Hugh Hamilton Trinity Presbyterian Church Pensacola, FL March 26, 2017 Fourth Sunday in Lent Cycle A BLIND TO MY BLINDNESS John 9: 1-41 John Vannorsdall, Chaplain at Yale University, had an old, old garden tractor manufactured by the Gravely Corporation. He wanted to sharpen the rotary blades of the mower attachment, but he couldn't remove the nut holding on the blade. The tractor was so old and the rust so thick, the nut was frozen into place. He tried penetrating oil then tapping it with a hammer -- the nut wouldn't budge. He applied heat -- wouldn't budge. He put a long pipe on the wrench handle for more leverage -- still wouldn't budge. Vannorsdall then took the tractor to the Gravely dealer in town and the mechanic repeated all the steps -- with no luck. Soon, exhausted and frustrated, Vannorsdall and the mechanic took a break. The mechanic asked, "What year model is this?" "1950, I think," replied Vannorsdall. "The Gravely Thread," moaned the mechanic. "For a few years they put a reverse thread on the spindle!" Without another word, the mechanic drilled the nut, split it, and threw it away. There was nothing else to do. They had spent the whole day tightening what they had hoped to loosen! They did the normal thing, the accepted thing, right thing: "clockwise to tighten; counter-clockwise to loosen." Righty - tighty, lefty loosey "But," writes Vannorsdall, "but this was a Gravely thread, a reverse thread, it worked contrary-wise." Vannorsdall invites us to have a little sympathy for the Pharisees, because, as he explains, it's a rule of thumb to be counted on that nuts are loosened by turning counterclockwise, just as it was commonly believed that sin was the cause of blindness, that making clay on the Sabbath was wrong, that blind men and Sabbath breakers were an offense to God. He also invites us to give ourselves a break, "Because," he writes, "we are confronted with Gravely Threads; truths which run counter to what is common knowledge, and there is great pain in having to be drilled and split." At the end of story of the blind man, Jesus says he came into this world for judgment, "that those who do not see may see and that those who see may become blind." We bring God's judgment upon us by our sinful words and actions and attitudes. Christ came to point out the right way and to set us free from our own condemnation. The Pharisees ask, "Are we blind?" Jesus replies, "If you were blind --you would not be guilty; but you say you see -- so your guilt remains."
Blind to My Blindness, p2 Sometimes we are so positive that we are right, so sufficient in our own ideas, so sure that our way is the only way, that we never imagine there may be a gravely thread to life, that things are not as we imagine. We fall judgment to the Gravely Thread. We are blind to our blindness. The Pharisees, indignant that Jesus broke the Laws of Sabbath by making clay, doing work on the Sabbath, repudiate any claim that Jesus could be a man of God. They protest, "how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" The blind man admits he is not sure who this man Jesus is; maybe a prophet? The blind man's parents, afraid of hanging themselves by any answer to the Pharisees' questions, just admit that yes, he is their son, yes, he was born blind, but no, they don't know how he's been healed. He's old enough to answer for himself, ask HIM! Again the man says, "I don't know who this Jesus is, all I know is, he gave me sight. To do such miracles as this, he MUST be a man of God." The Pharisees, angry and frustrated, call the man a sinner and kick him out of the church. Don t you see? they told him. this Jesus can t be a prophet, because if he was, don t you think we d know it? Trust us: you just don t understand these things like we do! Later on, Jesus sought out the man they cast out and in due time leads the man to faith in God. The man professes, "Lord, I believe!" Jesus tells the man I have come into the world to give sight to those who can t see, and to take it away from those who think they do, like those Pharisee over there. They even say, we see, when they really don t see at all. Therefore their guilt remains. Blind to their own blindness, their sin remains. The theme of last week's story of the Samaritan woman at the well continues! Jesus reaches out to the outcasts, to the people we exclude, and brings them into the family of God. No one is beyond God's love and saving mercy in Jesus Christ! If we refuse to see that, refuse to admit that, refuse to accept God's saving love, we remain blind to our blindness, and our sin remains. BUT Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it, to lead us into a fuller light and true understanding of God and God's kingdom. It's hard to admit that you've been wrong for so long, when you thought you were so right. When you've been blind to your blindness, to have your eyes opened is not always a welcomed thing. Moving from darkness to light means change; and change is painful, change is hard. When someone points out something about us that we did not realize, we're embarrassed, we're angry, we're threatened. We don't need to change THEY need to change! But what if they ARE right and we must change -- and we don't know what to change or how to change, of if we're strong enough to make the changes needed and to put aside our sins? We all have idiosyncrasies, or secret fears or anxieties that we refuse to admit, personal conflicts we refuse to own up to. We protectively cover up our boil. It only hurts when it's poked, but oh how it hurts! Lancing it may be painful -- but it would bring healing. When the Bible addresses our secret sin, exposes our prejudice, reveals our errors, we defend ourselves; point the discussion away from us. Encountering Jesus Christ is risky,
