor and the weak like someone may when encountering a broken person on the street.  Jesus actually stops and cares if the woman and her children are cast from the home.  He actually cares that they will be looked down upon and sent to a life of poverty with no means to care for themselves.  This is not just a problem of the ancient world.  Even today, one of the leading indicators of poverty for women and children is divorce.  Jesus cares for the weak and broken.  Jesus sees them as actual people.  Jesus does not see the poor and weak as property or statistics or self-made failures to be shunned.  People cannot simply be dropped from life, nor can the weak simply be left to suffer.

This up-side-down view of Jesus could be seen reflected clearly in a small Minnesotan congregation.  A woman in the congregation was struggling after her very public and shaming divorce in a very small town.  It was the news of the town, the divorce was viewed as her fault by everyone, and the woman felt very much looked down upon and alone.   But, then the morning came that she heard the knock on her kitchen door.  Opening the door, she saw the gray-eyed matriarch of her congregation, standing there, holding a casserole dish.  As if she needed the same care as someone who had lost their husband to death, she was given the meal to ease her burden.  That wasn’t the end.  This went on for two weeks, different people each night bringing over a dish.  Somehow the women of this congregation were able to look at the world up-side-down, as Jesus does, and see that life is about drawing the broken together again. 

“Jesus, is it right or wrong to divorce?”  This is the wrong question.  Are there broken people who need to be healed and put back together through love?  This is the right question.  This is Jesus’ question.  This is the question that allows Jesus to believe in the holiness and importance of an intact marriage that God put together and, at the same time, believe in the unconditional care and healing of the weak, including those who have been broken by divorce.  The church has a word of grace to preach to this taboo subject, maybe we should stop being silent.  Maybe, there are a load of broken people who need to hear the welcoming words of a loving God and a loving community.

Reflection on Acts 17:22-31

What would you think of God if someone came into your life, watched you from afar for weeks, listened well, felt their way into your struggles and hopes, walked beside you through your daily tasks, learned the language of your life, and then presented God to you using the words and images of your own life? Would you be able to see God’s relationship with you as clearly as if someone had just wiped the fog from the glass of your bathroom mirror? What would you give to have Christ’s love put into the words of your own life? Would you give up all you own to have such a chance? And, with your new understanding, would you care for someone else in the same sort of way so that they too could have the sort of life in Christ that you have?

Unfortunately, I am not so certain that all of us get that sort of tender care and concern for our spiritual development. Often our first encounters with Jesus look a lot like the children’s sermon that Randele and I sat through while in seminary. The pastor invited all of the kids to the front of the church and then asked the simple question, “Why did your parents bring you here today?” Of course, the pastor held a young child in his mind that would wisely answer, “Because at our baptisms our parents promised that they would bring us here so that we might know the unconditional love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The vision of this spiritual honors student floated around in his head while the very real children before him raised their hands. Choosing a young boy, he asked again, “Why did you parents bring you here today?” In an exacerbated tone, the boy answered, “Because kids can’t drive.” Duh! Of course, since kids can’t drive, their parents drove them to church. You could literally see on the pastor's face the vision of his spiritual honor student pop as all of the children mutinously agreed that this was indeed the best and most obvious answer.

Sometimes I think back on that children’s sermon, and I wonder how differently it would have been if the pastor had taken time to simply play with the children of his congregation. Would he have been able to learn and use their own language to tell them about baptism and Jesus. What if he had simply remembered what it was like to take a bath? Would the fleeing dirt in the water have given him an idea as to how he might talk about sin and God’s cleansing grace?

As the Apostle Paul entered Athens, he did something that today we might see as extraordinary because we have such busy lives; he simply walked around and looked and listened. He went through the city and stared at their statues, looked inside their temples, read their plaques, and studied their poets. What Paul noticed as he looked around was a plaque underneath a statue. The dedication read, “to an unknown god.” What Paul saw, was that God was already at work here. What Paul saw was that the Athenians were open to seeing God and God is…they had no preconceptions.

Only after taking the time to learn about who the Athenians were and what they thought and how they lived, did Paul decide to paint a picture of Jesus, the unknown God, who has come down to earth and made himself known.

What would it be like to have Christ’s love put into the words of your own life?

How much joy would a farmer have when the farmer learned that God’s word is like seed that was spread and fell onto good soil? Would he understand and scatter the seed on other farmers?

How much joy would a homemaker have when she learns that life with God is as abundant as yeast that raises the bread so much that it spills out of the pan? Would she understand and spill God’s love on other homemakers?

How much joy would a poor person have when he or she learns that, in God’s kingdom, all of the awards shows would honor them; the poor, the blessed. Would they run into the streets and shout for joy that they have not been forgotten?

