“The Blessings of Blindness” - Pastor Shelley Cunningham Ephesians 5:8-14/John 9:1-41

In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells a story about one of his patients, a man named Virgil. Virgil lost his sight when he was a boy. But when he was about 50, experimental surgery was able to restore it. It seemed like an answer to prayer. But Virgil and Dr. Sacks soon found out that having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing. Virgil’s first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colors and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time, he learned to identify various objects, but his habits and his behaviors were still those of a blind man. After spending hours with his patient and experiencing Virgil’s continued frustration, Dr. Sacks wrote, “I have come to the conclusion that one must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person.” Virgil may have regained his vision, but in his heart, in the way he knew the world, he was still blind. No miracle of modern medicine would be able to change that.

So what makes Virgil so different from the man in our Gospel story? This man, too, was blind from birth. His identity, and the way he knew the world, centered on this fact. It was how his neighbors knew him, as the blind man who sat and begged by the side of the road. It was as how his parents knew him, as ‘our blind son, who has always caused such strain on our family.’ It was how the Pharisees and religious leaders knew him, as the blind man whose disability was the mark of someone’s sin.

With just one encounter with a man called Jesus, the man in John’s gospel has his identity changed. Everything he has known, everything he has been known for, is suddenly radically different. This life-long social outcast has the opportunity to fit in and be accepted.

But the more he talks about what happened to him, the more we realize that not only has his vision been restored – unlike Virgil, now he can see. He can see that a miracle has happened. His identity has been changed – not just his blindness, his whole being. Where there was affliction, there is wholeness. Where there was shame and suffering, there is faith. He has been born again as a seeing person. But even as the story ends, we’re left to wonder: is this a blessing, or not?

You see, there’s a twist in this story. The twist is that blindness is more than just a physical disability. It’s a metaphor for all those things that block our vision of Jesus. Things like pride, self-righteousness, greed, shame. Things like judgment, arrogance, covetousness. These things can affect our perspective on what we really want in life. After all, we’re not blind to the world around us. Our eyes are wide open. We see people with more money than we have, and they look happier and more confident and charming, and we want that. We see co-workers who get the promotions that we deserve, and they seem smarter and savvier and more successful, and we want that. We see friends whose social calendars are fuller and more exciting, and whose marriages and relationships seem filled with more romance and spontaneity and affection, and we want all of that too. So we go looking for whatever it is that can give us that happiness, that success, that popularity, that romance. And along the way, we close our eyes to what’s really important, like faithful lives and generous hearts.

Evangelist Tony Campolo says that Jesus had it easy when he was trying to sell his message to the people, because he lived in a society that believed that material goods met material needs, and spiritual goods met spiritual needs. Jesus was peddling spiritual goods to an audience that was desperate for a word from God, for a sign of hope that the people Israel were still God’s chosen ones. So Jesus came and worked miracles and spoke with authority, and people listened to him.

But we live in a world that says material goods can meet spiritual needs, Campolo says. The message is everywhere – ads on TV or the radio, pictures in magazines, models in department store windows. They are all selling us on one idea: There are things can make us happy. And if we can just get ahold of the right things, then surely they will give us the happiness, the success, the popularity, the affection we crave. For some people, it’s easier to put their trust in Visa than in God. After all, you can see and touch what you can buy. Our senses wouldn’t lead us astray, would they?

That’s the rub of this lesson, isn’t it? When we’re wandering in the dark, it seems logical that looking for the light will show us the way out. But how do we block out the artificial light that is streaming into our lives from artificial sources, the light that blinds us to God’s way and God’s word? ”Everything exposed to the light becomes visible,” Paul writes. Jesus told the blind man, “I came to bring everything to the clear light of day.” I think that means that when our hearts are open to Jesus, he will show us the true way to live. The gospels have this way of reminding us what’s really important to God, of pointing out what’s right and wrong. Jesus asks us to make difficult choices sometimes. But he asks us to make them with eyes opened wide by his love.

The scary thing is, sometimes it might seem easier to just stay in the dark. Think back to the man in the gospel. You would think that his newfound wholeness is a wonderful thing. He’s been changed by his encounter with Jesus. He’s been born again as a seeing person. But does his family celebrate with him? Do the scribes and Pharisees praise God for this miracle? Not exactly. They mock him and cast him out onto the street. The man who’s lived his whole life depending on the mercy of others is more alone than ever. For us, it can be hard to acknowledge those things that keep us from living like disciples. We might have to change the way we spend our time, or our money. We might have to let go of grudges or bad habits. We might have to try really, really hard to forgive someone who’s hurt us. But like the man in the gospel, when we push away our blinders and step out of the dark, Jesus will be there. And you know what? The real miracle is, he’s there with us even in the dark. He’s the only one who can lead us into the light.

“You might have to die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person,” wrote neurologist Oliver Sacks. That’s the message we get in baptism. Because of Jesus, we’ve already been given new sight. It’s a blessing from God that we don’t deserve. The question is: what are you going to do with that blessing? Will you keep living in the dark? Or will you let Jesus draw you into the light? Because when the blind see, it truly is a miracle. And the only way to respond is to say: Amen.

GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL: GATHERING • GROWING • GIVING