The Lighting of the Candle

Jesus of Nazareth, the light of the world.

Call to Worship

In this is the crisis we face today: light has come into the world and the world prefers darkness to the light and stumbles along in the dark as if it were blind.
Our service today is about that blindness being cured, so that we, and the world, may see more clearly the light of life, and walk strongly in that light.

And so we sing our opening hymn of praise

Hymn: (Maryton)

Ground of our being, near and far
Your glory flames from sun and star,
Centre and soul of every sphere
Yet to each loving heart how near.
Sun of our life, your quickening ray
Sheds on our path the glow of day,
Star of our hope, your softened light
Lights up the darkness of the night.

Grant us your truth and set us free
With flaming hearts that burn for thee,
Till all the world your glory name
And we do strongly live the same.

Prayer:

Spirit of Life,
the being aspect of every human being,
we gather this day to express the worthship
of the fullness of life revealed in Jesus of Nazareth,
the most human human being.
We acknowledge at this time that,
like an arrow falling short of the mark,
we too have fallen short of the mark
spoken and lived out by Jesus.
We have not loved as he loved.
We have not been fearless as he was fearless.
We have not committed ourselves as he committed himself.
We confess that we have fallen short of the ideas and ideals
revealed in the crucified light of the world.

Let not, we pray, the past control the future,
Grant to us the freedom of forgiveness
and help us to become who we really are
torch bearers for a new way of life
revealed and lived in Jesus of Nazareth.
For this we pray this day. Amen.

For young and old

Last week I went and saw the musical “Matilda”. It was very good and very dramatic. The dancing was outstanding and the guys on the swings were amazing. I enjoyed it immensely even though I only heard about half of it. I have now only one eye to see with and one ear to hear with.

The story was about a bright child called Matilda who had pleasure seeking parents – which isn’t all together unusual today. Matilda loved reading and while her brother watched television she read, and read and read. Matilda’s teacher at school was lovely but the headmistress was a real pain and very cruel.

And what was the part I liked best? It was when the crazy headmaster was forcing one of the boys to eat and eat and he was becoming sicker and sicker and Matilda’s voice rings out “That’s not right! “. And I thought to myself. If only everyone would speak up when they saw things that are not right, what a different world it would be. It’s what Jesus did and it’s what we all should do. To call out when we see something wrong “That’s not right!”

After the show we went and had a cup of coffee. In the section next door to us there was a bright eyed four year old who looked over the partition and said to me “Why would you count backwards?” Matilda could count backwards. I was astonished by the question and said “I don’t know why but I can count backwards:10,9,8,7,6, 5,4, 3,2,1.” The little girl looked at me and said “That’s very good”. And then she looked at me again and said “What makes us live?” and thankfully her older sister came to the rescue and said “It’s the blood going around our body and when that stops we die.” I went on to say “There’s a bit more to it than that. The blood carries oxygen and we need oxygen to live” to which the little girl said “I like talking to you”.

She was a real live Matilda and she made my day. And I hope that sometime in the future when she sees something wrong she will call out “That’s not right!” because, when you come to think of it, that’s exactly what Jesus did and what he calls us to do today.

Scripture: John 9

The scripture passage set for today, is unusually long, and this is because it is in effect a drama of some five scenes. It’s like a stage play or a musical. To take one scene and concentrate on that would be to miss the flow and point of the drama which in this passage is contained in the last scene. Everything in the drama moves towards the last scene, and when the final curtain drops there is a striking silence. There is no applause, just a stunned silence. The people leave the performance of John 9 saying only one word: “Wow! That really is something to think about!”

Because John 9 is in effect a drama of five acts or scenes, I have asked Natasha if she will read it to us in this way. So settle down in your theatre seats, let the lights be dimmed and the show begin.

As for the name of the drama, I think my first choice would be “Spiritual Blindness” with a second choice close behind “There are none so blind as those who will not see”. “Change is the name of the game” is yet another. It is a drama of great significance and I will be interested to hear what name you would give to the drama. In the light of the stage show “Matilda” we might simply call it “Jesus.”
We listen now to Scene 1.
(John 9:1-12)

Is this a story of a miracle? I doubt it. Bill Loader doubts it too and last Sunday evening he was talking about “Meaning not Magic”. For me too the scriptures are about meaning not magic. To take the scriptures literally ends up with a God in the heavens moving the levers of life – a picture that has many young people voting with their feet and leaving the Church in droves.

We now hear Scene Two (13-23)

The Pharisees state their view that the man was healed on the Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t observe the Sabbath, so he cannot be from God. The parents of the man don’t want to become involved and say: He is of age. Ask him.

