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Rev. Dr. Sandra Stevens Poirel - "Mud and Miracles" · Belin Memorial UMC

• Belin Memorial UMC: ⁓ The Gospel of John ⁓ is known as ⁓ the Book of Signs. And in John's Gospel, Jesus performs ⁓ seven ⁓ that his identity and his divine ⁓ The one that is recorded in the text that we will share today is the sixth of those signs, and it is about Jesus healing a man who was born blind and he receives his sight. As we listen to the invitation in this lesson, we are invited to have our vision, just like the blind man, we are invited to have our vision adjusted to see the world a bit differently than our human eyes and our human experience might perceive it at first glance. We are also invited to see beyond appearances. and to see beyond the world's expectations so that we see into the miraculous guidance and vision of God. So I invite you now to hear the reading from John, the first seven verses of chapter nine. As Jesus, along he walked along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned. He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is still day, night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 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, saying to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent. Then he went and washed and came back able to see. This is the word of God for the people of God. This story is actually a long story. We read nine verses. It is actually 63 verses long. We could have read the whole story, but we will summarize part of it. It has a long, large cast of characters. And in the story, there are lots of twists and turns. Sounds an awful lot like life today. Lots of twists and turns. Some may be anticipated most or not. Since we will not be reading the whole story, let's just begin with a basic summary of how the story goes. And there is a list of the characters and the main characters. Jesus and his disciples, 12 of them, encounter a blind man as they are traveling. It is important to note that they are traveling and this is happening on the Sabbath. That will become an important part the story. Jesus ultimately heals the blind man who we will recognize never asked to be healed. But then following the healing, questions began to come from what we might call the inquisitive or the curious neighbors. There's another word that we might could use, but we'll say inquisitive neighbors. And then questions come from the Pharisees. And then the two parents end up taking off. which causes the Pharisees then to ask more questions. And those questions ultimately are directed at the man himself. He answers, but they don't like the answers. And then the man and Jesus have a talk. And then through all of this, Jesus reveals the greatness of God. So there's a lot going on here and we're going to look at some of this. The two characters that get the most attention of course are the man, and Jesus. They are the two that are at the center of all the action, but only one of them actually stays put through this entire process. And the one who stayed in place or in the story active in the story that we can see is the man. All of the action begins when Jesus and his disciples encounter the man who was born blind begging beside the road. Now we're introduced to him through Jesus disciples who apparently either knew him or knew of him because they commented to Jesus that he had been blind since birth. The man is never named and this is our first encounter and it sounds as though they are explaining to Jesus who this man is. What they did not know, so they asked the question, which reveals that it's a curious thing for them, they asked who sinned. They explained to Jesus who the man is, he has been blind since birth, and then they follow it up to Jesus, so who sinned? Now this might sound in some ways like an odd question to us, but it was very logical for them. We have to go back to the first century when it was a common belief that this may have or probably was in their line of thinking at the time that this was evidence of God's punishment for some sin that had been committed. Now today, sometimes we, before we too hard on them, sometimes we might hear or even find ourselves asking a difficult question. and it might lead us to following prey to this kind or this line of thinking. Something happens. Have you ever had something happen in your life that you really didn't welcome? You would have been just fine if it hadn't happened, but it happened. And you wonder, what did I do to deserve this? Probably most of us at some point have had that question. Well before we go any further, let me just reassure you, it does not work that way. God does not. watch in heaven over us with some big meter just waiting to put another tally over there, one of those little sticks, you know, one of those counts of something that we have done wrong. And Jesus actually cleared that up for the disciples who asked the question, so who sinned? But now remember, it's not just the disciples who are listening. The man is there, the disciples are there, there are other people, they're walking along a busy road. Obviously at some point the Pharisees are going to come from somewhere. So Jesus clears that question up, not only for those who were hearing in the first century, he is clearing that up for us and it is a moment of grace for them and for us. Jesus said, neither this man nor his parents sinned. And notice he never rebukes them. He just answers the question. He understands they are curious. He answers, neither this man nor his parents have sinned. He was born blind that God's works might be glorified or in some translations it is be revealed in him. So Jesus responded to the man who again has not asked for anything but he is there and he is hearing what's going on. Jesus is the good shepherd. This man is a part of his flock. He is a part of the community that Jesus is gathering in. The man belongs. And Jesus takes away something that he has lived with for a long time. He takes away the blaming and essentially lets his disciples know you need to shift tracks. You're really asking the wrong question. It is not the man's nor the parents who are at fault, but rather in all circumstances, whatever they may be, God's works ultimately may be revealed in him. Have you ever heard that saying, well that's just about as clear as mud? I can remember my grandparents saying that and I never understood it until later. Then I got it. Well without being asked, Jesus had compassion on and cared for the man and healed him. while talking about and reminding everyone who would hear what he was doing was shifting their sight. from trying to figure out whose fault it was to seeing God at work, God being present, God being the light of the world. Jesus said, as long as I am here, I am the light of the world and about being about God's work. So Jesus in... very few words is shifting the direction of the thought process and hopefully improving their vision. And all of this, even while Jesus himself, in the opinion of the Pharisees, was breaking one of the Ten Commandments by healing the man on the Sabbath. It created a lot of controversy if we read the whole story. It created a lot of controversy among the Pharisees because healing, even though this was a very good thing, this was an adult person, obviously, who was born blind and has never been able to see and has been healed, which was a very good thing, but Jesus, you did it on the Sabbath. Now the Pharisees are the ones who are having that discussion. The job of