Message by Janice Good : March 9, 2008
“Behold I Tell You a Mystery – Part 6”
Texts – Psalm 146; John 9:1-12; 25-39
One a cold March night in the year 1820, in Putnam County, New York, a baby girl was born to poor parents, John and Mercy. She was a healthy baby and all seemed well. But at the early age of six weeks, the baby girl caught a cold. The cold caused an inflammation of the baby’s eyes. Her parents were concerned so they called for the family physician. He was not available, so another came in his place. The substitute physician ordered a hot mustard poultice to be put on the baby’s eyes to take away the inflammation. Well, the doctor was a fraud, and the treatment ill advised. The poultice placed upon this baby’s eyes forever blinded her. Less than a year later, the baby’s father died. Her mother was forced to work as a maid to support the child, while her Christian grandmother raised her. As the girl grew she zealously memorized the Bible, memorizing five chapters a week. Even as a child she could recite the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and many Psalms chapter and verse.
At age 15, this young girl, Frances Jane Crosby, known as Fannie, enrolled at the New York School for the Blind. This would become her home for the next 23 years: 12 as a student, 11 as a teacher. During that time she learned to play the piano and guitar and to sing. Some years later, Fannie married Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind musician and fellow teacher. Considered one of New York's best organists, he wrote the music to many of Crosby's hymns. At his insistence, Fannie kept her maiden name. The couple had only one child, a daughter, Frances, who died in infancy.
After leaving the school, Fannie dedicated her life to serving the poorest and the neediest. Supporting herself by her writing, she quickly gained fame for her hymns, which she composed entirely in her mind and then dictated to someone else. It was said that she worked mentally on as many as twelve hymns at once before dictating them all. It is also said that publishers had so much of her work that they began publishing them under pseudonyms just so that hymn books were not completed dominated by Fannie’s hymns. (I found a listing of at least 45 different names under which her hymns were published.) Though she was under contract to submit three hymns a week to her publisher she often wrote six or seven a day, including the popular “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory.” Her usual fee was a mere $2, which frequently went to support her work with the poor. Her mission work is legendary, as is her devotion to serving others above herself. Francis Jane Crosby wrote more than 9,000 hymns in her lifetime, some of which are among the most popular in every Christian denomination
Fannie once remarked: “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”
A well-meaning preacher once said to Fannie, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you.” Fannie responded at once because she had heard such comments before. “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind? Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
Fannie continued to write up until her death, just a month shy of her ninety-fifth birthday. "You will reach the river brink, some sweet day, bye and bye," was her last stanza. Her tombstone carries the words from one of her most popular hymns: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.”
Fannie Crosby was a truly blessed and grateful woman, who experienced much that we might call suffering. Instead of seeing her blindness not as a disability, Fannie saw it as a blessing by which she could glorify God and created hymns for the world so that we too could raise our voices in praise of God’s glory. Fannie saw the hand of God in her life and dedicated that life to the glory of God. From those humble beginnings Fannie used her blindness to glorify God in magnificent ways.
Then we have the tale of the man who was born blind. He spent 30 years unaware of the sights around him. And then one day some strangers passed by. It was the disciples and Jesus who were just walking along and saw the blind man. The disciples stopped to question, to analyze, but Jesus did not respond. When the disciples learned that this man had been blind from birth, they launched into a philosophical discussion, asking our Lord, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). The disciples were not wrong in thinking there was a connection between sin and human suffering, since the Bible tells us all suffering is the result of man’s fall (Gen. 3:16). And, sickness was sometimes the direct result of sin in the life of an individual (Lev. 26:16; Deut. 28:22). It was also believed that the sins of the parents could also affect their children (Ex. 20:5).
