March 19, 2023 | Fourth Sunday in Lent

“Faithfully Working”

1 Samuel 16: 1-7

Psalm 23

Ephesians 5: 1-10

John 9: 1-11

Fr. Gary W. Thurman

A long time ago I was watching a popular television sitcom entitled “Newhart”. One of the characters was talking about the failures of his life and the people asked him what happened. He said, “I am sorry. I am co-dependent. It’s the excuse of the 90’s.” It was true; ‘co-dependent’ became the psychological byword at that time of anybody when there was something wrong with their lives.

Things have evolved. There are new excuses. The excuse of the 21st century has taken co-dependent to a new level. Anytime one practices something that is socially unacceptable or ill-timed or simply not in good taste, an excuse is simply saying, “I can’t help it. I was born this way.” When one is limited or bound to do act a certain way they can just say, “I was born this way,” and all is forgiven; all is acceptable.

I thought of this when I read the gospel for today because it uses a very interesting way to describe a certain character in the story. When the disciples first saw this character, they asked Jesus, “Who sinned that this man should be born blind?” The man was literally called “the man born blind.” He was not given a name, but he was born blind and had been so his whole life. He was bound to beg because he was born blind even to a point that he was identified as the man born blind.

The good thing is that when he met Jesus, things changed. Even though he was born blind, something changed. He might have been born blind, “born that way”, but after spending time with Jesus, he was reborn another way. He was reborn the Kingdom way, which was a better way. Whatever restrictions he had from his natural birth were gone!

There is no doubt in mind that this actually happened. There actually was, two millennia ago, a man living in that place who had never seen in his entire life. He was not blind because of an accident or because of malnutrition or because of anything else. He was literally born without sight. I believe that Jesus healed him. He took clay, spat on it, made mud out of it and put it on the eyes of the man and told him to go to the pool of Siloam. As he went, he was healed.

I believe that it happened, but I also believe it is a metaphor or a symbolic tale for us to see something. As John would say, “When you are born again, the Kingdom way, you are not blind anymore and you can enter the Kingdom of God. You will see things new; maybe things that you were blind to before.”

Like the old hymn’s verse, Amazing Grace. “I was once lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.” This is the work of being reborn. Jesus says in John 3:3,5, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” When the man was born that way, he was blind to so many things; but once Jesus healed him and his sight was reborn, now he now could see the kingdom of God. When he was born of water and the Spirit, not only could he see it, he could also enter it.

This is the hope that not only that man, two thousand years ago, realized with his personal encounter with Christ, but this personal encounter is available for every one of us. The man represents all of us. Though we were blind at birth, though we were frustrated because we couldn’t go beyond the birth limitations – whether physically or spiritually, though we say, “It is in my family DNA and I couldn’t go through it” or “My parents and grandparents were like this and that, so I’m born this way”, in Christ, these things are all done away with. In Christ, we are reborn. Not only can we see it now in a better way, the Kingdom way, not only can we see it and understand it, now, we can also enter it and participate in it.

This is exactly what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away, behold, new things have come.” The way we were born is now gone. Now what is within us are new things that we never saw before; new things that we never understood before; things that we could never do before in the Name of the Lord. These things have come! Maybe before we tried to follow the Gospel the way we understood it. Maybe we tried to be the person that people told us we should be. But it just didn’t seem to happen because we say, “We were born this way.”

The hope of the gospel is, as Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again. The reason you are having a struggle with this, Nicodemus, is because you are still in the flesh world. You must be reborn. You will not just be Nicodemus, the Pharisee, the one who was born hard-hearted. You can be opened up to a new reality, a new birth, a new way; not just the way that you have been living your whole life.”

The key to this new birth, the new creature, the removal of the old things and the stirring up or the reception of the new things, the new way, is receiving a new heart. This is something a regular heart can’t do. This is something that philosophy can’t do. This is something that reading the Bible on our own understanding can’t do.

Ezekiel says this in chapter 36 verse 26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” ‘A new heart’ is a metaphor for our desires. Many of us want to do something different than the way we were born, but sometimes we give up and say, “Never mind.” But when we have a new heart and a new spirit from Christ, He gives us new desires. Before we said, “Why should I follow the things of the Lord?” “Why should I walk the Kingdom way?” For one, we couldn’t really understand it until we were born again. We didn’t have the power until we were born of the Spirit so we didn’t get it. It becomes next to impossible, or it is impossible. What Ezekiel says a new heart he means new desires and a new spirit. It doesn’t mean that we don’t grow in the Lord. It is not that when we receive that new birth, and we are reborn, that suddenly all the virtues in the Scriptures, all the good things that the Epistles and everybody tells us to do, are instantly a part of us. It is not like that, even though some people expect it to happen. What changes is that we have a new heart and a new desire to do these things. Now, the change makes us want to follow the Lord. Jeremiah says, “You will find me when you search for me with your whole heart.” With the new heart, we will want to follow the Lord. When we follow Him, He will put a new spirit within us that gives us the power and the ability.

Romans 7 says that the law of Moses can’t help us to fulfill itself because it gives us a bunch of guidelines but it doesn’t give us the boost to be able to do it. But when we add the Holy Spirit, as he adds in chapter 8, the new birth, which involves being able to see and understand and even enter the Kingdom, takes over. We have the power to live out the desires of God.

