Signs and Sinning

On Sunday we will hear the lengthy story of Jesus controversially healing a man born blind… on the Sabbath duh duh DUHHHHH!!! After Jesus has given sight to the man via a kind of Siloam spa mud treatment, the Pharisees get their fringes in a wad. Perhaps their frustration stems from the fact that Jesus’ healing work happened on a Saturday—the day of rest in the Jewish culture. BUT, what if these religious leaders were not really concerned with the day of the week or the sign itself? What if something else got in the way of them seeing God’s presence in Jesus’ work?

If one searches throughout John’s telling of the Good News one will not find mention of miracles, instead the Fourth Gospel refers to these profound acts as signs. Signs point in a direction. Signs show where to go. Signs are not themselves the destination, rather they lead to the end. Most signs on roadways, in stores, or guarding property do not care whether it is Tuesday or Sunday. They keep on working no matter the day of the week. Still, the Pharisees made a legitimate argument, Jesus had showed God’s healing power in this world on a day of the week restricted to resting.

Resting is a funny word though. Rest means something more than just doing nothing. Rest points to another word... restoration. Restoration has to do with healing and making one whole. In the first creation story in Genesis, God participated in a time of restoration once God manifested the whole of Creation, which signifies to humans a deep truth about the need for a time set aside to be made whole, just like the Creator. However, if someone has spent every day of his life wanting to be able to see, but lacking sight could he ever feel like he was whole? When something nags at me that I want to change I know I can feel restless. Jesus giving sight to the man born blind made him whole in a new way and fit in with the goal of Sabbath. Jesus' sign pointed to the deeper end of restoration and making all things fully restored. The Pharisees could not see it though, they were indeed blind, though not all of them.

Not all the Pharisees thought what Jesus did was abhorrent. In fact, the text for Sunday expresses, “They were divided.” Some believed that he was not from God because he ignored the traditional Sabbath practice of doing no work. Others though, wondered, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” This theological argument of the Pharisees raises a tricky question: Can only holy people perform signs of God?

The newly sighted man put it another way later in the story, “We know that God does not listen to sinners.” So that seems to be it, then. God only listens to people who listen to God and who do His will. End of story...

And yet, is that true? Does your own experience of God point to that? Does the rest of Holy Scripture even hold this up? If we answer yes to these questions, God may feel truly lonely up in heaven. As I put it when we read this passage in our staff meeting yesterday, God may be upstairs vacuuming with headphones in if this is the case. (Ann Stewart, our communications director added: Is the vacuum a Dirt Devil?) I cannot imagine a God who does not hear the earnest cry of a downtrodden, penitent sinner!

Maybe your theology, your experience, and your reading of Scripture differ from my own, but even in this story Jesus seems to stamp out the concept that God only listens to the sinless among us (whoever those people may be). “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.” Some will avoid this loaded statement at all costs, but it helps me to see to what Christ Jesus came to point. Christ came to direct us towards and lead us into healing, restoration, and reconciliation. Those things we think of as problems in truth may very well be opportunities that exist, so that God may work in us. God provides us with signs that point us towards new ways of seeing, being healed, and living in Christ. Are we willing to look at them or will we be spiritually blind and miss them altogether?