Sermon; Lent 4A; John 9:1-41

Today's long gospel passage opens with the disciples making a grave theological error that people still make today – that of attributing a physical malady to sin. “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus, of course, gives the right answer: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.” He then goes on to say, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

In the previous chapter, and as far back as Chapter 3, Jesus foreshadowed his own death. In Chapter 3 he said that in the same way Moses lifted up the serpent, so would the Son of Man be lifted up. And in Chapter 8 Jesus talks about knowing where he came from and where he is going. I bring up these previous crucifixion foreshadowings because today's passage also includes a foreshadowing. Specifically, “Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

There are two things I want to touch on today. The first is this idea of the man being punished with blindness by either his own or his parents' sin. God doesn't afflict people with illness or disaster because they sinned. I'm reminded of the tower that collapsed over in Luke, killing a bunch of people. Jesus said, “Do you think those killed were worse sinners?”

This idea that God afflicted me with cancer, or punished someone with a disease or disaster because of sin or lack of faith is just bad theology. Going back to Paul's theology of sin, he wrote that sin came into the world through one man, Adam. The human race, and the world, has been afflicted with sin ever since. However, this does not mean that God sees the actions of one person, or a group of people, as the reason for meting out punishments. Gays were not and are not responsible for hurricanes or earthquakes. Women and feminists were not and are not responsible for famines. And right now, despite what some people are saying, the COVID-19 pandemic is NOT a punishment from God for the world's actual or perceived sinful behavior.

We live in a natural, biological world in which things happen. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, that's just the way it is. Know that my sin, your sin, or any other person's or group's sin, is not the reason for this pandemic.

So that's the first thing – that this pandemic is not a punishment from God.

However, like the blind man who was born blind so that God's works might be revealed, we have the same opportunity to reveal God in the world right now. And that's the second thing.

Jesus referred to the time between his death and resurrection as the time when night was coming and no work could be done. During that time when Christ died, the world stood still. During that time, the darkness seemed to have defeated the light. But on the third day, on Easter day, on the day of Resurrection, the light burst forth defeating darkness and death for ever. And we are now living in that post-resurrection world. We are living in a time of the living Christ and shining his light upon the world around us.

No one can argue that these feel like dark times. These are times when, as the band Styx once sang, “People lock their doors and hide inside.”

But we also need to remember that light shines brightly in the dark. It is our job to proclaim the good news of the risen Christ. It is our job to reflect his light onto the world. No, these aren't normal times; but if we think about it, when are they ever normal times?

Here are some ways that we are working to shine the light of Christ in the world right now. Our Community Cafe is working on how to turn it into a Cafe2Go. We have a list of people who volunteered to call parishioners once a week to let them know we are still connected. We have people who volunteered to be of service for things like grocery deliveries, pharmacy pickups, and whatever else people might need. Take a bold step and walk your neighborhoods, safely, checking on your neighbors. Find ways to let the light of Christ shine in the world.

This is a time for us to be more neighborly – checking up on people we normally leave alone, letting people know we are having services live streamed, and reaching out to be connected in a time of isolation. This is a time more than ever for us to remind people that Jesus is in the world and is the light of the world. The question, as always, is how do we do that? How do we maintain contacts, community, and closeness in a time of separation?

We do it, quite simply, by not forgetting about each other or our neighbors. It only takes a small candle to give light to a darkened room. It only takes a small flame to start a forest fire. We don't need to do big things, but let us not forget to do the small things. We can do the small thing of removing ourselves from situations that enable the virus to spread, while at the same time making a phone call to check on someone. We can let people know we didn't want them to feel lonely. Just because the body of Christ is separated doesn't mean it needs to be isolated.

We have the opportunity to continue shining the light of love onto a darkened world.

So during this peculiar and particular time, remember that we are not being punished and remember that we are still able to shine brightly.

Be well.