We are at the fourth Sunday of Lent. As we continue our Lent theme of Created in the Image of God, Shaped by Jesus, this Sunday’s theme is Called to the light.
The scriptures we are invited to sit with this week are…
1 Samuel 16:1–13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8–14; John 9:1–41
This week’s gospel text (John 9:1-41) offers multiple possibilities for a Sunday message. We could examine the disciples’ question and the relationship of sin and this man’s blindness. Is it a punishment? Is that how God operates?
Or we could talk about Jesus making a mud mixture for the man’s eye. Why was that necessary?
Another angle could be to look at Jesus as a law breaker. After all, he healed the man on the Sabbath.
Another message could focus on the man’s neighbors and their failure to recognize him. Why do you think they could recognize who he was? Can they only see the man as a blind beggar?
Another possibility might be the man’s parents’ fear of the religious authorities and didn’t want to get involved. Can you imagine to be filled with that much fear to not support your child?
I think we will save these ideas for another time.
This week I hope to examine seeing and not seeing. At the beginning of our text, the man could not see, and the Pharisee’s could see. But look what happened, as the man was able to see, the Pharisee’s were unable to see.
What happened? Why were the religious authorities not able to conceive of God acting in ways that do not fit their experiences and expectations.
Are we open to God surprising us or are we more like the Pharisees?
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
~ Pastor Dustin