Over the years I have learned a lot about living in Jesus and Jesus in me. There is much more to learn I am sure, but one thing that I do know is that, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus walks beside me…not moving too quickly…taking the time to see and listen and learn my language, and then shaping me using words and images and stories that I can understand.

Have you ever considered just walking with someone, learning their language, and seeing what God is up in their lives, and then, using their own words, revealing the unknown God to them? Belief is more than simply accepting and reciting a Creed. It is an actual relationship with Christ. And, relationships require some time to learn each others’ languages before the friendship can grow. So, have you ever considered just walking with someone, so that through a relationship they may gain Jesus’ assurance to all?

Reflection on John 20:19-31

There are a few things that I refuse to do today, and most of them surround Thomas the twin! The first thing that I refuse to do today is to call Thomas by his common nickname: Doubting Thomas. Such a derogatory name makes Thomas sound like a weak of faith, short, and depressed disciple. The name makes him sound like the primary actor in a black and white Zoloft commercial. “Do you find that you cannot believe in the Lord at least four times a week? Do you have chest pains at the sound of his name or troubles trusting in his word? Maybe Zoloft can help.” Cannot you just imagine the image of a modern Thomas sitting silhouette in a window, staring gloomily outside with the bible uselessly collecting dust on the floor nearby?

But, Thomas is not depressed, and I can prove it. When most of the disciples are mopping about, locked in their little tomb of a room in fear of the Judeans (this is the same time when Jesus comes and appears to them) guess who has not holed himself up in a little room and therefore was not there to see Jesus? Thomas, of course. Who knows where Thomas is when Jesus reveals himself, but at least Thomas is out in the world. Unlike his fellow disciples, Thomas is far from depressed.

Nor, is Thomas plagued by the lack of trust in God that his nickname, Doubting Thomas, seems to imply. Thomas does not have a problem trusting in God. He is the one who leads the rest of the disciples to “go and die” with Jesus when Jesus reentered hostile territory in order to raise Lazarus from the dead. Now, that is trust. How could I possibly degrade this courageous soul by dubbing him “Doubting Thomas?”

Of course, there is the part where he refuses to believe that Jesus is risen. But, refusing to believe off hand what someone else has experienced can hardly be considered doubt, it is merely unbelief. Doubt and unbelief are not quite the same. Doubt is a deep, fundamental lack of trust. Unbelief is just that, not being able right now to believe something; a condition caused by lack of evidence. And, the next time you to sit down next to the fireplace and crack open the Greek Bible for a little bit of light reading, if you looked at this story you would see that the Bible never says that Thomas “doubted.” Trusting God was not his problem, but I do think he did have one issue: he did not want to be hurt again.

You can hear it in his words, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” He refuses to simply let himself be hurt like this again. The very person, whose cause Thomas previously would have died for, was gone. Unless, Thomas can have proof, he will not be hurt again! This is not doubt, this is wisdom, and I can understand it.

I can understand it. People get their hopes high all the time, only to have them destroyed in seconds. I knew of a woman who had her hopes set on a man who might deliver her from the poverty stricken houses of her childhood. She did not ever want to find her shelter under a car again in her life. The woman poured her heart and soul and entire life savings into this wonderful man, who promptly took her savings and gambled it away. Guess what, she found herself taking shelter under a car once again. After the man was gone from her life, she was skeptical of future men; as she should have been. She would not be hurt again.

And, Thomas is skeptical, as he should be. You do not just pour your heart and soul into someone again after being hurt like that. Thomas is no fool. You need proof the second time. Thomas needs proof that the Lord really is back. He needs to see and feel with his own eyes and hands.

Unbelief is an underrated virtue. The gift of unbelief…the gift of skepticism…is a gift from God and it allows a person to focus on the truth, rather than simply what others say is the truth.

I refuse to say anything against Thomas this morning because, rather than being the doubting disciple who lacks belief like I have heard so many other preachers spout out of their mouths, I see that Thomas is actually a model disciple of sorts. He did not fear death, nor those who might bring it to him, either before or after Jesus’ crucifixion. In addition, he never simply trusted what anyone said, even those closest to him, preferring to see and feel the truth for himself. Preferring to be close to Christ; preferring to abide in Christ and Christ in him.

And, there is one last thing that makes him a great. It is the one gift from God…ability really…that I hope each of us can take away with us this morning. When Thomas looked and touched, he not only saw Jesus, but he saw God. Thomas is the only person in scripture to look at Jesus and say, “My Lord, and my God.” When Thomas looks around and studies what is in front of him with his skeptical eye, he is able to see God at work in the world.

