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The Man Born Blind
5/16/1999

I want to begin this morning by taking a brief tour of two tragedies.

First stop - Littleton, Colorado. Who is to blame? Certainly the two teenage killers - but beyond that? Is it the parents? The man who sold them the gun? Violence in the media? Video games? Cult-like gangs? Satanic music? To be sure, there are plenty of people who are willing to assign blame to a wide range of persons and causes.

Second stop - Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kansas – Destinations for recent tornadoes.

The many testimonies of faith from people who have been devastated by these storms have amazed me. Many are giving thanks that their lives were spared. Others are hopeful and optimistic for the future even though they face total devastation - they are trustful that God's providence is still operative in their lives.

In these kind of situations, there are typical questions that people tend to ask, but amazingly, I didn't hear much of it this time: "Why?" "Why did this happen?" "Why me?" "How could this occur?" They ask these questions as if the tornadoes themselves were the willful choice of a person with personal motives for sending them. Of course, there is only one "person" who could do those things, and that is God.

When people ask "Why" when tragedies strike, it points up our inclination to assign blame where no blame may be due. We find this in the question of the disciples in our Gospel reading today. "Master, who sinned - this man or his parents - that he was born blind?" In other words, there has to be a reason. Somebody is to blame. It's somebody's fault that this man was born blind. "Jesus, tell us who it is"; they ask.

 But what was Jesus' response? He doesn't go there. Without really answering the question, he denies its legitimacy. He answers "Neither this man or his parents is responsible." In other words, "you're off base; you don't understand; you don't see the real issue here. The issue is that the works of God may be manifest in him.” By his response, Jesus unmasks this unattractive and unwholesome tendency of fallen human beings to place blame where no blame may be due.

Our tendency to place blame is not a secret or an unusual phenomenon,. We see it done all the time - sometime we actually do it ourselves. Spouses blame each other. Grown children blame their parents for their problems. Employers blame employees and vice versa. Pastors blame parishioners - parishioners blame pastors. We blame ourselves for events over which we have no control.

Father Paul Hodge recently shared a story with me about a father who blamed himself and suffered great anguish over the fact that his son was afflicted with Tourrette’s Syndrome. But the fact is - it wasn't his fault!  He didn't choose it for his son, yet he still blamed himself for it.

So how did this tendency of ours get started? Very early on. We read of it in the book of Genesis:
God: "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"
Adam : "The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate"
God : "Woman, what is this that you have done?"
Eve : "The serpent deceived me and I ate."

So you can see it all got started very early on. It wasn't me, it was the woman; it wasn't me it was the serpent; it's his fault; it's her fault... Why does it go on? Why are we so prone to apply blame? Why is it such an attractive and appealing thing for us to do? I think there are a few reasons we can identify.

First, others get to bear the burden of failure. We look better and we feel better about ourselves. "It's his fault!  I'm basically an upright and competent person. You wouldn't find me doing anything like that."

Second, the appropriate guilt, condemnation and penalties can be assigned, carried out, and paid. "Parents, it was your sin that your son was born blind. You must have done terrible things to deserve this. Look how you caused him to suffer. That will be your punishment that you will have to bear for your sins for the rest of your lives." We have become the judge, jury, sentencer, executioners all in one - it's that easy.

Thirdly, I think the world becomes more predictable, more regular and therefore (oddly enough) a more safe and comfortable place. If we say we understand all the causes that led those two teenagers in Littleton to their crime, then perhaps we can feel secure in the belief that we can prevent it from happening again. We've identified the causes - we've placed the blame. Similarly, if we blame God for sending the tornadoes, we can say to ourselves at least God has His reasons for blowing certain people in certain towns away. He does it where He wants to do it - we may not understand why, but at least we can be sure that God has some good reasons - because He's God. Therefore, we don't have to live with the uncertainty produced by the notions that maybe such natural disasters are the result of blind natural forces and God isn't really doing it at all.

But . . . could there be some benefits for opting out of the blame game, compared to the benefits we get from indulging in it? I am going to go out on a limb today and suggest that - yes - there could be a few benefits from giving it up. Number one - we could let God fulfill his role as the judge of human lives and the judge of human deeds and quit trying to take it away from him. Number two - we could focus more honestly on our own faults and failings to the betterment of our own souls because we would spend less time blaming other people. We can allow those who commit evil deeds to be responsible for those deeds without confusing ourselves and other people by coming up with ingenious ways of spreading the blame to others. We could say simple things like "maybe the two teenagers who did this are responsible - Maybe its their fault." And last, but not least, we could become more focused on providing genuine help and positive solutions for people who are afflicted and suffering. Perhaps it might just be simpler to live and to think this way.

Maybe we could say Christ took the blame. Perhaps He took all the blame that the world could give. He took it and He bore it once and for all as He bore our sin.   Certainly we must affirm that Christ bore the blame! 

For example - He glorified the Father and was blamed for being a blasphemer. He was perfectly righteous and was executed as a criminal. He fed the hungry and was blamed for agitating the people. He healed the sick and was accused of being an agent of the devil. There was plenty of blame - enough for us all - heaped upon Him once and for all. We don't need to be like those who blamed Jesus Christ. Rather, we can decide to be more like Him than those who spread the blame.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, in this world we will frequently be confronted by the evil deeds of others, by natural disasters and by unfortunate situations of all kinds. Spreading blame around is not very helpful. Let us refuse the temptation to be ignorant, naive, or vindictive in the face of evil and suffering. Rather, let us hold fast to the faith that our lives and the lives of all others are in the hands of God and that all things work together for the good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose.

Christ Is Risen!

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