Seeing and Believing

Lent 4

Fr. Tim Nunez

May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Many Christians have been raised by Christian parents in the church and have known God all of their lives, which is a truly beautiful blessing. Many Christians come to faith through an adult conversion experience, which can be sudden or it may grow over time. And many Christians fall somewhere in between, with some mix of belief, sense of the goodness of faith and moral grounding, and a growing understanding of its importance.

No matter who we are or where we fit into that complex stew, there comes a point of personal revelation that Jesus is Lord and we’ve got to respond to him.

The name John Newton may not ring much of a bell with many of us. But if I say that he wrote Amazing Grace, we recognize him as having written perhaps the most beloved Christian hymn of all time.

That simple phrase, “I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see,” grew out of Newton’s life and experience, and captures the essence of conversion to Christ. It’s the stuff of most witness talks we’ll ever hear, and it describes the ongoing experience of having our eyes opened again and again as we draw closer to him all of our lives.

And it comes from today’s Gospel.

This encounter is unique in all four Gospels in that this man is specifically described as having a congenital birth defect. He was born blind. He not only cannot see, he has never seen anything his whole life. In that physical sense, he has known only darkness. And we can infer that his physical darkness has brought him other darkness. He can only beg. He is exposed to mistreatment. He cannot say who robbed him or hit him.

It’s a rough life, and to Jesus’s disciples, it appears that the man has lost God’s favor, either because he did something wrong, or maybe his parents did. The Pharisees will later call him a “born sinner.” Jesus refuses the idea that suffering must be someone’s fault. Rather, he affirms it as an opportunity for God’s grace to be revealed.

There will be a new creation. Just as God formed humanity out of the dust of the earth, Jesus will reveal the new creation using clay and his own spit, and then a wash in the Pool of Siloam, to give this man sight for the first time in his life. Siloam means “sent,” which reminds us that he, and we, are given sight for a purpose.

This passage has a lot to consider, but let’s focus on the formerly blind man himself and in particular his growing understanding of Jesus. It isn’t as sudden as we might think at first glance. When his neighbors ask him how he was healed, he tells them it was, “The man called Jesus…” There is no indication he knew anything about Jesus beforehand. He didn’t ask to be healed.  He has not yet seen Jesus. He doesn’t know what he looks like and he doesn’t know where he is. All he knows is what happened to him.

When the Pharisees confront him and ask what he thinks about Jesus, he says, “He is a prophet.” He has very little to go on. No matter how they interrogate the neighbors; no matter how they interrogate his parents, no matter how many times they interrogate him, it all boils down to this, “I was blind, but now I see.” He cannot deny it. They cannot deny it.

But as they press their arguments, and their arguments keep crashing on the facts of what just happened, the formerly blind man recognizes that Jesus must be from God, because, “If he were not from God, he could do nothing.”

The Pharisees run him off, but Jesus finds him. To this point, he has not yet seen Jesus. After hearing Jesus describe himself as the Son of Man, the formerly blind man calls him Lord, and he worships Jesus. Jesus doesn’t stop him. From then on, he not only has physical sight, he will forever see everything with Jesus in mind.

I have heard John Newton’s story many times in my life as a very sudden conversion while captain of a slave ship, after which he turned his ship around, returning the slaves to Africa then leaving the slave trade to become a priest in the Church of England. He was blind, now he sees, boom! But the true story is more complicated.

It’s true Newton came to a conversion moment during a terrible storm, but he was just 23. It happened while he was on his way back to England after being rescued from a slave trader. He had been forced into life on a slave ship, as almost a slave himself.

He started studying the Bible and Christian literature. But nevertheless, he became a slave ship captain, until illness forced him to retire at age 29. He continued his studies and kept growing in his faith.

He began to pursue ordination to the priesthood, and was eventually ordained to the priesthood at age 39. He wrote Amazing Grace at age 49. At age 63, he published an anti-slavery pamphlet, which included an extended confession of his own experience. That became a powerful influence in the British movement to abolish slavery. He published it 40 years after his conversion to Christ; 40 years!

He became a mentor to William Wilberforce, who was a key leader in Parliament, eventually leading to the end of the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807. Newton was 82 and died a few months later. Wilberforce continued the fight and slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833. The law passed 3 days before Wilberforce died.

Newton’s growth as a Christian as well as a priest was over decades, a lifetime, not weeks. That does not lessen its importance and impact. On the contrary, it affirms the lifelong development that many of us have, no matter where or how it begins, even if it begins today. That makes it more relevant, more relatable, more inspirational.

No matter when or how Jesus comes to us, no matter how striking or subtle that turn is, it begins a lifelong pursuit. Having been blind, we now see. Seeing isn’t only believing, it changes our perspectives on life and each moment.

Let it begin.

Let it continue.

Let us pray.

AMEN!