Who sinned?

Very often, when we listen to a story, especially a rather long one like this, we find ourselves feeling a certain affinity with one character or another in it.  Sometimes that is because of a sense of empathy for that character, but sometimes it is because we feel we are a bit like that character ourselves.

A long time ago, one of the great Christian Saints suggested that this was actually a very good way for us to enable the story to come alive for us.  By imagining ourselves into the story, as one of the characters, or as a bystander, responding to the story, we can enter deeply into the significance of the story.

I think that we do this more often than we realise, especially when we are reading the Bible devotionally.  This way of reading the stories enables us to forget about the strict letter of the text and allow the Spirit of God to bring the text alive for us as we read it.  This is what happens when something in the text seems to jump out at us – almost as if lit up in neon lights.  These are the words in the story that God wants us to take notice of as we read it.

The stories we have had from the Gospel of John during this Lenten period are both long and complex, but I am wondering if a brief consideration of the different characters in the story today and the roles they play might just bring something to life for some of you that will be God’s word for you today.

THE DISCIPLES

The story begins with a question from the Disciples.  They asked Jesus: “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”

How often, when we see a homeless person sitting on our city streets begging, do we find ourselves thinking somehow he is to blame for his situation?  There has to be someone to blame, surely.  Here the disciples are confronted with human need and their instincts are to seek someone to blame and interestingly inject a kind of religious/moral dimension to it. 

You would have thought their first response would have been “Poor fellow, what can we do for him?”

This story could challenge us with the thought about how our respond when faced with human need.  Is our first response “What can we do about this need?” or is it “Who is to blame?”  The latter response certainly can derail us from responding all together.

JESUS

Jesus’ response is intended to dispel a certain myth that was around in those days – perhaps even today – that bad things happened to people because they had done bad things.

Jesus simply says that this man’s blindness was not at all caused by any sin on the part of the man or his parents. 

He then gets straight to the point.  “The works of God will be manifest in him,” he says “if we get on and do the works of him who sent me, while we have daylight.”

In other words, “Let’s get involved.  Let’s get on with it.  Let’s do something for him.”

What is delightful about this story is that Jesus actually touched this man.  The rest of the people shunned him – for the sake of their ritual purity.  But Jesus touches him and gives him what he needs – a passport back into society.

The acceptance of those who are excluded is one of the greatest Gospel acts – and it is possible because we know that none of us deserve it, but we get it from God.

PHARISEES

The Pharisees are a bit perplexed by something they can’t believe either.  They knew this Jesus was a trouble maker, so they had already decided to see if they could trip him up by some law or another.  As sticklers for the rules there had to be something they could get him on.

Then they thought of it.  They could say he was a Sabbath-breaker – he made mud on a Sabbath day.  But the people applied good logic, saying “How could he be a sinner if he did a miracle?” 

We leave the Pharisees weaving their schemes for the entrapment of Jesus.  Their day would come a bit later on.

THE BLIND MAN

It is probably fair to say that the blind man has the starring role in this story.  To the healed man, all this stuff by the Pharisees proved that they were blinder than he had ever been.

But for me, the best part of his role is his simple witness to what Jesus did – under the most extreme pressure.  He says simply and clearly: “All I know is this: once I was blind but now I can see!”

This simple witness angered the Pharisees.  The outcome was excommunication.  He was expelled from temple and synagogue worship; one of the worst things that could happen to a practising Jew.  He was banned.

So, where were you in this story?

It’s not for me to say.

I simply pray that as the Spirit of God has been at work in your heart these past few minutes, you will be given the courage to heed and act upon that which you believe is God’s word for you today.

Lent 3 - False Gods never satisfy

Our Lenten Bible Study this week asked us to consider our propensity to use stuff to make us happy.  We buy more and more in the hope that if I have this or that it will make us happy.

Strangely, despite constantly finding that the latest things did not make us happy, we keep on doing it.  We just look for something else to make us happy.

There are a number of remarkable features of our Gospel story today that invite us to consider such things.

