union avenue christian church |
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Parade of Characters: Blind Man John 9:1 – 41; I Samuel 16:1 – 13 Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland in 1835, he died in Massachusetts in 1919. Although his father was a weaver, and Andrew’s first job was as a bobbin boy, Carnegie became the world’s richest man during the industrial revolution of the United States. He launched the steel industry in Pittsburgh with Carnegie Steel. In 1889 he sold Carnegie Steel to J.P. Morgan. Morgan also was a very rich man of the day, but with a much different reputation related to honesty and integrity. With the $400 million Carnegie received for the sale to Morgan, he continued his serious philanthropic work. He believed that wealthy people were supposed to keep only what they needed for sustenance and give the rest to the community. Many of the industrialists of the time became patrons of the arts, but Carnegie had a slightly different take on where his money ought to go. He wanted to support common schools and churches — not just prestigious educational institutions. Thus, he endowed many, many public libraries in this country. In 1873, even before he had sold Carnegie Steel, he began giving away pipe organs to churches in county seat towns. By the time of his death he had provided 8,812 pipe organs to churches, schools and civic institutions. His generosity and grace-filled gifts started one of the major brawls within the Christian Church. Some congregations who had been offered the gift of a pipe organ flatly refused. In one gathering some people claimed that the money behind the gift was tainted — especially since some of J.P. Morgan’s influence had been directed toward it. Others claimed that pipe organs weren’t named in the Bible, and therefore shouldn’t be placed in churches. This argument grew and even extended to any keyboard instruments — because of course, pianos are not named in the Bible either. Around the turn of the last century, a split within the church occurred. The Churches of Christ (those advocating for non-instrumental embellished worship) and the Christian Church (which would later be called the Disciples of Christ) went their separate ways. It was the first split in our denomination's heritage, and the first time on record that Disciples would articulate their love of the Bible, but also their determination that a literal acceptance of its words was not a part of their understanding and polity. A man — with kind and generous intentions — offered gifts of grace that brought out the best and the worst of its possible recipients. John, our Gospel writer, has given us another story today with some interesting parallels to the one I just told. Jesus makes an appearance in this 41-verse narrative and then drops out for 28 verses, before coming back to make some closing statements. Any one of the 7 scenes of the story could be made into a sermon because of the richness of themes:
I would like to focus on the broader perspective of the chaos that transpired after the healing. The neighbors didn’t seem to recognize the blind man after he received his sight, and they seemed to be all in a dither about it…kept asking him how it happened…and the man kept answering. Then the Pharisees got hold of the man and asked him how this miracle could have happened and what he knew about Jesus. Then they had to delve into what they believed about Jesus and healing on the Sabbath. The formerly blind man's parents took the next round, and basically they didn’t want to get involved. “He’s old enough – ask him what happened,” was their attempt to extricate themselves. The Pharisees had one more round then with the formerly blind man. The story kind of wears you out, doesn’t it? A gift…Jesus had a gift. He was able to heal a man of his blindness. He was able to give life in a way that had not before been lived. There was no celebration. The man didn’t initially jump for joy — in amazement — he didn’t run to tell his friends and his family. There wasn’t an all-town gathering to give thanks for the grace he had been given. No, we go through tirade after tirade of:
All the time losing sight ourselves — as did the neighbors, Pharisees, parents, and even the man himself — until he once again encountered Jesus and eventually believed and worshipped. There is no way we — today — can change the Pharisees, the neighbors, the parents, or even change the blind man to have received the gift more graciously and quickly. There is no way we can re-figure history and help congregations graciously thank Mr. Carnegie for such incredible gifts. There is no way we can adjust the thinking of those who have gone before us who, in many organizations, homes, and congregations are unable to give thanks for revelations, graciously accept gifts of life, nod in appreciation for the wonders and miracles that surround them on a daily basis. I have chronicles (in my memory bank) of churches who, when provided a gift of grace and life, ruin it by an ensuing wrangling. I imagine you can tell me tales even of Union Avenue legend to add to my own. But there is hope for us! There is time for us! As we proceed on our Lenten journey, the gift of this narrative from John can be an awesome one for us. We can begin to look at our lives to find the ways we are fighting the gifts God has to give us, because we think we don’t really deserve them, or we will lose control if we accept them. We can evaluate how gifts of grace appear, surround, meet and fill us every day, and we get into mind spinning arguments about where the gift came from, whether the gifter was appropriate, and then determine that today we will give thanks, rejoice, worship, and gratefully accept. The rest seems to be a façade we put up trying to hide our vulnerability. My mother-in-law taught me that whenever someone gave me a plate or tin of cookies, I should give back the plate or tin filled with something I had made. Lots of guilt-filled years later, I finally quit doing that. Now I know the response to such a gift is ‘thank you.’ If we cannot even receive a plate of cookies, acknowledge our thanksgiving and believe that someone cared enough about us to do that simple deed, it is no wonder when Jesus meets us and brings sight to our blinded eyes no one in the community would be able to act appropriately…to celebrate…to give thanks and rejoice. There are gifts every day that God provides. May our eyes be open to see them…our hearts be warmed to receive them…and our mouths be ready to just say ‘thank you! • SW |
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