It's all theory until you stand at death's door.............

How many times have you heard that faith is a journey?  Well, we've journeyed through the gospel of John this Lent and watched as faith morphs from early possibilities to astonishing miracles.  

                Nicodemus came in the middle of the night because he had some questions.  

                Jesus travels into enemy territory to invite a Samaritan woman to taste living water and

                                    she starts proclaiming the good news.

                A man blind from birth has the most incredible gift imaginable dropped into his lap and

                                    knows he has encountered God.

We too have journeyed in our faith life from times of questioning, to taking a risk speaking with a stranger about Christ, to recognizing the astounding gifts that God has given to us in this life.  Thought of this way, we can see faith unfold and this faith will take you quite a distance.  Right up to the door of the tomb as a matter of fact.  Because it all changes at the threshold of death.  

Once you cross the threshold of death everything changes.  The one who has died moves into a world we do not understand.  We don't know what it looks like nor what it feels like and that frightens us in many ways.  Those who are left behind come to experience the extreme alone - ness of death; now they truly understand that we come into this world alone, and alone we will leave it.  

Martha and Mary struggle, they question, they grieve.  Their neighbors grieve with them.  Even Jesus weeps before the starkness of death.  So we learn that even when we walk with Jesus we cannot leap over death, we cannot ignore the reality of it all. We all stand before the door of death.

For years we have been able to share the good news of God's love for everyone and all of creation.  For years it has been so easy to talk about God's great invitation to all to have a seat at the table, to become one of the insiders.  For years we have depended on the gift of forgiveness, that mending of the broken places and healing of the wounded soul. 

Right up to that stone door, we have reflected the compassion of God in our lives by feeding the poor and clothing the naked.  We have shared our abundance with others and told anyone who would listen that God has changed our life and filled it with Spirit.  Right up to that stone door.

Where theory is no longer enough, and the question becomes DO YOU BELIEVE?

We watch as Lazarus exits his own tomb.  Why?  Why when Lazarus was going to die again?  Why when he was already in the hands of a merciful God?  Was it to give comfort and assurance to those left behind?

No, Lazarus was not raised so we could be assured that heaven was real

Lazarus was raised so we would know that Jesus is real.   

That's the faith that sustains us until the resurrection.  Amen.

Let's talk about sin........

First it was Nicodemus.  We watch as he slips through the night to ask Jesus a few questions.  He walks away not at all sure what the answers were. Born again?

Then we met the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well at high noon.  She needs water, Jesus starts making outrageous claims about the quality of his water and in the end she leaves with Good News for the entire community. Living water?

This week we meet the man born blind.  That's the only name we have for him: the man who was blind from birth.  He is simply sitting around, begging (that was his full time job) when Jesus approaches him.  It's hard to tell if the disciples see this man as a 'learning opportunity' or if they are trying to show off their smarts by asking Jesus who sinned, the man or his parents. Because you see, someone had to have sinned.  Otherwise, the man wouldn't have been born blind.

We don't get three steps into this encounter between Jesus and the blind man before everyone wants to talk about sin.  Ever notice how much fun it is to talk about sin?  Especially when we are talking about the sin of someone else?  I have often thought that we so urgently want to point the finger at the other - the sinner - so no one will look our direction and shine too bright a light on our failures and hurtfulness.

Many commentaries on the Bible will tell you that it was a common understanding that misfortune including disease and disability were a sign that God was not happy with you.  Your sin caused your illness or handicap.  They are right, it was common.  It is still common today.

A baby is born with physical challenges and we default to 'what did the mother do?'  (or 'not do' which is an equal possibility).  A friend is diagnosed with lung cancer and everyone feels obligated to point out that he was a smoker.  A neighbor joins the ranks of the long term unemployed and we are prone to comment that she should have been out there upgrading her skills if she wanted another job.

We have a tendency to blame the patient for the illness......and I believe that this is not mean spirited at its core but rather a sort of 'knocking on wood' for us.  If we can figure out what they did wrong, we will do it right and be spared!  At the same time, if we are leading fairly pulled together lives at the moment, we can give ourselves a ribbon for doing it right.

And we all know that is a bunch of hooey!  Matthew reports Jesus teaching "...for God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous."  5.45

So while the disciples are trying to figure out who sinned, and the Pharisees are trying to figure out exactly what law Jesus broke, and the man born blind tells his story again and again......Jesus is only interested in sight and belief.  Do you see?  Do you believe?  Everything else in the story is just commentary.