Seeing Things
(Free Version) The Fourth Sunday in Lent- 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
Our readings for this Sunday speak to the dynamics of perception and reality. What is true? What does it mean to see clearly? And who gets to decide? What are the counterfeit narratives that we often accept as a substitute for seeing clearly and lead to darkness, the inability to see what God is up to in the world and in our lives?
Our Old Testament reading (1 Samuel 16:1-13) is familiar, and we need resist the “Aesop’s fableization” of stories like this one. This is not a moral tale and David is not an emerging superhero. David is anointed as Israel’s next king; yet, he is chosen by God, not because of his strengths, but in his weakness. Samuel (the anointer) has nothing to go off of, except for God’s command. We are reminded that this story is, after all, about God. This is true of every part of the scriptural story and it is true of our lives. David’s own family did not consider him when Samuel approached, yet God calls David into his story in a profound way.
Israel is to be formed as a different kind of people. Even though God relented and gave them kings, kingship will take a different form for Israel than for any other nation in the world. It is from this story where the image of “shepherd” first emerges as a metaphor for kingship. God is up to something and we will never understand it by “outward appearances,” only by listening to God’s Spirit. This story points us forward to the Good Shepherd who leads us into this new kind of Kingship, which is more true than any kind of leadership we can imagine.
In our New Testament reading (Ephesians 5:8-14), Paul tells the church to live as the people they already are—children of the light. They will know this light by its fruit: goodness, righteousness and truth. By simply being who they are in the world, the church exposes the hollowness and emptiness of the ways of darkness. Because of this, it’s best not even talk about those false ways. This light is revealing but it is also transforming. This means that it is possible for the presence of the children of light to not only reveal things, but for dark things to become light when shined upon. The call is to wake up! The light is here. Those two functions of light: revealing and transforming are important to remember in our own lives, families, and neighborhoods. As the church is the family of light, our very presence ought to reveal broken things and simultaneously, promote their healing and restoration. Paul is not telling us to do more, but to embrace and live into our identity as people of light.
Our gospel reading (John 9:1-41) tells the story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind. Jesus deconstructs the way in which people often view the world: that painful circumstances are the direct result of an individual’s sin. Rather, Jesus says, this pain becomes the site of new creation. Just as God created from dust and breath, so Jesus creates anew with dust and spit, healing the blind man. From there, we enter a back-and-forth, with the characters in the story afraid and unsure of what such a miracle—which is outside of their control—means; and a healed man simply repeating the story of the God who stepped into his life and brought about sight.
John paints a picture of Jesus’ complete unity with the Father. Jesus creates as the Father creates. The leaders tell the man to “give glory to God” instead of Jesus, trying to drive a wedge between them, but they are not allowed this false dichotomy. The man is praising God by attributing his healing to Jesus.
In the end, we see that it is those who are blind who see, and those who think that they can see everything clearly who are blind. Once again, our Lenten readings lead us to a place of radical disorientation and dependence. We can run from that: trying to hold onto or regain control, or we can lean into the disorientation, radically trusting in Jesus. We are reminded today that we will never outgrow our need for God. We are ever tempted by counterfeit stories which depend only on outward appearances. Such counterfeits always lead to darkness. But Christians are the people of the light!
May we live into who we already are: children of light. May we listen for God’s voice and discern what pleases him. May we be liberated from fear, which is cast out by Christ’s perfect love. And may we trust in the one who sees everything clearly.