On-Line Church: "Heaven-Sent Light For Spiritual Sight," Lectionary Reflections For March 22, 2020

Are we not all "born blind "?

Whether we meet as a church this weekend in person, on line or simply in spirit, our scripture texts for this Sunday provide us with eye-openers we need for times like these.

Jesus brings sight to one blind from birth. (John 9)

Close your eyes. Picture yourself alone in your community, unable to see all of the people passing by on whom you depend for your survival. 

Some are saying you are the sole cause of your blindness. Others are sure it's your parents' fault. Nevertheless, you have been unable to see from birth.

In fact, each of us has been unable to see what only God can reveal, that it is only in losing our life that we can save it, that it is only what we give away that we can truly keep, and that our trust in financial institutions and political systems for our future security will all be in vain.

Along comes Jesus, heaven-sent Light of the World, who touches our eyes with an ointment made of ordinary dust mixed with ordinary human saliva, offering us the ability to see clearly what we have never seen or realized before. We are finally able to see the world through the lens of God as revealed in Jesus the Anointed one, the Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

Everything around us is new, illuminated with blazing light. 

"Once blind, now we see!"

Through valleys of dark shadows, we experience safe passage. (Psalm 23)

Picture yourself as a part of God's people, led to places of peace and spiritual plenty, where all of your deepest needs are satisfied. Visualize being led in safe paths, anointed with healing oil, fed and nourished with spiritual abundance. Imagine being reconciled with all your enemies and celebrating with all of your friends and fellow members of God's great household of faith forever.

"Our Shepherd leads us on the right path for the sake of God's name."

We're given the ability to see others as God sees them. (I Samuel 16:1-13)

David was the youngest in his family, lacked the stature and life experience of his older brothers. But when the prophet Samuel, one of God's "seers" (those who "see" what others cannot), comes to Jesse's household to anoint Israel's next king, he sees the youngest, the one out shepherding the family's sheep, as the one God has chosen.

Picture everyday people in your life whose worth you may have discounted, as those with less to contribute to the life of the community than others. Many of them have far greater untapped potential for life and leadership than we have ever realized.

"We look at the outer appearance, but God looks on the heart."

We were once among those who sat in complete darkness, but are now a people bathed in light. (Ephesians 5:8-14)

Picture yourself as those to whom this pastoral letter was first addressed nearly 2000 years ago. Reflect on what it means to receive inner spiritual light to illuminate all of our attitudes and to inform all of our actions. This truly makes a difference as great as night from day, as our being sound asleep to becoming wide awake.

I remember being on a tour of a local caverns once in which our guide turned off all the lights and we experienced a darkness so total we could see absolutely nothing. Nothing. But it wasn't that someone turned on that darkness. Darkness cannot be turned on or off. Only light has physical properties like wavelength, frequency, energy and speed. Darkness has no such power or properties. It is simply the absence of light.

"It is LIGHT that makes everything visible."