A miracle is the revealing of God’s presence. The dictionary defines it as “an extraordinary event taken as a sign of the supernatural power of God.” It is a revelation of the Holy. With that in mind, let us take a look at the story we just heard.
What is the miracle in this story?
That’s right . . . the blind man receives sight! God is revealed! But if you were really listening to the story you’d have to wonder. It seems like everyone involved is talking about everything but the man receiving sight.
Think about it . . .
First the story starts out with the “great debate” between Jesus and his disciples: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Who cares! The point is moot with Jesus. As far as Jesus is concerned this is a person who needs help . . . he needs to see. Why he cannot see does not matter, the point is that he is blind.
Then Jesus heals the man. The man’s neighbors cannot believe that he is who he said he is . . . it is an imposter who looks like him. But the fact is that he once was blind but now he sees. Not satisfied with the man’s insistence that he is who he says he is, they haul him over to the Pharisees. They explain the situation . . . he once was blind but now he sees. Now you would have thought that everyone—especially the Pharisees—would have been jumping up and down hooting and hollering . . . but they weren’t.
Instead of celebrating the man’s good fortune of gaining sight, they begin nitpicking the story. They claim that Jesus is some sort of a hoaxster . . . some sort of a scammer . . . and definitely not anyone of any degree of holiness—he doesn’t even observe the fact that it is the Sabbath. But the man stuck to his story.
Then they call for the parents of the man. They demand to know if the man is their son or not. Sure, enough it is their boy. The parents tell the Pharisees that their son is of age, and he can speak for himself. He is who he says he is . . . and yup, he can now see. So, they question the man again, and again he sticks to his story . . . I once was blind and now I see. For him the Holy was revealed . . . “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
This just infuriates the Pharisees even more and in their anger they throw the man out. Accuse him of not knowing what he was talking about. The man stuck to his story, he once could not see but now he sees . . . and it was all because of that Jesus guy.
Of course, the man was dejected about everything that had happened. Jesus comes to him and confirms the experience of the man . . . assures him that it happened just as it did and that the Holy was revealed. Jesus tells him that sometimes people just don’t get it because they have the convenience of poor sight. A few of the Pharisees overheard the conversation and ask Jesus whether or not he is talking about them. To which Jesus exclaims: “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” In other words, Jesus tells them, “If the shoe fits, wear it.”
The story is about a person getting sight after a lifetime of blindness. It is a healing story . . . it is a miracle story in that the Holy is revealed to those who witness it. Here was a person in need and Jesus reached out to help. Plain and simple. The individual had a need and Jesus met it. There was no questionnaire or application about the root causes of the person’s blindness for that did not matter. What mattered was that the person was blind and needed help. It did not matter that it happened on the Sabbath. As far as Jesus was concerned he reached out to help another. He solved the problem. That was what mattered. All the secondary conversations being waged by everyone did not matter . . . what mattered was that the blind received sight and the Holy was revealed.
The convenience of poor sight. In the story everyone wanted to deal with everything but the real issue. They wanted to seek a cause for the blindness or find someone to blame it on. They wanted to argue whether or not Jesus was a “holy” person because he went and broke the laws of the Sabbath. They argued over whether or not the man was who said he was. They wanted to deal with everything but the real issue. When Jesus pointed this out to them they got mad and huffed off in anger.
The convenience of poor sight is probably more prevalent than we want to admit . . . but it is there.
Humor me with this simplistic process of thought I am about to offer. Over in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31 through 36, Jesus tells the story of the “sheep and goats”. Remember that story? It is the day of heavenly reckoning, and everyone is gathered in heaven. On one side of the throne are the people considered the sheep, on the other side are those considered the goats. The ones on the right—the sheep—are invited to come on in and receive their blessing. The invitation is followed by a statement about the times that they had helped him when he was hungry, thirsty, the stranger, naked, sick, and in prison.
Of course, the sheep respond by asking when they had done this. The reply? “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Then to those on the left—the goats—they are told to leave and to take their place where the eternal flame dwells. With that command it is explained that they did nothing for him when he was hungry, thirsty, the stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. In a like manner as the sheep they wanted to know when they had missed those opportunities to minister to him. The answer? “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Then he basically tells them to hurry on their way . . . it is done.
Both groups—the sheep and goats—ask the same question: “When did we see you?” The problem is that one group has the convenience of poor sight . . . they walked on by. Or they debated on why there were hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and people in prison. Or they argued about who to blame. Whatever the case, they did not stop and help. And the result is a warm vacation. As far as Jesus is concerned there is no one to blame but themselves . . . “If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
As I look around the world there are still the blind . . . still the hungry . . . still the thirsty . . . the naked . . . the strangers in our midst and the prisoners. They are all around us . . . And yet we live in a time in which the human race produces more than enough to feed everyone. Yet there are the hungry. There is more than enough resources to clothe the naked and to give drink to the thirsty. Enough to provide hospitality to the stranger and to welcome the prisoner. We live in a time when there is plenty of wealth to solve the needs of those whom Jesus speaks. Yet, they are still here.
Why?
We are not blind to the world around us, but we might be suffering from the convenience of poor sight. We look the other way for whatever reasons we want to use. We waste time arguing about “root causes” or whose fault the whole mess it. We point fingers at others. We do anything that we can to avoid dealing with what is right in front of us. That is what we see in the story we heard this morning. And when this happens the whole point is missed.
The point of the story is that the blind man was healed and gained sight . . . he could see. In that act of healing the Holy was revealed. God was revealed. Anyone with eyes . . . true eyes of faith . . . would have seen and known this. It was a miracle. But it got lost because those around had a bad case of poor sight. Instead of seeing they did everything but acknowledge the presence of the Holy. Where there should have been a celebration, there was nothing.
As we continue the journey through the season of Lent, let us consider our sight . . . our vision as the faithful. Let us open ourselves to the Holy wherever we are for the opportunities are countless . . . they are there on the street corner, holding a sign . . . they are lined up outside the mission house . . . they are there standing in the corners of a dark room waiting to be invited in. Let us not stumble through the journey with poor sight . . . instead let us open our hearts and eyes to see the miracles waiting to be acknowledged. Let us believe and let us see. Amen.
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