Assuaging Witnesses
A brief homily on John 9:1-7 (NIV)
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
This text is a really long text and an interesting one that gets chosen for lent, it’s long and the scribes cut it up at the wrong time, it’s supposed to end in 10:12 because the end of chapter 9 cuts the speech of Jesus and continues… but let’s not get caught up on that, that’s just my theological nerd lol
It starts with a question about who is to blame, and that's a question a lot of people ask, especially during times like these but that question doesn't matter
Jesus doesn’t want to talk about why. What’s important to know is that “the works of God” are about to become manifest to all. And not only publicly manifest. In the case of the man himself, they will be experienced.
This text often has the focus of healing the blind man, but actually that happens really quickly, the emphasis is on how we bear witness
Sin in the Gospel of John is not a moral category but a category of relationship.
Since “works” is synonymous with believing, what will be clear at the end of the story is the blind man’s “work” of believing in Jesus when he worships Jesus.
Christian faith is well suited to bear witness to “the works of God” in dismal circumstances. And those “works” aren’t always about healing and happiness.
From the New Testament’s perspective, at least, the church should expect to deliver testimony in dismal circumstances. United to an incarnate and suffering God, we’re essentially engineered to do that.
The blind man will develop in his belief in Jesus not with Jesus being present but by witnessing to Jesus’ presence in his life. The actual act of testimony has everything to do with the capacity to believe.
To acknowledge belief as a relational category may very well transform much of how we think church and faith need to be.
Christians historically have stepped up to alleviate poverty and suffering because those are the things Jesus spoke most clearly about.
When we find ourselves helpless to stop the hardship or be agents of healing, we simply bear witness.
And bearing witness is a way for us to assuage people’s fears… one of my favorite words in english is the word assuage.
We need to be like the blind man and continue to show our faith, embody it with everything we do, even now more than ever, even if those people, like the Pharisees, think it is a sin.
Ways we do that:
Not hoarding
Supporting small businesses, even if that means sacrificing
Running errands for older folks
Practicing a Responsible Radius (Dr. Stacy Taniguchi, psychologist) This is the time to come together and be there for each other, not to distance ourselves socially
Being positive yet acknowledging hardships, holding things in tension isn't easy for folks
We were called for this: to bear witness to our experience of the works of God in times like these. Please don’t stop. And thank you for doing so, especially now.
