Speak the God You Know

 

It was a really, really rough week for me, personally. I came down with a nasty head cold Monday morning that kept me in bed almost all week. I made myself get up Friday and pound out this sermon, praying that I would actually be well enough to travel to Valdosta to preach it.

And I was and I did. 

See what you think.

Texts: 1Sam 16:1-13; John 9:1-41

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There’s a portion of one of the canticles in Morning Prayer that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

It’s from the Second Song of Isaiah…which quotes from the 55^th chapter of the prophet:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,

And my thoughts than your thoughts.”

In both the first reading from this morning in First Samuel…and in our Gospel…there’s a theme of people thinking they know more about what God wants and what is right with God than what is really true about God and God’s thoughts.

Samuel initially thinks that Eliab…the very tall eldest son of Jesse…is the man God wants as the new king of Israel.

Tall men are important men, right?

Wrong.

Fortunately…Samuel was able to park his own prejudices to follow God’s lead…and he anointed David.

Then in our Gospel…Jesus and the disciples come upon a blind man as they’re travelling.

The disciples…caught up in the cultural beliefs of the time…want to know who sinned to cause this man to be blind.

Thankfully…we are living in times now where we know “sin” isn’t the reason for a physical difference.

Sadly…there are still places and people who profess belief in Jesus…who think that one can be healed of a disability.

I have friends who tell stories of well-meaning family members taking them to tent revivals hoping for a cure.

The experiences not only failed to change them…in many instances…they left my friends angry and embittered toward religion.

While the story of the blind man is one in which this man gains his sight…for the first time in his life…this passage is telling us more about everybody else in the story.

And it’s saying a lot about the way people respond to change.

The blind man is pleased…maybe even a bit overwhelmed.

He has never been able to see his surroundings.

He heard the voices of people…but now he sees faces.

This is a new experience…and he’s just getting used to this reality.

Meanwhile…the people in his village see him and they don’t recognize him…even though he’s been living with them as a beggar his whole life.

But now that he’s not dependent on them…they don’t know who he is.

The religious figures are up in arms when they hear it’s this Jesus character again…and they demand to know more about all of this from the blind man.

Still not satisfied with his answers…they call out his parents. And his parents are like, “Hey…he’s an adult talk to him about it.”

With each new group…with each inquisition…the blind man’s recounting becomes firmer and with more conviction.

And as his faith and trust in the truth of his story grows…everyone else…from his family…to his synagogue…to his community…refuses to see…and will not accept his answers.

It’s as if they have become blind to the light that is glowing through his now opened eyes.

In the end…he’s cast out.

This is a tale familiar to anyone who has dared to speak their truth…to tell their story…only to be faced with hostility and rejection from the hearers.

One might hear the acronym “L-G-B-T-Q-I-A” in place of “blind” and substitute “the Christians” for “the Jews” and get the same idea.

          Too often…faith communities have turned their backs on members when they “come out.” This change in the person’s identity challenges other people’s prejudices…and they are unwilling to accept a new reality.

In our current climate…there’s a real concern about the identity of Christianity.

In an interview a few years ago…Russell Moore…the editor of Christianity Today and former head of the Southern Baptist Convention…talked about a pastor who was confronted after preaching a sermon on the Beatitudes.

The parishioner was angry about “blessed are the peacemakers” and that the preacher had presented Jesus as having empathy.

“Where did you get those liberal talking points?!”

The preacher…a bit stunned…responded…”I’m literally quoting Jesus Christ.”

You’d think the parishioner might apologize at that point but no they did not.

“That doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak!”

As Moore said, “When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself becomes subversive to us, we’re in a crisis.”

I have heard many people say to me that they don’t want to identify as “Christian” because of the growth of the White Nationalism Movement within Christianity.

They don’t want to be seen as having any part of the church that cheers on war…thinks nothing of those who have lost access to healthcare coverage…and demands that women be silent in church and society.

I get that.

I don’t want to be part of that church either…and certainly not that version of Christianity.

If we look back at the Gospel lesson for a moment…the thing that we see is that as this poor blind man is being interrogated by everyone…Jesus is nowhere to be found.

It’s when the man has been turned away by his community that Jesus comes back to seek him out.

This is when the man makes his confession that he does believe in Jesus…”The Son of Man.”

He believes in the Jesus who heals.

He believes in the Jesus who sees.

He believes in the Jesus who sought him out and did not cast him away by telling him:

“Go figure out how to get through life, buddy.”

This is the Jesus who…like with Nicodemus…tells us he didn’t come to condemn the world…

But he is going to judge it.

He’s going to look for those of us who will profess our love of God…and demonstrate that love of God by the way we love our neighbors.

He’s searching for…and calling into service the people who see the needs in their community and find ways to meet them.

The ones who don’t let our human differences of skin color…ethnicity…language…gender… ability…orientation…or identity get in the way of extending kindness… especially in times of anxiety and uncertainty.

We know a Jesus who loves…deeply and unconditionally.

If this is the Jesus we know…we have nothing to fear in asserting that truth in the face of a culture or even a church that is blind to that Jesus.

Because even if we face rejection by others…we can have confidence that Jesus will be there to whisper,

“Well done, good and faithful one.

Keep the faith. And keep going!”

In the name of Our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.