March 2

March 2 is a Communion Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, and the first Sunday of Women’s History Month. The Scripture is John 9: 1-41, the story of Jesus’ healing of the man born blind and the controversy surrounding this healing. This Scripture begins “As he walked along he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man or his parents sinned: he was born blind that God’s works might be revealed in him’.”

What I hear Jesus saying is “if we get stuck fixing blame, finding fault, and ascribing guilt we are likely to miss out on the opportunities God gives us for love, hope and healing. It is my experience that human beings don’t seem to have the capacity to live both in the past and in the present, to both place blame and grasp hope, to both label people and experience God.”

Update: Audio of the sermon is here