Amazing Grace

The fourth week of Lent

Readings: Psalm 23; John 9

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Well.. as I read another pastor say online, I never imagined I’d be giving this much up for Lent. So many of us have given up a lot this week. We’ve given up physical social interaction, our daily routines/schedules, our sense of control and normalcy.. many of you may have even had to postpone trips or weddings or other events you spent months planning.. some of you may even have had to give up time at work, therefore giving up a future paycheck that you depend on. For many of us the unknowns - the inability to know how long this will last.. or what will happen at work.. or where your next meal is coming from.. or if anyone you know will get sick.. – it’s all so overwhelming. The unknown can foster in us paralyzing fear. Now, more than ever, it is important to remember that we are not alone.

During Lent we are called to reflect on the days Jesus spent in the wilderness and also the days of our ancestors as they traveled through the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land. Perhaps it’s no longer quite so hard for us to imagine ourselves there with them. For Jesus, it was 40 days, for the Israelites it was 40 years, for us… well that is yet to be determined.. and that sucks. We can name that. But we can also remember that we are not alone. That God too has traveled the unforeseeable path through the wilderness.. and that same God saw the Israelites stumbling through the desert hungry, thirsty, weary and afraid and God was with them. God made manna rain down from heaven and water to gush from a rock! (Exodus 16 and 17). The Lord is our shepherd; we shall not be left in want. Even in the darkest valleys, we shall not fear, for God is with us. (Psalm 23)

I do not know why this is happening. I do not know when this will end. But I do know that God is present and at work. Like the blind man from this morning’s gospel, may we lean into the mystery of the Lord. The man who received his sight was not afraid to say, ‘I don’t know how or why this happened, but all I know is that I was blind and now I see’ (John 9:25). He was content without an explanation, confessing only what he knew and leaving the rest to God. By the grace of God, this man born blind received his sight.

As we hear often throughout the gospels, the religious leaders of the day didn’t get it. They did not accept ‘the grace of God’ as an answer to anything. They needed concrete evidence! What is this ‘grace of God’, that makes no sense! To which I think we all can relate. We want answers. We want formulas that can be repeated, tried and true forever and ever. In this way we control our surroundings, our worldview, our systems.. creating structures that provide a narrative for our lives. We find comfort in these parameters we build around ourselves, but they are not our God.

The Pharisees in the gospel story idolized religious systems, structures, and answers leaving them blind when God literally turned up in their midst. The boundaries they had built around themselves in comfort and need of control shielded them from the revelation of God. Their need for answers, especially about God, built up walls that kept them from seeing the very thing they dedicated their lives to. We may want to, but we cannot put God in a box.

Last week we heard the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, where Jesus revealed to her who God is through Word, through a simple conversation (John 4). This week, Jesus is back at it again, revealing to us just who God is, only this time, through action. In making the blind man see, Jesus reveals to us all the love God has for us. This man did not even ask to be healed, nor are we told he has done anything to deserve to be healed, in fact he doesn’t even believe that Jesus is the Messiah until after he receives his sight! Jesus is the incarnation of the grace and love of God.

By grace alone, God makes manna rain from heaven, water gush from a rock, and makes a blind man see. Not because of who the people are who receive such mercies, but because of WHO GOD IS. This is the revelation we confess (not explain, but confess). Like the blind man it is okay to say, “I don’t know.” It is okay not to have all the answers. It is enough to simply say what God has done; how God has been revealed to you. We get so caught up in trying to put everything in a box and tie it up nicely with a bow, but that’s not life. Life is messy and unpredictable and constantly changing. God knows that and shows up anyways.. offering up a place to put our trust.. a solid place to plant our feet in the midst of the chaos.

In the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ we sing, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.” Whatever happened is not as important as the transformation it caused. The smearing of mud over the man’s eyes and washing in the pool of Siloam are nowhere near as important as the difference that it made in this man’s life. He was blind, but now he can see and because of that his entire worldview has changed, literally! He has also been transformed, in that now he lives in the light of the Lord, feeling the warmth of that light shine of his face reminding him of God’s presence and God’s love for him which changed his life. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” The light of the world was in their midst and is still in our midst today!

Deborah Kapp, a professor at McCormack Seminary says, “the light of the world shines bright and the community, the Pharisees, and the man’s family shut their eyes in self-defense. That is the intuitive thing to do, right!? Wrong! … The light of the world is in our midst, and we need not shut our eyes.. we will not be blinded.. we will be saved.”

My dear friends in Christ, may you lean into the mystery of God. May you remember the ways in which God has been revealed to our ancestors, and may you never stop looking for ways in which God is being revealed in our midst. Keep your eyes open. Do not be afraid to be blinded by the light that is Christ, for only there will you be able to truly see. “The light of the world is in our midst and we need not shut our eyes.. we will not be blinded.. we will be saved.”

I do not know why or how, all I know is that I was blind and now I see.

This is the foundation on which we stand.

When the whole world falls apart, when the walls we built up around us begin to crumble, God is our solid ground.

Open your eyes.. see.. and live.

Amen.

*Worship for this Sunday was recorded and can be found at www.seedsoffaithlutheran.org or on the Seeds of Faith Facebook page*