John 9- A Challenging God

September 4 2011As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. John 9:1-3 (NASB)Have you ever tried to figure out why something bad happened to someone you know or heard about? Why, “What goes around comes around;” “You reap what you sow,” which is actually in the Bible – Galatians 6:7-8; and don’t forget about karma. We can add to all that our own life experience, stupid decisions and irresponsible actions have some very predictable outcomes (at least most of the time).I don’t know what prompted Jesus’ disciples to wonder about this particular blind man, and I can understand the first part of their question, “Is his disability his parents’ fault, did they sin, and is this God’s punishment for it?” After all there are lots of kids and adults who bear the scars of the transgressions of their parents. However, I am more than puzzled by what they asked next, eventhough they knew the man was born blind. Actually that almost qualifies for a stupid question (and contrary to popular belief there are some stupid questions). “Did he sin?” they asked. Did he get drunk in the womb? Did he kick his mother too hard too often? Did he have foul mouth, and his mother had to keep warning him, “I’ll wash your mouth out with soap just as soon as you come out of there?” Was he already consumed with lust, or greed, or a defiant godlessness? How much can a preborn baby sin?We love for things to make sense, being able to explain things, especially the things we consider bad. If we can’t it challenges our thinking regarding the goodness and the power of God. Jesus’ answer did not help a great deal either, in fact it leaves us even more challenged in our thinking about, and in our understanding of God. “This man’s blindness is not the result of his or his parents’ sin” (and there is sickness that results from sin), Jesus said, “God let him suffer with blindness because he has a purpose for it.” How much do you think the disciples were thrown off by this answer? How much are you?Why and how could God do that? “To display the works of God in him,” does not fit our thinking. Bad effects should be rooted in bad causes. God who is good, who is love, for whom nothing is impossible purposefully exposing us to suffering, disability, and to trials just doesn’t fit. It is not a neat explanation, it requires me to think differently about God, it confronts me with the truth that there is much I don’t understand about God, and Jesus’ answer brings me face to face about how much I really trust God.At this point I am tempted, especially as a preacher, to wax eloquent (which rarely happens), and sooth over the perplexity of what Jesus said here. But I’ll refrain; maybe it is good to be challenged in our view of God, lest we make him too small.To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans