Are We Blind? – Sermon 30 March, 2014

Are We Blind?

Someone once asked Helen Keller, who had been blind since the age of nineteen months, if blindness was the worst thing that could happen to a person. She answered that the worst thing that could happen to a person was not to lose their sight but to lose their vision.

As a child, Helen Keller had lost her hearing and sight yet was able to lead a beautiful life to complete college and become an author and lecturer. This happened because someone was able to break through her silent, dark world and teach her how to communicate. She was able to lead a very beautiful life of helping others despite her limitations. In spite of great barriers she had a sense of purpose and vision in life.

Most of us have blind spots, ideas and perceptions that we don’t even think about changing. These blind spots are major roadblocks in our spiritual journey. They can cause harm to others and to us. Even a quick reading of today’s Gospel shows us how blind the Pharisee’s were. These religious leaders were leading people into the darkness. Their interior lives had become hardened, like a rock. They had become so sure of themselves that they were not able to recognize goodness itself as it was shown to them in the person of Jesus. They were as blind as a person could be.

Their only concern was their authority and power.

Today’s Scripture helps us to take a closer look at those areas of our lives that we have blocked off from God and from others — even from ourselves.

The 41 verses in John 9 might be summed up as, “A man is healed, people found it hard to believe it, but he is still healed”.

Jesus saw a man who was blind and did what was needed — he healed the man.

That is where the problem begins. He did it on the wrong day according to the Pharisees, to the wrong person.

The healed man, on the other hand, is just happy to be healed.

Jesus came to heal the sick and the blind, and the religious leaders want to protect the rules.

Let us look to some important questions and statements.

1.         “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”

The Pharisees believed that sickness and misfortune are often seen as results of not living right.

His blindness has nothing to do with sin — he is blind.

Rain falls on the just and the unjust. Good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. Read the book of Job.

This blindness presents the opportunity for God’s work to be revealed.

2. “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

The Pharisees had it figured out how many steps you could take, how much of a meal you could prepare before you broke the Sabbath. On the Sabbath you should not do anything and rest.

3. “How can a sinner perform such signs?”

We are all sinners, people whom God desires to forgive. At the same time we are saint. The fact is that Jesus died for each one of us. He is the one who did not have any sins. He is the son of God. He is God.

4. “Ask him, he is of age.”

The parents of the man who was healed did not want to be pulled into this argument; and who could blame them. The religious authorities had immense power over their lives. They could throw them out of the synagogue.

False theology gives religious leaders more power than God, leading people to fear those in power and do as they say rather than what God requires of us.

But the ‘bottom line’ of this story – the “Main thing” – is that one who was blind can now see.

The Pharisees asked“What, are we blind too?”

They knew exactly what Jesus was saying to them.

It is possible to have our sight and yet be blind to what is going on around us.

In our text this morning I see 4 things that will cause us to be spiritually blind.

1. The Disciples of Jesus were blinded by judgment!

What did the disciples say when they saw the man?

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

This was a common belief among the Jews of that day. As a matter of fact, it was widely taught that God punished people for their sin. And that punishment came in the form of some sort of sickness or disease.

So, for the disciples to ask that question was not out of the ordinary. They saw in the blind man a theological debate, and Jesus saw in the blind man someone in whom the work of God could be made known.

You know, it is so much easier to sit back and debate the theological consequences of bad decisions that other human beings make. It is much harder to see how you can make a difference in the lives of people who are hurting because of a bad decision they or someone else has made for them.

2. The Neighbours were blinded by scepticism!

What happened when this man returned to the people who knew him?

– Some didn’t believe it was him

– Others demanded him to tell how this happened.

The neighbours and those around were sceptical of what had happened.

They remembered this man as being blind and begging at the Temple gate, and now he is up walking around. I am sure some of them wondered for the rest of their lives, “Was he really blind, or has been doing this in order to be a beggar?”

3. The Pharisees were blinded by their religion!

What is religion? Religion is a system of beliefs. Almost anything can be labelled religion.

What happened when the Pharisees were confronted with the man who was born blind but now sees?

– They debated the fact that the man was blind at all.

– They said Jesus must be a sinner because he healed on the Sabbath.

You know it is easy to sit back and point the finger at the Pharisees for using their tradition and religion to remain blind to the work of God.

We in the Christian Churches make the same mistakes the Pharisees made. We can rely on our traditions and heritage to get us through. There are some who believe that their church is the only church that is going to be in heaven. All churches and faiths have people in them that believe that they and they alone are right when it comes to God and the way to heaven.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees many times in His preaching and teaching. Why? Because, they were more concerned with their traditions and religion than they were with God.

Traditions are not wrong. It is when we make manmade traditions binding.

You see the Jews, the religious leaders, believed that they were right because they were Jews and descendants of Abraham and followers of the Law of Moses.

What are some of the traditions that we have that could cause us to make the same mistakes the Pharisees made?
– Church Services, Service Order

– The Name on The Church Sign

No one is going to be saved because of their race or church they attend.

The only way that someone is going to be saved is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And the Bible says that we are saved by the grace of God, not the tradition and religion of man.

We cannot allow our tradition and religion to blind us. We should learn to celebrate the work of God, even when it is done differently than what we are used to.

You know as Uniting Churches we do the same. We prefer the way we do and prefer the one who is from us or like us. We say we are a diverse, inclusive and multicultural church and yet we become biased.

4. The man’s parents were blinded by fear!

When the Pharisees wanted answers they were not getting from the man himself, they called his parents in.
How did they respond? Well, they wanted no part of it. Why, because they were afraid.

They were afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue.

Before we are quick to judge here, we should understand that things were different in the Jewish culture. In our culture, if someone is thrown out from the church, they can go to the church down the road. However, in the Jewish culture, once you were thrown out from the Synagogue, you were out. You couldn’t go down the road to the other Synagogue. Not only that, the other people were not allowed to speak or do business with someone who was thrown out from the Synagogue.

It is no wonder the parents were afraid. Imagine for a moment what it must have felt like for them. On one hand your son who was blind from birth can now see, on the other hand, if you acknowledge that this was from the power that was in Jesus, your were removed completely from you community.

What would happen if God’s people and God’s churches stopped being fearful?

– Lives would be changed because we would no longer fear rejection or persecution because of the message of Christ.

Don’t be blinded by fear.

When we fear the Lord, we won’t fear anything else and we will step up and step out in faith.

Are we blind too?

Well, if our lives are controlled by:

Judgment – Scepticism – Religions Pride – Fear

Then we are blind, not physically but spiritually.

We can learn from the Blind man. How did he respond in all of this?

One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!

Maybe you are blinded by hopelessness. You don’t know why, but life seems hopeless. You don’t know where to find the answer, but it seems as though you are wondering through life blind. You don’t know what you need, but you know you need something.

Jesus is there for you. He wants you to respond like the blind man in faith and accept Him as Lord.

I hope this morning we will be ready to go the One who can save us and open our eyes.

If we realise that we have some kind of blindness, the best thing is to go to Jesus and let Him to open our eyes.

Then we can say like the blind man. One thing I know. I was blind but now I see.

Krikor Youmshajekian