And so we move to Scene 3. (24-34)

“We know Jesus of Nazareth is a sinner” say the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the fundamentalists of their day. What you had to do to be holy was follow the commandments as contained in their scriptures. Jesus had healed on the Sabbath and that made the man a sinner. The man who has been healed has had enough and makes a classic statement “All I know is that once I was blind and now I see”. He takes the running up to them and he too is declared a sinner.

Scene 4 is about Jesus seeking the man out. (35 – 38)

And so we come to the finale, the passage which draws it all together just as surely as does the finale of Les Mis. Just one point of explanation before we hear it. The word judgment is used. This is a tricky word in that it has nothing to do with a judge giving judgment. The Greek word is “Krisis” from which comes our word “crisis”. And if you look up a dictionary to find out the meaning of crisis, it all becomes clear. A crisis is a time when a difficult or important decision must be made”. It is also used by medicos as “the turning point of a disease when an important change takes place indicating either recovery or death”. What Jesus is saying here is “I have come to create a crisis: to give sight to the sightless and to make blind those who see”. Here comes the punch line of the whole chapter, the crisis point, what it is all about.
So let’s listen to it, the finale of the whole drama, the finale that sums it all up. (39 – 41)

And at this point the curtains are drawn across the stage. There is no applause – just a stunned silence. And slowly and silently the people leave the theatre with one thought in mind: “Are we too blind?”

Are we too blind? And then comes the devastating answer “Because you say we see, because you claim to see – you are blind. This isn’t the story of a blind man enabled to see. It is the story of a group of people who refuse to see, a group of people whose story is our story. Welcome to the club! This isn’t a drama of a person who was born blind. This is the drama of religious people who refused to see.

And, before I hold forth a little more, let’s sing a hymn by Ross Langmead.

Hymn “Lord let me see”

Lord let me see, see more and more:
See the beauty of a person, not the colour of the skin,
See the faces of the homeless with no-one to take them in,
See discouragement because she’ll never win,
See the face of our Lord in the pain.
Lord let me see.
Lord let me learn, learn more and more:
Learn that what I know is just a speck of what there is to know,
Learn from listening to my neighbour when I’d rather speak and go,
Learn that as we live in faith and trust we grow;
Learn to see, hear and care, with our Lord.
Lord let me learn.
Lord let me love, love more and more:
Love the loveless and the fragile, help them be what they can be,
Love the way that I would like them to be looking after me,
For to know you is to love them and be free;
And in love Jesus Christ will be found.
Lord let me love.

Sermon

Let me say just two more things about our scripture passage today.

(1) Who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were the fundamentalists of their day and were known as “the separated ones”. They were the founders of Rabbinic Judaism and were experts as far as the oral tradition was concerned They knew it all – especially the rules of the Sabbath. They made a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and wore big tassels for everyone to see. Their primary concern was not that the man could now see but that it occurred on the Sabbath. And that just wasn’t on! The law is the law, and it is forbidden to heal on the Sabbath.

(2) As far as the early Christians were concerned, they were not known as Christians but “People of the Way” the way of Jesus. They were not locked into dogma. This is what distinguished them from other religious people with their doctrines and their beliefs. They were followers of the way of Jesus. Jesus was for example non violent and it was unknown for Christians I the first two centuries to engage in war. It wasn’t until the takeover by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century that Creeds were established and they became locked into them – and anyone who differed was declared a heretic, just as Jesus was when he healed on the Sabbath, when the Pharisees asked “Are we too blind? And Jesus gave his devastating answer “Because you say “We see” your problem remains.
Change is the name of the game and God help us if we ever forget it.

(2) How much has our faith changed over the years?

I remember Don Oldmeadow saying in his late nineties “I find myself believing less and less and believing it more fervently”. I too am amazed at how much my faith has changed over the years. Indeed I would make bold to say that I understand what Paul was on about when he said “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” Putting it a little more bluntly. If your faith is what it was when you were a child, you’ve got a problem. New birth, new sight, new everything is what it is about.

Val Webb is very strong on this and maintains that we have a duty to doubt “Doubt is the grace that allows us to escape from prisons of inadequate belief systems”. Keith Rowe is also very strong on this and says “We need to rethink Christian belief in the light of insights and understanding not available to earlier generations”.

It’s a great drama we have presented to us in John 9. It is not primarily about a person who was enabled to see. It is about a group of people who refused to see. “There are none so blind as those who will not see”. It is a drama which celebrates new sight at the same time as it lays on the line the blindness of those who supposedly see. Change is the name of the game. That is what John 9 is all about

So be it! And if it be, then to God be the glory.