Let me begin with a diversion.  The work of interpretation is a very tricky thing.  I find this every Sunday when I prepare a sermon for our Nuba people that I know will have to be interpreted.

I want to invite you to consider some new understandings of this story based on an interpretation issue that resolves what has always been something of a disconnect in the story.

Jesus did not speak Koine Greek.  He spoke Aramaic which in some ways was rather like Hebrew but was different enough to have its own name.  So, the stories of Jesus began in Aramaic but then were translated, probably verbally, into Koine Greek and then written down in it when the Gospels were written.  This Koine Greek then was translated in English for us.

So, at each step along the way with this it is possible for the original intention of a word to be lost or at least changed a little.

There are many remarkable features of the story – not least that Jesus would talk to this woman in a public place.  By doing this he was breaking some very important social mores.

They jumped right into a religious conversation – discussing the merits of Judaism over the claims of the Samaritans.

Clearly this lady was a bit of religious seeker.  She was quite literate about the issues.  The world she lived in was full of religious choices – and maybe she had tried a few.

Then comes a bit of a disconnect.  Jesus asks where is your husband?

They have been talking about various aspects of Samaritan religion and Jesus raises her marital status.  Over time many preachers have offered plausible explanations for this – all making points that are worthy of consideration.

Let’s see if I can offer another explanation that avoids the apparent disconnect and makes another point worthy of consideration as well.

In Aramaic the word for Husband is Ba’al – a term that we are not unfamiliar with, but where we get the transliteration of this word we are generally not talking about husbands.  This is because there is a link in the idea of Ba’al as God or Lord and the idea of husband in the Aramaic.

What if Jesus actually asked her “Where is your false God?”

She says she has none.  He says she has five.

Then she raises the idea of the Samaritans not having to worship on the Mount at Jerusalem.

If the interpreter has to use the context to decide on the meaning of ambiguous words, I would like to suggest that this is a worthy alternative reading of the text.  It eliminates the disconnect I suggested was there, and it invites us to consider some very worthwhile teaching of Jesus that is presented in the story.

Religious seekers are the most wonderful people to meet.  They have tried to find something that satisfies, but have been left wanting more.  And this gives us an opportunity to talk about what it is about our faith that works for us.

And we can tell them about how Jesus said that he would give us “living water” that truly satisfied our thirst.  And even if we can’t describe it we can say that somehow it works – because it works for us.  It really satisfies.  It doesn’t leave us looking for something else.

This is a story for our time – where people have more choice about religion than ever before.  It’s simple but penetrating message is that what Jesus has to offer is all you will ever need.  This is truly good news.

Lent 2 - Trust in God

There is a song I learned as a child, and then loved getting children to sing when I was a Beach Mission leader.  It went like this:

Father Abraham had many sons

And many sons had Father Abraham

And I am one of them

And so are you

So let’s just praise the Lord

We would then do strange things progressively in between singing the song again – like put our arms in the air, lifting our feet, turning around and finally sitting down.

The song was a lot of silly fun really, but it was passing on to our children a very important truth – that we are descendants of Abraham in the family of faith.

Paul uses the example of Abraham to illustrate what righteousness is really like.  In his day, and perhaps even in our day, many people thought righteousness had to do with meticulously keeping all the requirements of the Law.  But he said how clear it was that Abraham was accepted as Righteous long before the law was given, so righteousness has to do with something else.

Maybe it was in not understanding this that poor old Nicodemus gets a bit confused, too, in his little chat with Jesus.

Someone I read this week suggested that in many ways Nicodemus was like Abraham, except before Abraham was about to leave Ur, and that unlike Abraham, Nicodemus is not that enthusiastic about setting out on the adventure.  Just as YHWH had earlier invited Abraham to embark on an adventure of trust, Jesus invites Nicodemus to open to the rush of God’s Spirit in such a way that his very being would be renewed – being born anew or again.

And this same invitation has been echoed down through the years as generation after generation of people have been invited to consider the faith and a life committed to trusting Jesus.

