Sermons for the Month
Mud In Your Eye
DATE: March 14, 1999
SERVICE: Lent IV
TEXT: John 9:1-41"To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN [NOTE: Prepare a small basin of dirt and water and mix into mud. Place it on the altar or pulpit. Secure a volunteer to assist you early in the sermon. Advise the worshipers that just a small dab of this mud will heal them of what is ailing them. Then move immediately into the following citation.] "You don't believe that? Pity. If you did, you'd probably feel demonstrably better. You might even be cured" (Richard Morin, "The Healing Power of Sugar Pills," The Washington Post, August 23, 1998, C5). "It's not magic. It's the placebo effect - the mysterious ability of our bodies to sometimes heal what ails us, if only we believe." Placebo in Latin means "I shall please." In medical research, it refers to a pharmacologically inactive substance - like a sugar pill - or a phony medical procedure that is administered as a control in testing the effectiveness of a drug or course of action. Walter Brown, clinical professor of psychiatry at Brown University, is at the forefront of research into the placebo effect. He and others are trying to learn why about 30 to 40 percent of the people who suffer from conditions ranging from asthma to high blood pressure to depression actually benefit from taking a placebo. "Make no mistake: The healing effects of placebos are real, and not merely delusions or wishful thinking," Brown and other researchers contend. "It's easy to document and prove the effectiveness of placebos," Brown asserts. The numbers again: 30 to 40 percent of people suffering from a range of illnesses benefit from taking a placebo. In the ninth chapter of John, a man born blind receives sight. Jesus puts mud on the man's eyes, tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and when he comes back he is able to see. At first the man says that he does not know who Jesus is. Then he says that Jesus is a prophet. Finally, he stands before Jesus and says, "Lord, I believe." Although he never figures out just how Jesus has healed him, he knows that if Jesus were not from God, he could not have done anything. Lets call it the Messiah Effect - the mysterious ability of people to be healed, if only they come into contact with Jesus. What a strange and wonderful story this is. First, note that Jesus refuses to put the label of "sinner" on either the blind man or his parents, but says that "he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him" (v.3). With such an introduction, one might think that Jesus would go on to treat the man with courtesy and respect, but he does exactly the opposite: He treats him like dirt. Jesus spits on the ground and makes a placebo mudpack with his saliva; he asks the blind man to come forward, then spreads the mud on the man's eyes. [Note: As you say this, bring your volunteer into the action, dribble some water into the mud, and mix it some more. As you continue, instruct the volunteer to shut his eyes tightly. Then place the mud over his eyes, and at the appropriate moment, send him up the aisle, telling him to go wash and clean up. Blinded by the mud, the volunteer may find this difficult - which is precisely the point.] He uses wet, sticky, soft, dirty earth. He uses mud - a symbol of all that is degrading, such as when a person's name is dragged "through the mud." Jesus then commands the man to "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" resulting in the man having to stumble through the streets of Jerusalem wearing a ridiculous mask of mud. [The volunteer is exiting the worship space now.] We don't know exactly how far the man had to walk after receiving his mudpack in the eyes, but it could be quite a hike. John tells us that Jesus encounters the man after leaving the temple, but does not reveal the precise location of their meeting. If Jesus puts mud in the man's eyes right outside the temple compound, then the man had to walk at least 500 yards to the pool of Siloam - the length of five football fields! Quite a distance for a blind man to cover, groping and stumbling and trying to ignore the jeers of the crowd: "Hey, filth-face!" "He's got a mudball for an eyeball!" "What happened? Kids play mudpies on your noggin?!" "Nice look! Be glad you're blind, boy." So, it's not a pleasant walk. It's degrading, embarrassing, humiliating. But the man has been in touch with Jesus, and for some reason he believes. He believes that this teacher who calls himself "the light of the world" is somehow going to bring an end to his lifelong darkness. Besides, what has he got to lose? His pathetic progress down the rocky streets of Jerusalem would be mocked by townspeople whether he had mud on his face or not. So he goes and washes ... and comes back able to see. The dirt-and-spit poultice opens his eyes, and he proceeds to testify that it was Jesus who gave him his vision. Standing before the Pharisees, he says, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see .... He is a prophet." When they counter that Jesus is a sinner, the man says, "I don't know anything about that. The one thing I do know, however, that though I was blind, now I see." Finally, face to face with the one who healed him, the man discovers that Jesus is none other than the Son of Man. "Lord, I believe," he says, and he worships him. Does this sound crazy? Perhaps but whatever you do, don't put down the power of the "powerless" placebo. Don't assume that dirt and spit had nothing to do with the healing of the blind man or his confession of Jesus as the Christ. At the very least, it helped to focus his faith. What helps to focus your faith? Joy? Happiness? Success? One thing for sure, it's often the most unpleasant experiences of life that focuses our faith. Often it is only in painful circumstances, when we take even a small step of obedience, despite the uncertain path ahead, that we discover that Christ is alive and active and working for health and wholeness. There's nothing magical about it, but it certainly is mysterious and miraculous when it happens. In other words, the one placebo that seems to most often help us to be healed is pain itself. Yes, pain. Pain as unwanted as a mudball in the eye - physical, emotional or spiritual suffering, in ourselves and others. "I am progressing along the path of life, enjoying friends and work and holidays," writes C.S. Lewis in his book The Problem of Pain, "when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world, and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God's grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources" (C.S. Lewis, Readings for Meditation and Reflection [New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992], 71). Pain is often a placebo: a surprising bit of mud in the eye reminding us that our true good is in another world, our real treasure is in Christ, and our ultimate dependence should be on God rather than the "things" we have accumulated throughout the years. In fact, struggles in this life can take our eyes off worldly pleasures and give us a vision of the joy of God's kingdom. Financial problems can focus us on the priceless treasure of an investment with Jesus Christ. Even illness can help us to see that health is much more than freedom from disease - it is rooted instead in a life-giving and eternal relationship with God. Pain ironically is often the placebo that leads to our reconciliation with the Lord A little boy invited his mother to attend his elementary school's first teacher-parent conference. To the little boy's dismay, his mother said she would go. Although she was a beautiful woman, the boy's mother had a very ugly scar on the entire right side of her face.At the conference, the people were impressed by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother despite her scar. But the little boy was still embarrassed and hid in the shadows from his mother. He did get within earshot of his mother when someone asked, "How did you get the scar on your face?" The mother replied, "When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. As I was running toward his crib, I saw a beam coming down and place myself over him trying to shield him. I was knocked unconscious but fortunately a fireman came in a rescued both of us. This scar will be permanent but to this day, I have never regretted doing what I did." At that point, the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He hugged her and for the rest of the day, held her hand tightly in his. Surprising healing can happen when you listen for God's Word, his love when you move close enough to Jesus to find healing even in his pain. 2000 years ago, our Lord suffered the pain of the cross, stretching himself out that we might someday have life. He was wounded for our sins that we might live through him. We are his children, the ones he has saved from death. Let us rejoice and be thankful this Lent for the overwhelming sacrifice that our savior has made for us on the cross.
AMEN
