4 Lent, Year A

"THE PURPOSE OF LIFE"
I Samuel 16: 1 – 13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5: 1 – 14; John 9: 1 – 38
Reflections by The Rev. Gene Tucker for Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

(An explanatory note: Yesterday’s sermon at Trinity, Mt. Vernon, was given by the Rt. Rev. Peter H. Beckwith, 10th Bishop of Springfield, on the occasion of his annual Homecoming to Trinity Church. These reflections are written for the purpose of being posted to Trinity’s website as a service for those who might consult the website for the weekly sermon posting, not to supplant or replace the Bishop’s teaching.)

Ever think about the purpose of life? Or, more specifically, do you ever think about the purpose of your life?

I think it’s natural to do that….natural, of course, if we remember that to reflect on such a basic set of questions as: “What am I doing here on this earth?”, or, “What is the real meaning of my life?” is essential to quite a number of things, like: 1. a realistic assessment of our talents and abilities as those talents and abilities connect with our situation in life, 2. such an assessment allows us to determine what are the most important concerns/activities in life, and 3. what is my ultimate purpose in being born, growing up, and so forth.

And it is the last of those three, “What is my ultimate purpose?” that has the most to do with the “big picture” of life. Seeing the “big picture” allows us to put everything else in perspective. The “big picture” has to do with the things of God, for each of us (as a friend of mine once said) has a hole in our lives that only God can fill.

And that, it seems to me, is the bottom line of today’s Gospel account, the very familiar healing of the man born blind….what is the ultimate purpose of life.

But before we draw some conclusions from this important sign,[1] let’s look briefly at some of the features of the written account itself:

A two level drama: Just like Nicodemus’ night-time visit[2] and the encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well,[3] today’s encounter also plays out as a two level drama. Notice that the Pharisees, as they enter the scene at verse 13, are consumed with the idea that this healing took place on the Sabbath day. They allege (verse 16) that “This man (Jesus) is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Again and again, they cross-examine the healed man, his parents, and the onlookers who witnessed the miracle itself.

But against the Pharisees’ preoccupation with the legalities of Sabbath-keeping stands the miracle of the healing itself….some of the witnesses attest to the man’s condition – blind since birth – and the man himself attests to his healing. The tension grows as the man begins to upbraid the Pharisees for failing to accept the truth of what had happened.

We might be tempted, as the text unfolds, to want to shout to the Pharisees, “How could you miss the central point, the central meaning so badly?”

The reader’s perspective: Remember, as we read Holy Scripture, that we have what scholars call “the reader’s perspective”. That is, we know “the rest of the story” (as Paul Harvey would say). We know the outline of the story of Jesus. We know how it ends – in His victory over death. We also see His victory over disease, demon possession, and the forces of nature. And so, as we read through this healing account, we want to add our knowledge of the story to the characters in the story. For that is the response that the Gospel writer intends. We want to “fill in the blanks” for the Pharisees, for the healed man, and for the man’s parents and neighbors. We want to say, “Don’t you get it? We do!” That response wells up within us, an unstoppable stream of life-giving faith.

Now, let’s turn to the implications of the story, for the man born blind, and for us. For the implications have everything to do with life’s ultimate purposes:

The man born blind: As part of the two-level-drama that unfolds in this text, Jesus’ disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents?” Theirs is a normal, everyday concern in the first century: a physical ailment, sickness, disease, or some other conditions as well, were often attributed to some manifest and notorious sin (or sins).

But Jesus immediately puts another understanding onto the man’s condition, and it is one that we are uncomfortable with: Jesus answers, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.”

“What?” we might respond. Do you mean that the man’s burden (that of being blind from birth), his exclusion from Temple worship,[4] his life of begging, all of these were part of his being the agent of God’s power, so that God’s power to could seen and experienced? The man’s whole life to the point of his healing were for the purpose of demonstrating God’s power?

We’re not comfortable with that idea, are we? “Doesn’t seem fair,” we might add.

But that’s exactly the point Jesus makes….the man’s condition – and the entire story of his life to the point his healing – is for the purpose of showing God’s power.

Our life’s purpose(s): A concise answer to the main purpose of our lives is provided by the Westminster Catechism,[5] which says:

(Question) “What is the chief end of man?
(Answer) “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.”

So, this answer is entirely consistent with Our Lord’s comment about the blind man’s condition….the man’s life’s purpose is to glorify God by being the agent of God’s power to heal, made clear in the healing itself and the man’s subsequent witness to that healing.

Our purpose is to show forth in our lives God’s power to heal, to restore, to change the directions of our lives (especially when we go astray from God’s desire and plan for His people).

We glorify God by providing the raw material for God to work with, to heal, to restore, and to redirect. Then, we glorify God by giving God the credit for the works done in our lives by His power, just as the man born blind did.

Along the way to our own healing/restoring by God’s power, there is loss, hardship and pain for us, just as there was for the man born blind. But God turns all things to His glory and our good at the point where we are touched by God’s power. As St. Paul puts it, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”[6]

So, the question comes to each of us: “What is the ultimate purpose of our lives?”

How do we answer?


[1] Remember that chapters 2 – 11 of John’s Gospel account are often nicknamed by biblical scholars “The Book of Signs” because so many of Jesus’ miraculous works (signs) are recorded there. John’s intent is to record those might acts so that Jesus’ identity as the only-begotten Son of the Father would be revealed to the world.
[2] Chapter three, read two Sundays ago.
[3] Chapter four, read last Sunday.
[4] Remember that persons with a whole host of physical deformities and maladies were excluded from the worship of God’s people. Blindness was just one of those conditions that made outsiders of people within their own nation.
[5] Formulated 1647 – 1648, this quote is taken from the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Catechism, which has been historically used in the Reformed tradition (Presbyterians, e.g.).
[6] Romans 8: 28