This story of Nicodemus is a very good one for us as we have a group of people embark on the Catechumenate in preparation for the Baptism and/or Confirmation.

Jesus has told Nicodemus – and us – several very important things about what it means for us to be born again, or born anew, or born from above (all of which are adequate translations of the term Jesus used). 

Firstly we cannot be born again by our own efforts.  There is no DIY kit for salvation.  If nothing else, the Good News of Jesus is that our salvation is totally a gift from God.  It is only by God’s love and grace that we transformed into God’s children.  It is a gift.  And the Grace God shows towards us in giving this gift is completely unmerited.  There is nothing we can do to earn it. 

Poor old Nicodemus took Jesus’ words “You must be born again” literally and it got him into a real pickle.  He was only thinking in earthly terms.  So Jesus rephrases it to make it clear that he was talking about God’s work.  And it is God’s work to bring to birth in us such a new creation as will bring glory to God – that is being born of the Spirit.

But there is an earthly dimension.  Jesus says we must be born of water and the Spirit. 

There are two dimensions to this idea of being born of water – there is our physical birth which is preceded the gushing of waters from the mother as she prepares to give birth, but there is also a hint here of our baptism.

This earthly dimension in our baptism is the only pre-requisite for God’s Gift – this is the physical demonstration of our CHOICE to follow Jesus, to turn our live totally towards God.

This week, some of our young people, and some of the older ones, have embarked on a journey that is their response to the same question God asked Abraham.  God has said “Will you turn to me and trust me” and these people have said “Yes, that is what we want”.  By turning their lives towards God they are opening the doorway for God’s grace to enter into their lives – for them to be born from above, to be born of the Spirit.

Their Baptism is the water-sign of that choice, and the hands of the Bishop on their heads while he says “Receive the Holy Spirit” is a visible way for us to say that this re-birth has begun.

It is a journey.  The transformation has just begun.  We will need each other every day, all along the way, to encourage us al and always to trust in God.

Lent 1 - Living Within the Boundaries.

An old Chinese saying that is probably familiar to you goes like this:

“A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.” – at least that is the way we say it in English these days because I am sure that the ancient Chinese did not measure journeys in miles.

Here we are at the beginning of our Lenten journey and the Lectionary of Readings has given us some texts that take us right back to the beginning, too.

Our Old Testament text reminds us of that story we call “The Fall” – the best way we can understand how it is that it is so true that we, all of us, are less than what we know God created us to be.

Our Psalm is a wonderful song reminding us of God’s grace and forgiveness. 

And our Epistle reading has Paul making that lovely parallelism between Adam and Christ – sin came into human experience through the act of one man, and grace and salvation was also brought into our experience through another man – Jesus Christ our Lord.

And of course, our Gospel reading tells that wonderful story of Jesus encounter with “the tempter” or the devil or Satan, as Jesus finally calls him.

So we are reminded right from the outset about Sin, the temptation to Sin and the Grace of God who calls us to be confident of his forgiveness.

I think it is fair to say that the story we have in Genesis 3 is one over which there has been a great deal of controversy over the centuries, not least about the way it has been used to justify the abuse of women by men.  So here is a reasonable question for us all to consider: “What can we learn from this story that might help us toward keeping a holy Lent?”

Phyllis Trible, reflecting on this story, says “A happy ending to the story is impossible; only the aftermath of disaster remains.”  And this creates a challenge for all preachers:  “How do we preach Good News from a text that is fundamentally about human disobedience and sin?”

Well, I’m going to have a go for you.

The punishments meted out to the serpent, the woman and the man are pretty dramatic and the result is that through human disobedience all of God’s good creation suffers corruption.  It is no longer what it was intended to be.  In fact the main truth in this story is that everything that’s wrong with us came as a consequence of sin rather than divine intervention.

So, how did we get into this mess?  We are each made in the beautiful image of God; and in the very beginning God looked at us, smiled and said: “Yes, this is good.  This is very good.”  But all we have to do is look around us to see that things aren’t so good, and we are not so very good.  What happened to all that blessed goodness?