The heart is the key. The Lord spoke to Samuel, “Don’t look at the outward appearance.” The outward appearance can be altered; it can be modified to fit the situation. The outward appearance can be tailored to make it look the way we want it to look to get people’s attention. The Lord looks at the heart because only the Lord can change the heart, only the Lord can make the heart alive and sensitive and full of Him.

Being reborn gives hope, and hope does not disappoint because, as Roman 5:5 says, “The love of God had been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.” The Spirit pouring out His love in our hearts is the thing that makes the Kingdom way different and makes it happen. This is real love. The love which people claim to be love is not really because it is taking, not giving. Love involves giving. God so loved the world that He gave! (John 3: 16) A lot of acts we call love is no more than getting something from somebody else—someone we pretend to ‘love’. It is a counterfeit. Anything based on receiving for oneself from someone else is not love. Love is always rooted in giving.

The good news is that we have been empowered not to just see this new way, but to walk in this new way, because we have been given the love of God shed in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This born again loving way heart is what the Lord has given to us today.

When we say, “I was born this way,” is sad news, but Colossians 3:3 gives us hope in that, “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” What died in us is the old way – the way that we were struggling with, the way that we gave up trying to fight, saying that it is our DNA. It is buried and gone, buried in baptism. The life that was buried in baptism is the one “born that way” not the way of the Kingdom. The self that was born blind is dead.

Our life is hidden with Christ in God. When we were born in water, the priest made the sign of the Cross with the chrism oil on our forehead. The priest was hiding our life in God. Even though after a while, we don’t see the oil in the shape of the sign of the Cross anymore, the devil sees it -- for the rest of our lives! Many times he will try to mess with us and do something with us which is outside of the will of God. He will say, “Stop that devil! Do you see this cross on My child’s forehead? My life is hidden in them, and you, leave them alone!”

In Romans 6:11, St. Paul says, “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” I have heard pastors preach in the pulpit this is not true, that, “I still feel that I am tempted. I feel I am not dead to sin.” The feeling of sin, which is temptation, is not dead. What is dead is the power of sin! We can still be tempted, but the power of sin is dead. Because of the love of God flowing through our hearts, flowing through our lives, we are empowered to live a new life, to resist that temptation. The way we were born originally is gone; the new life, the Kingdom life, the life of love, this is at the forefront of who and what we are.

How can we describe the new life? Ephesians 5: 1, 2 says, “Be imitators of God, and walk in love.” God is love. How do we imitate Him? Walk in love. How can we walk in it? It is in us as the love of God has been poured out and filled our heart by the Holy Spirit!

Aside from the excuse, “I was born this way,” another excuse that people say is, “I was raised this way.” “I was raised by an absentee parent.” “I was raised in an impoverished home.” “I was raised by in a terrible community.” “I don’t have a very good character because I was raised this way.” The gospel puts an end to this excuse. King David did not have the best upbringing. In Psalm 27: 10, David says, “My father and mother have forsaken me.” In 1 Samuel 16, all Jesse’s others sons were there, but they didn’t bother to ask David to join in the prophet’s visit. Maybe once in fifty years, this prophet comes to Bethlehem, but they didn’t bother to call David in. This doesn’t sound like the best parenting.

With the man born blind, the Pharisees wanted to investigate so they called in his parents and said, “Give glory to God! Tell us, is this your son? Tell us everything that happened.” The parents did not support him; they did not speak on his behalf. They did not want to have anything to do with him, for fear of upsetting the Pharisees. He was raised badly, but this is not an excuse. But you know, I know people who were raised to hate. In my generation where I come from, we were raised to hate African-Americans. Our parents and their parents and their parents -- going back five or six generations -- were taught this and raised this way. Finally, many of my generation finally asked, “Why should we hate them?” We began to realize that it was wrong to be raised to hate, so we went beyond the way we were raised.

I know people who were born with anger. It was in their DNA. But when they were reborn, this was killed in the waters of baptism. They totally turned into patient and loving people. There may be times when they slip, but anger is no longer an uncontrollable force in their lives. They are no longer born this way. They are now new people! The desires of the flesh and the power of sin in their lives have been buried in Christ through baptism. The sin nature is gone and the nature of love is in its place.

Early in today’s Gospel Jesus said to His disciples, “The Father sent Me to do His work,” and then, “We must work the works of God.” It is us who should now do the works of God. What are these works? Share with people who were “born this way” and show them with our lives, with our words, if necessary, that they can be reborn another way, a better way, the Kingdom way. There is a better way available for them and we are to show them that they need not be bound by their birth restrictions and inclinations. We do this not in condemnation, but in that love outpoured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Towards the end of the story, St. John the Evangelist now calls the man born blind “the man formerly born blind.” Isn’t that beautiful? This is true for us. Now, it is the person formerly like this or that!

Later, as the man formerly born blind testified to the Pharisees, he said, “Since the beginning of time, it has never been heard that anyone open the eyes of a person born blind.”

Welcome to the kingdom of God, my friend! In the kingdom of God, it happens all the time!

People born blind, people born alcoholic, people born depressive, people born unloving, or whatever, are healed all the time! This is by the love of God, the blood of Christ, and the power of God! Is it time for you, too, to be “born again,” again?