Scripture: John 9:1-12; 24-25 (NRSVUE)
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
1As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me[b] while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am he.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+9%3A1-12&version=NRSVUE
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+9%3A24-25&version=NRSVUE
Sermon: “Sharing Our Stories”
I am fairly certain that most of us have a handful of favorite stories we like to tell family and friends. I know I do. Maybe there’s a funny story about a grandchild or a pet—like when the dog ate the pot roast when no one was looking. Or maybe there’s a heartwarming story of how you met your spouse. Or maybe there’s a cautionary tale of something stupid you did in high school or college that you want younger family members to avoid. We all have stories like this, don’t we? And it can be particularly nice to tell them to people who have never heard them before because they often receive them with such relish; it’s wonderful to watch people savor our words and know we’ve added to their joy or enhanced their experience of life—even just a little bit.
The theme of our worship service today is “story,” and it’s based on chapter ___ of this book “B.L.E.S.S.” One of the ways we can bless others is by sharing our stories with them. This chapter in the book talks about how to share a specific type of story with others, the story of how we met Jesus. This is the only chapter in the book where I found my theology differed quite a bit from the theology of the authors. The authors are coming from an evangelical background, which was my background as well.
I want to talk a little bit about the evangelical perspective of why sharing faith is important—and then move on from there to talk about how sharing stories of faith can be even more important when we come from a more inclusive or progressive understanding of Christianity.
I grew up in an evangelical, Baptist Church in Boston, where the pastor taught “witnessing” classes, and people were encouraged to hand out religious pamphlets on the Boston Common and talk to complete strangers about Jesus. That’s not my theology—or practice-- anymore. I started to question that theology—and the motivation behind such practices--when I was 19 years old, when I began to realize that it was based too much in fear.
Back in my evangelical days, I felt that I had to share the story of Jesus—specifically how he died for our sins--because I was afraid that if I didn’t share it, then I would be depriving people of the only thing that could save their eternal soul. It was a lot of pressure! If anyone here grew up evangelical, you know what I’m talking about. When I was a freshman in college, I felt so compelled to share my faith that I used to feel like a conversation was a failure when I didn’t mention Jesus. Lest you think I am exaggerating, freshman year I actually had a friend say to me, “You know, Marlayna, we actually like you when you’re not talking about Jesus.” Yikes! I both laugh and cringe when I remember that… It’s amazing I had any friends at all!
As I got older (thanks be to God!) and started attending a UCC church, I discovered that there were other ways to understand the story of Jesus—his life, death, teachings—that focused more on love and less on fear and guilt. I discovered that there were other ways to look at the Bible that took into account things like historical context and the concept of metaphor, that were still compatible with having faith.
I discovered that it is still possible to experience the love, grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus while at the same time acknowledging that people of other religions-- and no religion—can also experience these things. Christians don’t have a monopoly on God’s Love. You all know that, but it was news to me when I was a young adult and finally let myself ask the question: What kind of God would grant some people access to Love and deny others access based simply on the religious tradition they grew up in-- or their ability to believe specific doctrines? I came to understand that there can be many paths to God, and one wonderful path is through Jesus, whose abundant welcome extends to everyone, no exception. And that’s a great story to share! One that the world—so used to religious people being closed-minded and intolerant—would be blessed to hear!
Yet, as I think about the concept of sharing our stories of faith with others, I think that those of us who have a more inclusive Christian theology may shy away from doing it for one main reason: we don’t want to be mistaken for an evangelical who disrespectfully forces their beliefs on others out of fear.
Having been that type of evangelical, believe me, there is a world of difference between someone who fearfully tries to manipulate every conversation into “let me tell you about Jesus,” AND someone who humbly and respectfully shares only when they are asked about their experience of faith.
Today’s Scripture reading contains a great example of this type of humble, respectful response. (I bet you wondered when I was going to get to that.) Our reading is the story of a man who was born blind meeting Jesus and receiving his sight. There’s a lot to unpack in this passage, and I can’t get to all of it, so I’m going to focus on the last part of it, starting in verse 8, after the man came back and was able to see.
How does the man react to this amazing occurrence of being able to see for the first time in his life? Let me tell you what he doesn’t do. He doesn’t start knocking on doors with pamphlets—I mean papyrus-- in his hands. He doesn’t walk up to complete strangers and say, “Look at me! Check out my eyes. Jesus fixed them! And he can fix you, too, because you’re just as damaged as I was before I met him!”
No. The man does not do that at all. He waits until people ask questions before he says anything! When neighbors and others express curiosity about what happened, that’s when the man steps in and respectfully answers their questions. And he doesn’t “over” share. He isn’t hanging around waiting to get a foot in the door so he can recite a long, memorized spiel about Jesus and manipulate them into a conversion experience. He simply answers what they ask.
“Is this the guy who used to sit and beg?”
“Yes, it’s me.” He says.
And it’s not until people ask him point blank,
“…how were your eyes opened?”
that he gets into the details about Jesus and what he did. And he relates his whole story in 2 sentences. Verse 11: “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”
Simple, brief, to the point.
The same can be true for us. As we practice our faith, God will give us opportunities to respectfully share our faith stories with others. We don’t have to panic about it, we can keep it simple and answer people’s questions respectfully and briefly. And if people ask us questions we don’t know how to answer-- or try to pressure us into a point of view we don’t share, like the man in today’s reading, we can admit what we don’t know, simply share our story in a sentence or two, and leave it at that. In verse 25, when the religious leaders try to get the man to denounce Jesus as a sinner, he answers them like this: “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, though I was blind, now I see.”
The man’s simple story of faith is a beautiful metaphor for the gift God offers to us all. God blesses our lives by giving us new ways of seeing ourselves and the world. God opens our eyes to see the Love that is all around us.
One reason why it’s important to share our stories of faith--with people who ask us to share-- is that God works through us to bring insight and blessing to others.
Maybe we don’t think that we have a story to share, but each of us does. We are each here in this worship service because at some point in our lives, someone shared God’s Love with us—and it made a difference.
Maybe we experienced that Love through a church—through this church.
Maybe when we walked through the door for the first time, someone greeted us and made us feel at home, and we came back because we felt we’d found a place we belonged.
Maybe when we got sick, members of our family of faith prayed for us or brought us casseroles—and we knew that no matter what happened, we wouldn’t have to face our illness alone, that there were people who cared.
Maybe an image we heard in a Scripture Reading stuck with us and became like a mantra that gets us through hard times.
· The image of the father welcoming home the prodigal son with open arms.
· The image of Jesus taking children into his arms and blessing them.
· The image of God’s everlasting arms underneath us all, holding us up through thick and thin.
Whatever our story—or stories of faith—when we share them respectfully and humbly with people in response to their questions, God can use our stories to bless others.
So, two bits of homework for you to help you articulate and share your story of faith:
1. In one or 2 sentences, answer this question: How has God’s love made a difference in my life? How has God’s love made a difference in my life? Write down your answer.
2. Two: pray for God to give you an opportunity to bless someone else by sharing your 2-sentence story of faith with someone who expresses an interest in hearing it.
May God be with us in this blessing exercise.