Homily for Sunday, March 26, 2017 Good Shepherd and Graves Chapel
4th Sunday in Lent
Lessons:
1 Samuel 16: 1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5: 8-14
John 9: 1-41
“Some
of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely WE are not blind,
are we?” Ah, those good old
Pharisees! I may certainly be
wrong, but somehow I imagine those words were spoken to Jesus with a bit of
haughty indignation. “Me, blind?” Then, I am brought up short, because I
know there are many times when I am equally “blind,” when I think or say
something unfair or simply wrong out of my own ignorance or my lack of
understanding. As in the case of the conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus,
conflicts can arise from a misunderstanding of each other’s religious beliefs.
In
the early years of human history, on the various continents, people awoke to
the gifts of human life. They began to use their comparatively enormous
brains as instruments of reflection and not merely tools for survival. In
doing so, they pondered the beauty and grandeur of nature. They recognized the
blessing and fragility of life. From their different and far-removed corners of
the world, each group of advanced primates realized that some sublime power
must have been at work in the act and art of creation. Having reached this state of awe, they
desired to give thanks to this Higher Power, their creator. As sacrifice, they returned some of
their gifts to the God of their understanding, giving thanks for grain, fruit,
flowers, trees; for animals that provided food, hides, feathers and fur;
animals that assisted them with their work; animals that became their
companions. They gave thanks for sunlight, air, earth, and water. Out of a
desire to express gratitude to the creator, religion was born.
If
you have ever studied Greek and Roman mythology, you may have noticed a few
peculiar things about the early Greeks and Romans. The most obvious is that the
Romans simply copied the Greeks, worshiping the same Gods and Goddesses, only
changing their names and minor details about them. In their literature about
their gods and goddesses, the Greeks invested them with human qualities and
human frailties—wisdom, courage, and mercy, yes, but also anger, lust,
jealousy, cowardice, and treachery. In other words, the proud Greeks (and then
their Roman conquerors) created Gods in the image of humans. No wonder the
worship of gods with human flaws did not endure! As Christians, we are told in Genesis I that God created
humans in God’s image, and our belief in a God who is all-wise and all-powerful
has made the difference in the staying power of our faith.
In the text that
is the foundation of our faith, the Holy Bible, Christians acknowledge that our
understanding of God came to us through the faith and teachings of the Hebrew
people, contained in the Old Testament. Jesus himself was a Jew. All the major
world religions that have survived the test of time, that have endured for
centuries now (unlike the mythology of the Romans and Greeks) share a belief
in one Supreme Being. Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism,
in fact, share a set of core principles that are basic teachings of each faith.
Here is a short list of other shared beliefs that may surprise you:
To “do unto others as you would
have them do unto you,” also known as the Law of Reciprocity, is a key teaching
of all. So is to honor and respect
one’s parents…To speak the truth and to value sincerity and honesty…To
recognize giving as being more blessed than receiving…To understand that heaven
is within us…To love your neighbor…To acknowledge the wisdom and blessing of
peacemakers…To recognize that we reap what we sow…To understand that we do not
live by bread alone.
Lists of our
Christian beliefs shared with the other major religions usually have 25 or more
statements, but I will stop at these ten. I think you get the idea! Episcopal priest and theological writer
Matthew Fox expressed how the belief in one supreme being (GOD) and shared
tenets among all the major religions could be seen as One River, Many Wells. In
fact, that is the name of one of his books. Another shared belief, one that I’m
sure Jesus wished the Pharisees adhered to, is “To refrain from judging others,
since we all spring from a common source and we are all one family.”
You
probably know that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, mentions Jesus more often
than any prophet other than Muhammad. In fact, to Muslims, Jesus is considered
to be a great prophet and messenger of Allah. Muslims also revere Mary and
believe, as Christians do, the birth of Jesus to have been a Virgin birth.
Muslims also believe, as Christians do, that Jesus was sent to be a guide to the
children of Israel. With
Christians and Jews, Muslims trace their religious history back to Abraham.
You
may wonder why I speak today of these significant common beliefs and principles
shared by all the world’s great religions. What does this striking truth have
to do with today’s lessons from the Christian bible? Blindness. Or, I
guess I should more gently say, since I am as guilty as anyone, a failure to
see.
Just
as a thread of the theme of blindness runs through all of today’s lessons,
adherents of the great world religions often overlook (sadly) their shared
principles. For that matter, consider how many denominations there are within Christianity
itself. How often do Christians condemn other Christians because of their
differing interpretations of scripture?
What is it in human beings that makes us look for what is different (and
hence unacceptable) about others rather than cherish what we share with them?
Surely today’s story of the man born blind illustrates the position of Jesus on
this issue.
In
this story, the key revelation may be how Jesus responds to the question, “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.”
Jesus states clearly that the disabilities and weaknesses humans suffer
are NOT punishment for sins. He adds (and this can be as hard for us to
understand as it was for the Pharisees) that such frailties and difficulties
provide an opportunity for God to demonstrate God’s power and love. God’s work
is revealed through the ways God heals and blesses all those who suffer, just
as Jesus healed the man born blind, to the astonishment and disbelief of those
around him.
Jesus
adds, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, tells
us that our mission as followers of Jesus Christ is to continue to bring his
light to the world. As Paul puts it, “Once you were darkness, but now in the
Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is
found in all that is good and right and true.” How do you define “all that is good and right and true”? That may very well be the basic
challenge for us during this season of Lent, as we ponder how we are called to
serve the Lord as his light in the world.
In
the Old Testament lesson today, the Lord takes the prophet Samuel to task for
grieving over the failure of King Saul. Since Samuel is not ready to let go of
the dream of having Saul as king of Israel, he cannot comprehend what the
future may hold. When he is told to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the new
king of Israel, Samuel, though he is a prophet, cannot discern which of the
sons is the right one. For him, any of Jesse’s sons is as good as another
because Samuel judges them through his own eyes and not God’s. For Samuel, not one of them could
possibly be as great as Saul. Then David appears.
Psalm
23 is a lovely parable, in the form of a prayer of gratitude, for the way God
showers us with the blessings of light even when we find ourselves in a world
of darkness: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall
fear no evil, for you are with
me…you spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me…surely
your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalm
23 assures us that in the moments of our greatest fear, even when we feel
ourselves to be surrounded by enemies, the Lord continues to bless us and keep
us, spreading an abundant table before us and anointing our heads with oil. We
are guests at the Lord’s table, and just as Samuel anointed the young David to
become the next king of Israel, the Lord anoints us with his loving presence. Simple
gratitude would be our most appropriate response.
Out of that gratitude, we demonstrate “all that is good, and right, and true.”
The
Lord is ever with us, and we have no reason to fear what we do not understand. God’s
kingdom of heaven is within us. Instead of giving into fear, we are called to
love our neighbors, to be peacemakers, to give more than we receive. We are
empowered by the Lord to shed his light of love on those around us, and that
light is the light of love and understanding. AMEN.
