light

Early in our Time at Trinity, Apalachicola, one who became a real friend - - and remains so to this day though all of us have greatly aged and we have moved away and I no longer see him but very occasionally, maybe once or twice in several years - - observed to me that worship at Trinity has become "Tom's Theme Park". He was, still is, I believe, in the choir, where at mid-week practice they rehearsed the music for the upcoming Sunday, and he noticed the newly close relationship between the hymns I selected and the appointed Lectionary readings for each Sunday. And also that frequently the songs I chose for choir and congregation to sing during Communion, reflected whatever my sermon was about. 

This comes to mind this morning as I go over the Lectionary readings for Lent 5 Year A, the theme flashes clear and so does the music that in other circumstances I might have selected. "I want to walk as a child of the Light" might have been one. What we call the phos hilaron, "O gracious light, Lord Jesus Christ". Or "Sometimes a light surprises". At any event, here are the designated readings:

1 Samuel 16:1-13 (23rd Psalm as response)
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41.

The theme is light v darkness, sight v blindness, and the point is that God does not see things as we do. God's values cut against the grain of all that we think and say and do, especially that of which we are most certain. In what some writer called an ironic inversion, Jesus - - who in The Gospel according to John relates himself to the I AM who spoke to Moses from the burning bush - - says if you believe you see, you are blind, and if you realize you are blind, your eyes will be opened. His adversaries are people who are certain in their religious certitude. Think about it.

Indeed, think about it. Not restrictive, it applies to everything we think and say and do. Our religious certainties. Our political certainties, relevantly in mind this morning because today is our primary voting Tuesday here in Florida. Our racial prejudices. Our hatred of immigrants, gays, hispanics, "Libs". People who disagree with us about guns. People whose abortion views are opposite to ours. In older America, people who advocated for abolition of slavery, for desegregation, for women's right to vote. In MAGA terms, I suppose back when America was Great. 

If you are certain you are right, then you are damned. If you realize that you may be wrong, then there's hope for you. The Gospel of the Lord.

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord, and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night. For the love of thy only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

T+

John 9:1-41

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Judeans did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Judeans; for the Judeans had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.


Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”