BRINGING LIGHT INTO DARKNESS
Good Morning and welcome to the new era of Church! We meet this week not at our usual place, as members of the Church of St James Anglican and St. Stephen and St. Bede.
Rather, we meet as the people of God on the internet to share in our Sunday worship. As you are all aware the Manitoba government has recently declared a State of Emergency for all Manitobans. In an effort to address the pandemic and the COVID19 virus, we have been asked not to gather in public spaces of anything more than 50 people. We are to use “social distancing,” and remember to continually wash our hands.
As human beings we are created to be in community. We are social people. To be in isolation from others is not what we are used to. To be forced into isolation may bring on anxiety, depression, and fear. In essence, it feels like darkness.
That darkness can overwhelm us if we remain isolated, so our Bishop Geoff has asked us to “develop and share creative and imaginative ways for us to be the Body of Christ in the world in which God is already at work.”
To repeat, God is already at work in the world. In John’s Gospel, chapter 8, verse 12, He says this:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Our Gospel today highlights this message. Commentator Melinda Quivik reminds us that in the darkness we are led by human understandings and human interpretations. Consider the man born blind who was given sight by Jesus. The religious leaders of the day were horrified.
“When the religious leaders ask for the fifth time a question using the word “how”—“How did he open your eyes?”—we see that they are fixated on method rather than going to the deeper question: Who is this healer? (Actually, it may be the “how” questions are meant to obfuscate what they really want to know in order to trip Jesus up.)[1]The question, “Who is this healer?” is still our question today.
The formerly blind man answers, in what ends up being one of those rare places in Scripture that is actually comic, whether the religious leaders want to know what Jesus did because they want to become his disciples. We know they are not interested in becoming his followers. They want to trap a threatening rabbi (teacher) and healer who confronts them with their unmerciful rules, like not being allowed to do a holy work on the Sabbath.[2]
In the absence of Jesus, the characters in this story get off track. The neighbors who knew the blind beggar wanted to know if it was the same person. He seemed very different of course. They could not accept what they were seeing and asked how this happened. The Pharisees, as noted were fixated on method and turned to their theology. “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others accused Jesus of being a sinner, saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?”
When pressed for answers from the parent, religious leaders learned this was indeed the same person who was born blind. When given the truth, it was denied and the formerly blind man was tossed out of community, out of the synagogue.
Here is when Jesus enters the picture again and restores the man who learns this is indeed the Messiah. His response was to believe and give witness. “He said, Lord I believe.”
We get ourselves into messes when we go it on our own, thinking we have all the answers. Temptation to believe we know the way, our own decisions can take us off track and lead to nothing but darkness and confusion.
For those who believe it is simple. “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The man born blind obeyed the voice of God and did as he was told. He was restored. We, too, need the same conviction. As the writer to the Ephesians notes, we are children of light and the fruit of that light is in all that is good, right and true.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we reach out by phone to chat with our members, we bring light. When we offer to pick up groceries for our neighbor, we bring light. When we pray for those affected by the pandemic, we bring light. When we feed the hungry and give out food from the food banks, we bring light. When we gather in cyberspace on the internet to pray, we bask in the light found in Christ.
All this begins with our simple declaration. “Lord, I believe.” This is a moment in history that allows us to be creative, to find new ways of connecting and new ways to reach folks who have not yet heard the Good News found in John 3:16 and 17, that God so loved the world, so loved you and so loved me He gave His only begotten Son, to the end that all who believe in Him would not perish in darkness but have eternal life and live in the light. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
Please stay in touch. Be kind and loving to one another. Reach out. Wash your hands, wash your hands, and wash your hands. Maintain distance and stay calm. Know we are not alone. We are one in the Spirit. May God bless you until we see each other in person? Amen.
[1]Melinda Quivik, workingpreacher.org
[2]workingpreacher.org
Rather, we meet as the people of God on the internet to share in our Sunday worship. As you are all aware the Manitoba government has recently declared a State of Emergency for all Manitobans. In an effort to address the pandemic and the COVID19 virus, we have been asked not to gather in public spaces of anything more than 50 people. We are to use “social distancing,” and remember to continually wash our hands.
As human beings we are created to be in community. We are social people. To be in isolation from others is not what we are used to. To be forced into isolation may bring on anxiety, depression, and fear. In essence, it feels like darkness.
That darkness can overwhelm us if we remain isolated, so our Bishop Geoff has asked us to “develop and share creative and imaginative ways for us to be the Body of Christ in the world in which God is already at work.”
To repeat, God is already at work in the world. In John’s Gospel, chapter 8, verse 12, He says this:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Our Gospel today highlights this message. Commentator Melinda Quivik reminds us that in the darkness we are led by human understandings and human interpretations. Consider the man born blind who was given sight by Jesus. The religious leaders of the day were horrified.
“When the religious leaders ask for the fifth time a question using the word “how”—“How did he open your eyes?”—we see that they are fixated on method rather than going to the deeper question: Who is this healer? (Actually, it may be the “how” questions are meant to obfuscate what they really want to know in order to trip Jesus up.)[1]The question, “Who is this healer?” is still our question today.
The formerly blind man answers, in what ends up being one of those rare places in Scripture that is actually comic, whether the religious leaders want to know what Jesus did because they want to become his disciples. We know they are not interested in becoming his followers. They want to trap a threatening rabbi (teacher) and healer who confronts them with their unmerciful rules, like not being allowed to do a holy work on the Sabbath.[2]
In the absence of Jesus, the characters in this story get off track. The neighbors who knew the blind beggar wanted to know if it was the same person. He seemed very different of course. They could not accept what they were seeing and asked how this happened. The Pharisees, as noted were fixated on method and turned to their theology. “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others accused Jesus of being a sinner, saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?”
When pressed for answers from the parent, religious leaders learned this was indeed the same person who was born blind. When given the truth, it was denied and the formerly blind man was tossed out of community, out of the synagogue.
Here is when Jesus enters the picture again and restores the man who learns this is indeed the Messiah. His response was to believe and give witness. “He said, Lord I believe.”
We get ourselves into messes when we go it on our own, thinking we have all the answers. Temptation to believe we know the way, our own decisions can take us off track and lead to nothing but darkness and confusion.
For those who believe it is simple. “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The man born blind obeyed the voice of God and did as he was told. He was restored. We, too, need the same conviction. As the writer to the Ephesians notes, we are children of light and the fruit of that light is in all that is good, right and true.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we reach out by phone to chat with our members, we bring light. When we offer to pick up groceries for our neighbor, we bring light. When we pray for those affected by the pandemic, we bring light. When we feed the hungry and give out food from the food banks, we bring light. When we gather in cyberspace on the internet to pray, we bask in the light found in Christ.
All this begins with our simple declaration. “Lord, I believe.” This is a moment in history that allows us to be creative, to find new ways of connecting and new ways to reach folks who have not yet heard the Good News found in John 3:16 and 17, that God so loved the world, so loved you and so loved me He gave His only begotten Son, to the end that all who believe in Him would not perish in darkness but have eternal life and live in the light. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”
Please stay in touch. Be kind and loving to one another. Reach out. Wash your hands, wash your hands, and wash your hands. Maintain distance and stay calm. Know we are not alone. We are one in the Spirit. May God bless you until we see each other in person? Amen.
[1]Melinda Quivik, workingpreacher.org
[2]workingpreacher.org
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