Meditation 245
John 9: 1-41
The story of Jesus healing the man born blind from birth takes a whole chapter in John’s gospel. It is a detailed story that tells of a miracle and a discussion about keeping the law of God. The way the man and his disability are introduced is attention getting. Jesus and his disciples were walking along, and they saw a man born blind. The disciples ask Jesus who sinned that this man was born blind, him or his parents. Jesus answers that no one did, he says “he was born blind that God’s works might be reveled in him.” What if we took that attitude to what happens in our lives, that happenings are an opportunity to show God’s works?
I do not mean to trivialize tragedy or sorrow by making the suggestion that these happenings might be ways to reveal God, but often when something goes wrong, we spend time trying to figure out “why is this happening?” The disciples figured that either the man or his parents must have done something wrong, to have sinned, for him to be blind. That was not the case. We live in an imperfect world and bad things happen. Bad things happen to both bad people and good people. We do not cause everything that happens to us. We do have choice about how we respond to the troubles that life brings to us, and in this way we can show God’s works.
In the book “The Hiding Place”, Corrie Ten Boom writes of her family’s experience of smuggling Jewish people out of Holland in World War II. Corrie, her sister Betsy and their father have a secret room, the hiding place, built in their home to hide people who are being moved to safety. They know that they are defying the law of the land to do this, but they are convinced that they are following God’s law at the same time. Their deep faith compels them to help as many innocents as possible to escape. When they are captured and sent to one of the camps, Betsy’s faith is one of the ways God’s works are shown. In spite of being a frail spinster who has really done no wrong, she is treated as harshly as the most obstreperous inmate, and yet she is always loving. She is gracious to the guards, and she is compassionate toward the other prisoners. In her witness to God there is comfort for others.
Along the same line, I also find that often when I spend time with those who are bereaved, that I find a witness to God. People who are bereaved are sad and they need to talk about the one who has died and they talk about their loss as they weep. This is not all. They also know that God will be their comfort. They have certain scriptures that they want read at the funeral, they ask for prayer, they are gracious to those who express sympathy through visits, gifts of food, or the sending of cards. There are so many that I have met who are able to show the glory of God as they mourn.
I think there is a kind of deep peace that comes to us when we turn to God to help us show God’s works in times of trouble, rather than rail against circumstances. This is not something done lightly or with no questions asked by the person who turns to God. This choice allows us to let God’s strength be our strength. It reminds us that God is the shepherd who will care for us well.