A sermon for John 9:1-38 Presented at Christ Church, Bordentown NJ, March 18 & 19, 2023.

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I was at the Pittsburgh Airport many years ago, waiting at a gate for my plane when I noticed Ray Charles (the renowned singer who lost his eyesight at the age of 7) at the adjoining gate. Even though he had an entourage of folks surrounding him, I was staring at him amazed at how well he walked around with minimal help. As I continued to stare, I was not looking as I went to sit down. And instead of landing on a cushy seat, I landed my tailbone on the hard metal armrest of the airport bench _ and it hurt. A lot.

Clearly, my guardian angel was going to let this opportunity pass, and not nudge me into the right spot this time.

And I learned two lessons that day. One, my mother was right _ do not stare at people. And two, just because the person that you’re staring at- can’t see you staring back at them, does not negate rule number one.

When I think about today’s Gospel, I’m reminded of that day in the airport and I wonder, who’s really the blind person in my story?

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Which is why I think I have a fondness for today’s Gospel. I like these stories in the Bible about Jesus healing the blind and those with afflictions or handicaps. They are stories of goodness and kindness, and they illustrate a moral attitude that we should follow.

And even though we don’t know the blind man’s name_ or much about the man in today’s Gospel_ there’s more personal detail in this story of this man’s curing than most stories in the Gospels and this gives us a chance to understand how this man might feel. To see what I mean, think about how this story sounds when told in the first person, it might sound a little like this…

“I’m a man who was blind at birth and I was begging in the street one day.

Strangers passing by were talking about me openly and questioning amongst themselves whether my blindness made me a sinner or not.

Then I heard someone spit and someone rubbed mud on my eyes and told me to wash in the pool of Siloam.

 Which I did and my sight was restored.

So, I started telling others that I was the blind beggar that they knew from the street, and they didn’t believe me.

They brought me to the temple to recount my story and they didn’t believe me.

 The leaders then went to my mother, and she refused to answer their question about whether or not I was blind before, because she was afraid that they would throw her out of the church.

 Then the leaders questioned me again. When they didn’t like the answer I gave them about Jesus they were nasty and dismissive, saying you can’t teach us anything because you were born in sin and then they kicked me out.

And then I ran into Jesus again, and I felt so relieved.”

So, as you might imagine, and heard, there are a lot of layers to this story. But for the sake of time, let’s back up to the part where he said strangers were openly talking about him. This of course was Jesus’ disciples asking Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Let’s focus on THAT question AND Jesus’ answer of “Neither”. Because there is a notion at this time that those who are handicapped or afflicted were considered sinners.

It’s not a surprise that people thought that way. In the Old Testament, there are many teachings that folks heard that establish that sin will be punished by blindness. Also during the time of this story, diseases of the eyes had been acknowledged for a long time, but we were still a long way from modern medicine’s understanding of blindness.

It was also easy to look down on this blind man. His lack of sight most likely was the reason he had to beg in the streets. He was most likely not able to sustain a standard of living that others could. He was also probably avoided…folks probably didn’t make eye contact, which is probably why he wasn’t even recognized when he stopped begging. And they probably feared him. This blind man was considered a sinner _ and who knows what would’ve happened if you associated with him.

But Jesus was clear in his answer to his disciples that this blind man was “born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him”. His blindness had nothing to do with his lack of faith in God. It had nothing to do with his trespasses or transgressions. This man’s story of blindness was a lesson for all of us that even those born in darkness have the ability to live in the light. And when linked with the other stories of Jesus’ healings, it tells us that no matter what our affliction is, we are not different from each other. We are all God’s children, and we can all see the light.

So, as we consider this fourth Sunday in the season of Lent, we think about what God wants us to learn about yourselves. Think about it as a light He’s shining on us. In turn, it’s a light we can then shine onto to others to help them see. And that light is grace. And when we share grace, and treat each other with grace, we see and hear each other more clearly _ and understand each other better. Through God’s light, this is how we can truly accomplish the act of treating everyone without disparity and prejudice, and instead as fellow human beings. And that does not require eyesight to do.

But as a society we’re still dodging the afflicted and handicapped. We bar them from jobs and participating in activities. We avoid eye contact and don’t always take more time to listen.  Some of that is fear because deep down we know that out of all the minorities in this world, being handicapped is the only one that we could all possibly become. And that’s a scary thought being seen as less-than.

But being handicapped as God has shown us does not mean that the handicapped are less-than in any way. If anything, our handicaps are the things that reveal God’s good works. It shows us a way toward humility. It shows us that we can be brave in the face of adversity. It’s also an opportunity to show that we care about our fellow human beings on this earth. And _ if you happen to be disrespectful, for example stare a little too long, your guardian angel just might look the other way on occasion.

Not that guardian angels are cruel. But sometimes not nudging us into the comfortable seat is a little reminder of how it feels bad to be treated less-than. And a chance reminder that we can be better, to walk the way Jesus wants us to walk (good, right and true, as Saint Paul said), and to continue to walk in God’s light.