3/26 - A Blind Man on a Road

The video used at the midpoint of the sermon can be found here.

Encounters With Jesus
A Blind Man on the Road
John 9:1-16,(17-41)

Bearing the Shame
> Have we ever been as...
    Nicodemus, trying to avoid shame & guilt?
    The Woman at the Well, shamed and burdened by guilt?
    The Blind Man on the Road, shamed yet innocent?
      • HARD to bear (at least when you know you're guilty,
        you perceive the shame as "penance")
> Who sinned?
    Even the disciples asked what did he (or his parents) do to deserve this?
    Had NONE of these people read the book of Job?
      • Understandable, as we really want to believe bad things
        happen to everyone but us.
      • And if we link bad things happening to moral failings, then
        we have the power to prevent bad things in our lives (or so we think).
      • Unfortunate side effect: we condemn, even vilify, those
        who have the bad things happen to them.
    The theory at the time was either his parents had sinned,
      or he had sinned in the womb
      • really??
> But since Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath, the Pharisees
   brought the hammer down...
    ...resulting in his "excommunication"
    John 9:17-24

A Note on Blindness...
> Born Blind vs. Willfully Blind
> Stuck in darkness vs. choosing darkness

A Note on Public Opinion
> Why do we give people such power over us, by worrying so much about what they think of us? Wouldn't we rather have our Heavenly Father's approval?
    Nicodemus wandering in the dark, later paid for the
      spices for Jesus' burial
    The Woman at the Well hiding from the townsfolk, then
      running into town to tell them about Jesus.
    The Man Born Blind condemned by the respectable Pharisees,
      then confronting them in the temple.

Physical and Spiritual Blindness
> The Man Born Blind was healed of both
    John 9:35-41
    Brought from physical blindness to both physical and spiritual sight.
      "Lord, I believe!" "Sent" (siloam) to speak to the spiritually blind.
> The Pharisees remained in the dark. Why?
    Honest conviction? No, then Jesus would not have condemned them.
    Feeling threatened? Probably
      • Jesus was a threat to their spiritual authority (and
        thereby their worldly power).
    They chose to remain blind... This leads us to our
      "Lenten Question" of the week...
> "Have we chosen (are we even now choosing) easy blindness over a difficult sight?"
    Truths about ourselves, others, our situation...
      sometimes it is "easier" to not admit things to ourselves
> But Jesus calls us to live in the light!
    I want to be like the man Jesus healed, confronting the
      source of his shame, even in having the worst happen
      not letting his newfound freedom falter!