In the Dark 2 - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent Year A

In the Dark 2

Lent 4A

March 19, 2023

Christ, Preston, MN

John 9.1-41

One day, following a funeral at church, I encountered an attendee in the parking lot. A visitor to the church, she told me how much she appreciated the service, especially the invitation to Communion. The invitation that I gave was the same I give here: “All are welcome to God’s table of grace and mercy. If you wonder if that means you, yes it does.” I was glad she felt welcomed, especially in an unfamiliar setting. Then she added, “You know, if I’d been welcomed like that years ago I’d never have left the Lutheran Church.” So, in addition to feeling grateful, I was sad she hadn’t experienced it previously.

The man born blind who had received his sight from Jesus did not receive a warm welcome, either. In what should have been a joyous occasion, the gift of sight to the man born blind was not one at all. Writers have observed that the usual response of amazement following a miracle is nowhere to be found here. The disciples are silent after wrestling with the theological question of sin and suffering. The neighbors can’t see the miracle though it’s staring them in the face. The religious leaders are so indignant they can’t see God’s handiwork. And the man’s parents lose Parent of the Year because they are afraid of retribution from the religious leaders they throw their son under the bus. But it is the religious leaders that Jesus has choice words for, those who should be helping people see God’s action in the world, not hindering it.

This is not a Jewish problem from 2,000 years ago. (By the way, when the Gospel writer John uses the term “Jews” in a negative sense he is most often referring to the religious leaders, not the Jewish people themselves.) It has all too often been a Christian problem. Former Pastor, public theologian, and writer Brian McLaren explains this in excruciating detail in his book, Do I Stay Christian: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned. The book provides a case for why one shouldn’t (and should) remain a Christian. Among the arguments McLaren gives for leaving: Christianity’s antisemitism, complicity with Colonialism, and long history of squelching dissent against nonconformists (i.e., heretics) especially with violence.

In the story of the man born blind, we discover someone who grows in faith and understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him, even in the face of hostility, uncertainty, and fear. But we also have the opportunity to engage in deep reflection as a church how we respond to the possibility that God is doing something new in our midst. We can ask ourselves if we have the humility to wonder about God’s crazy ways.

The author CS Lewis wrote a book called The Last Battle, the final installment in The Chronicles of Narnia series. In the series, the lion Aslan is a Christ-figure in the land of Narnia populated by people, talking animals, and fantastical creatures. The Last Battle depicts the end of Narnia and features a battle between good and evil. In the battle dwarves continually switch sides because, as they say, “the dwarves are for the dwarves.” Even so, they still find themselves thrown into a ramshackle hut by the evil forces, a hut that we discover “is bigger on the inside than outside.” Though the inside of the hut is a Narnian version of a new world, a new heaven and a new earth, if you will, the dwarves can only see a dirty, smelly hut. They cannot see the beauty surrounding them.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, but suffice it to say that there are those people and creatures in the New Narnia whom we might not expect to be there. And we have a hint that even the blind dwarves are not a lost cause, that they might be able to escape the hell of their own making and see the paradise prepared for them. The season of Lent is an opportunity for deep reflection on our relationship with God and others. It is for both personal and communal reflection, how we are invited to see God working, both in, with, and through our lives and Christ Lutheran Church as well. 

I can’t go back and fix the hurt that the funeral visitor experienced in her life. And I’m sorry if any of you who are listening have been hurt by the church. But we can be the gracious, open, and welcoming place God intends. This is hard work, Siblings in Christ, but done with the presence of Christ who opens our eyes and minds to see. Thanks be to God. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.