WEBVTT 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:10.960 Christ is risen. What a story. Amazing grace. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:16.719 How great, how great to save a wretch like me. 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 Once I was blind, but now I see. The source of 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.320 that well -known hymn, that song, is in this 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:30.000 gospel. We might summarize this gospel with the 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.979 following. short little parable. In the sunlight, 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:43.640 mud becomes hard and cracked. In the sunlight, 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:48.560 wax becomes soft and pliable. Our soul is going 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:53.140 to be one or the other. We're approaching the 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:56.780 end of the Paschal season, and so we have this 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:00.310 reading. in which Jesus reveals himself as the 00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:02.469 light of the world to this man, and last week 00:01:02.469 --> 00:01:05.250 he revealed himself to the woman at the well. 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:13.709 And soon, from Wednesday night on, we're not 00:01:13.709 --> 00:01:19.730 going to be saying Christ is risen anymore. We're 00:01:19.730 --> 00:01:22.269 going to move on to something else, and something 00:01:22.269 --> 00:01:25.590 greater, if there could be something greater. 00:01:26.670 --> 00:01:30.650 We began, think back now, we began the Paschal 00:01:30.650 --> 00:01:33.250 service, the midnight service, in the pitch black. 00:01:33.329 --> 00:01:39.310 Do you remember how it was? Why is that? Why 00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:42.870 do we begin the Paschal Matins in the pitch black 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:46.969 at night? Why must it be at night? Is it for 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:53.480 some kind of dramatic effect? No. No. It's nothing 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:55.500 even quite lovely. It's something that ought 00:01:55.500 --> 00:02:00.719 to be to us quite frightening. Because we hear 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.439 what Jesus said in the beginning of the Gospel 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:09.439 of John. Light has come into the world. He is 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:14.599 the true light. And men love darkness rather 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:18.259 than light because their deeds were evil. Cover 00:02:18.259 --> 00:02:21.060 up their deeds. They don't want them to be seen. 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:24.000 For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:26.699 neither comes to the light, lest his deed should 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:30.879 be exposed. This darkness is the darkness of 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.319 death, the darkness of the tomb, the darkness 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.560 of this world without Christ. The darkness of 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:43.919 no understanding. And today we see illustrated 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:47.699 so well the darkness of the denial of the truth. 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:52.520 And this whole gospel that we read today is about 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:57.860 that denial of the truth, the insanity of those 00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:00.340 who deny the truth, and the incredible light 00:03:00.340 --> 00:03:07.659 of Christ, this wonderful miracle, which is more 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:09.979 than a miracle. It's a sign of the kingdom of 00:03:09.979 --> 00:03:13.500 God. This darkness and this insanity reminds 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:15.759 me of the horrible plague of the darkness in 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.060 Egypt. that came upon Pharaoh, which we read 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:23.560 about in Exodus, the denial of God's power, because 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.620 this was demonic darkness that he had in his 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:30.879 heart, Pharaoh did. On the other hand, you had 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:34.560 the pillar of fire leading the Hebrews, the pillar 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:38.680 of the fire of the Holy Spirit. This darkness, 00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:44.099 it's sad to say, is the condition of our world. 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:50.539 and was once the condition of ourselves before 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:53.379 we knew the lord's immeasurable love and mercy 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:56.259 you notice in this gospel nowhere in the gospel 00:03:56.259 --> 00:04:00.340 does jesus launch into a diatribe rail against 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:05.500 the powers that be of the roman empire he speaks 00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:08.840 about the heart he speaks about repentance he 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:13.280 speaks about the truth and the light when we 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:20.730 see our own sins Yes, we should grieve, but we 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:23.410 should also rejoice because God's present, or 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:28.990 else we wouldn't see it. On Pascha, in that darkness, 00:04:29.129 --> 00:04:32.110 you remember, maybe not this year for most of 00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:35.310 you, but you remember, you're standing in the 00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:38.970 church and then one candle and the holy altar 00:04:38.970 --> 00:04:41.069 is lit. Why the holy altar? Why not just out 00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:43.959 here someplace? It's because the light... is 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:46.759 a revelation from the kingdom of God. We cannot 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:50.100 discover this on our own. It comes to us. He 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:54.759 comes to us. And then, from that candle, that 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:56.779 light of faith, the light of understanding, the 00:04:56.779 --> 00:05:00.620 