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The Gospel: John 9:1-41
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that you have inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation, and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: English is an interesting language, isn't it? I have to say I am very glad that I grew up in a country where we spoke a version of English. I admire so much those who learn English later in life. It can be very confusing. Then I have to say that as we traveled around the world we often found ourselves flummoxed by what was said to us and by the reaction of others to what we said to them. We were both speaking our version of English but we were unfamiliar with the use of the words or phrases in the order or the context of how those words were used. Sometimes it came down to particular words. Often in English, we use one word which has several different meanings or uses. I am sure that we are all familiar with the teaching around the word love. In English, we use that one word with a broad range of understandings and meanings. The best comparison, of course, is with ancient Greek, where they have six different words with specific meanings for the variations of love. They used Philia, for deep friendship, Ludus for playful love, Agape for love for everyone (or God's special love), Eros for sexual passion, Pragma for longstanding love, and Philautia for love of the self. In the Gospel passage from John this morning the key or central word is: "see." All the way through the passage the word see is used. It was a long reading this morning and I hope I can keep my comments on it concise. But I believe it will help us understand the challenge of the passage for us if we spend some time considering the word: see. Or perhaps how it is being used to convey different meanings. The story is about a blind man, an outcast, who encounters Jesus. Jesus sees him, Jesus heals him, and the man's sight is restored so that he can see. Then the man encounters the Pharisees who challenge and question him about his healing and his ability to see. In the end, they cast him out. Jesus finds him reassures and affirms him. You all heard the story so I don't need to revisit the whole thing. But the whole story revolves around seeing. This leads me to my discussion about how the word see is used in this passage. There is the obvious use of see, in that the man's eyes allow him to see things. But I want to suggest that in English we also use the word see to mean "to understand or comprehend." This is an intellectual or mental ability that we have as human beings to see things. To see means that we can comprehend and understand things not just with our eyes but with our minds. Often, when we say something like "ah, I see" we don't mean that we actually see that thing, but what we are saying is that we intellectually comprehend or understand something. We are responding by saying: "I get the concept that you are sharing." "I comprehend what you are talking about." Or perhaps another way to look at it is to say: "I understand what has happened, I grasp what you are telling me took place." I see. So, with all that in mind, let us look at the passage from John this morning. The difficulty that the man who has been healed, his parents, and the Pharisees have, doesn't have to do with their physical ability to see. It has to do with their intellectual capacity to comprehend and accept what has happened. They can't see. Actually, it has to do with their spiritual ability to see. They are spiritually blind to what has happened. They cannot comprehend or understand what has happened. Then they hold on to that spiritual blindness and drive the man out. They become the epitome of what Jesus says at the end of the passage from John: Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” The blind man gains his physical sight, and eventually, after further conversation with Jesus receives his spiritual sight. The Pharisees never lose their physical sight but they become spiritually blind. As we reflect on this passage this morning can we see any application for ourselves? What do we comprehend or understand this passage is saying to us? What might the passage be challenging us about in our spiritual lives? It brings to mind the words of Paul writing to the Ephesians in Ephesians 1: 15-20: "I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places" "so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you" If I could roughly paraphrase that this morning: "so that, with the eyes of your heart might see, that you may see the hope to which he has called you" The Gospel: John 4:5-42
Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that you have inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation, and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: We are all familiar with the phrase "being in the right place, at the right time" aren't we? This phrase usually indicates a positive outcome and response to a need or an opportunity. In a spiritual sense, this phrase is often used when we find ourselves blessed, or somehow experience a positive outcome to a situation we have been uncertain about. It is sometimes used as a way to explain the unexplainable, you know when things work out for us spiritually and we are not sure how to comprehend it without sounding too "spiritually out there." Or too "spiritually minded." In the Gospel reading from John this morning we have this very familiar passage. Is there anyone here this morning who hasn't heard this story before? OK, so as we approach this story I