"YES!"
A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 6, 2005
Text: John 9: 1-38
I
In a previous sermon, I suggested that during Lent we say "No" to anything that attacks our sense of worth as beloved children of God. The blind man in today's Gospel passage probably endured many attacks on his worth as a child of God. Even the disciples of Jesus ask if his blindness was caused by his sin or the sin of his parents. Perhaps the blind man asked this question of himself? O God, was I born blind because of some sin? Is that why I have this disability?
Then we hear Jesus' very clear teaching: No! "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him."
I have read this Gospel section many times, but yesterday morning when our Men's Group studied this passage I heard something new. I substituted you and me for the blind man so that Jesus says of us: "She or he was born David, Leslie, AnneMarie, Elizabeth, or Jim, so that God's works might be revealed in her or him." You see, each of us is disabled in some way. It may not be as obvious as the blind man, but we may have a spiritual blindness or deafness or be emotionally stunted or dysfunctional in some other way. Each of us has some disability.
So we each need to hear Jesus saying, "You were born so that God's works might be revealed." That's your purpose in life: to reveal the works of God. Even though you've got your own peculiar disability or imperfection. No matter. God's works will be revealed through you. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that something to rejoice about? That's the good news of today's Gospel lesson. We are loved, blessed, and favored by God.
And yet, often we do not hear that message. I find that I have to keep adjusting the dial of my inner radio to hear the message of God's love. The dial keeps sliding over to another frequency that sends negative messages about my failures and inadequacies. It is a daily effort to hear the true message and keep the negative messages out.
You might say, "David, it should be easy for you to hear the message of God's love. You're a priest in the church, you're doing God's work. What about me? I'm an ordinary person who goes to work each day -- and I don't even like my job and don't find it very fulfilling. How can I feel that I am loved and blessed by God?"
II
Well, the amazing thing is that the people who have the most difficult situations in life often feel most loved by God. Often the people who have less than us teach us what God's love is all about. One such person for me was my Uncle Tony, my mother's younger brother, who was born with cerebral palsy. When he was born in 1921, medical science didn't know how to diagnose and treat this illness. Today, people with cerebral palsy get therapy so that they can walk, move their limbs, go to school, get jobs, marry, raise families and live fairly normal lives. But when my uncle Tony was born, the doctors in his small, rural town didn't know what to do and he never got the therapy he needed. He never was able to walk; his arms moved awkwardly. When he got older, one of my uncles fixed a golf cart so Tony could drive himself around the country roads where he lived on the farm with my grandparents.
As a child, I loved visiting my grandparent's farm -- and I loved to visit with Uncle Tony, because he always had time for my cousins and me and he was an interesting person to be around. He was a St. Louis Cardinal fan; he knew all of the players and he could talk baseball for hours. When my cousins and I played ball, Uncle Tony would be the umpire, emphatically calling balls and strikes.
Another great interest of his was politics. I remember one summer during an election year when his radio was tuned to the nominating conventions of both political parties. His candidate was Estes Kefauver, the Senator from Tennessee, who barely lost the nomination to Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee who lost the election to Dwight Eisenhower. As Uncle Tony listened to the convention, sometimes we would imitate what he heard and would intone, "Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I rise for a point of personal privilege." And then he would ask one of us to go to the refrigerator and bring him a beer. Or, in his deep, sonorous voice, would proclaim "Order, Order. Would the delegates please clear the aisles!" He loved the pageantry and the drama of the political process. He could hold his own in a political discussion.
Another great interest of his was religion, which I think gave him comfort and helped him come to grips with his disability. He was very ecumenical and tuned into broadcasts of every denomination. When I went into the seminary he enjoyed talking with me about biblical interpretations. Tony never married. He had an independent spirit, even though his illness forced him to depend on others to help with the most ordinary of bodily functions. He had his sad and discouraging moments, I'm sure, but most often he was a happy and cheery person. He told me on many occasions that he felt loved by God and that he was happy to be alive. He heard God's "Yes" affirming him as a child of God more than many others who seemingly have more reasons than he to feel blessed. God's works are revealed in him.
III
This Lent, I have been trying each day to focus on God's love, blessing and favor to me; I have been thinking about my Uncle Tony. He is 83 years old and lives in a nursing home in northern Wisconsin. When I visit with him, he is still his usual cheery, happy self. He will talk about the St. Louis Cardinals or the Red Sox and will share his opinions on the political situation. He always asks about my wife Barbara and our children Brendan and Meeya; he is interested in people. He doesn't talk that much about religion, but he does communicate that he feels loved by God and grateful for all that God had given him.
This Lent, my prayer is that you will have an Uncle Tony, someone to teach you about God's great love no matter your disability, dysfunction, failure, or shortcomings. For like my Uncle Tony and the blind man in today's Gospel, you were born so that God's works might be revealed in you.
Amen.