God is at work in the world; despite the pain and despite the loss. Really, God is there, even in the tornado damage of the south and the fallen houses of Japan and Haiti, and in the streets of Towanda, and even in your own friends and family. It may be difficult, but look hard, God is at work, present with the joyful and suffering alike. May we have the eyes of Thomas to see God, so that we can join in the work God is doing.

Reflection on Matthew 28:1-10

Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia. I once had a pastor who made us say that phrase over and over and over again Easter morning.  "How many times are you going to make us do that today!" I asked myself.

As if he could hear my thoughts, he declared, "We are going to say this until you mean it!"

“Until you mean it,” that is what another pastor said to me during my teenage years…alright he did not say it to “me,” he said it to everyone. But, I felt like he said it to me, and I feared that every time he made us shout that thing the word “dork” would slowly scribble again across my face until I was completely blackened with dorkyness. “Stop Pastor already, you are embarrassing me in front of all of the other Christians who are saying it too at the exact same time.” Alright, I was a teenager so cut me some slack. I was focused on myself and I did care about what I said and did. And, I did not think it was honest to shout something that I did not even understand. Say it until you mean it…what if I did not mean it? What if I did not even know what it meant in the first place? “He is risen indeed.” Who cares?

Well, Mary Magdalene cared for one.

Mary Magdalene comes in and shouts to the disciples that Jesus is risen, and that she has seen him!

For Mary this was not just some embarrassing, ancient, out-of-date church rite. For Mary, the sight of Jesus raised from the dead was the unsealing of a tomb for her life. You have to understand, Mary and all of Jesus followers put their whole lives into his ministry. Mary went as far as putting even her money and trust into Jesus. So, you can see how the execution and death of the one she trusted meant her own death, both emotionally and probably even financially. All of her hopes and dreams were sealed in the tomb with Jesus. And, as we all know, once tombs are sealed, there is no coming back. Her hopes were gone, for good.

Have you even been there? Have you ever had your hopes and dreams buried away in a tomb? Maybe, someone else buried them for you: telling you that you would never be good enough or smart enough.

Tim was convinced that he would never amount to anything. I have to say right out that Tim was a brilliant teenager. He did extremely, extremely well in school. He simply was a genius, and he was kind and caring on top of it all. Now, at this point, I understand that this story makes no sense to you. How can such a great kid feel like he would never amount to anything? Well, Tim’s Uncle, brother, and even his own dad were all in federal penitentiaries for separate murders. As his friend, I knew he was a great person, but when everyone else looked at him, they simple saw someone to be feared. Other people had carved out Tim’s tomb and rolled the stone over the entrance, sealing his dreams inside.

Have you even been there? Have you ever had your hopes and dreams buried away in a tomb? Maybe, unlike Tim, you did it yourself. Maybe, you destroyed your entire life all on your own and you have no one to blame but yourself. It does not matter if you did it or someone else. A tomb is a tomb, and what is put in a tomb never comes out again.

But, what if it did? What if your dreams did come back? What if you opened your mail and found out that you were accepted into the prestigious school MIT on full scholarship, even after they found out about your murderous family? Would you drive around town shouting out of your car window, “I made it…I make it…I made it!” like Tim did?

What if someone gave you another chance at life, even after you completely messed it all up? What if God forgave you for everything, even the unspeakable stuff? Would you run and tell your friends?

What if the one you trusted and in who you put all of your hopes did come back; for you? Would you run and shout to the others who trusted in Him that he was alive! Would you shout, “he is risen indeed?” Because, I am here to tell you, the tomb is not the end. Whether you carved the tomb yourself, or someone else did, the tomb is not the end. Jesus will not let your hopes rot in a tomb. Death cannot hold him down. He is risen indeed, and so are your hopes. What would you shout if Jesus came to you and raised your hopes from the tomb, giving them new life?

Reflection on John 20:1-18

“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

That first Easter did not start out joyful. There was no initial shout of Alleluia, nor any reassurance of Jesus’ eternal and unfailing light. No, before that sort of celebration was desperate searching for the Lord, and the pain of losing someone very important.

“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

I still hear these words in my office and in the break room at work, though they sound more like, “I once believed, but now I am not so sure.” “Where is God? I do not know where to even begin looking.”

I remember seeing a heart wrenching scene in the hospital. An elderly mother was laying in the hospital bed, crying out, “I’m so alone,” as her daughter sat next to her, holding her hand and looking helplessly into the woman’s eyes. The old woman did not have dementia, she was simply very lonely. The woman confided in me that God had left her, worse, everyone had abandoned her. I looked up at her daughter and she simply stared helplessly. I knew what she was thinking, “I am here mom.”