Jesus did not reply that the man’s blindness was simply a birth defect. Instead he explained that it was part of God’s wide and infinite, yet mysterious plan for the man’s life – a plan of God through which God could be glorified. God was in control. Jesus brought the disciples back to reality when He responded, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). Jesus did not mean that neither this man nor his parents were sinless, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). He simply stated that it was the purpose of God that this man should suffer with blindness, even from his birth. Rather than stress the human reasons for this man’s suffering, Jesus turned the focus to the divine purpose, that ‘the works of God might be displayed in his life’ (John 9:3).
Jesus did not go into some long lengthy sermon on sin. Instead Jesus bent down, spit on the ground making mud, and put it right on the man’s sightless eyes, and then told him to find his way to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud off. I don’t know about you, but I suspect hat I would have been at least startled by this action – if not downright angry! Some stranger that I couldn’t see who just walked up to me and put mud in my eyes!
During these weeks of Lent we have been focusing our thoughts on the mystery of pain and suffering. We began in the Garden where we discovered because of the doctrine of original sin and the reality of sin in our lives we should expect nothing but condemnation from God. We also learned that there is a great mystery that we never truly understand: God never says He will explain life to us – at least not in this lifetime. We heard of the suffering of Job, a good and righteous man who even though his pain was great, God used it to reveal Himself to Job and so that God could draw Job, and us, closer to Him. Today our lesson would teach us that our suffering should be seen as a tool that the Lord uses so that God’s works might be shown in us. This man was born blind in order for him to be of service to the Lord, in order to demonstrate God’s mighty works! Part of this mystery that we may never understand is that what we think of as pain and suffering in this life is really God’s way of refining us, God’s way of revealing Himself to the world through us.
So what was so unusual about this dirt and saliva cure? What if Jesus had used a more medicinal means of healing the man? What if when Jesus saw this blind man, He reached into His traveling bag and brought out an alabaster jar of precious oil and delicately put drops in the man's eyes, and then the man received his sight? You can imagine what would have happened! We’d all think it was the special ointment that healed the man. We’d all say, "What a wonderful medicine! Where can I get some?” We’d all think that it was purely the special liquid that was the cure. The cure was from these eye drops and not the power of God. But there was no special elixir, no miracle ointment. Just spit and dirt, formed into mud and pressed onto the eyes of the blind man. Who among us would say that simple mud gave him sight, that spit opened this man’s eyes? What a foolish notion: mud in your eyes cures blindness! Go wash and see! Go to Siloam and cleanse your eyes and see what God has done! Indeed, it was obvious that it was the power that Jesus possessed that gave this man his sight. And all the glory for the cure went to Jesus where it belonged. It was truly the power of God that healed this man, even though it looked like a rather unusual treatment. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NRSV).
Woven between the verses of the text that we read today we learn that our formerly blind man is not allowed to rejoice in his newly gained sight. Twice in our text this morning we heard references to the common understanding within contemporary Judaism that saw illness as being the result of sin (v.2 and v.34). But the blind man who was given his sight is not allowed to celebrate. His neighbors begin to question whether it was really him. In fact, they go so far at to take him to the Pharisees for a hearing. The Pharisees are still under the assumption that the blindness was caused by the sin of the parents or the man. Nor can the Pharisees believe that Jesus comes from God since He healed the man on the Sabbath, which was so against Jewish law. They even go so far as to call in the man’s parents to get positive identification that this now sighted man is their same congenitally blind son. In their frustration, the Pharisees finally kick the man out of the synagogue!
By contrast, Jesus treats the man with utter respect. Jesus acts with great compassion and heals the man. Jesus went beyond healing the man. Jesus gave the blind man his sight when the Pharisees gave him a hearing. But this uneducated beggar stood up to the most highly educated skeptics of his day. He refused to speculate, but steadfastly held to what he knew to be the facts, based upon his own personal experience with Jesus Christ. After hearing that the Pharisees had driven the man away, Jesus found the man and encouraged him. The man had already shown considerable courage in trying to tell the Jewish leaders about how special Jesus was. Then Jesus reveals Himself as the Great Healer. The once blind man becomes a believer and worships Christ, showing that he had received spiritual as well as physical sight. Jesus sums up the purpose of His mission, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (v.39). The effect of Jesus’ mission is to blind those who refuse to see as they remain in sin because of their overconfidence in their own righteousness.
