Dear Friends,
This Sunday we continue the three great readings from the Gospel of John that make up the heart of the Lenten readings this year—the woman at the well, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. This Sunday we see Jesus heal a man blind from birth by placing mud made from earth and his own spittle on the man’s eyes.
This healing upsets the religious leaders for a variety of reasons, and they question the man’s parents and the man himself. The man is questioned by many, and he enters into quite the theological argument with his questioners. In fact, the man is cheeky and very, very funny as religious leaders try to trip him up, accusing him and Jesus of being sinners, of violating the Sabbath. He remains entirely self assured, confident in this wonderful thing that has happened to him. Then he offers the simplest statement of faith I can imagine: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.
Those words anchor one of the most beloved and well known hymns “Amazing Grace,” which captures the gratitude the author John Newton felt upon being spared while aboard ship during a violent storm that caused him to cry out for mercy. From that experience, Newton wrote, “Amazing Grace (how sweet the sound) / that saved a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found, / was blind but now I see.” Newton’s opened eyes led to an ongoing conversion as he forsook his profession as a slave trader and became an ardent abolitionist.
It is this kind of turning, this kind of revelation and opening of eyes, we seek in our faith and, especially, in the season of Lent. It is this kind of revelation and opening of eyes that we celebrate especially on this fourth Sunday of Lent—Laetare Sunday, which means “Rejoice” taken from the ancient opening words of the Mass. This Sunday is also called “Refreshment Sunday”; in England it is called “Mothering Sunday” and is when people celebrate their mothers. It is also called “Rose Sunday,” so you will notice the clergy wearing rose vestments. All of this points to what we know even in the midst of Lent: death and sin have been defeated, we follow a God of hope and love, mercy and resurrection who offers new life to us and the possibility of living into God’s kingdom by living in those ways.
May our eyes always be open to that Good News.
See you in church!
Faithfully, Suzanne+