Monday, April 4, 2011

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

JOHN 9:1-41
SOME PEOPLE SPEND A LOT OF MENTAL ENERGY TRYING TO IGNORE THE OBVIOUS. SAM HARRIS, A PROMINENT ATHEIST, ARGUES THAT HE AND CHRISTIANS AREN'T TOO FAR APART – OF ALL THE GODS THAT THE HUMAN RACE HAS WORSHIPED, CHRISTIANS ONLY BELIEVE IN ONE, AND HE BELIEVES IN NONE. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, ANOTHER ATHEIST, TRIED TO SHOW THAT RELIGION IS A FORCE FOR EVIL, AND THAT ANYONE YOU COULD POINT TO WHO WAS RELIGIOUS AND WORTHY OF IMITATING WASN'T REALLY IN TUNE WITH THEIR RELIGION – AFTER ALL, YOU CAN FIND WRITINGS IN THE SCRIPTURES OF ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY, AND JUDAISM WHICH SEEM TO CONDONE AND EVEN BLESS VIOLENCE, SO IF SOMEONE IS NOT VIOLENT, THEY CLEARLY AREN'T LISTENING TO THEIR OWN SCRIPTURES. AND RICHARD DAWKINS ARGUES AGAINST RELIGION BECAUSE OF EVOLUTION – BY HIS REASONING, IF GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, HE CAN'T BE A VERY SMART GOD BECAUSE IN THE COURSE OF CREATING THE HUMAN RACE THOUSANDS OF SPECIES BECAME EXTINCT, MILLIONS OF YEARS WENT BY, AND ALL LIFE ON EARTH, INCLUDING HUMAN BEINGS, HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO UNIMAGINABLE PAIN AND DESTRUCTION AND DEATH ALL THROUGH THE HISTORY OF LIFE. THESE GENTLEMEN AND MANY OTHERS HAVE THEIR POINTS. IN FACT, I THINK THAT ANYONE WHO DOESN'T ONCE IN A WHILE DOUBT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS PROBABLY NOT THINKING VERY HARD. MAYBE THAT'S A GOOD THING, BUT I'VE BEEN THERE, AND THOSE MOMENTS STILL HAPPEN TO ME.
THE BLIND MAN WE MEET TODAY IS A GOOD ANSWER TO DOUBT. HOW MUST HE HAVE FELT, BEING BORN BLIND? WHAT DID HIS PARENTS DO? BECAUSE EVERYONE KNEW THAT THE SINS OF THE PARENTS WOULD BE VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN; AND BEING BLIND WAS A REAL CURSE. I WONDER IF HE EVER FELT HOPELESS? HE WAS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON OTHERS JUST TO SURVIVE; AND EVERY DAY HE HAD TO HUMILIATE HIMSELF BY BEGGING. HE COULD HEAR PEOPLE WALKING BY, SOMETIMES TALKING ABOUT HIM, SOMETIMES CURSING HIM. NOW AND THEN A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS WOULD TIPTOE UP TO HIM AND SHOUT IN HIS FACE, OR HIT HIM. AND NO ONE MINDED TOO MUCH, BECAUSE IF GOD TREATED THIS MAN IN THIS WAY, HE WAS OBVIOUSLY CURSED.
THE BLIND MAN IS HEALED OF HIS BLINDNESS. THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT, SO THEY BRING HIM TO THE PHARISEES. AND WE HAVE THIS WONDERFUL CONVERSATION.
THE PHARISEES TRY TO FIND HOLES IN HIS STORY – MAYBE HE'S NOT REALLY THE MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND, MAYBE HE JUST LOOKS LIKE HIM. MAYBE HE WASN'T REALLY BORN BLIND – CALL HIS PARENTS AND LETS QUESTION THEM. AFTER ALL, JESUS IS A SINNER, AND SINNERS CAN'T DO MIRACLES. SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE.
BUT THE BLIND MAN CLINGS TO HIS EXPERIENCE. “ALL I KNOW,” HE SAYS, “IS THAT I WAS BLIND, AND THIS MAN SMEARED SOME MUD IN MY EYES, AND NOW I CAN SEE.” AND WHEN THEY TELL HIM THAT THE MAN WHO HEALED HIM IS A SINNER, HE REPLIES, “I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT, BUT I DO KNOW THAT HE HEALED ME”. AND FINALLY, HE SAYS WHAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE WITNESSED THIS: “GOD DOES NOT LISTEN TO SINNERS. HE ONLY LISTENS TO THE DEVOUT. IF THIS MAN WERE NOT OF GOD, HE COULD NOT HAVE OPENED MY EYES.”
