Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2026
John 9:1-41

“As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’” (John 9:1). 

What must it feel like to be a theological problem? That’s what this man is, this man born blind. For the disciples, he’s a theological problem. He’s been born blind. So, the disciples assume that someone must have sinned. Again, imagine that moment. Imagine you are the man born blind. You spend your whole life begging on the side of the road because, in the ancient world, there was nothing else you could do. Most of the time, the people walking by pretend not to see you. And though you can’t see them, you know they are ignoring you. And then these theo-bros show up and they use you as a prop. Your very presence, just your life makes them ask a question of their rabbi about the nature of sin and physical disability. Because, for the disciples, the man born blind is a problem. The only reason that the disciples can fathom someone being born blind is that either he or his parents have sinned and that his blindness is punishment from God.

Now, Jesus tells his disciples what’s really going on. Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But, then Jesus does something extraordinary. Yes, he makes mud and puts it on the man’s eyes. Yes, Jesus tells the man to go and wash his eyes out. Yes, the man receives his sight. But the other extraordinary thing is that Jesus talks to this man, rather than just about this man. 

For Jesus, the man born blind is not a theological problem. The man is not quandary, his affliction is not something to be questioned and debated. The man born blind is a man. A child of God. Made in the very image of God. Yes, Jesus performs a great sign and this man receives his sight. Praise God for that. But, the other part of the miracle is that Jesus bothers to talk to him. 

This is what Jesus does all throughout the gospels. All throughout his ministry, Jesus takes the time, he bothers to talk with the people that nobody thinks are worth talking to. The man born blind, the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the tax collector at his booth, even the other criminal on the cross, the list goes on and on. For upright people in society, all those other folks are theological problems. But for Jesus, they are children of God – worthy, valued, beloved. 

See, I believe that no one, no person, is a problem. But so often, the Church takes the role of the disciples. We talk about people that we find problematic. It’s like we’re walking along and we come across people – people who are different, who speak differently, who think differently, who love differently – and then we have seminars and workshops and committee meetings to resolve the matter. What do we make of these people? We write books and give sermons and have conversations over our dinner tables about those other people. They are a problem for us, and we have to figure it out. So we talk about them – “rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind?” 

But we should behave more like Jesus. My hope, is that instead of talking about people, we would talk with people. This is what made Jesus different, and makes him worth following today. For him, and as it should be for the Church, no human is a problem. And no human should be a stand in for whatever issue it might be. Humans are not tokens or icons for our ideological convictions. No, every human is a beloved child of God. And that man, that man receives his sight from Jesus by washing in water.

It’s just gotta be a baptism. A type of washing and entering into a new life. As we baptize James Edward Sealy this morning. Jesus tells the man born blind to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He washes, and receives his sight. Today, we pray, we pray so earnestly, that the washing of water in this baptism would open the eyes of faith, so that James Edward would forever know that he is not a problem to God – but rather that he is a child, an heir to the Kingdom of God.

And mostly, that’s what I want to say to all of you this morning. None of you are a problem to God. God is not talking about you, God is not standing afar off in heaven with the angels, having debates on the validity of your life, on the nature of who you are. The Lord Jesus is a savior, not a pundit. Like Jesus did for the man born blind all those years ago, the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to you, even now. I believe that the Spirit of the Living God is alive in each of you, calling to you. 

This is the grace of God. We each have our own problems, our ailments, our worries, our concerns – but for God, they are not an obstacle to a life with Christ. Like the man born blind, we’re all dealing with physical problems. We’re dealing with bodies that are aging; we’ve received some test results and the numbers aren’t going in the right direction; our aches and pains are becoming more than just a nuisance. I, too, resonate with the man born blind, as I struggle daily with my own chronic disease. But though it’s a constant problem for me, this is not a problem for God. Beyond that, we’re dealing with shame, with guilt, with fear. The job is getting tougher and the money is getting tighter and the loneliness is getting closer. But none of these, none of these is a problem that has to stand between you and Christ.

As nothing stood between the man born blind and Jesus. Remember, when Jesus had spread mud on the man’s eyes, the man couldn’t see. He didn’t know what Jesus looked like. The man goes and washes and receives his sight. And like all those other “problematic” people in the gospels, the man believes and worships.

One more thing. Jesus doesn’t spend all his time talking about the man. Good. Turn that on its head. Don’t spend all your time talking about God. All too often we see God as a problem that we have to solve, we go around thinking about God. We hold seminars and workshops and Bible Studies to try to think about God in the right way. But that’s not discipleship. That’s not why we’re baptized, that’s not faith. As Jesus talked to man, go ahead and talk to God. And pray. Don’t spend all your time thinking about what to pray or how to pray or worrying about getting the prayers right. Just pray. And give thanks that you are not a problem to God, but that you, whoever or whatever you are, you are a blessing.