3-23-2020

Good Morning All, 

        John 9: 2-3; “And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, "It is not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

    It’s your fault!  It is his fault!  It is her fault!  It is somebody’s fault!  That seems to be a common mantra today.  In fact, it is the comment older than writing itself; whose fault is it anyway?  Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent; all that mattered was the finger was directed towards someone.  I am reminded of a line from a movie that I watched once.  In it, the superior officer told the junior officer, “I didn’t say you did it; I am just saying I am going to blame you for it.”

    Our verse is part of the story where Jesus heals a man who has been blind since birth and he does this on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees are completely out of sorts over the whole event.  Yet it is the disciples who start things.  “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents?”  In some ways, it is a legitimate question.  There were some who taught that children could and did sin in utero.  Some thought that if the child were conceived in a sinful fashion, like mom and dad weren’t really married at the time of conception or maybe daddy is not daddy, or some other reason; then the child could be born blind, deaf, mute, deformed or whatever.  So, it was a legitimate question from a human standpoint, but Jesus changed the whole thing.  It was not about sin but about glorifying God.

    This is a trap that many Christians fall into; who sinned?  Somehow, we need to affix blame.  Jesus is telling us, “no, it is about giving God glory!”  Answering the question “who sinned?” is not relevant to the event.  Jesus is the one who will judge, not you and not me.  This is part of Matthew’s “judge not” and Romans’ “vengeance is mine says the Lord.”  God will judge; our calling is to give glory to God.

    How do we do this?   By letting our light shine.  How do we let our light shine?  By loving our neighbor.  It is never a question of blame, but it is always an opportunity to bring healing and hope, comfort and mercy to those who suffer.  That is our part of the deal.  It is not to judge but to bring about the compassion of Christ to a broken, suffering world.

    Over the next few days and weeks, you will hear a lot of “the blame game”.  As a child of God, don’t play it.  Give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a cloak to the naked, a visit to the prisoner.  Go about being the light; showing God’s love to a person who desperately needs it.  

Father, too often I seek to blame rather than heal.  Restore me that I might be your hands in the field, your voice in the panic, your embrace to the fearful.  Keep us as your beloved children, ever trusting in your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret