“Who Sinned?”
Preached Sunday, March 19, 2023
“His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents?’”
Have you ever heard the phrase “There are no stupid questions”? Perhaps I’d agree with that saying if the questions are truly asked out of a desire for knowledge and to gain a deeper understanding. But when questions are asked as a way to cast blame, to judge, and to drive wedges in between people - then yes, there are stupid questions. And “Who sinned?” is one of them.
In our “Seeking” Lenten devotional, The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow says this about the disciples’ question of “Who sinned?”: “The disciples' first reaction is to debate the blindness and not deal at all with the human. Intellectualizing and theologizing outside of seeing the created being right in front of them led them to ask the wrong questions. Rather than ask, ‘How can we heal and help?’ they ask, ‘Whose fault is it?’”
The question by the disciples is misguided, at best, and despite intention, is downright harmful. And even though Jesus gives this man sight through an intimate act of healing, involving spit and dirt, he suffers continued harm by those around him. The Pharisees are stuck in their assumption that this man must have done something wrong to be blind. They are convinced that Jesus should not have healed him. They are so sure that there are fingers to be pointed and blame to be cast.
After the initial question of “Who sinned?” a lot of, well, stupid, questions are asked in this Scripture passage:
"Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"
"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?"
"What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
They ask this man who Jesus gave sight to over and over, “Who are you? How did this happen? Who was it that did it to you?” But we know they are not asking because of a quest for knowledge. We know this because the healed man says to them: "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?"
I’ve told you - and you’re not listening to me! You’re not listening because my answers don’t fit your assumptions - assumptions that I deserved this, assumptions that Jesus, this man who healed me, did something wrong. And they refuse to have their mind changed. This exchange between the man and the Pharisees ends with this: “‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.”
This piece of art by The Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity really drives home this point. There is the man, his eyes opened and seeing, and all around him are pointed fingers, trying to find blame and answers that meet their assumptions. In her artist statement on this piece she says, “I wonder what this story would look like had better questions been asked. What if his neighbors had instead asked the blind man, ‘How do you feel?’ What if the man had asked the crowd, ‘What are you afraid of?’ What if the Pharisees had asked one another, ‘What if it’s time to change?’”
Okay - let’s take a step back here. I’ve been pretty harsh on the disciples and the Pharisees - even going as far as to use the ‘s’ word (stupid) to describe their questions that are asked out of assumptions…and, I also think it is very much a part of human nature. And as we call out the behavior of those in this Scripture passage…instead of pointing fingers at them… we need to turn and look at ourselves.
The disciples’ first reaction was to debate, to intellectualize with “Who Sinned?” rather than looking at the full human man in front of them. How often is OUR first reaction to debate, to intellectualize, to ask questions that don’t look at the people who were made in the image of God that are suffering in front of us? Perhaps questions like this sound familiar to our ears:
“What was she wearing?”
“Where they here legally?”
“Why didn’t he just do what he was told?”
Consider immigration, the UMC split, rights of minorities and LGBTQ folks, disability rights…often, like the Disciples we move straight to debate and intellectualize. And like the Pharisees, we ask questions based off of our assumptions and finger pointing, dead set on our minds not being changed.
How could these conversations go, if, instead of asking questions that blame or finger point or are steeped in our assumptions, we asked questions with gentleness and curiosity? The Rev. Reyes-Chow uses the phrase “empathetic inquiry.” These are open questions of curiosity that center the person or persons we are asking them off as children of God, made in the image of God, who deserve love and support as much as any other person in this world.
What if, as a community, as a country, as a world, instead of saying to one another “You’re wrong” we said, “I don’t understand you…yet.” And then we asked questions of each other and listened well, seeking understanding and clarity.
Think right now of a hot button issue in the church. Consider any issue of disagreement in our church and our world… What if, instead of saying to each other, “How could you believe THAT?” and instead of having conversations that do immense harm, seek to prove our own points, and cast people out…what if we asked questions like, “How did you reach that conclusion?” “How do you understand the Bible?” “What experiences of yours inform you of believing this way?” “How could we show love for one another?” “How do we show love for all people?” “How can I walk with you?”
The Pharisees threw the blind man out… Instead of changing their perspective, instead of being open to what he had to say and what Jesus did, they dug in heels and threw him out. Casting out someone who disagrees with you is much easier than opening ourselves up to questions of empathetic inquiry… so let us hear this passage as a cautionary tale and a convicting challenge, for us to do the inner and relational work so we don’t get bogged down in the wrong questions, the finger pointing, and digging our heels in… Let us learn from this passage that we can do better, we can let empathy and compassion and a recognition of the image of God in every single person guide our questions…until our first reaction stops being asking “Who sinned?” and instead meeting people in compassion and empathy, with ears and hearts ready to listen and to learn.
