Meditation 246
John 9:1-41
In verse 5 Jesus says “I am the light of the world.” Earlier this week we read in Ephesians 5:8 that “in the Lord [we] are light.” When we follow Jesus we become more like him, so when we are light in the darkness we are sharing Jesus with our world. Later in John’s gospel Jesus says that he is the vine and we are the branches, we are joined to Jesus just like branches are grafted into a vine.
In this story of the man who is healed of his blindness we see that Jesus acted in the man’s best interests, that he sought the man out when he was driven from the synagogue, and he spoke against the wrong things that were being said about the law of God. If we take Jesus as our example, we too will find opportunities to help others, to seek out the ones who have been pushed aside and to speak up against false teaching.
It is easy to find people who need help. We can be involved with people who are close at hand, or we can donate time and money to help those who are further afield. It is simply a matter of choosing how to best use our time and talent to help in Jesus’ name. It may be a bit more of a challenge to seek out those who are pushed aside. They may no trust us, or we may feel insecure in going beyond the boundaries of our community. Again, if we look for ways to help, they will be given to us, whether we befriend new comers to Canada, or volunteer with parolees, or befriend the one who is the playground pariah. When we are in the Lord, we will share the light of the world.
Standing up to false teaching can be something that most do not want to take on publicly. It is not always necessary to be like Jesus and debate with recognized leaders in a public forum. We can stand for what we know to be truth in our friendship circles, or in communicating with politicians, or in supporting ethical businesses, or in how we conduct ourselves in a community of faith. Sometimes the spirit of God is inviting us to look at the things we believe and maybe come to some new conclusions. In the story of the man who was healed of blindness, the Pharisees in the story held to a very strict observance of the Sabbath. This is how they had been raised and it was what they felt to be correct religious practice. Jesus was showing that a person could still observe the Sabbath and be helpful. Being faithful to God did not mean overlooking the need of others. Jesus knew that he was obeying God and he showed gospel love to a helpless man. Similarly, we need to re-examine our faith practice from time to time, to be sure we are following God. Over the centuries there have been changes in the way congregations do things, from using instruments other than voice in worship, to ordaining women to being more open about who we invite to share communion with us.
Jesus is the light of the world, he is the one who shows us the way to God, so that we can show the way to others.