Sight and Insight
a sermon based on John 9:1-41
by Rev. Randy L Quinn

Like last week, our text this week is long.  So long, in fact, that I will not ask you to stand as I read the text but will instead invite you to follow along in the pew Bibles.

Read Text

Ruthie lived next door to the church.  She was as independent a woman as I’ve ever met.  She had been a massage therapist, and still kept her massage table in the front room of her home – suggesting that she still did therapy on occasion.  Every week she volunteered at the hospital, and though she wasn’t a member of our church, at least once a week she was in my office voicing her opinion about something – sometimes it was my sermon, sometimes it was what she had heard someone in the church say, sometimes it was unrelated to the church – but always it was her opinion.

She was all that and so much more.

The last thing you noticed about Ruthie was that she was blind.  She used a broomstick as she walked; it looked more like a walking stick than a cane.  (She told me she uses a broomstick because it makes a more distinct sound.)

One of the greatest ministries of that church was to help her read the grocery store ads.  Every week she would come to the church and someone would read the ad to her.  She would make notes about what she wanted and then go grocery shopping.

(By the way, I called Ruthie yesterday.  Early on in my ministry I decided that I would not use someone’s story in my sermons without asking their permission.  I was not surprised when Ruthie told me to go ahead.)

Very few of us can imagine a world without light, a world without sight.

We’ve all played games that included blindfolds.  We play “pin the tail on the donkey” and “blind man’s bluff.”  And we’ve all stumbled around in a dark room when the power went off.

But that is different than being blind.

And Ruthie taught me that being blind is different than not seeing.

Ruthie had been able to see for most of her life, and as her eyes began to fail her, she found ways to compensate; she learned how to be blind.  And while I didn’t know her while she could see, I can honestly tell you that I valued her opinions.  It was as if she could see things that the rest of us were unable or unwilling to see.

Her story, as much as anything, has affected the way I hear this story, even though the man was born blind and simply learned how to live, not knowing anything different.

When the man born blind gains his sight, he is more amazed at what the people around him cannot see than he seems to be with what he can now see.

And that should give us all cause to think.  I know it made me realize the focus of this text is not on eyesight but insight.

We first realized Melissa had cerebral palsy when she was nine months old.  The fact that she cannot walk or talk is just a part of who she is.  Neither she nor we have known anything different.  In fact, she wouldn’t be the same person if she could walk or talk at this point in her life.

Over the years there have been numerous occasions when people tell us how difficult it must be to raise a child with disabilities.  Those comments always remind me of the weekend when our granddaughter came to visit us.  Melissa was three or four years old at the time.  Kaylee, our granddaughter, was an active three year old.

When Kaylee left, Ronda and I were exhausted.  Ronda looked at me and said, “I don’t know how her parents keep up with her!”

And then we laughed.  Every child brings its own needs, and parents find ways to meet those needs.  And when we were challenged to meet the needs of a different child, we were exhausted.

(By the way, we don’t laugh about it anymore – Jessey and Mariah keep us on the go constantly, and we still don’t know how parents do it!)

But the comments that really rile me are when people look at Melissa with pity after they realize she can’t walk.  “The poor thing,” they say.

Hogwash!

When I distance myself from those comments emotionally, I am reminded that we all see the world through our own experiences.  We think that what we have is good, so anyone who doesn’t have that has somehow missed out on God’s blessings.

Those people may as well have asked the question the Disciples asked about the man born blind.  “Who sinned, this man or his parents?  Who is being punished here, the man who can’t see the world God created or the parents who have to work extra hard to raise a blind child?”

To which Jesus says, “Neither.  He was born blind so God’s works may be revealed through him.”

God didn’t cause the blindness so we could experience the miracle of healing; it isn’t a cause-and-effect relationship.  God simply chose to be revealed in him, through his blindness.

And Melissa was born with CP so God’s works may be revealed in her.  He didn’t cause it to happen, but to the extent that Melissa opens her life to God’s love, God can be revealed through her.

And I was born with green eyes so God’s works may be revealed in me.

And you were born with two eyes so God’s works may be revealed in you.

And the man sitting next to you was born with two legs so God’s works may be revealed in his life.

And the woman sitting next to you was born with two arms so God’s works may be revealed in her life.

The question that needs to be asked is not, “Who sinned?” but rather, “How have we allowed God to use our weaknesses?  In what ways have we helped others see God?”

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that it’s in our weakness that God’s strength is revealed.  The familiar hymn, “Jesus Loves Me” celebrates that point in the line, “I am weak, but he is strong.”

What weakness, what shortcoming, what disability do you have that can be a means for God to act?

Like the man born blind, my friend Ruthie has insight.

Our daughter Melissa displays unconditional love.

And I believe God wants to work in you and in me as well.

May it be so.  Amen.