Several years ago, when games shows were broadcast live, there was a show called, “To Tell the Truth.” In this show there would be three individuals on the stage all claiming to be the same individual who had a particular situation for which he or she had received some kind of recognition. The object was for a panel composed of three celebrities, to determine by questioning the contestants, which of the claimants was the true individual. The two imposters were allowed to continue their masquerade throughout the questioning, so it would do no good for any member of the panel to try to get the imposters to identify themselves by giving out their real names. After a period of questioning, the host of the show would allow a final question from each panelist, who would then have to indicate which of the three contestants he or she thought was the real person. For each panelist incorrect in their choice, the contestants received a set amount. If all three panelists were fooled, then a special grand prize was also earned.
When the questioning was complete, the host would then turn to the contestants and say: “Will the real John Smith please stand up.” After a few seconds, and after several false movements, the real individual would stand up and receive the accolades of the studio audience, if there indeed was one.
I wonder. Is there ever a time when God looks out upon his creation, and calls out to the creatures whom he created in the image of the Holy One, and says, “Will the real image of me please stand up?
I think so. I believe that God asks of us daily to look within ourselves and declare whether or not we have lived up to the expectations of the one in whose name we are created. Have we changed that bad or annoying habit that we know causes our friend to be upset? Have we carried out the deed that we promised we would do? Are we truly being repentant for the wrongs that we did yesterday, and striving not to be so again? Or are we still being the same person, unchanged, uncommitted, un concerned?
Let us look at the story of the man who was born blind. As Jesus and the disciples are walking along the streets, he spots a blind man, one who has been blind since birth. And immediately the disciples turn to Jesus and ask him whose sin was it that cause the man’s blindness. Was it the parent’s, or the man’s?
Listen to the response of Jesus; pay close attention to the meaning conveyed by the words of each of the translations I will read for you: (NIV) “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (NRSV) “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.
Then, Jesus took mud, made with his own saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes and told him to go to the Pool of Siloam and wash. And when the man did,he went home with his sight.
The remainder of this ninth chapter of John is a repetitious hounding of the religious authorities against the man who was healed of his blindness, against the man’s parents, and against Jesus.
First the authorities question as how he was healed and by whom, calling the man a liar by attacking the validity of the man’s response, and his blindness,when he tells them the truth; then the authorities question the man’s parents who, when they confirm his blindness from birth, are then questioned as to how the man was healed. Intimidated by the authorities, the parents give no clue of knowing how and by whom their son was healed, even though they have heard his story. The man is again questioned, challenged to “Give glory to God,” which simply means to speak truthfully, and when he again answers truthfully, he is accused of being a disciple of Jesus whom the authorities again claim is a sinner and not a man of God. Then Jesus meets the man and identifies himself to the man. Finally, Jesus speaks out against the blindness of the authorities.
I am almost certain that most of you have heard the comment: “My mind’s made up; don’t confuse me with the facts.” That was the attitude of the authorities of whom the Gospel Writer John tells us in this story. Even when they have witnessed the results of the miraculous act which Jesus has performed by giving this man his sight back, they can only see the “sinfulness” of Jesus’ performing this act on the Sabbath, thereby displaying disregard for the Law, and therefore being a sinner. They are unable to see the trees because of the forest. Their authority to be right makes them blind to what is.
In the game show, “To Tell the Truth,” the panelists were often blinded by their own “authority of rightness,” convinced that the tales of one of the imposters were more realistic and believable than the truth of the real person. But in the case of the game show, it was known that two of the contestants were imposters; their purpose was to trick the panelists into believing one of them was the real person. No harm was done, no one’s reputation was damaged, and in the end, all of the contestants revealed their true identities.
In this story from the Gospel of John: the authorities, themselves, deny the very thing that they repeatedly demand from the man, his parents, and Jesus. They deny the power of God in spite of seeing what it has done. They deny the identity of Jesus, even after they are made aware that he was the one through whom the man’s sight was returned. Blinded by their position of authoritative rightness, they cannot see the truth even when it stands right in front of them.
But the story does not end here. The story goes on, even to the present day. There are those who take the words which Jesus leaves his disciples just before he is elevated to heaven. Those words are not recorded in the Gospel of John; they can be found in the other three Gospels. Mark’s words are in the simplest form: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” That’s it.
Matthew’s words are somewhat more explicit: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Luke’s are more direct: “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.”
No where, and in no way, do the words of Jesus in any of these three Gospels, ever say that Jesus’ followers are to go out and force nations to believe, or to follow after Jesus. No where does it say that Jesus’ followers are to harass, accuse, or condemn anyone in order to “convert” those individuals to Jesus’ way. All those words tell his followers to do is to preach his word, to tell his story, to pass on the good news.
But, after I made it clear in the first Link that went out after I became the Pastor up at Roscoe that I would welcome the invitation to visit anyone, but that I would not attempt to force anyone, or twist anyone’s arm, to convince them to believe, I have been accused of not doing what Jesus commanded of his disciples. Not by anyone here in this congregation; not by anyone who is a member of this fellowship; but by someone who claims to be a Christian and who follows Jesus, but who denies forgiveness to anyone whom he “knows” doesn’t know Jesus like he knows Jesus. This individual is blind to the meaning behind Jesus’ words: to be like Jesus, we have to live like Jesus did. We have to love, we have to forgive, we have to accept everyone we meet. And we have to do it equally. We cannot consider, ever, even for a single minute, that we are better, or more Christian, or more right, or more holy than any one we meet.
But that is exactly what was happening among those of the religious authority in John’s story. To them, their authority of rightness made them better, holier, cleaner. But in the end, their unforgiving “rightness” was their own worst fault – it was their sinfulness, and it made them blind to their spiritual weakness.
And in that light, we all have our personal “rightness” that keeps us from being truly sinless. It is but by the grace of God, by God’s willingness to let us hear and believe in the Son of Man. It is in our believing and trusting in Jesus as our savior, and the savior of all mankind, that we are cleansed of our blindness, and freed from our sin.
Amen.