Today's long gospel passage opens with
the disciples making a grave theological error that people still make
today – that of attributing a physical malady to sin. “Who
sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus, of course, gives the right
answer: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born
blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.” He then goes
on to say, “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.”
In the previous chapter, and as far
back as Chapter 3, Jesus foreshadowed his own death. In Chapter 3 he
said that in the same way Moses lifted up the serpent, so would the
Son of Man be lifted up. And in Chapter 8 Jesus talks about knowing
where he came from and where he is going. I bring up these previous
crucifixion foreshadowings because today's passage also includes a
foreshadowing. Specifically, “Night is coming when no one can
work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
There are two things I want to touch on
today. The first is this idea of the man being punished with
blindness by either his own or his parents' sin. God doesn't afflict
people with illness or disaster because they sinned. I'm reminded of
the tower that collapsed over in Luke, killing a bunch of people.
Jesus said, “Do you think those killed were worse sinners?”
This idea that God afflicted me with
cancer, or punished someone with a disease or disaster because of sin
or lack of faith is just bad theology. Going back to Paul's theology
of sin, he wrote that sin came into the world through one man, Adam.
The human race, and the world, has been afflicted with sin ever
since. However, this does not mean that God sees the actions of one
person, or a group of people, as the reason for meting out
punishments. Gays were not and are not responsible for hurricanes or
earthquakes. Women and feminists were not and are not responsible
for famines. And right now, despite what some people are saying, the
COVID-19 pandemic is NOT a punishment from God for the world's actual
or perceived sinful behavior.
We live in a natural, biological world
in which things happen. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, that's just
the way it is. Know that my sin, your sin, or any other person's or
group's sin, is not the reason for this pandemic.
So that's the first thing – that this
pandemic is not a punishment from God.
However, like the blind man who was
born blind so that God's works might be revealed, we have the same
opportunity to reveal God in the world right now. And that's the
second thing.
Jesus referred to the time between his
death and resurrection as the time when night was coming and no work
could be done. During that time when Christ died, the world stood
still. During that time, the darkness seemed to have defeated the
light. But on the third day, on Easter day, on the day of
Resurrection, the light burst forth defeating darkness and death for
ever. And we are now living in that post-resurrection world. We are
living in a time of the living Christ and shining his light upon the
world around us.
No one can argue that these feel like
dark times. These are times when, as the band Styx once sang,
“People lock their doors and hide inside.”
But we also need to remember that light
shines brightly in the dark. It is our job to proclaim the good news
of the risen Christ. It is our job to reflect his light onto the
world. No, these aren't normal times; but if we think about it, when
are they ever normal times?
Here are some ways that we are working
to shine the light of Christ in the world right now. Our Community
Cafe is working on how to turn it into a Cafe2Go. We have a list of
people who volunteered to call parishioners once a week to let them
know we are still connected. We have people who volunteered to be of
service for things like grocery deliveries, pharmacy pickups, and
whatever else people might need. Take a bold step and walk your
neighborhoods, safely, checking on your neighbors. Find ways to let
the light of Christ shine in the world.
This is a time for us to be more
neighborly – checking up on people we normally leave alone, letting
people know we are having services live streamed, and reaching out to
be connected in a time of isolation. This is a time more than ever
for us to remind people that Jesus is in the world and is the light
of the world. The question, as always, is how do we do that? How do
we maintain contacts, community, and closeness in a time of
separation?
We do it, quite simply, by not
forgetting about each other or our neighbors. It only takes a small
candle to give light to a darkened room. It only takes a small flame
to start a forest fire. We don't need to do big things, but let us
not forget to do the small things. We can do the small thing of
removing ourselves from situations that enable the virus to spread,
while at the same time making a phone call to check on someone. We
can let people know we didn't want them to feel lonely. Just because
the body of Christ is separated doesn't mean it needs to be isolated.
We have the opportunity to continue
shining the light of love onto a darkened world.
So during this peculiar and particular
time, remember that we are not being punished and remember that we
are still able to shine brightly.
Be well.
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