Given By Rev. Madison Shockley March 26, 2017
Today’s reading coincides with the current topic involving healthcare. Our government is wrestling with just how much healthcare should be available. The Gospel of John should not be taken literally. It is a story of Jesus healing a blind man. His disciples ask whose sin led to this man’s blindness, his parents or his own. Jesus replies that neither are responsible. After the healing, the man was questioned. The townspeople tried to throw doubt concerning the healing. Jesus tells them if you are not blind, then your sin remains. If you can see what is going on but do nothing to help or stop it, your sin remains. What can we learn as Christians concerning healthcare policy from this story? First, we should understand that healthcare is a human right. Asking whose sin caused the blindness was an attempt to disqualify him. Jesus’s response was everyone deserves the chance for healing. It is a divine opportunity to reach out and live out our faith. Another lesson we can take from this story is that some people place ideological purity above human need. The Pharisees objected to healing on the Sabbath. Next, Jesus would not need to preform all these miracles if we had basic love for one another. We need to care for another as we would care for ourselves. Lastly, this story is not about healing a blind man but about vision. When asked who is the son of man who healed me, Jesus tells him you have seen him even before you could see and can see him now. It is about a vision of life that sees all people as children of God and equally worthy of participation in our human community. We should all receive the benefits of society. When the people can see, change occurs.