There is a joke that has been reborn in
light of the COVID-19 pandemic in reaction to the world’s response after the
outbreak occurred in China. It is a joke
that is probably familiar to most of us.
A great flood hits a community and the
city’s authorities tell people they need to leave. They make this announcement by going house to
house. At one house the owner tells the
authorities that God will take care of him.
Then the waters begin rising until they are lapping at the door. A boat arrives and tells the owner to get in
before the house is flooded, but the man insists that he will stay, and that
God will take care of him. Eventually
the water rises to the height of the roof, the man climbs onto the roof, and a
helicopter is sent. They ask the man to
get in before it is too late, but he refuses, claiming that God will take care
of him. Soon the water rises above the
roof and the man drowns.
Upon getting to heaven, the man
confronts God, demanding to know why God did not take care of him. God responses, “I sent people to your house
to warn you, but you did not leave. I
sent a boat for you to leave, but you refused.
I even sent a helicopter, and you refused. What more did you expect?”
Sometimes we are blind. Blind to the fact that the answers and
solutions are all around us and have been for quite a while.
In the scripture reading this morning we
are confronted by blindness—both physical and spiritual. The story is about a
man who has been blind since birth who has an encounter with Jesus. The disciples want to know who has sinned,
the man or his parents, to cause his blindness.
Jesus responds that neither had sin . . . he is just blind; but the
situation presented an opportunity to do good for God. He spit on the ground, made some mud, put it
on the man’s eyes, and sent him off to wash it off. The man did as he was told and returned with
sight.
Of course, no one believed it. Some claimed it was not him, despite his
insistence that it was. So, they took
the man to the Pharisees to settle the matter once and for all. The leaders questioned the man and he never
waivers from the truth . . . Jesus healed him of his blindness. What ensues is a running debate between the
healed man and the Pharisees. The
Pharisees make all sorts of claim about Jesus and the fact that they do not
believe the man was ever blind. The
parents vouch for the man. The man
sticks to his story, stating, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t
know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” Then
he hurled a challenge at the Pharisees asking them why they cared, did they
want to become one of Jesus’ disciples too?
With righteous indignation, they threw
the man out.
Upon hearing what had happened to the
man, Jesus found him. Jesus reveals to
the man that he is the Messiah, the Son of Man.
The man proclaims, “Lord, I believe” and began to worship
Jesus. Jesus says, “For judgment I
have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will
become blind.” Standing nearby
were a few Pharisees who took offense at what they were witnessing and hearing. They ask Jesus, “What? Are we blind
too?” They want to know if Jesus
is insulting them.
Though he doesn’t say it quite this way,
he tells them that if the shoe fits, wear it.
One of the background pieces of
information we often forget about Jesus’ dealings with the Pharisees and other
religious and legal leaders of his time was his statement of having come not to
abolish the law and prophets’ words, but to fulfill them. Thus, it should come as no surprise that
Jesus is confrontational with those individuals who view themselves as the
pious faithful . . . people like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and legal experts. These are supposedly the keepers of the faith
. . . the ones who are supposed to know the laws and the words of the prophets
. . . the ones to teach them and live them.
Laws and words they had had for many, many generations; and yet, they
were blind to the will of God. They just
didn’t get it even as God has sent help in the form of Jesus.
We must also remember that Jesus stated
that the two most important commandments . . . two most important laws, were
that people were to love the Lord completely and to love others as God had
loved them. Jesus came to show them how.
For example, did it really matter the
cause for the man’s blindness? Did it
matter whether he sinned or his parents or even some long lost relative a
million years before? Of course not, but
by wasting time arguing the causes of blindness nothing is being done to help
this man. How often do we turn in our
lives with a blind eye? The idiom,
“turning a blind eye” describes what people do when they do not want to deal
with undesirable information. This is an
accusation leveled across the world as nations and governments have dealt with
COVID-19.
COVID-19 is a whole new virus that
scientists and medical experts know very little about. Over the weeks and months that it has been
blazing across the world, they have learned that it is a deadly virus. This is serious business that effects the
lives of all of us, and especially the lives of those who might be the most
susceptible to it. Because of this the
world has spoken about the urgency of how to level the field in making this
pandemic manageable to hopefully quell the death toll.
The response? Well, the response had been kind of weird . .
. at least to me. I have been surprised
at the push back and poo-pooing about the virus and the recommendations to curb
its spread . . . social isolation, washing hands, canceling events, schools
closed, and the closing down of public
places. I have heard it called “fake
news”. I have heard conspiracy theories
that China or some political party is behind it. I have even heard many say, “God will take
care of us . . . God will help us.” All
of this was being said as we witnessed the devastation of the virus’ spread
across other parts of the world. Is this
not blindness?
Well, in a little over a week we have
seen a change because we have seen the fearful reaction . . . the run on
stocking up on food and cleaning supplies to isolate ourselves for the next two
weeks. Never before in my lifetime have
I ever been in stores and seen shelves empty.
Suddenly the blindness has been lifted . . . and, the question becomes
whether or not we opened our eyes soon enough.
It is not “fake news” or a plot hatched by China or some political ploy. And yes, I believe God will take care of us,
but at the same time how many people, boats, and helicopters must God send
before we wake up and realize that we have a major role to play in whole
pandemic. God will take care of us, but
we need to take care of each other . . . just as God has done for us.
Isn’t that the whole point in this story
we have heard this morning? It does not
matter why the man was blind. It does
not matter how the man became blind.
What matters was that the blind man was in need of someone to care about
him, to help him with his needs, and to receive him into the family—the family
of God. Jesus told his disciples: “Neither
this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God
might be displayed in him.”
Thus, it was that the man was healed.
Thus, he believed.
In this season of Lent, we are called to
examine that which blocks our relationship with God and others. In this we need to examine those blind spots
in our lives that keep us from fully realizing the opportunities to reach out
and grow closer to God and others. We
need to realize that we have all we need to know when it comes to what God
wants us to do . . . God wants us to love.
To love God. To love one
another. Jesus demonstrates this as he
encounters the blind man . . . instead of asking questions and getting into
theological debates, he heals the man and welcomes him back into God’s family.
If we can do this then we can join the
man in proclaiming: “One thing I do know.
I was blind but now I see!”
Amen.
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