Light For Our Darkness (Lent 1)

a narrative story inspired by John 9: 1-41

Ephesians 5: 8-14 & John 9: 1-12

Roger Lynn

February 18, 2018

First Sunday in Lent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

(click here for the video for the whole worship service - the sermon begins at 21:58)

It’s really quite amazing how much in our lives we can begin to take for granted. Even miracles can fade into the background of our memory if we’re not careful to remember. It is rather embarrassing to admit, but I hadn’t really thought much about my “miracle” for a long time. It had, after all, been 25 years since my life had forever been changed. My life had moved on and my thoughts became occupied with other things. But it all came flooding back the day I heard the words in the letter from the Apostle Paul. 

You see, I had moved to the city of Ephesus and had become involved in the Christian community there. It was a very exciting day when we heard that a letter had come to us from Paul. We gathered for worship that morning and the sense of anticipation was so strong it became hard to concentrate on the hymns and prayers which came before the sharing of the letter. Finally the moment came. An elder stood up and began to read. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God . . .” (Ephesians 1: 1-2) Silence fell on us as the reading continued. Line after line, powerful thoughts and images came rolling over us like waves in the sea. No one who was there would soon forget that day. I also was moved by what I was hearing, but it wasn’t until quite some way into the reading that the flood gates of my memory came crashing open. “For once you were darkness, but now in God you are light. Live as children of light!” (Ephesians 5: 8) It was all so clear. Paul was talking about me! 

You see, the world had once been darkness for me, literally. But then I met a man named Jesus and now the world is filled with light. It was a long time ago and I don’t always think about it as often as I should, but my life was forever changed. I had been born blind, and believe me when I tell you that in those times, in that place, there was not much of a life waiting for someone in such a condition. Handouts and the pity of strangers will keep the body alive, but the spirit all but withers away under the constant humiliation. People act as if you are deaf as well as blind as they begin discussing your pathetic state and wondering aloud about whose sin it was that caused it all in the first place. But then one day, as I sat at the gates of the city waiting for people to take pity on me, someone came up and began to put mud on my eyes. I hadn’t asked him to do it. I’m not certain I would have even wanted him to do it. My life wasn’t much, but at least I knew what to expect from it. Now someone was trying to change it. It felt like an uninvited visitor in my home. But it all happened too quickly for me to argue or protest, or even comprehend much of what was going on. He told me to go and wash me eyes in the nearby pool, and so I did, if for no other reason than to get the mud off of my face. How could I have known that in that moment my life would forever be changed?

It is impossible to describe what it’s like to be blind and then see, so I won’t even try. Suffice it to say that the bars of my prison were washed away along with the mud from my eyes. I didn’t know how or why and I didn’t really care. I could see. Paul’s words really do say it so well. “For once you were darkness, but now in God you are light.” That is how my life felt! I even think Paul understood what happened next on that most amazing day, because after he wrote about being part of the Light, he added the admonition to live as children of the Light. You wouldn’t think that such advise would be necessary. If you had been transformed into light, why would you need to be reminded to live as if it were true? But not everyone is glad to have their darkness filled with God’s light. I know because I watched people try to close their eyes.

You would think everyone would have been happy for me and amazed at what had happened. That is certainly what I expected. But in the days which followed I began to discover that there is a blindness which has nothing to do with eyesight. There were those who were threatened by anything which was beyond their understanding and their control. They even dragged my parents into court, if you can believe it. When it became apparent that something extraordinary had happened to me, they wanted to know how it had happened. I told them honestly that I didn’t really know. All I knew was that I had been blind and now I could see, and it all happened when the man named Jesus came into my life. That only seemed to make them angrier. They had already made up their minds about what was true, and my story didn’t fit into their view of how the world works, so it must be wrong. They told me I must choose between Moses and Jesus, as if only one of them could be right. What was I supposed to say, standing their with my sight for the first time in my life? They cut me off from the Synagogue, but they couldn’t take away what had been given me. I had a whole new life. And I came to realize that just because their eyes worked did not mean they could really see. Intentionally choosing the darkness is far more tragic than physical blindness will ever be. My eyesight was the least of what I gained that day. In following the path which Jesus showed me I found light to fill the darkness of my life.

So, years later, as I listened to the words of Paul, “...for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ ” (Ephesians 5: 14) I knew that Paul spoke the truth. Jesus had come revealing God’s light in our world. Indeed, when we follow Christ’s way we become part of that light. All we have to do now is act like what we are – children of the light. We can choose to close our eyes, but such self-imposed blindness only keeps us from experiencing the full benefits of God’s active presence in our lives and in our world. It’s time to wake up, open our eyes, and let God’s light flood our souls. God really does work miracles. Open your eyes!