Who among us has not experienced spiritual blindness in one form or another?
When we put ourselves before others, we are blind.
When we hold grudges and refuse to forgive, we are blind.
When we do what is easy instead of what is right, we are blind.
Blindness affects our communities, as well. Economic, social and political systems tum a blind eye to the poor, the outcast and the marginalised in every corner of the world.
And who among us has not experienced suffering at one point or another? Depression, anxiety, abuse, neglect, broken relationships, illness, lost jobs, fear — the list goes on.
Suffering plagues our communities, too. Natural disasters, plane disasters and national tragedies — none of us is immune.
Of course, there are those who will attempt to lull us into believing that faith not only brings an end to suffering and blindness, but that it also makes our hurts and pains disappear. But the hard truth is that this isn’t true. After all, even after the blind man received his sight, he was faced with the rejection of his friends and family. Suffering is painful. Grief is awful — even horrifying at times. But it is an inescapable part of our humanity.
There is yet another kind of blindness that keeps us from the fullness of God's purpose for our lives.
The reading from 1 Samuel goes to the heart of this kind of darkness -- the darkness of mistaken perception. If we are too locked on to outward appearances, we are vulnerable to this blindness. Even Samuel, the great servant of God found himself mistaking the apparent for the real. The story fits well with the Pharisees who didn't get the point with the healing of the blind man. When we are so sure of our opinions and set in our understandings, we are sure to create darkness for ourselves. And if we stubbornly cling to our own understandings and allow our opinions to harden we gradually close the door to light that comes from beyond us.
We are all vulnerable to this. One can take something that is gospel truth, intemalize it and mix it with personal preconceived ideas, shut the door to further insight from the Spirit of God and turn what was once truth into darkness. This is exactly what happened to the Pharisees. They took the good law of God - the law given by Moses, mixed it with interpretation, personal preconceived ideas and cultural prejudice and shut the door to any new insight from God.
The story of Samuel's search for the one who would become king of Israel is set in circumstances that occurred over twenty five hundred years ago. The lesson it teaches however, is as fresh as the day God told Samuel what was missing in his perception.
Samuel was grieving over the fact that God was going to take the throne away from Saul. Samuel's attachment to Saul and his clinging to what he wanted instead of what God wanted brought about a kind of darkness to his spirit. When God sent him to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint the next king of Israel, something surprising happened. As it turns out, you can't judge a book by its cover - or outward appearances can be deceiving. God had told Samuel that he would show him which son of Jesse would become king and when Samuel laid eyes on the impressive Eliab, he thought, "This is the new king for sure!" God's response to Samuel is classic. It addresses a key factor in spiritual blindness. It is something every one of us can take to heart and use to do a quick analysis of our own way of looking at the world.
"... the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." [v.7]
God does not see things the way we see things! Even the intention here was that God looks at the human heart while we look at outward appearances, the fact remains that God sees all kinds of things differently than we do.
We often miss the significance of a person to God because they are not significant to the world around us. We miss the joy of a child’s capacity for play and laughter because we are engrossed in "important" things. We watch the evening news and read the newspaper and somehow do not see the abject poverty and desperate conditions of much of the human family.
And what of Christ? It is altogether fitting that we ask ourselves whether we are really and truly seeing the Saviour who came to bring us light. Is it possible that we grow so accustomed to the prayers and hymns and words of scripture that we miss the blazing truth of his coming to us?
All too often we miss what God is doing because we are either too busy doing something else or we have a better idea of what God would do.
There is a story I would like to share - Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"
"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds, "he answered.”Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade them to work for long hours, to work 6 - 7 days a week, 10 - 12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work."
"Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, iPads, CDs and their computers going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."
"Fill the coffee table with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services, and false hopes."
"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them retum from" their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God‘s wonders. Send them to, sporting events, concerts and movies instead."
And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."
"Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."
It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there. Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the Judge.
On this Mothering Sunday, we need to feel the refreshment of the day and all that it means; We need to hear the words of Jesus “Go, wash.” And as the cool and refreshing waters of life wash over us, our eyes and our hearts are opened to behold the living Christ, standing as the chains of death and hell lay broken at his feet. And our voice cries out at last, “Lord! I believe!” And the powerful and life-giving truth of the gospel is that our suffering and grief will not have the last word. As our souls and bodies desperately cry out for relief, we hear the faint yet clear voice of the risen Christ calling us; reminding us that, through the cross, death and its trappings have been swallowed up in victory. The final word rests, not with suffering and blindness, but with life and peace.