We’ve just heard the stories of two lives in contrast. The man born blind probably knew nothing about Jesus during his 30 years of blindness. But Jesus came into his life and put a poultice of mud and saliva on this man’s eyes and then he could see. Fannie Crosby who had her sight at birth, was forever blinded at an early age by a mustard poultice put on her eyes. As a child Fannie knew of Jesus through the teachings of her grandmother and her memorization of scripture. Neither of these two people were bitter about their condition. The man in John’s text gained his sight and immediately became a missionary for Christ. Fannie never regained her sight, but through her hymn writing became a prolific witness to the work of Christ in her life. Both of these people gave God the glory for being able to see Jesus, one who gained his sight, and one who did not. Both trusted the Lord to care for them and both were given the joy of seeing the face of the One who would forever heal them, who would open their eyes to the wonders of His Kingdom.
Later this morning as we lift our voices to the One to whom we too owe our sight – both physical and spiritual, to the one who is the Light of the world, bringing us out of the darkness of suffering and pain, listen closely to the words of Fannie Crosby… to her joyous and uplifting words which declare the glory of God. Fannie Crosby spent her life and livelihood praising the Lord, although she was the victim of medical malpractice. The man was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. If you think about it, that is why all of us are born; all of us are given life so that the works of God might be revealed in us. Whatever your pain or suffering this day, use it to glorify the Lord. He knows and cares about all that may trouble you, but He also knows how your life has been and will be shaped and in what ways the events of your life can show the glory of God’s mighty works here on earth!
As we continue our journey through Lent, we should be focusing our thoughts on the One who brought sight to the blind, healing to the ill, compassion to the unloved. Jesus came not only to deal with the symptoms of suffering, but its very root, which is sin. Although Christians are no more exempt from suffering in this life than was Jesus, in the final day there will be no more suffering. But for the time being though, suffering is both for the glory of God and for the growth of the Christian.
Most of you know that I just returned from a week in New Orleans where I worked with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance – working to help survivors of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina nearly three years ago. When the 17th Street canal levee gave way 80% of that city was flooded. But the greatest devastation was in the lower 9th ward, a poorer neighborhood which was literally washed away, leaving approximately 1,800 people dead and thousands more whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Nearly three years later people are still trying to rebuild their lives and neighborhoods. Even though many would criticize those who are rebuilding in this flood-prone city, there is truly a visible and obvious demonstration of God’s work going on in that city. While the state and federal governments seem to have washed their hands of this whole situation, people from faith based organizations all across the nation continue to volunteer their time – reaching out to be the visible hand of God, sharing Christian love as well as strong backs and semi-skilled labor to hope individuals return to some type of normalcy. We should remember when Jesus came upon the man born blind, he did not engage in discussion with his disciples on the theological question of what caused his blindness – instead Jesus reached out in compassion and healed the man of his blindness. When we see our brothers and sisters in pain, suffering from whatever hurts they have, will we do the same? Will we be filled with compassion and act first – not trying to determine what caused it, or why, but rather reaching out trying to comfort those who are hurting?
Our study of the mystery of suffering has led us to understand that we will never fully understand the wondrous ways that God works through pain and suffering. But you should know that God is in control! Know that even in your deepest pain and suffering – God loves you and is present in your life, molding and shaping you so that you can draw closer to him. Let Him heal your blindness so that you may see His face clearly in all of life’s ups and downs.
Let us draw closer now in prayer: Dear Lord, give us sight to see your mighty works, even though we may not fully understand all that happens in our lives, we do trust in Your sovereign power. Help us to continue to trust in Your works in our lives. Remove our blindness to the suffering of our brothers and sisters and teach us to reach out in compassion, just as our Lord Jesus Christ did so that Your works might be glorified.