Christ is risen. He is risen. Well, we have heard
the last of the Paschal Seeds and Gospels. And
like that of last Sunday, it was quite long.
John chapter 9, verse 1 through 38. It was only
missing three verses at the end. I'll read them
for you because I think they're important. After
all this happened, Jesus said, for judgment,
remember, judgment is God setting things right.
That's good for those who've been oppressed,
who are poor, who are in fear and anxiety. It's
bad for those who do the oppression, who are
rich without generosity, who lord it over. Judgment
is good if you need it. For judgment I am coming
to this world that they which see not might see.
Jesus is the one who enlightens us. We don't
see. The hymn says, again, we are to identify
ourselves with this blind man. That's hard for
us to do because we think we see. They that which
see not might see. And they which see, might
be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said to him,
Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you
were blind, in other words, if you didn't know
any better, you wouldn't have sin. You'd catch
a break. But now you say we see. Therefore your
sin remains. This long gospel... No means tedious
or boring. No, these are words of life, words
of illumination, directed particularly to those
newly baptized, but to the rest of us who are
interested in renewing that baptismal grace.
Words which lead us to understand Jesus Christ
and ourself a little bit more. It's important
to say also today that while the Paschal season
is ending, Actually, it's not ending. It's coming
to a culmination. A fulfillment. Leave -taking
on Tuesday night. The vigil for Ascension on
Wednesday night. The liturgy for Ascension on
Thursday morning. And then ultimately, Pentecost.
The 50th day after Pentecost. The gift of the
Holy Spirit. That's why I say it's a culmination.
Everything comes together on those feast days.
Ascension is Thursday. People work on Thursday.
People go to school on Thursday. Ascension is
the semi -forgotten, one of the most great and
awesome feasts of the church, and yet somewhat
neglected. So think about that. I want to speak
about... To narrow things down today because
there's so much going on in this gospel. So much
going on. The interrogation, the cross -examination,
the deposition of the parents. Oh, we don't know
and we can't tell you anything. Yeah, he's our
son. You ask him yourself. Things like that.
What I want to talk about is very simple. Two
things. The first is this. The Savior's healing
of this blind man. He had the condition of having
no eyeballs. The Savior's healing was not in
response to this man's faith, was it? It was
in response to this man's need. And it was freely
and lovingly given. The man did nothing at all.
And God came to him, our Lord Jesus Christ, our
Savior and our God, taking mud. With his spit.
Dust. And putting it. And fashion. Reminds us
of Genesis. Where God takes dust from the earth.
And fashions us. Everything. Without question.
Did you know that? God loves everyone. Infinitely.
No matter what. Without question. No strings
attached. God loves everyone. And the resurrection,
which is the healing of our body and the soul,
the rising from the dead, and illumination in
this life, is a gift granted to every single
person. Each and every person. And until the
day of resurrection, we do suffer. We travail.
We're in pain. We're in uncertainty. I assure
you, like St. Paul, we know that the whole creation
groans and labors with birth pangs together until
now. Not only that, but we also who have the
first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves eagerly awaiting the adoption,
the redemption of the body, the resurrection.
The man didn't earn a healing, but he did respond.
And that's the key. He did respond. That's what
faith is. It's a response in action. Certainly,
not mainly, but certainly, this response is not
an intellectual response, not a rational acceptance
of what God has done and who he is and what the
church is all about. When you say, I believe
in one God. Can you explain that? Because God
is ineffable, eternal, beyond our conception.
It's a statement which requires then our faithfulness,
our action. For this man, understanding comes
later. Just like the reading from Acts, this
man in the jail, the jailer. He's frightened
because his life is on the line, because the
prisoners are escaping. And what does he say?
Sirs, says to St. Paul and Silas, what must I
do to be saved? And by the way, what do you think
he means by saved? He means saved from destruction.
That's what he means in this world. but also
in the life of the age to come. So they say,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will
be saved. You and your house of belief, he says,
as in follow, be faithful, trust, do the commandments,
respond to God, love God above all, worship God,
pray to God, forgive your enemy, all these things.
These are acts of faithfulness, not some kind
of intellectual mind game. About what the faith
is. And this is how the man that was born blind.
When he begins to see. And this is a pathway.
This is an image for us of the path of the Christian
life. We become illumined. We become understanding.
Or we refuse. Notice it's the religious leaders
that say. White is black. The sky is not blue.
It's raining. John doesn't have a blue shirt
on. It's green. They refuse to accept the truth.
Who is standing in front of them? Jesus, the
way, and the truth. What do we want to be like?
We want to be like this man. Not like his parents.
No. God says through the prophet Isaiah, Be ye
my witnesses, says the Lord God, and my servant
whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe
and understand that I am he. Before me there
was no other God, and after me there shall be
none. What does this mean? It means to not be
like these parents of this man, looking to protect
yourself, because the truth will cost you. It
means... What Isaiah is saying to be illumined
by God in your soul. To have gentleness and care.
So that you become a modern day blind man. Or
a woman at the well. Or the paralyzed man by
the pool. Each with a story to tell. Each a miracle
you've witnessed. Each a gift of grace. That
we've experienced. Tell these things. At the
right time. At the right place. With the right
words. To the right person. The good things that
God has done for me. For you. Here in the church.
Well. We're fine with our displays. Of religious
devotion. And love. Let me ask you a question.
What about when you're in public, in a restaurant?
Do you thank God for your food, or is it one
of these? So nobody sees. I'll tell you a story.
It seems trivial. Watching basketball playoffs
a few years back, major star from Serbia. sat
down on the bench to rest. Someone handed him
a water bottle. He looked at it, he made the
sign of the cross, like that, and drank the water
with thanksgiving to God, with millions of people
watching him. It seems trivial, I know, but let's
do better than that then, brothers and sisters.
What about at work? What about your choices in
life? What about, as my friend Father Tom Sirocco
says, the P word, politics. Does our faith inform
our politics, or does our politics inform our
faith? Beloved, you exist to bring glory to God,
that the works of God may be made manifest in
you. You bring glory to God best, not when everything
is going well, and you are healthy, and your
life is full of pleasure. That's what we want,
and when it comes, it's a blessing. We bring
glory to God not when we question and accuse
God of lacking care for creation. You bring glory
to God best when those times are difficult, when
you have to defend the truth and stand up for
what is correct in the church. When suffering
intrudes, when sorrows come, that's when you
glorify God. I'll end with these words from Metropolitan
Archbishop Seraphim of Zimbabwe, something Fred
sent to me yesterday. This reading and all those
that we have heard and hopefully absorbed during
the Paschal season, you know they're all about
baptism. They're all about the change of life,
all about commitment to follow in Christ on purpose,
about living his life. Thy kingdom come on earth
within me as it is in heaven. Here's what the
Bishop Seraphim says. Let us hope that the miracle
which opened the eyes of a blind man by birth
will also open our eyes, that we might be driven
to repentance through our course. Towards the
holy sacrament of confession. Which will be realistically
expressed. In our particular orientation in our
daily life. Hence our blindness stops. When we
live within the boundaries of the sacramental
life of the church. That I believe. Put your
trust in the process of holiness that the church
has given us. Be illumined. Christ is risen.