The Bible answers this question with a story.  God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man and the woman he had made.  God said very plainly: “You may eat freely of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

The serpent, the tempter, latches onto these words:  You will not die!”  he says, and this is how it begins.  What was once a given – trust in God’s goodness – is now treated as naïveté.

So what happened when they reached out, took that fruit and ate?  At that precise moment, they reached beyond the boundary set by God.  They decided that there was something better than living within the limits set by God, something better than trusting and enjoying the goodness of God – so they reached out for knowledge and power over the mysteries that once were only known by God.

This is how the Fall happens – this is how we keep on falling.  Not in the decision to disobey.  Not in the decision to do evil.  Rather, in the mistrust of God’s goodness, in reaching beyond God’s limits to conquer mystery, and in the determination to take our lives into our own hands.

The snake was right about what would happen once the man and the woman took what did not belong to them.  Their eyes were opened.  What they saw was their own nakedness and shame.  And we, like them, have seen our shame.  We are all “fallen,” which is to say we aren’t nearly what we are meant to be and we know it.

The snake was right about another thing, too – they didn’t die.  They lived on long past their mistake.  Long enough to regret it.  Long enough to blame each other for their problems.  Long enough to know there are many kinds of dying.

This is where we start our Lenten Journey – east of Paradise.  No way back.  The only way is forward – towards the cross.  The thing to do with our open eyes at this point is to look hard, to see who we are and how we’ve fallen short.  Denial about our condition has never made it better.  Once we’ve really seen what’s in our hearts, we can see how clearly we need the One who came to save us.

In the beginning there was a tree.  On that tree there was a tempter.  What he offered was knowledge.  He said:  “Take it.  Eat it.”

A long time passed.  There was another tree.  On that tree hung one who was tempted but did not sin.  What he offered was life.  He said “This is my body, given for you.  Take.  Eat.” 

And through his self-sacrificing love, he gave us the one thing we could not take for ourselves. 

New Life. 

New Hearts. 

Not what we grasped for,

but what we needed most of all.

Lent - a time for decluttering

So, what do you make of Ash Wednesday and Lent?

By tradition it is a time for penitence and fasting, but this has been stylised down to a penitential feel to our liturgy and perhaps giving up some sort of food that any of us think we may over-indulge in – like chocolate, coffee, or maybe sugar. 

As something of a modern innovation some people have used Lent as a time to limit or eliminate their internet use for the period – or TV viewing.

For me, two ideas are at the heart of Lent and if you get the idea, then the possibilities for you during Lent are unlimited.

At the heart of the idea of penitence is the idea of making time to be with God.  For many of us, our lives are so full of commitments and activities that it becomes a real challenge to create space for God.

A word that embodies the essence of this and may inspire us as we enter Lent is DECLUTTERING.  There is both a spiritual dimension to this as well as a physical dimension.

Lent provides us with an invitation to simplify our routines of life as much as possible.  This may mean avoiding a hectic social life during the period or making sure we have our time with God each day or being determined to be mindful of God in each and every day – wherever we are, whatever we are doing.

But is not just our interior life that needs a good decluttering during Lent.  We all accumulate stuff all the time.  Lent is a great time to go through your things – books, CDs, household goods, pot plants, even, whatever – and pass them on (your favourite op shop will love you to bits) or try Freecycle through your local Council.

And when it comes to going without perhaps you could consider doing it differently.  Who benefits from your denial of coffee or chocolate?  Some of you might tote up the expense you have saved and pass it on to a charity.  But really, we could go without a whole lot more.  Most of us are abundantly blessed materially and perhaps we could acknowledge this as a sign of God’s abundant grace and make some extra gifts to your favourite charities – maybe church, maybe secular.  But it is a way of saying we have so much to be thankful for.

These are just examples – not instructions.  But I encourage you all to see this Lenten time as a really fertile season for your spiritual growth as you find all sorts of ways to spend time with God and seek out new ways of expressing your gratitude for God’s grace to you.