Blind As A Bat 3-22-21 Sermon

Blind as a Bat 

Ps 23, John 9:1-41 

Psalm 23 

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green  pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads  me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the  darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my  enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness  and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the  house of the LORD my whole life long.  

John 9:1-41 

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked  him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born  blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the  works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can  work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he  had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and  spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of  Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back  able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a  beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some  were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”  He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were 

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your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud,  spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I  went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?”  He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who had  formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud  and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he  had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I  washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from  God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a  man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they  said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes  he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he  had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of  the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who  you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents  answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but  we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened  his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said  this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed  that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of  the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for  the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to  him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered,  “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I  was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did  he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you  would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to 

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become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple,  but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses,  but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man  answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes  from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to  sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the  eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do  nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you  trying to teach us?” And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had  driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son  of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe  in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with  you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I  came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see,  and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him  heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to  them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We  see,’ your sin remains.  

Prayer – God of vision and grace, we come this morning hoping to see new  things, to experience you in new ways. Too often we are blind to the  opportunities that lay right in front of our eyes. Grant us the vision to see  clearly, rather than dimly; and once we see, to act with grace and mercy  and hope – amen.  

Imagine with me for just a moment that you are watching a movie and  the scene is at a beach on a beautiful sunny day. There is a large crowd 

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on the beach, picnicking, sunbathing, tossing a ball or a Frisbee, but no  one is in the water. You notice a large sign, just at the edge of the water  that says, “No Swimming.” You notice that there is a lifeguard on duty.  Just as the opening credits begin to fade, there is a scream from the water.  Someone is trying to swim despite the sign, and they are in trouble. The  lifeguard doesn’t move. He looks out at the drowning person and yells,  “You should have read the sign! Who told you to go in? Are you blind as a  bat?” Then someone jumps up from the beach, jumps into the water, and  saves the drowning person. Do you think the hero is treated as such? No,  not at all. In the next scene, the lifeguard and a group of his buddies are  yelling at the rescuer, “You didn’t read the sign either! Are you blind as a  bat?” One turns to the other and says, “How are we ever going to have any  order around this place?” 

Absurd, you say? Of course it is absurd, but perhaps no more so  than our gospel lesson this morning. There are several ways of dealing  with this passage. One is from the perspective of the blind man. We can  ponder what it means to be blind, the difficulty of getting through the day,  what it means to be cut off from the visual world, from society, from family  and friends. We are faced with not only the struggle to cope, but with the  guilt that comes from depending on others to help you get through life; or  the bullies who blame your blindness on some previous action or because  of your parents. If we follow the blind man, we deal with the journey from  being a “sinner” in the eyes of the ancient world to a believer in Jesus as  the Messiah.  

A second perspective we can take is the role of the religious leaders,  the guardians of the tradition, the pillars of the community. We might 

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wonder, “Are they not more handicapped by blindness than the man who  was healed?” Or in our own modern context, we perhaps are wondering  how blind some of our world leaders have been in regards to the  coronavirus – how dangerous it potentially is, to mislead a country on what  is really happening.  

But then, I can’t help but wonder, what are my blind spots? Do I see  the homeless person through eyes of compassion or through eyes of  judgment? Do I see people with drug problems as broken or sinners who  are unrepentant, in other words, with compassion or judgment? Do I see  immigrants as people trying to make a better life for themselves and their  families or as people who don’t pay taxes like I do? Do I see people of  other faiths as “non-believers” or as children of God? Do I see many of our  politicians and their supporters through eyes of compassion or through  eyes of judgment? Our blind spots tend to be more about spiritual  blindness – not seeing through eyes of compassion and connection and for  most of us, that is the blindness that we frequently just don’t see.  

We might ask, “Why is it important to see my blind spots?” For one  thing it helps to free us from the danger of being closed in mind and heart  when God calls us to be compassionate and caring. When we are trying to  control the scripts of our lives, we are like the religious leaders in our  Gospel today; if God doesn’t fit into our expectations, we tend to be blind  as a bat.  

At any point in our life and our faith journey, there is a danger in  thinking the process is over, that our faith is a complete package, as if our  finite minds can ever capture the fullness of God’s expansive love and 

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creation. That is as dangerous for the spiritually progressive as it is for the  religiously conservative. For many of us, we think we have all the right  answers, we have said all the right prayers, we have lived faithfully, and  thus we become experts on life and faith. When that occurs, we become  our own obstacles, we become blind to real life and real pain, we become  unable to see God’s presence in others who may see things differently than  we do. We are blind as bats. 

Our call to emulate the way Christ lives is never merely to think about  it or talk about it. At some point in time we have to step up to the plate and  not only see the ball but hit a homerun. For some this means responding  to a call to be in ministry and mission, for others it may mean to be a  volunteer in the mission and ministry of the church, for others it may mean  to be involved in the community to help liberate people from poverty or  other social concerns. It may be as simple as reaching out to a lonely  person; the list could go on and on. It is as individual as each of us. But  the challenge is to see and respond to those opportunities of caring and  compassion that we encounter. 

There is a danger when we draw our circles too tight. The reaction of  the religious authorities to the man with his sight restored reminds us that,  for too many of us, the beliefs we hold, the faith we cling to, can be a  barrier to seeing what we need to see. We have a tendency of walking  through each day and yet not seeing anything that ends past our own nose.  What we see, what matters to us, who we treat well, what we are doing  today, these are the things we restrict our mind to. We only see the things  we want to see, see things that fit our status quo, see things that we agree 

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with, and consequently, perhaps miss a great deal because of the beliefs  we hold, the faith we cling to. 

If only our eyes could be opened. If only we could see the pain and  the brokenness of our surroundings. If only we could see past the next few  weeks of our life. Maybe then we would realize that the stand-up comedian  is actually the saddest among us. Maybe we would notice all the bracelets  that the barista covers her wrists with to hide her scars. The kid that is  always hanging around, doesn't have any family left, and is bounced  between foster homes. Maybe then, if only we weren’t blind as a bat.  

 But we won't. That would require us to walk against the flow. See  things that we would rather ignore. Acknowledge our own brokenness in contrast with those around us. It would be too hard. So instead we often continue to walk the easy path blissfully ignorant to the darkness around  us. Distracting ourselves by bouncing from day to day as to not let our  

mind wander. Because if our mind did wander, we would think too much  and if we thought too much we might catch a glimpse through our blindness. But even that small glimpse is too uncomfortable. Blindness will  be our guide, and ultimately our undoing. 

Our passage this morning is meant to be a reminder, to remove our  blind spots, to see again with clear vision, all that is out there for us to see.  The beauty and the tragedy. The possible and the impossible. The grace  and the judgment. The yin and the yang. And with a clear vision, of our  religion, our spirituality, our faith, our beliefs, our openness, our blind spots,  our same old same olds, maybe, just maybe we can make a difference in  the life of someone who we never even saw before. The choice is ours, 

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blind as a bat, or seeing with an open and caring and compassionate heart  – may God guide us into new vision – amen.