Old Testament Reading Isaiah 58:6–10

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.

Epistle Ephesians 5:8–14

⁸For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Holy Gospel John 9

¹As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²²(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered 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?” ²⁸And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. ³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Grace to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Opening: Lost in the Dark

The man crosses into a dense forest where the tree canopy blocks out nearly all of what little light there is. The darkness is disorienting, and he struggles to follow the path. He fears he’ll be lost in the wood with now way out.

Just as panic nearly begins to set in, he sees a lantern flickering in the distance. Moving toward the light, he finds another traveler holding the light high, lighting up the way forward. The traveler explains the light is a guide, showing the safe path through the dark forest. The man walks along side the traveler, grateful for the companionship and the calm and peace the light provides. As they journey together, the man realizes the light not only guides. It also reveals the beauty hidden in the shadows.

The Darkness We Know Too Well

Let’s start with that man born blind in John 9. Picture him sitting by the roadside, day after day, hearing footsteps pass by, never seeing the faces. The disciples see him and ask Jesus, “Who sinned? This man or his parents?” They’re looking for a reason, someone to blame.

Jesus stops them cold: “Neither.” He says, “This happened so God’s works might be displayed in him.” Then He spits on the ground, makes mud, rubs it on the man’s eyes, and says, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam.” The man does and, for the first time, he sees.

But it doesn’t end there. The Pharisees get wind of this miracle, and they’re not happy. “This Jesus can’t be from God,” they say. “He healed on the Sabbath!”

They question the man, his parents, anyone they can find. They’re digging for dirt, but the man just keeps saying, “All I know is I was blind, and now I see.” The Pharisees can’t stand it. They kick him out. Blindness isn’t just his problem, though. It’s theirs too. They’re blind to who Jesus really is.

Doesn’t that sound familiar? We’ve all got our own kind of blindness. Maybe it’s not physical though that is very real for some, but it can also be spiritual. Think about the rich man in Luke 16, the parable of poor Lazarus. The rich man, he’s got everything: fine clothes, big feasts, a gated house. And right outside his door is Lazarus, covered in sores, begging for crumbs. The rich man walks by him everyday, but he doesn’t see him. Not really. Even in death, he’s blind—crying out from torment, “Send Lazarus to help me!” Too late. He had Moses and the Prophets, Jesus says. He had the truth, but he wouldn’t look.

What about us? Who’s the Lazarus at our doorstep? The neighbor struggling to pay bills? The friend who’s hurting but too proud to say it? We get busy, distracted, comfortable, and we miss them right there in front of us. People walking around in this town, or even members of our own congregation. Ephesians 5 hits us square: “You were darkness.” Not just in it, you were it. Darkness hides sin. It numbs us to others. It whispers, “Don’t worry about that. Look out for yourself.” And we listen. If there is twinge of guilt in those words, that’s the Law talking. It shows us where we fall short, where we stumble in the dark.

The Light That Finds Us

But here’s the good news. Jesus doesn’t leave us there. Back to John 9, after the Pharisees toss that healed man out, Jesus finds him. “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He asks.

The man says, “Who is He, Lord? Tell me so I can believe.”

Jesus says, “You’re looking at Him.” And the man worships. From blind beggar to believer, just like that. The light of Christ opens his eyes, not just to see the world, but to see His Savior, and yours.

That’s what Jesus does for us. You and I, we’re like Lazarus in a way, aren’t we? Not the beggar, but dead in our sins, helpless on our own. Ephesians 5:14 sings it out:

Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Jesus doesn’t wait for us to stumble into Him. He comes to find us. He’s looking out for us. Searching for us to save us. He takes our darkness: every selfish thought, every ignored need, every sin, and carries it to the cross. That’s what Lent is pointing us toward: the cross where He trades our night for His day, our blindness for His sight. He invites us to walk out of darkness into His marvelous light.¹

That is what that black cross is all about. It is our physical act of joining Jesus as He nails our sins to the cross. That is where our sins belong, but because of Jesus you don’t.

Psalm 34:15 says:

The eyes of the Lord
are toward the righteous
and His ears toward their cry.

God sees you. When we’re lost in the dark, dank, forest of life, He’s the one holding the lantern high. Easter is coming. That resurrection dawn when the light breaks through once and for all and burns away the darkness once and for all. Walk into that light. Christ’s victory over death says, “You don’t have to stay in the dark. He has made you to be light in the Lord.²”

Walking It Out

So what do we do with this light? Ephesians 5:8 doesn’t just say “you are light”—it also says, “Walk as children of light.” It’s not enough to see it. We’ve got to live it. Let me give you three ways—simple, but real:

1. Look for the Lazaruses around you. Who’s hurting near you? Maybe it’s a kind word to a cashier who you can tell is having a rough day. Maybe it’s a meal for a family stretched thin. Walking in the light means seeing the a need and stepping in when you can.

2. Shine the light on yourself. What’s hiding in your shadows? A grudge you’re nursing? A habit you excuse? Bring it to Jesus. Confess it. Write it on a card. Nail it to the cross and let His light clean it out.

3. Share the light. The rich man wanted to warn his brothers, but it was too late. We’ve still got time, but no one knows how much. Tell someone about Jesus: your kids, your coworker, your friend. Don’t wait. I hate those “wish I had” thoughts.

Closing: The Lantern Ahead

Let’s go back to that forest. The traveler’s scared, stumbling, and lost. Then he sees the lantern, hears the voice: “Follow the light.” He steps forward, and the path opens up. The trees thin out. The glow shows him a way he never knew was there. He turns to thank the stranger, and the stranger smiles. “Keep walking,” he says. “The light’s not going anywhere.”

The light leads the man to the edge of the forest and then out, but he knows there are still challenges ahead. How will he continue to follow the light in the days to come? How will he find the courage to press on? Join us on Wednesday as we explore “Trusting in God’s Timing.”

Amen.

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NOTES

11 Peter 2:9