light of knowledge of God, one candle after another 00:05:00.620 --> 00:05:04.959 is lit. And then another. And then the whole 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:08.439 church is filled with the light of faith and 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:10.959 song. Thy resurrection, O Christ our Savior, 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:14.750 the angels in heaven sing. We sing to enable 00:05:14.750 --> 00:05:19.069 us on earth to glorify thee in purity of heart 00:05:19.069 --> 00:05:22.250 because we can only glorify God with purity of 00:05:22.250 --> 00:05:26.930 heart. And the darkness then flees. It flees 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.829 with the light and the song. And each candle 00:05:29.829 --> 00:05:33.629 being lit, each voice singing is the heart, the 00:05:33.629 --> 00:05:36.189 mind, the soul, the life of each person being 00:05:36.189 --> 00:05:40.149 illumined in baptism, first in repentance, in 00:05:40.149 --> 00:05:44.490 baptism, in faith. By the one whom we heard in 00:05:44.490 --> 00:05:49.370 the gospel today say, I am the light of the world. 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:52.329 About whom St. John the theologian says in that 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:54.990 first chapter of John, which we heard on Pascha 00:05:54.990 --> 00:05:58.350 night, that the light shines in the darkness 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:03.889 and the darkness did not overcome it. He opens 00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:08.149 the darkest tomb to the brilliant light of life 00:06:08.149 --> 00:06:12.579 eternal. This isn't just some general or pious, 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:16.240 religious -sounding words and statements about 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:21.819 Christ. The depths of our heart await his illumination. 00:06:23.139 --> 00:06:27.180 Or, if we turn away, then we're in the state 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:30.379 of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees, who deny 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:35.220 what they saw. This man, you... You couldn't 00:06:35.220 --> 00:06:37.420 have been born blind because now you see. And 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:39.699 that man is a sinner, so he couldn't have healed 00:06:39.699 --> 00:06:45.500 you. So just give glory to God. No, these aren't 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:47.759 just general sounding statements. This is about 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:52.579 the state. This is about the situation, the condition 00:06:52.579 --> 00:06:56.920 of our heart. And so we have these amazing stories 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:00.000 from the gospel and the epistle today with both 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:05.209 concluding with acts of faith. Lord, I believe. 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:10.290 And he worshipped Jesus. And the jailer, rather 00:07:10.290 --> 00:07:13.750 than killing himself, came to faith and he was 00:07:13.750 --> 00:07:18.209 baptized. Notice, it wasn't by a long argument 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:22.949 either. It wasn't by a lot of words. It wasn't 00:07:22.949 --> 00:07:27.209 by trying to talk somebody into something. It 00:07:27.209 --> 00:07:32.089 was because the gospel was given from purity. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:38.120 from the power of God with his love. What Jesus 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:43.339 did for that blind man on that day, which began 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:48.139 with Jesus running out of the temple because 00:07:48.139 --> 00:07:50.439 they were going to stone him, and then the apostles 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:54.360 seeing the man said, who sinned, this man? Prenatal 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.319 sins? It's kind of a trick question, I guess. 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:02.040 Or his parents? And Christ reveals who sins at 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:08.480 the end. It was those who denied the truth. What 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:11.779 the blind man received, we received in baptism. 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:17.879 Step by step, this man's faith grew. Remember, 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.819 in opposition, he had opposition to his faith. 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:24.839 And that made him mature. And Christ gave him 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:27.180 something to do. So obedience to Christ is a 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:29.959 key for us. Before he could see Christ, he had 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:34.039 to follow the commandments. A spiritually sighted 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:38.460 person, to whom the Lord has opened the eyes 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:42.620 of that person, sees that without Christ, without 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:47.039 being obedient to the Lord, he stays in darkness. 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:50.419 A spiritually enlightened person sees the hand 00:08:50.419 --> 00:08:54.279 of God in everything and rejoices that God is 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.840 with us, understanding that the events of this 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:01.830 life are not coincidences. A spiritually seen 00:09:01.830 --> 00:09:08.549 person knows and is aware that the cause of many 00:09:08.549 --> 00:09:13.830 of his troubles and sorrows lies in himself. 00:09:16.389 --> 00:09:21.309 And that God's grace is sufficient in our weakness. 00:09:21.730 --> 00:09:27.289 This is our path, brothers and sisters. We receive 00:09:27.289 --> 00:09:33.440 this gospel today. To encourage us. To warn us. 00:09:33.940 --> 00:09:37.100 And to remind us of what God has given us. And 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:39.100 will give to those who are going to be baptized. 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:42.559 Illumination. Vision. First of their own sins. 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:48.340 We see everybody else's sins so clearly. But 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:52.159 that's not illumination. Illumination is to see 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:57.039 our own. And then we give glory to God. We remember 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:02.049 this means. staunch faith, his courage, and his 00:10:02.049 --> 00:10:05.269 enlightenment. Amen. Christ is risen.