the Pharisees They thought they were doing the right thing. They were the keepers of the law and they kept the law strictly and the goal was to protect the people. So they are doing what they think they need to do all the while. Clear as mud gets muddier. Jesus puts mud that he made with saliva and dirt. smeared it on the man's eyes and directs him, go wash in the pool of Siloam. That tells us that the man's first encounter with Jesus was not through the sense of sight. He never saw him. Jesus connected with him through his sense of hearing. He never saw Jesus' face, but he heard him, and he heard his instructions. And he was actually probably very glad to go to the pool of Siloam, because the mud most likely would have burned and stung his eyes. But Jesus said, go to that pool. And he did. Off he goes, doing exactly what Jesus said do. And if we keep reading, Jesus is gone. For such a long passage, this is one that is noted that Jesus disappears and is absent. in the dialogue for much of the time, even before the man's sight is restored, before evidence of the miracle of mud. He doesn't appear again until the very end of the story. So we have Jesus when the man is introduced, when they are walking down the road. There is some... Short conversation, a lot takes place, Jesus has disappeared but comes back. That does not mean that nothing was happening. Something very powerful and life changing was happening for the man born blind. And for all of the others who are witnessing and who are becoming a part of this in one way or another, whether we hear from them or not, they are witness to what is happening. So this is where some of the questioning begins. Jesus has left and we're not hearing from him. The man has gone to the pool, but then we hear from the man again and the questions begin. The who, what, when, where, how. It's interesting when we read all of that story though. Not one person thought to say that is at least recorded. Not one person said, thank you God. This man has been blind his entire life. He has never seen anything. And through mud, through Jesus' use of mud, he has been healed. No one thought to ask him the sensory overload. I had a friend who was born blind and I asked him about a surgery one time that they thought might help him. turned out it would not, but he had great reservations because as an adult to suddenly see the entire world would be very different. It would be like sensory overload, seeing everything at once for the first time. If you asked him what color is grass, he said, I know the answer is green. I don't know what green is. What I think is green may be red to you. So everything man was seeing was brand new and he was seeing faces where he lives everything for the first time. No one thought to say, are you? We're here with you. We'll help you. None of that. It was the who, what, when, where, how. And the man doesn't know the answers to any of the questions that are being hurled at him out of accusation and suspicion. But he answered with what he did know. What he does know is he put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see, and for the first time in my life, I'm healed. But the relentless questioning continued and his parents disappear from the story. But the man has experienced God in Jesus. He has been changed, obviously from moving... from complete blindness and darkness to being able to see. That in itself was a tremendous shift. But he's in his spirit and in who and whose he is has shifted. Even answering and responding to. the Pharisees, he became more articulate and strong and courageous. And this is what he said, and I know it's small, but it was going to be hard to divide this up. So here's what he said when he answered the questions with the next round, even being courageous in the face of the Pharisees questioning. Here is the astonishing thing. You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to the one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. That is a powerful statement. You can hear when you read the story, gasps are flying off the pages. We can only imagine the stunned looks, a nobody from nowhere who was blind until just a little while ago just confessed and testified to the greatness of God and it was a powerful confession of faith. Did you catch all that? At the beginning of the story the man who is never even now identified by name referred to Jesus as a man. Then later on in the story, he referred to this same man as a prophet. And now he has progressed through the story and through understanding and his vision being corrected, not just his physical vision, but the vision of who and whose he is to a man of God. named and claimed and loved and not blamed. Toward the end of the story, Jesus reappears in the story and now he and the man are back at the center of the action and they actually have a conversation. And to the man, Jesus reveals his identity as the Messiah, not with a lowercase ⁓ which in the first century, they would have been familiar with lowercase little, using the word as a lowercase little messiahs. They were awaiting the Messiah. Jesus has now identified himself to this man, unnamed. as the Messiah, the Son of God. And hopefully, like his, ours too, we encounter the living God through the Son of God, the Messiah. And his and our vision improves exponentially. And the man gets it. He moved from, this is as clear as mud and I don't know the answers to all these questions, to even getting the name right. He is a man from God, the Messiah, the Son of God. And he proclaimed at the end of the story, Lord, I believe. And we're told he worshiped him. May it be so for us as it was for the man born blind who now was healed mud and miracles and he said one thing I do know that though I was blind now I see in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit amen let us pray ⁓ God, we come to you in gratitude. We come into your presence, into your house, and we are grateful that we know you are here and you are here before we are. And you invite and receive us. For all that you have done for us, most especially for bringing us into the light of Jesus Christ, we offer our thanks and praise. You are God of light. and you do not see as we see. You look beyond our limitations and you find us strong and beautiful for your purpose. You find us beautiful and strong as your named and claimed children created for your purpose. Bring us again and again into your light until your ways become visible to us and bear fruit in us. touch us so that we're transformed in your likeness. And we also may say, one thing I do know, and though I was blind, now I see. God, you are our faithful shepherd. We depend on you for everything, food, guidance, protection, healing, comfort in sorrow, and you respond with abundant provision. Thank you for your tender care and for your compassion in soothing the wounds of this life. Knowing your faithfulness in our lives, we bring before you the lives of others, those whom we name in our hearts silently, the cares of the world, and entrust all things to your goodness and your mercy. Loving God, adjust our vision. Help us to see the world and each other as you see the world and see us. Pursue us with your goodness and faithful love until goodness and faithfulness and love fill every heart and every action. We long to live as children of the light, doing what is pleasing to you and bearing the fruit of light through Jesus the Christ who taught us to say when we pray, our Father. Who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever Amen.