Lent 4A – 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
God, meet us in our blindness and open our eyes to see you.
I have a bit of a confession. I take comfort in reminding myself that, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart”. I tried this a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t very comforting. In fact, my immediate thought was, “that’s nice, but God is not writing my reference letters”. It is probably no coincidence then that I find myself preaching on this passage today.
In our scripture readings today we encounter two men: a shepherd boy and a blind man. In 1 Samuel, God sends Samuel to anoint the new king. Samuel tries to guess who God’s chosen king is based on the most obvious qualities – the oldest, strongest, most handsome son of Jesse. To his surprise, God chooses David, the youngest, the shepherd boy. God tells Samuel “the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” This is more than just good news for anyone who wasn’t picked first in gym class. “The Lord sees not as man sees”. When the world places the most value on appearances, power and productivity, God is doing a different thing.
In David’s case, it is unclear why God would choose a shepherd to be king. But as the story unfolds, the relevance of David’s shepherding experience begins to surface. David is the only person willing to face Goliath, a large and heavily armed enemy that left King Saul and all of Israel living in fear. When David is faced with the doubts of others about his ability to face this enemy, he says “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.” He probably didn’t know while he was a shepherd that wrestling bears and lions was preparing him to face Goliath but he did recognize God’s presence and that it was God who had delivered him.
David wrote our Psalm today where he describes God as his shepherd. God is with him even in the valley of the shadow of death – even in the presence of his enemies God sets a feast before him, giving him reason to rejoice. God restores his soul. David knows that God is with him so he fears nothing. This hope and transformation bore fruit in David’s life, but it seems that it is not largely something others could see judging by outward appearances. Samuel certainly did not expect the shepherd boy to be anointed king – but God used what was perceived as unimportant or undesirable by others to help David encounter and know the goodness of having God as his shepherd. David is anointed at the end of our reading, he receives the Holy Spirit and eventually through his lineage, an even greater king and shepherd is born.
The second man we encounter today is the man born blind. He is also probably not someone who was picked first for anything. The disciples do not hesitate to assume that his blindness was the result of some kind of sin. The man is living with a disability and possibly shame because assumptions of those around him. He is probably also asking “why did this happen?” Jesus’ responds “…he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” What Jesus says and does after this reveals something about what is really going on. Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world,” then spits on the ground and puts mud on the blind man’s eyes, ordering him to go wash in the river of Siloam. The blind man comes back seeing. He was not the only person healed by Jesus but he is the only one who has mud put on his face. In this act the truer healing is revealed.
The book of John begins with something that sounds a lot like the creation account in Genesis: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things came into being through him…in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” By telling the disciples that He is the light of the world Jesus is alluding to the fact that He is God the creator. In our reading today, what Jesus does by putting the mud on the blind man’s eyes is a lot like what God does when He creates Adam from the dust of the ground. In a sense, Jesus’ actions represent the recreation of this man, and after this, he sees Jesus for who He really is.
When the blind man’s friends and family are perplexed about what really happened and he gets cast out by the Pharisees for giving Jesus credit for his healing, Jesus comes and finds him. By the end of their exchange, the man recognizes that Jesus is divine, and he worships Him. Not only does this man get his sight back but he recognizes who it is that has healed him. Being born blind led him to encounter his creator and be made new.
It turns out that Samuel and the disciples are the truly blind ones in these passages. They associate power and strength with kingship and wholeness. They cannot see God’s work in the lowly and weak. They do not fully understand that the king and saviour they are waiting for is one who reveals God’s power through weakness.
The fact is, we live in a world where we are not viewed and evaluated through God’s lens. God doesn’t write our reference letters. We are judged heavily based on our appearances and accomplishments. Apparently, there are people employed to advise those appearing in court on how to dress and speak in order to influence the judge and jury to give a lighter sentence – and it works. People judge our credibility on the basis of how we appear or what we are able to do to prove ourselves. There is a reason we ask children about what they want to do when they grow up – not what kind of person they want to be. We value success, independence, money and power – and when it is others that are giving us our worth, we need to be able to earn it somehow. Even those of us who are successful and well respected are at some point faced with good reason to ask God, “why did this happen?” Furthermore, we all eventually are faced with death – where no amount of attractiveness, strength or success can help us escape.
The good news is that God doesn’t see as man sees. When man sees weakness and brokenness, when we are unable to change ourselves and our circumstances, God sees an opportunity to reveal Himself. When our eyes are opened, we see who Jesus really is, our creator, the good shepherd who gives his life for His sheep. We see who He is and so we see who we are, His creatures, loved and being made new. We see what is really true about God and ourselves, despite what man sees. It is these moments that transform us and where God’s work is revealed.
Today, even while we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, our good shepherd has set a table before us. May we share in the body and blood of our crucified Lord, having our eyes opened to our saviour and redeemer, whose power is made perfect weakness.