have to say it is one of the most cited and quoted stories of all of the Gospel stories. So, can I say to you that this story is actually the perfect example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Everything about his incident is wrong. Why is Jesus in Samaria? Why is he by himself? Alone in this foreign place and in this religiously significant place? Then why does he engage this Samaritan woman? Why does he ask her to share the water that she draws from the well? Why does he disclose his divine nature to this woman? Why does he reveal the knowledge that he has about her as a morally corrupt person? Why then does he continue to reveal all that he knows about her? When she seeks to deflect him from that revelation why does he engage her in a discussion about the heritage and nationhood of her cultural background? How does she know that the Messiah is coming? Then why does Jesus reveal that he is the Messiah? How does John know what the disciples are thinking since he goes on to say that no one spoke out loud? Why does the woman choose to leave at that moment and go and share with her friends and neighbors? Why does she confess, to the other people in the village, that this man knows all about her? How does she announce to the whole village that this Jewish character is the Messiah? Everything about this story should have us shaking our heads in wonder. This is all wrong, out of time, out of place, and without a lot of reason or sense to it. Before I go on I'd like to give us a moment to consider who might be the Samaritans in our own lives right now? Who are the people, that if we encountered them, we would have to stop and contain our reactions or our thoughts? Let's be honest. We all have them. I am not going to ask you to name them, out loud, so it is OK for you to think of them to yourself. So, with those people in mind let's return to Jesus and his experience in Sychar, Samaria. What provokes this encounter and these remarkable events? Well, John has been moving through the moments of Jesus' ministry in pretty rapid-fire succession. John begins his Gospel with a declaration of Jesus as the Light of the world. Then John the Baptist testifies that there is one coming after him, John encounters and Baptizes Jesus, then Jesus calls the first of his disciples, there is the Wedding at Cana where water is turned into wine, Jesus cleanses the Temple, Jesus then encounters Nicodemus in a late-night conversation about life and being born again, we hear briefly about John the baptist and his ministry, there is a discussion about purity which compares John's disciples and Jesus' disciples, John declares that he must decrease as Jesus increases in influence, John declares one last time who Jesus is. Then we find Jesus deciding to withdraw because the Pharisees have heard that he is baptizing more people than John. Jesus makes the decision to head back to Galilee, but instead of taking the accepted route - the long way around Samaria by the coastal route, Jesus decides to cut through Samaria. Shorter and faster, but definitely more dangerous. Somehow Jesus becomes separated from his disciples. We do learn later that they have gone off looking for supplies, food, and water. This would make you think that perhaps this was an impromptu decision, an unplanned diversion from the schedule that places Jesus in this strangely vulnerable situation. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be alone, he shouldn't sit down at Jacob's well, he shouldn't talk to the woman, he shouldn't, he shouldn't, he shouldn't. But he does! Then he declares himself, to Samaritans, as the Messiah, as the savior of the world. What happens? Well, many believe. Initially, some believe, because of the woman's testimony, then others believe as they hear "his word." The end result is that salvation comes to Samaritans in fulfillment of John the Baptist's words from just before this incident in John 3: 31- 36. "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life but must endure God’s wrath." There is one word that jumps off the page at me from these verses - "Whoever." This is an unqualified declaration. "Whoever." Then Jesus goes on into Samaria and unequivocally shows what John means. There are no more "whoever" people than the Samaritans in the world that Jesus lived in. There is no greater example of "whoever" than this woman who Jesus encounters at the well. Jesus cuts through all the social and moral and spiritual boundaries and declares unequivocally that when he says "whoever" he means "whoever." So, can I ask you to go back to the person or people you thought about as your Samaritans earlier? Can you put them in this scenario? Those people who we know would not respond well even if Jesu himself came to them. We have to be careful, don't we, that we stay open and willing to accept Jesus' "whoever" We must remind ourselves that this is not just for us and those we love, but for all, and to all. All those outsiders, who, make up the great "whoever" outside our comfort zone. How would it change the way that we thought about those people, how would it change how we pray for those people, how would it change how we talk about those people if they were Jesus' "whoever?" I would like to end this morning with prayer 8 from the Prayers and Thanksgivings from the BCP on page 816 which is entitled: For the Mission of the Church Ever living God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection. Amen! Come Lord Jesus. |
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March 2023
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