The Fourth Sunday in Lent by Charles Thomas Williams, 1942-1993 THE VESTRY OF SAINT BARNABAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH March 21, 1993 I Samuel 16:1-13 - Psalm 23 - Ephesians 5:1-14 - John 9:1-38 Jesus said: It is for judgment that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight may become blind. --John 9:39

John ends the story of the man born blind with that verse. It clearly tells us that he was more interested in the symbolic dimension of this story than of the material dimension. In this story, Jesus brings spiritual enlightenment to the blind man. St. John tells us that Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man so that he could see that Jesus was the light of the world. The focus of the story is to contrast the blind who see with sighted ones who are blind.

There are two aspects of this story that are remarkable.

The first is that the man born blind stands for everyman, or everyone, I should say. St. John would agree that all human beings are born blind. This blindness is the result of the Fall, of human rebellion at the beginning of creation. Once living in paradise, in God's own garden, humans decided that wasn't quite good enough. So they sought wisdom from the fruit of the material world. "Eat this, and become wise," they were told. And what did they discover when their eyes were opened: not a great deal. They discovered that they were naked. That is, they became self-conscious. Spiritual blindness is a result of self-consciousness. Religions east and west have taught detachment from the self as the way to spiritual wisdom.

So when Jesus puts mud on this man's eyes, the blind man begins to see, a reversal of the experience of humanity in Eden. The blind man begins to lose consciousness of self, as he no longer sits at the roadside passively acquiescing to whatever might be tossed his way. Adam and Eve lost paradise in exchange for knowledge that they were naked, a spurious enlightenment. Jesus' act of creation here has brought true enlightenment. That is the first aspect.

The second is that the illumination this man experiences comes slowly, and we can trace it in his responses to Jesus. When his neighbors doubt that he is the blind man who now can see, he speaks of Jesus as "the man called Jesus." When the Pharisees call him in and dispute whether Jesus is from God or not, the man says, "He is a prophet." During the second interrogation by the Pharisees, the man declares that Jesus is from God. Finally, when Jesus reveals himself as the Son of man, the once-blind-now-sighted man falls on his knees in faith.

What sustained the man through all the questioning and scoffing was his experience of Jesus. Arguments, demonstrations of proof, proof-texts, did nothing because the man had an encounter with Jesus that had healed him. The spiritual significance of the healing is enlightenment, reflecting the light of Christ. Whether ... [Jesus] ... is a sinner I don't know; all I know is that once I was blind and now I can see. The once-blind man knows only his experience of Jesus, which is that Jesus healed him. Before Jesus, the man was blind from birth in the conventional way we are all blind from birth. Now no longer blind, his understanding of who Jesus is grows as he encounters hostile powers in the world, until at last, Jesus sought him out so that he could reveal himself to him.

So then, we have two aspects of this story. The first is that the man born blind stands for everyone. We all grow blind as we become self-conscious. The second is that the healing of this blindness begins with an experience of Jesus that heals, and then grows until Jesus fully reveals himself. At that moment of revelation, the man is fully healed and therefore able to worship fully--which is to be one with God.

Now let me ask you a question. Many people have mentioned the community spirit on Wednesday as we gathered to commend John Kimmey into God's hands. We know that John died a healed man, and when he died he was fully one with God. And so I know that many of you share my experience that John's life was a gracious gift of God to this parish.

But I wonder whether we've realized that John's death was a gift that imparted God's grace to this parish, to us as individual members, and as a corporate entity? I believe God sent John here, not only for his good, but for ours as well. God sent John here to confront us with our own version of the question, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" John taught us the answer to that question: "He was born blind so that the works of God might be revealed in him." In so very many ways, John taught us how to live. And at the end, he taught us how to die. I believe that his death, which is perhaps the holiest moment of life, has sanctified the Body of Christ in the world, has imparted holiness to this people here. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants. I never understood what that meant until I saw John lying in his bed last Sunday.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants.
0 Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.

This is the song of the man-born-blind, and the song of all of us who seek truth in Jesus Christ. It was John's song, too.