John 9:1-41
Lent 4 - Year A
This long story begs for reenactment. At the very least it should be read slowly (preferably with several voices).
In this day and age it appears that the "Religious" Right is as questioning of healings or larger perspectives that come through some vehicle other than their own traditions as were the Pharisees here described. There is such a righteous rightness to this Right that that which is outside their belief structure simply can't be. Galileo Galilei ran into this, Frederick Douglass ran into this, Mel White ran into this. Whether about the far away sun, the outsides of our bodies or the insides of our gender identity the process is the same as with the blind man of yore.
At some point we need to follow the blind man and Luther in claiming, "Here I Stand!" "One thing I know . . . ."
What do you know well enough to make that claim and stick by it? Feels good, doesn't it. Let's talk about our claims.
One thing I know is that G*D's mercy is revealed all along the way, whether seen or unseen.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/february2005.html
It is instructive to consider our own birth as something beyond the inevitability of a gene pool or a consequence of our own making. Might it be that we are a revealed work of G*D?
How then might we move into tomorrow? Will we continue waiting for the right time to reveal this (the first part of the Cana wine story)? Will we initiate revealing conversations (the first part of the Photina story)? Will we accept sight through such a counter-intuitive process as mud and neither excuse it or explain it away, but simply affirm what can be affirmed and let it go at that.
Of note here is a note from The New Interpreter's Bible, "In the Fourth Gospel, 'sin' in not a moral category of behavior, but is a theological category about one's response to the revelation of God in Jesus."
Of note is another note regarding a classification of saints -- The Holy Unmercinaries shorter link and longer link [MISSING URL]. Doctors Without Borders is one current group of unmercinaries. Do you have a spirit of the Unmercinaries in your particular field?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/march2005.html
Once you were in darkness - threatened by leader and community - then you came to understand "not wanting" and you proceeded as though it were light, as though there were no threat.
When we feel threatened we shut our eyes, physical and spiritual.
With our eyes closed we divide our experience from our theology. Saul is Saul is Saul and ever will be king (substitute the leader of your choice) so there is no sense in doing anything about it. Blind from birth is blind from birth is blind from birth (substitute the present personal limitation of your choice) and so there is no sense in practicing an alternative reality. Once darkness sets in, darkness is all there is.
These limitations and their overcoming are the stuff fairytales are made of. And there isn't much truer than fairytales.
- - -
sin, sin all around
and not a healing left
unfairness abounds
and blame is our motif
through the most unlikely one
the youngest the weakest
the ugliest the most foolish
the spit and the mud
sin becomes irrelevant
unfairness ceases to be a mantra
so what now that our understanding
of blame needs recalibrating
well well well
it is time for the depth
of experience-based belief
in muddy spit-based kinship
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
Who sinned? This one or their parents?
These questions come into better view when asked a couple of other ways around.
Who triumphed over sin? This one or their parents?
Is sin personal? This one? or generational? Their parents?
Is sin individual or social? Ours or our culture's?
These sorts of dualistic questions are responded to by Jesus at the end of the passage. When we hearken back to our Adam and Eve story and claim we are now able to tell the difference between good and evil, we are out of touch with a creative force that is not limited by such a distinction.
The initial question is one of putting one's self in the place of G*D – that there is only one answer to any one question. This is the fundamentalist downfall – they always falter on a next creation while trying to defend a past creation.
How close can we come to claiming the mystery of our purpose – to allow the "blind" to see and to assist those who claim to "see" the differences of life might experience how much of a blind-alley they are walking down? I expect that our closeness will have something to do with the temptations we have faced and our willingness to gaze into the middle-distance between foreground and background.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html
Lent is one of those times when we are tempted to peer behind a larger screen and take a break from our own engagement with spirit, personal and institutional.
Like the disciples of old we are tempted by big questions and big answers. How does misfortune happen? Whose fault is it (other than G*D's or no one's, of course)?
Jesus doesn't answer but responds, "Still trying to get out of your responsibility to do your work of honoring a revelation as is?"
Jesus goes on, "Your evasion of your own coming to grips with life's persistent temptation to set blame rather than do what you know needs to be done, just isn't going to cut it. You've got a bit of light left, use it."
Then Jesus deepens the response (note: still not an answer). "You ask about sin," says Jesus, "I'll see your question and raise it with this ball of muddy spit right to the eye."
I've always laughed at the sight of a blind many toodling off to a pool, at a location he may or may not have known, and coming back to find a bunch more questioners instead of Jesus. Here we go again with the temptation to know more than can be known at a given time. This formerly blind man's only response is what he knows, without speculation or attribution.
The Pharisees pick up the disciples queries, "Who's at fault?"
While its a nice coda to have Jesus talk about belief in some Son of Man and a nice moralism to condemn questioners, it's probably better just to stick with the facts. They are amazing enough to let sufficient light shine through without turning this story into a sunday school lesson that nicely lets you know Jesus is the answer that ends all answers and stops all next questions.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/03/john-91-41.html
bring light
who sinned?
a question from the blind
leading the blind
wrong question!
responds a sage
we've covered that
assigning sin
is a delaying tactic
keeping one from change
such parsing
keeps everyone in the dark
about present revelation
its absurd
take muddy spit for instance
what a premonitory hoot
opened eyes
don't claim privilege
for opened eyes
opened eyes
don't dismiss
unopened eyes
imposed sin
denies grace
sight beyond sin
already told
and told again
life is gift
revealed already
revealed again
life is gift
who sinned?
get real
wrong question!
bring light
while gifted
with life
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/04/bring-light.html
Don’t you often fall back into wishful thinking that G*D is not just concerned about judging your immortal soul, but should pause to change things so you might become a poster child for miracles? It is a significant temptation that keeps coming around.
At stake here is something more than miracle—it is the regular word “Neither” when faced with a choice that is, on-the-face-of-it, too small a question.
Just being able to say, “Nope, too restricted a question that asks me to buy into a view aimed at assessing blame”, is a needed miracle always at hand, ready for use.
We might shift this into the question of orientation in today’s world—“Who sinned, this L or G or B or T or I or Q person or their recruiter?” There just isn’t a way to get at this matter for it forces people and cultures/tribes into false choices. “Wrong question”, is the only helpful response available. Even giving evidence for someone to see what is before them doesn’t work for those committed to the benefits accrued to them by virtue of a rigged system.
Do note that this false question does ultimately end where it begins. It moves directly from the leading question of, “Who sinned” (verse 2), directly to the predetermined response of, “You were born entirely in sin” (verse 34).
Lent is an opportunity to practice catching on to trapping questions more quickly than before and to both stepping aside from it and using your spiritual jujitsu to help the momentum of the false question fall flat on its face. Attend to these next days to practice identifying what false questions come from family, community, and tribe so that by Sunday you can encounter this passage again with a fresh example.