May it be so.
Amen.
In our “Seeking” Lenten devotional, The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow says this about the disciples’ question of “Who sinned?”: “The disciples' first reaction is to debate the blindness and not deal at all with the human. Intellectualizing and theologizing outside of seeing the created being right in front of them led them to ask the wrong questions. Rather than ask, ‘How can we heal and help?’ they ask, ‘Whose fault is it?’”
The question by the disciples is misguided, at best, and despite intention, is downright harmful. And even though Jesus gives this man sight through an intimate act of healing, involving spit and dirt, he suffers continued harm by those around him. The Pharisees are stuck in their assumption that this man must have done something wrong to be blind. They are convinced that Jesus should not have healed him. They are so sure that there are fingers to be pointed and blame to be cast.
After the initial question of “Who sinned?” a lot of, well, stupid, questions are asked in this Scripture passage:
"Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"
"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?"
"What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
They ask this man who Jesus gave sight to over and over, “Who are you? How did this happen? Who was it that did it to you?” But we know they are not asking because of a quest for knowledge. We know this because the healed man says to them: "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?"
I’ve told you - and you’re not listening to me! You’re not listening because my answers don’t fit your assumptions - assumptions that I deserved this, assumptions that Jesus, this man who healed me, did something wrong. And they refuse to have their mind changed. This exchange between the man and the Pharisees ends with this: “‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.”
This piece of art by The Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity really drives home this point. There is the man, his eyes opened and seeing, and all around him are pointed fingers, trying to find blame and answers that meet their assumptions. In her artist statement on this piece she says, “I wonder what this story would look like had better questions been asked. What if his neighbors had instead asked the blind man, ‘How do you feel?’ What if the man had asked the crowd, ‘What are you afraid of?’ What if the Pharisees had asked one another, ‘What if it’s time to change?’”
Okay - let’s take a step back here. I’ve been pretty harsh on the disciples and the Pharisees - even going as far as to use the ‘s’ word (stupid) to describe their questions that are asked out of assumptions…and, I also think it is very much a part of human nature. And as we call out the behavior of those in this Scripture passage…instead of pointing fingers at them… we need to turn and look at ourselves.
The disciples’ first reaction was to debate, to intellectualize with “Who Sinned?” rather than looking at the full human man in front of them. How often is OUR first reaction to debate, to intellectualize, to ask questions that don’t look at the people who were made in the image of God that are suffering in front of us? Perhaps questions like this sound familiar to our ears:
“What was she wearing?”
“Where they here legally?”
“Why didn’t he just do what he was told?”
Consider immigration, the UMC split, rights of minorities and LGBTQ folks, disability rights…often, like the Disciples we move straight to debate and intellectualize. And like the Pharisees, we ask questions based off of our assumptions and finger pointing, dead set on our minds not being changed.
How could these conversations go, if, instead of asking questions that blame or finger point or are steeped in our assumptions, we asked questions with gentleness and curiosity? The Rev. Reyes-Chow uses the phrase “empathetic inquiry.” These are open questions of curiosity that center the person or persons we are asking them off as children of God, made in the image of God, who deserve love and support as much as any other person in this world.
What if, as a community, as a country, as a world, instead of saying to one another “You’re wrong” we said, “I don’t understand you…yet.” And then we asked questions of each other and listened well, seeking understanding and clarity.
Think right now of a hot button issue in the church. Consider any issue of disagreement in our church and our world… What if, instead of saying to each other, “How could you believe THAT?” and instead of having conversations that do immense harm, seek to prove our own points, and cast people out…what if we asked questions like, “How did you reach that conclusion?” “How do you understand the Bible?” “What experiences of yours inform you of believing this way?” “How could we show love for one another?” “How do we show love for all people?” “How can I walk with you?”
The Pharisees threw the blind man out… Instead of changing their perspective, instead of being open to what he had to say and what Jesus did, they dug in heels and threw him out. Casting out someone who disagrees with you is much easier than opening ourselves up to questions of empathetic inquiry… so let us hear this passage as a cautionary tale and a convicting challenge, for us to do the inner and relational work so we don’t get bogged down in the wrong questions, the finger pointing, and digging our heels in… Let us learn from this passage that we can do better, we can let empathy and compassion and a recognition of the image of God in every single person guide our questions…until our first reaction stops being asking “Who sinned?” and instead meeting people in compassion and empathy, with ears and hearts ready to listen and to learn.
May it be so.
Amen.
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