Offering Music: Matilda “That’s not right”

Eyes and No Eyes

The theme of this service has been seeing and not seeing, and it would not be complete without Evelyn Underhill’s great statement on seeing. Let me read to you the old story of Eyes and No Eyes

“No Eyes” has fixed his attention on the fact that he is obliged to take a walk. For him the chief factor of existence is his own movement along the road; a movement which he intends to accomplish as efficiently and comfortably as he can. He asks not to know what may be on either side of the hedges. He ignores the caress of the wind until it threatens to remove his hat. He trudges along, steadily, diligently; avoiding the muddy pools, but oblivious of the light which they reflect.
“Eyes” takes the walk too: and for him it is a perpetual revelation of beauty and wonder. The sunlight inebri¬ates him, the winds delight him, the very effort of the journey is a joy. Magic presences throng the roadside, or cry salutations to him from the hidden fields. The rich world through which he moves lies in the fore ground of his consciousness; and it gives up new secrets to him at every step.
“No Eyes,” when told of his adventures, usually refuses to believe that both have gone by the same road. We shall never persuade him to the contrary unless we persuade him to look for himself”

Prayers of Awareness

There are two things I want to highlight in our Prayers of Awareness this morning

(1) Firstly, we are accustomed in this place and the wider Church to care for individuals, to bring love and understanding to those in need. Rarely however are we concerned with wider issues, such as blindness in the establishment, which affects the individual so much. Things are happening in our society of which we are largely unaware but will affect people in a very significant way – and we should be aware of this and confronting it. – just as Jesus confronted the Pharisees. Many Christians today concentrate on the personal issue and ignore the public issue. Jesus never did. He always held the two together – the personal and the public.
Last week a stockbroker rang me. I hadn’t heard from him for about for about eight years. We chatted for a while and then out of the blue he asked me how I saw the present economic situation. I was surprised at the question but, never one to pass up an opportunity, I managed to say that, with household debt at its highest ever, an interest rate rise of 1-2% will result in a disaster. When I said this I remembered that the last time I spoke to him was just prior to the Global Financial Crisis. I am not alone in my pessimistic outlook. A week ago Alan Kohler sounded forth in a way I have never heard him before “The Coalition’s final transformation into fervently pro coal evangelists is the predictable destination of the journey they have been on since 2009 when they sacked the then pro-emissions-trading Malcolm Turnbull in favour of the Zealot Tony Abbot….. The crisis has now arrived….. This is entirely the Liberal Party’s fault – not just Turnbull’s, although he is rather a pathetic figure now. ….. By taking the low road in 2009 instead of the high road….. the Liberal Party condemned the country to a decade of confusion…. The rest of Australia should declare now that enough is enough, and pull these idiots into line.”

Strong words indeed! Almost as strong as Jesus words to the Pharisees “Because you say we see, the problem remains”. The blindness in the drama is both private and public. The story is not just about a blind individual. It is blindness on the part of the establishment – and it has an enormous effect on the life of individuals. “And that’s not right!”

(2) A second issue of concern is that last week a terrorist in London killed four people and injured forty. The details have been well published – except for the essential cause. What was the essential cause? Bad theology! The terrorist believed that killing others would get him to heaven. That theology is the basis of Islamic terrorism, and it is bad, very bad, theology, and needs to be stated and confronted as such. Bad theology lies at the heart of Islamic terrorism, just as bad theology lay at the heart of the Iraq war.
To think that God would bless America for conducting shocking and awful bombing, was bad, very bad, theology. To think we can create a new society by violence is bad theology. Violence is violence – and that’s not right!

In the silence, let us consider the question of blindness – both individual and corporate. For this is what John 9 is all about. Let us pray for those who do not see, recognizing that we may indeed be praying for ourselves. Awareness is the name of the game. And let’s recognise that Jesus had a message for the Pharisees as well as the blind man.

(silence)

He said to the Pharisees “Because you say ‘we see’ your blindness remains.”
Let it not be so with us, O God. Let us see more and more, and let us look to the author and finisher of our faith, and keep travelling along with him.

And so we sing our final hymn.

Final Hymn “Keep me travelling along with you”

One more step along the world I go,
one more step along the world I go;
from the old things to the new
keep me traveling along with you:
Refrain:
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me traveling along with you.

Round the corner of the world I turn,
more and more about the world I learn;
all the new things that I see
you’ll be looking at along with me: Refrain

Give me courage when the world is rough,
keep me loving though the world is tough;
stay with me in all I do,
keep me traveling along with you: Refrain

Benediction

Go forth then into the world. Hold fast to that which is right, render to no person evil for evil, strengthen the faint hearted, support the weak and confront the establishment – knowing that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God goes with us.
And the people of God sing their Amen