“Lord, I believe!”

Meditation on John 9

Fourth Sunday in Lent

March 30, 2014

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    “As Jesus 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?’ 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 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 Jesus 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.’ Then the man did what Jesus told him to do—and came back able to see! 

    The neighbors who had known him before as a blind beggar started asking, ‘Is this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It’s him!’ Others were saying, ‘No, it can’t be. It’s just someone who looks like him.’  But the man who had been healed kept saying, ‘I am the same man—the one who couldn’t see.’ But the neighbors didn’t understand –or maybe they just didn’t want to believe in the miracle, so they kept asking him how he received his sight.

     Finally, the man told them what happened, including the part about Jesus putting the mud on his eyes. And it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had healed him. So the man who was formerly blind was brought to the Pharisees, the religious experts and leaders of the time. The Pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. And the man told him what happened. The Pharisees responded by ignoring the miracle and attacking, saying, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.’ But other people were saying, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs—do these miracles?’

     And they were divided. So, again, they asked the man who had been blind, ‘What do you say about him—the one who did this? It was your eyes he opened.’ The man said, ‘He is a prophet.’  So then the Jews began to question that the man was really blind to begin with. They called in his parents and asked, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’ 

       His parents were frightened because they heard that if they confessed Jesus to be the Messiah they would be put out of the synagogue. So they admitted that he was their son, and he was born blind, but they didn’t know how he came to have his sight. They told the Pharisees to ask their son. After all, he was an adult and could speak for himself. So the religious leaders again questioned the man who had been blind, saying to him, ‘Give glory to God! We know that this man (Jesus) is a sinner.’    

    The man answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’ The Pharisees didn’t like his answer and fired more questions at him, till finally the man, exasperated, said, ‘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?’ And by saying that, he had admitted that he was one of Jesus’ followers.

     Then the religious leaders attacked him verbally, ‘You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.’ 

     The man answered, ‘Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to 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.’ His answer enraged the Pharisees, who then drove him out of the community.

      Jesus heard what happened to the man he had healed, and he went and found the man and asked, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ And the man said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshiped him. 

      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.’ Some of the Pharisees heard this and said , ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus answered, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see,” your sin remains. (Paraphrase of John 9)

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     During Lent last year I shared with you my struggle with perfectionism. I felt convicted that my sometimes over-anxious concern for every detail and my self-criticism was not God’s will for me. And yet, here I am today, confessing that I am struggling with it again. I think that it comes up in Lent and spring more than at other times of the year because I am so busy.

    The busier I am, the more I push myself. And I am never quite able to keep up with my own expectations of what I think the Lord requires of me. I share this because I know that all people with hearts to follow Christ, to be His faithful servants, often struggle with self-doubt and unrealistic expectations for themselves.  This message is for all you that love the Lord and want to please Him—because I don’t want you to become discouraged.

     After another week of struggling to do all that I had purposed to do to the highest standards that I keep for myself, I began to feel like a rug starting to fray at the edges. Finally, on Friday night, when I was sorting through the Tupperware order in my office—and there were plastic containers and bags everywhere—I had to laugh at the chaos. Then I thought, the way the room looked was how I felt on the inside! And I realized what I had been doing to myself. I confessed my sin to the Lord. Immediately, I felt Him lift the burden from my shoulders. That’s what happens when we confess-we feel relief in letting go of something that is bad for us and accepting God’s healing grace, mercy, and love.

    What is perfectionism? Expecting things of ourselves that God doesn’t expect. It’s willful disobedience, plain and simple. It’s wasting time and energy that could be spent doing what the Lord wants us to be doing—loving and serving Him and loving and serving people.

    I felt the Lord whispering, “Don’t you trust me? Isn’t my grace enough? Stop judging yourself! Just have faith—and let my Spirit do its gentle work in you.”

      And to the One who had opened my eyes to see myself as I truly am, I answered, “Lord, “I believe.”

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    Today we hear the story of Jesus healing the blind beggar with mud and saliva—and what happens afterward. How, instead of responding by praising and worshiping God, the Pharisees pounce on the poor man and bully him and his parents. They demand to know how a blind man has come to see.   And the truth is staring them in the face! It is a miracle from God! Jesus Christ is the Messiah, God’s anointed.

       God looks beyond the outward appearance of this man, this poor unnamed beggar, and knows his heart, while others, even Christ’s own disciples, look down on him, believing that his blindness is God’s judgment for his or his parents’ sin!

      The most moving part of the story, to me, is after the Pharisees have driven the blind man out of town, Jesus goes and finds him. He reaches out to him with love. And he’s just a beggar! An outcast—hurt by the people who believe themselves religious when they are arrogant, judgmental, and cruel.

       Christ says they are the ones who are blind!!  Just as we are blind if we hold to a legalistic form of religion, but fail to worship and love the Lord. We are blind if we think ourselves to be religious, but are unkind to other people.

      Jesus tells the beggar he has seen the Son of Man. 

      Jesus says, I am He!

     And the man, whose eyes were opened to the truth, replies, “Lord, I believe!”

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      After his profession of faith, the man worships the Lord. As we are called to do. If we believe, then we will show it through our lives of worship. We can’t make ourselves perfect by doing all the holy things right. We must only accept that a perfect God loves us beyond our understanding. And He has made us right with Him through the sacrifice of His Son.

    Friends, don’t be discouraged if you can’t meet your own expectations for yourself.  Trust in the One who has promised to accomplish His work in and through you. 

     God worked a miracle through the life of a nameless, poor blind man. What mattered was his heart!  

     God will work miracles in and through our lives, too! If we learn to trust the “Son of Man.”

      If we seek Him and seek to be like Him.

      If we ask Him to open our eyes so that we see ourselves and the world as He looks upon us—with an everlasting love.

      And if we say with all our heart, “Lord, I believe.”

Let us pray.

Loving Lord, thank you for your Spirit that turned our hearts toward you, that led us to say, “We believe.” Empower us to live lives of worship and grace, without relying on our own abilities to do all the holy things right. Teach us not to be judgmental and help us to let go of any unrealistic expectations we may have of ourselves or other people. Open our eyes so that we see ourselves and others as you see us through the work of Christ on the cross. Help us to see all people as your precious children, loved with an everlasting love. Give us your vision for your Church and your compassion for the world. Lead us to do your will. In Christ we pray. Amen.