THE BEDROCK OF OUR FAITH IS OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. EVERY ONE OF US HAS EXPERIENCED GOOD, EVERY ONE OF US HAS PERSONALLY RECEIVED SOMETHING IN LIFE WE DID NOT DESERVE, WE DID NOT EARN. IT MAY HAVE BEEN, AS IN MY CASE, A WONDERFUL SPOUSE. IT MAY HAVE BEEN BEING BORN HERE, RATHER THAN IN LIBYA, MAYBE AT THIS TIME IN MY LIFE I DON'T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF BLESSINGS, BUT THEY'VE BEEN THERE IN THE PAST. AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE BLIND MAN SHOULD BE OURS AS WELL. “YOU MAKE A GOOD ARGUMENT, SAM HARRIS, CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, RICHARD DAWKINS; BUT ALL I KNOW IS THAT I'VE BEEN BLESSED – I CAN POINT TO SO MANY GOOD THINGS THAT HAVE GRACED MY LIFE. AND I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT THERE IS SOMEONE WHO IS GOOD, WHO HAS GIVEN ME WHAT I DON'T DESERVE, WHAT I HAVEN'T EARNED, BEGINNING WITH LIFE ITSELF. THE REAL PROBLEM WITH ATHEISM, OR FOR THAT MATTER, PEOPLE WHO TRY TO ARGUE WITH ATHEISTS, IS THAT NEITHER SIDE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEY USE THE WORD “GOD”. I DON'T KNOW MYSELF – DO YOU? WE CAN MAKE DEFINITIONS – GOD IS ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, ALL MERCIFUL – BUT THAT DOESN'T HELP BECAUSE WE ARE JUST PROJECTING HUMAN QUALITIES ON GOD AND MAGNIFYING THEM TO THE FULLEST. EVEN WHEN WE SAY “GOD IS THE SUPREME BEING” IT IMPLIES THAT GOD IS A BEING LIKE YOU AND I. AND THAT'S NOT TRUE EITHER. WE CAN'T DEFINE GOD AS AN OBJECT, AS SOMETHING SET APART THAT WE CAN EXAMINE. TO DEFINE MEANS TO DESCRIBE WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T. IF I DEFINE A PIANO, I CAN THEN TELL WHAT IS A PIANO AND WHAT IS NOT. WE CAN'T DO THAT WITH GOD, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH GOD IS DISTINCT FROM CREATION, GOD IS EVERYWHERE CREATION IS.
I RECENTLY READ AN ARTICLE BY A HINDU. WE ALL THINK THAT HINDUS BELIEVE IN MANY GODS, AND IN A SENSE, THEY DO. BUT AN EDUCATED HINDU WOULD TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE REALLY MONOTHEISTS; ALL THOSE GODS ARE JUST VARIOUS WAYS THE ONLY GOD SHOWS HIMSELF – BECAUSE THAT GOD CANNOT BE DESCRIBED IN AND OF HIMSELF.
IN THE STORY OF THE MAN BORN BLIND, THE REASON THE PHARISEES GOT SO UPSET IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE CURE. I'M SURE THERE HAD BEEN OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD LOST THEIR SIGHT AND REGAINED IT. BUT FOR SOMEONE WHO HAD NEVER HAD SIGHT TO GET SIGHT – THAT'S A GOD-LIKE ACT, THAT'S AN ACT OF CREATION. AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT BEING BORN BLIND WAS A SIGN OF SIN, EITHER ON THE PART OF THE PARENTS OR THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, THEN SOMEONE WHO GAVE YOU SIGHT COULD ALSO FORGIVE SIN. IF THIS EVENT HAPPENED, THEN THE ONE WHO MADE IT HAPPEN IS OF GOD – PERHAPS GOD HIMSELF.
THE MAN BORN BLIND IS SUCH A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE TO US. “ALL I KNOW,” HE SAYS, “IS THAT I WAS BLIND, AND THIS MAN MADE ME SEE.”
WE CAN'T DEFINE GOD. WE CAN'T IMAGINE GOD. BUT WE CAN SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOD IN OUR LIVES, AS DID THIS BLIND MAN. AND LIKE THE BLIND MAN, ALL WE CAN DO IS TO LOOK AT THOSE TRACES OF GOD IN OUR OWN EXPERIENCE, AND FALL ON OUR KNEES AND SAY, “I DO BELIEVE, LORD.”
BECAUSE WHILE WE CAN'T GRASP WHAT GOD IS, WHAT GOD DOES – WE DO KNOW ONE THING, AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS TOLD PHILIP SO LONG AGO. “IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER.” YOU AND I HAVE SEEN JESUS, WE'VE EXPERIENCED HIM IN OUR LIVES; AND THEREFORE NO ONE CAN CONVINCE US THAT THERE IS NO GOD.