Sometimes the one you are looking for is standing right in front of you, but you are locked away tight in your own tomb. Mary did not recognize Jesus, supposing him to be the gardener. She was searching, but she could not find. She needed to see, but was unable to open her eyes.

I do not know about you, but I find it hard, if not impossible to open my own eyes. I find it impossible to make myself see God or feel God’s care. Ask any depressed person and they will tell you that you cannot just make yourself quit being depressed. Heck, they cannot even make themselves get up out of the chair. How do you make yourself do something that you do not know how to do. It is like me telling you to just build a jet. Just do it. How? I do not know how, I have forgotten, or maybe I never knew.

I love the resurrection story in John, because it is about more than Jesus’ defeat of death…though that is important. What I love is that Mary does not find Jesus. In fact, she does worse than not find Jesus, she talks right to him and still cannot see him. Why do I love this? Because, when you are struggling in life, and you cannot “just” do anything, you need Jesus to call you by name. And, Jesus does. “Mary!” Jesus said to her. Only when Mary is called by name can “she turn…and said to him in Hebrew ‘Rabbouni!” (which means teacher). She does not search and find Jesus. Jesus searches and finds her.

You do not find, but you are found. Jesus is not yours, but you always belong to Jesus. Death could not hold him down, and neither can you. When Jesus searches, he always finds.

Reflection on John 11:1-45

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Did you see that? Did you catch the significance of that? “After hearing that Lazarus was ill, Jesus stayed two days longer.” It is a hot, lazy middle-eastern day and Jesus will get around to the sweaty work of miracles sometime. This proves that Jesus would have felt right at home as a porch sit’n, banjo play’n Southerner on a hot day. He came from a backwoods town, grew up in a backwards area, and considered arriving sometime within the same week a mark of being on time.

Though I am literally not there with you, I can tell that joke did not quite fly like I thought it would. Or, maybe, God’s absence is just not amusing. When you are laying in bed late at night, staring up at the lazy moon, the worthless moon that just sits there in the sky and does nothing to still the fears of the mind, Jesus’ absence is not amusing.

“Where is Jesus?” Mary asked herself while her brother struggled through nights of fevers and chills and then death. “Where is He?” On such nights we desire Jesus to be a Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager; on time, ahead of schedule even, and attentive to every movement and manipulation.

But, God will do what God wants to do in God’s own time, and there’s nothing that we can do about it. Even in prayer we cannot make God do anything; Jesus may simply say, “No,” or “Not right now.” Perhaps, that perception is just a little negative. Maybe, God does do the right thing at the right time and we are just impatient? Maybe, God cares about this life too, not just the afterlife. But, that provides little comfort when we stare at the cold, uncaring moon at night.

Back to the story.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." 11 After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." 12 The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Jesus does act on Jesus’ own time. As frustrating as this can be, we do see that once Jesus sets his mind to something, He will not be deterred even by threats of pain and death from his opponents. For Jesus, death is not an obstacle. Life will win.

I once playfully asked a fellow pastor friend if they would die for me. They looked me square in the eyes and said, “You rate just under my grandmother in importance in life, and I wouldn’t give a finger for that old bitty.” After the smile, he said in a serious tone, “but, Jesus would die for you, and the bible says that Jesus is in me. I think there’s a pretty good bet I would come through for both you and her.”

You can see the stirrings of Jesus and the life that He brings already inside Thomas as he sets off, into hostile territory with his Lord, undeterred by death.

Back to the story.

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

“And,” it is such a simple, yet important word. “And.” I am the resurrection “and” the life. Martha falls into a religious trap that so many of us do: that faith is only about life beyond the pearly gates. Martha tries to comfort herself with the idea that her brother will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

Once a woman, with tears in her eyes, grieving over the loss of her husband said to me, “the only thing that is keeping me going in life is knowing that he is not in pain anymore and that he is in a better place now.”

Really, where else could this woman or Martha find comfort in such a situation? But, Jesus is concerned about both resurrection “and” life. Jesus does care that life spring forth in the here and now. And, the stirrings of new life have already begun with Jesus’ arrival.

Back to the story.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." 28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus began to weep.

“Jesus wept.” Need I say more? God may work in God’s own time, but God is not coldhearted. Suffering is suffering, pain is pain, and grief is grief even if you know it will come out well in the end. Jesus wept. As spring showers refresh the earth, sometimes tears are required for new life to spring up.

Back to the story.

36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.


All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on John 9:1-41

1 As he 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; but he is blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.