Blind to My Blindness, p3 because we'd rather hold on to our pain than risk being healed because being healed means change. And after all, WE are the strong, the sighted, the liberated! Our way is the right way! Isn't it? Of course, from our vantage point today, after the fact, we smartly say that spiritual leaders like the Pharisees should have known better, should have seen the truth about Jesus. But given the circumstances, would we have done any better? After all, Christians led the Crusades, making war on the whole Islam culture, convinced that it was God s will; and during the Inquisition, the Christian church tortured and killed people, convinced it was for the greater glory of God. How about the Salem witch trials, thousands of women and men persecuted and murdered because the church was sure that God wanted it. Christians sought to defend slavery during the Civil War and used the Bible to defend it. Then came Women s Rights marches, and civil rights struggles and the fight for children s rights to free them from forced labor. Now it s gay rights and renewed battles for civil rights in race relations. But the Pharisees and the church and the cultural movements are not the only ones who fail to see God at work. I can t count the times I was convinced that I knew exactly what God wanted, that I had it all figured out, that I understood, how many times I said I see, only to have it turned out that I hadn t seen correctly at all. I was blind to my own blindness. Did you notice in the story of the man born blind and who Jesus healed, that except for Jesus, the man born blind is the only one who truly sees, who truly understands, what God was doing? He teaches us flexibility. The blind man Jesus healed couldn't explain how and why he can now see, but he knows WHO it is that made it possible this Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was willing to be open to new things including this chance that Jesus just MIGHT be the Messiah! Maybe it was because being blind, he had nothing to lose. Maybe he was naturally open minded. Whatever the case, he it s clear that his lack of preconceived notions and his willingness to suspend judgment made it possible for him to recognize Jesus when the Pharisees did not. Being flexible and willing to learn helped the blind man to recognize God at work in Jesus. He did not have the Pharisee s grandiose opinion of themselves, so he had no problem learning from someone else, even an itinerant traveling preacher like Jesus. As a young buck preacher I felt a need to express my opinion on all issues on the floor at presbytery meetings but as I learned to listen more and speak less, I have learned a lot from others and learned how often my opinions were wrong. Not always, but when the wisdom of the greater body brought about greater good, I was humbled. Humility is key to this story of the man born blind and healed by Jesus. Unlike the Pharisees, he did not claim to know more about the will of God than he really did. Butneither did he claim to know less, as his parents did to protect their hides. At each point in the story the man siomply told what he knew, no more, no less. His humility helped him to see God at work when others, like the Pharisess could not, or would not.
Blind to My Blindness, p4 In recent years as we debated issues before the church and constitutional changes and matters of conscience, I have asked myself does my view, my insistence on being right, my insistence of having things my way, stand in the way of anyone having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Does my view or practice or position hinder their access to God or their relationship with the church? If so, I humble myself and ask God s forgiveness of my blindness to my blindness. I think John's gospel preaches that far worse than blindness of the eyes is blindness of the heart, i.e., being spiritually blind. Spiritually blind people don't really SEE their family members, they don't really SEE their neighbors, they don't really SEE their errors, and most of all, they don't see God. They have eyes and yet are blind. Jesus helps us to see each other real, to see each other in a new way. Jesus helps us to see new ways to improve others lives, and our own lives as well. Jesus helps us to see God at work, to see God s people better and to make our world better. Jesus can help us to see things we never saw before. Our closing hymn, Amazing Grace," was written by an Englishman named John Newton whose life was changed forever by Jesus Christ. You know the story Newton was a slave trader, involved in the selling of people. Blinded by sin Newton saw nothing wrong with the practice. But, when Jesus came into his life John Newton was convicted of his own sinfulness and he turned his life around. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me" is John Newton's life story. As Newton read the ninth chapter of John's gospel, our text for today, he saw himself as the man whose eyes were opened. When the formerly blind man was asked the source of his healing, he responded with the words Newton used in his hymn, "I once was blind, but now I see." Though John Newton was not physically blind, he was morally and spiritually blind. That s the power of sin sin blinds us to our wrongdoings. During one Christmas season, a Boston newspaper reporter saw three little girls standing in front of a store window full of toys. One of them was blind. Coming closer, he heard the other two trying to describe the playthings to their friend. He said he had never thought of how difficult it would be to explain what something looks like to someone who has never been able to see. That incident became the basis for a newspaper story. Two weeks later this same reporter attended a meeting conducted by the preacher Dwight L. Moody. His plan was to catch the great evangelist in some inconsistency and expose him. He was greatly surprised, therefore, when Moody used the reporter's own newspaper account of the three children to illustrate a spiritual truth. "Just as the blind girl couldn't visualize the toys," said Moody, "so an unsaved person can't see Christ in all His glory." He said that God opens the eyes of anyone who acknowledges his sin and accepts the Savior in humble faith. Moody's words struck this newsman and he saw that he too was blind and in need of Christ's healing touch. (Illusaurus)
Blind to My Blindness, p5 It's a good word for us to consider. Are we seeing life in all its richness or is there a blind spot in our lives? Are we blind to our blindness? Only one Doctor can heal spiritual blindness: Jesus Christ. May Jesus help you to see your families and friends in a new way to see opportunities for improving your lives to see God.to see things you never saw before, and. to see the light of your salvation while you may! John Vannorsdall said, "I don't want to be a victim of the Gravely thread who must be drilled and split. I'd rather be one with opened eyes." Me too! How about you? Open our eyes Lord, that we may see the error of our ways and repent, accept your grace, and begin anew! Amen. Sources Cited Hamilton, Hugh, I was Blind But Now I See. Trinity presbyterian Church, Pensacola, FL, March 10, 2002. Illusauraus. As cited in What s The Matter? Are You Blind? Dynamic Preaching Service, January-February-March 1996, mar396, 4. Vanorsdall, John. The Gravely Thread, sermon on cassette. Source unknown. Word and Witness. Lent 4. March 21, 1993, Vol. 93:2 (Year A). \03-26-17 Blind to My Blindness.docx