In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Christ is risen. The last few Sundays,
the Gospels have been lengthy and filled with
tremendous spiritual teachings and insight. Like
today, it covered 38 verses. Now the rector has
given me only 40 minutes to give this sermon.
So I want to limit this homily to one brief question.
And I quote, As Jesus passed by, he saw a man
who was born blind from birth. And his disciples
asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his
parents that he was born blind. This question
relating to one aspect of man that has been discussed
since time memorial. That is to say suffering.
appears in this ninth chapter of the Gospel of
St. John. It's a question that I'm sure all of
us at one time or another have raised. And at
one time or another, in different wording, we
are confronted with the question of why. Man's
most continuous, perplexing, disturbing and haunting
questions, why? Now in raising the question,
the apostles... We're looking for some explanation
from Christ to answer this one word, why. But
Jesus did not say why the man was born blind.
Jesus did not say that it was the man's sins.
Or his parents. Jesus never really elaborated
on the question. Because at that time, in the
Old Testament teaching, the fact is that if man
was sick, he therefore sinned. But Christ rejected
that explanation. Jesus said, neither had this
man nor his parents. And I want to emphasize
this. But that the works of God should be made
manifest in him. That the works of God. So Jesus
used this. Moment then. To reveal the power.
And the glory of God. Through Christ. By restoring.
The sight to the blind man. And it was on this
occasion. That Jesus said. I am the light of
the world. But the fact remains, there is innocent
suffering in this world and we know it. Individuals
suffer not because of sin necessarily, but individuals
do bring pain and suffering and sorrow and grief.
Upon themselves. When they either forget. Or
they reject. Or they drift. From God's teachings.
That's a spiritual law of gravity. Now from the
Christian perspective. Doubts and questions about
God. and human suffering should always be filtered
through what Jesus taught and accomplished through
his teachings, through the cross, and through
the resurrection. These divine events are not
only historical facts. But they are also windows
permitting us to see some spiritual truths. Suffering
is not without meaning. And the reason I say
this is because God himself shared suffering.
God so loved the world that he gave that he gave
his only begotten son who bore our griefs carried
our sorrows and was wounded for our sins as we
hear the prophet Isaiah tell us. What is so remarkable
is that Christ left the joy and beauty of heaven,
entered into our world, taking upon himself our
human nature. And so therefore he saw, he felt,
and he experienced. This world. Of sin. But there's
another aspect to this. Whole issue. Throughout
my ministry. Both in counseling. And in hearing
confessions. I have heard. More than I could
tell you. The agonizing cries of those who said,
Father, I'm suffering and in despair because
God could never forgive me for what I have done.
Or I have heard this, I have made bad choices
and immoral decisions that even God himself could
not forgive. Or my sins are beyond God's ability
to forgive. And I could go on. It's a sad litany.
But it's true, my dear people. It's true. But
I want to say to you that on the basis of the
Bible, I want you to know that our heavenly God
through our Son, the Redeemer, has the divine
power to remove our sufferings and forgive us
our sins. We have an awesome God, the God Himself
who was crucified in order to heal our sicknesses.
What is a handful of sand thrown into the ocean?
Not a single grain remains visible on the water.
And that's what happens when we come to Christ
with contrition and offer our sins and seek his
forgiveness. This is precisely what happens to
our sins. They are dumped in the ocean of God's
love. So never say to me, God won't forgive me
because of what I did. He already has. They are
nothing, our sins are nothing in comparison to
the awesomeness and unlimited ocean of love of
God. Do we not hear in our prayers constantly,
God is compassionate and merciful. Who loves
the sinner. That seems like a contradiction,
doesn't it? God loves the sinner. We are his
creation. He died for us. The enemy of our salvation
is the devil. No need for me to offer any philosophical
theories. The devil is one who repeatedly tells
us, in different and in compromising ways that
God is powerless when it comes to our human suffering.
The devil tells us there's no way you could ever
be forgiven. He also tells us that we are dreamers
if we think, if we think we could just clothe
our sins. With pride in self -righteousness.
Isn't it true? And this is what's so remarkable.
There are Christian history tells us. That there
are those who have sinned mightily against God.
But through sorrow and faith were not only saved.
But reached the highest pinnacle of holiness.
How could we forget Mary of Egypt? Zacchaeus.
Peter who denied Christ three times. With blasphemy.
Mary Magdalene, and we could go on and on. St.
Gregory, the theologian, wrote these words. No
matter what difficulties may come, what pain
and suffering may bring. They are means of medicine.
Life in the final analysis is not what happens
to us, but what happens within us. Accepting
pain does not mean that we should be happy. I
sure don't get up in the morning and say, well,
Lord, give me one more punch in the gut. But
there is reason behind suffering, which is not
always understood from the Christian perspective.
The great Christian preacher St. John Chrysostom
observed that pain and suffering can only bring
us closer to God. So we rejoice therefore not
in the fact that we suffer but in the confidence
that our suffering can be transformed. And as
you and I continue our pilgrimage of faith in
this school of life, we are at times confronted
with the problem or problems of illness, sorrow
and grief, agony, Of body and mind. And so. It's
human I guess to ask why. Saint Paul who was
no stranger. To. Suffering as we heard in today's.
Epistle reading. Who suffered beatings. Torture.
Imprisonment. Shipwreck. He continued preaching.
And this is what he had to say. Now we see in
the mirror dimly. Now we know only in part. Only
in part. Lest we think that we can answer these
questions. Let me remind you what the great prophet
of the Old Testament said. God's thoughts are
not our thoughts. And his ways are not our ways.
The mystery of why can be transformed into these
words which Jesus said before. He passed on before
he was crucified. In his farewell message in
John's gospel, he said, Do not let your hearts
be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in
me. In the name of the Father. The Son and the
Holy Spirit.