April 3, 2011 Sermon Notes John 9, I Sam. 16
Again, we get a parade example of John using the physical as a gateway to the spiritual, where physical blindness leads us to consider spiritual blindness. .
We get insight into the theodicy question, the question of God and human suffering,  and the attitude of Jesus. In the Tuesday class we looked at Luke 13 and Jesus refuses to link trouble and punishment for sin or permitting us to blame the victim for their plight. The explicit response of Jesus is to heal, to make well.

the blind man is being talked about as an object, or an object lesson, not a person. Jesus makes a paste that may allude to the creation of Adam and then sends him off to wash in the pool of Silo am, which we learn means sent.How did the blind man manage to get to the pool? Jesus has just been sent out from the temple for preaching about God's generous grace to all. After all Jesus is the living water, Jesus is the one sent (recent discoveries of steps by the pool)-I always admired the scene in the original silent King of Kings where the face of Jesus slowly appears.
when do we not want to see? They didn't see the blind man; they saw a symbol, a fixture in the community, a role. They weren't sure it was he when he was sighted. I remember when I taught school that students would do a double take if they saw me in a supermarket as they assumed that I lived on print.when things are too close we can't focus-we need help-we miss the treasures all around us. We miss the treasures that connect us to God right inside each one of us.
Is sight spiritual apprehension-blind to the light of the world-people were blind to him; he had become a cipher, a road ornament-he says he was anointed by Jesus with the allusion to creation of mud on his eyes-that's ironic in itself that an opaque paste would give sight.

God sees past the obvious in the brothers of David-is washing a type of anointing, a type of baptism? We know Samuel is a seer. Samuel is kept in the dark, as much as old Eli was when Samuel himself was called by God when he was but a young boy-David was invisible at this point-he wasn't even considered. Being invisible is difficult to our self-image.Samuel is told explicitly that God does not view by appearances as we often do. God looks upon the heart, the fullness of what is inside we suppose. (Still, appearance is emphasized when describing David).

 We do well to realize how easily we use stereotypes, labels, and in general, are willing to judge others on appearance or other simple cues. those cues make us blind to others. Even though we are social creatures, we cannot fully enter into the mind and heart of another person. part so another person will always be unseen and unknown by us. Many of us are convinced that there's a lot more to us than is commonly supposed., but we remain burdened by being picked last for the team or not being homecoming queen. we get ourselves into trouble when we assume we know more about someone than we are capable of knowing. Expectations can be dangerous to relationships.The religious leaders have trouble putting the healing into their frame of reference, the box to which they have become accustomed.Insisting that our angle of vision is the one right way is a hazard that leads to hubris, to an overweening pride, to coercion of others. just maybe we are called to regard each other with the eyes of love, (I typed the yes of love, just as good)  blind to faults, with our focus on the good that dwells within.