Keith Swartzendruber

During the past 3 months we as a church have explored scripture more intentionally and creatively. In addition to our focus in worship, many have gathered in small groups to experience the Bible in new ways and through group study gain new insights into their faith. Today we will here from one group that I am also a part of that has met monthly to learn from one another. One thing we discovered at our very first session was the variety of backgrounds, contexts, and lenses that we bring. These different views shape who we are and what we believe. This has illuminated the importance of walking through scripture in community to gain a broader knowledge of the breadth of God’s story. Today several members of the group will offer a brief reflection on the scripture as a way of helping us think differently about a familiar story. We invite you as well to offer your own reflection during the sermon response time. Sharing will be Mardi Hastings, Frank Graeff, Janelle Tupper, and Cheryl Fish Parcham.

Janelle Tupper

I love the Psalm that was read earlier (who doesn’t?). The idea of God guiding and caring for us is comforting. God will care for us in hard times, so we have nothing to be afraid of.

When I contrast it with the way Jesus behaves in the Gospel passage this morning, though, it

immediately feels a bit hollow. Jesus does something dramatic – healing a blind man in an inexplicable way, in private (on the Sabbath, no less). It’s a simple chain of events, but it doesn’t necessarily make sense when you tell it in a linear fashion.

The story doesn’t sit well with me. I’m happy for the blind man, but the intense scrutiny and rejection he goes through after being healed is my definition of a nightmare. The blind man is healed, and should therefore rejoice. But he still isn’t accepted as part of the community! If anything, he is more excluded than before. For most of his life, people assumed right off the bat that he and his parents were sinners, but the formerly-blind man is now also viewed as the one holding back answers, the one concealing a potentially dangerous man.

No one is happy for him, not even his parents. His family won’t even answer questions in his defense, in case they get ostracized, too. He is a sinner (and maybe his parents are, too), who has gotten involved in some kind of witchcraft, performed by a sinner. Jesus isn’t there to back him up, only coming back into his life at the end of the story, and once again in private.

So much for “Thy rod and thy staff they guide me!” I’m uncomfortable with the contrast here. I like a supportive God who will be with me no matter what, not one who will change me for the better, but leave me to sort out the consequences of that change on my own.

But maybe that’s the point. As Jesus explains, the blind man’s community was full of people who didn’t know they were spiritually blind. They were simply never going to be the community of one who is learning to trust and worship the Messiah.

Maybe, Jesus was there, guiding the newly-visioned man through his community’s adverse reaction.

Maybe he was being shepherded through the process of letting go of the people he had known all his life, so that his new life as a seeing person would not be spent among the spiritually blind.

Sure, he was walking through a dark valley, but there was a green pasture and still waters waiting at the end.

Mardi Hastings

In John 9, verses 24-38, the scripture tells us how the Pharisees react to Jesus’ healing of a blind man. They accuse Jesus (the healer) and later the blind man (healed one) of being sinners.  John 9 verse 39, Jesus answers, “for judgment, I came into this world, that those who do not see, may see. Here, Jesus may be metaphorically talking to the powerless oppressed, disrespected, depressed persons as well as the powerful oppressor/disrespectful persons who live out their days in “darkness”.

In an earlier verse of John 9, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world,” so now Jesus’ metaphorical purpose may be to bring light into the lives of those persons experiencing  “darkness”.  However, Jesus may intend to help the powerless, oppressed, disrespected, depressed persons, and may not  (see John 9:41) intend to help the powerful oppressor/disrespectful persons.

There are many persons experiencing  “darkness.” The oppressed – those persons oppressed by the state or other individuals, political dissenters, abused women in unhealthy marriage relationships, those persons fearful of violent acts due to their sexual preferences, and refugees/illegal immigrants denied their basic human rights.  The oppressor – dictators, makers of state/federal laws that deny basic human rights, sex traffickers. The disrespected – victims of stereotyping such as gays, women, the elderly, immigrants. Those who disrespect themselves, beating themselves up for failing, not being good enough, or being inadequate in some way – wife, husband, father, son, daughter, the worker, the singer, the writer. The disrespectful – those persons who buy into stereotyping, persons knowingly telling mean-spirited disparaging jokes meant to be-little/embarrass  others, using racial slurs, stereotypes. The depressed – those feeling that there is NO way out of the condition that they are in.

Then, Jesus continues (verse 39),  “and that those who see may become blind”……and in verse 41, Jesus says to the Pharisees, “if you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, “We see”, your sin remains. Here, Jesus may be metaphorically saying that the “see-ers” (oppressors) may become blind, since they are living their days in “darkness”. Here, it seems that Jesus may not intend to help the powerful oppressor/disrespectful persons.

Frank Graeff

As you can hear from the various interpretations of this passage presented here today, each member of our group came to this passage with their own unique perspective. We each brought our own experiences, beliefs, and understanding to bear on interpreting this particular bit of scripture. As Keith described, we began our 12 Scriptures journey by sharing and comparing our past experiences with the Bible; soon afterward, we showed how our different lenses worked in practice, as we all shared our scriptural interpretations through lectio divina. Through sharing our visions, we all began to see the passage a little bit more fully, finding new context and definition in the words.

The value of different people sharing different views on a subject is nothing new to our group of course, and we all know the value of “shedding new light on the subject” as it were. But if talking to another can shed new light, doesn’t that by definition mean that the subject was darkened before? Even when all eyes are focused on the same thing, aren’t we blind to these other perspectives until they are shared with us? When members of the same church community can come to such radically different views of the same reading, it makes me wonder how to handle all of the other viewpoints, from people I have never met, that I am blind to. There is so much in this world that cannot be seen in one lifetime, so much remains dark.

For me the value of this Scripture is the promise that the darkness of ignorance need not consume us. We may read Scripture, and realize just how little of its meaning we have seen on our own. We may wrestle with meaning, without finding any answers. We may stare at seemingly insurmountable problems in our lives, agonizing over what to do, never seeing there was another approach possible. And that is ok. That is the promise of God. That even as we walk through the darkest valley, unsure of where to go and terrified of what we can’t see, there is no need to fear, for God is with us. No matter what your perspective, the idea of God’s comfort and support being with you through it all is an immensely powerful idea. At least, that’s how I see it.