“I must have done something to deserve this.” “You must have done something to deserve the struggle you have been handed!” “Everything happens for a reason.” “What goes around, comes around.”

There is a famous psychological study that included two groups of people: a control group and the experimental group. Both groups sat in a dark room and watched the same video. It was a scene of a typical interaction between a mother and her son after school. The control group was asked to describe the mother. All in the control group said that she was nice and the interaction was appropriate for a mother and teenaged son. So far, there is nothing exciting about this study, until you look at the experimental group. The experimental group also was asked to describe the mother. However, there was one big difference. After the video was run, the experimenters told the experimental group that a week later the son tragically died in a car accident. To the experimenters shock, when asked to describe the mother the majority of the people in the experimental group described the mother as mean. Most were hyper-critical of her interaction with her son in the video. The conclusion: people inherently need to believe that people deserve what they get.

Did the blind man deserve to be blind? Did he deserve to be locked away in darkness for most of his life? Jesus answer is, “No.” No, he did not do anything. No, his parents did not do anything. “How about you consider this,” Jesus says, “maybe instead of assuming that someone deserves what they get, assume that it is simply a bad situation that God will use to work a miracle.”

Have you ever wondered not “Why did this happen to me?” but, “I wonder how God is going to use this one?” “Great, I lost my job. I wonder how God is going to use this one?” “Wonderful, heart disease; I wonder how God is going to use this one?” “Terrific, I won a million dollars, I wonder how God is going to use this one?” That last one touches me right here (touching the heart emphatically). We do not always see how there will be a good answer, but asking how God will use a bad situation is definitely a better response than one that assumes that we deserve what we get.

Back to the story…

4 [Jesus said,] 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 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?" 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."

This story confirms the answer that every young child who plays in the mud knows to their mother’s question regarding mud. "God created mud to get things clean, of course." With plain old mud, Jesus cleans the eyes of the blind. With plain old water, Jesus washes away our sin. With plain old bread, Jesus feeds our souls for life. With plain old you God is going to…well Jesus is going to…well I do not know! I really do wonder how God is going to use pain old you and plain old me and my lazy second cousin on my mother’s side? “I wonder how God is going to use this one,” I ask pointing to the slob of a second cousin, knowing that God can and God will. If God can and will use mud, God can and will use even him, and you, and me.  (By the way, the second cousin on my mother's side thing was made up...I do not want any emails from second cousins on my mother's side!  Those on my father's side...well...)

Back to the story…

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 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 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 Jews; for the Jews 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."

Whoever said that Bible stories set good standards for “family values” has obviously never read the Bible. I think that it is safe to say that these parents would never be nominated for a “parent of the year” award. “Let’s see, if anyone says that Jesus is a savior, the religious officials will make sure to strip away our entire social life including worship and community connections, thus putting job and family connections on the line, we will therefore decide to have them talk to our son instead." Yay, it is throw your son under the bus in order to save ourselves day! "Ask him if Jesus is the Messiah yourself;" thump, thump.

At least the Pharisees are asking questions. At least they are willing to at least try to see. The parents are happy to be blind to Jesus and what God has done for their son. You can say a lot about the Pharisees, but at least they are looking around.

Just as today, people can say a lot about those who say they are atheists, but at least those who say they are athiests are asking the questions…at least they are looking around…at least they are not denying what they know to be true.

Back to the story…

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 [Jesus] 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.

“I once was blind, but now I see, but now it does not matter because I have been driven out of my synagogue, my community, and my family and there is no one left for me to look at.”

On a light note, the former blind man could move on to a very successful country music career…I lost my church, I lost my job, I lost my family, I lost my mule… But, this is not a light note. This is just the way life is, you just get something great, like your sight, and something else is taken away…like your entire life. You just get your relationship with your spouse or children back on track, and then you get cancer. This is not a light note for the blind man.  The man's miraculous healing (the thing that he has dreamed for his entire life) has not imporved his life, rather it has left him destitute.

"God what did I do to deserve this? God, why did this have to happen…wait…stop…take a breath…let’s start over. I wonder how God is going to use this one?"

35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when [Jesus] 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 worshiped him.

The formerly blind man was delivered from a life of blindness, a life with back stabbing parents, and a life with blind religious leaders who would drive you out of town, to a life with the one who loves you and would never drive you away; Jesus. Maybe, God could do something good with this one also.

39 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." 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.

This is the way of God’s sheep. We do not know where we are being led. We also do not know where we are going, but we are not blind or stupid. The one who leads us also sees us, and we see the one who leads; Jesus the Christ. We do not necessarily know what God is up to, but we do trust that God is going to use whatever falls in our path for good.



All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.