A man born blind is, in the eyes of the world, a great tragedy for he has never experienced many of the beauties of the world. He has never seen a sunrise, or a sunset, nor has he seen the blue of the sky, the white of the clouds, the green of the trees or the multi-colored beauty of the flowers. When therefore, our Lord, met this man who was blind from his birth, he had great compassion upon him and reached out His all-powerful hand to heal him. This man could not see because he had been born without eyes and so his healing was beyond the skill of medicine or miracle workers. But our Lord Jesus Christ is the God and Creator of the Universe and so nothing is beyond his power. He reached down and taking the dust of the earth, from which man was created, and moistening the clay with his own spittle, He fashioned a new eye and placing this clay eye in the place of that which was missing, He sent the man to wash in the pool of Siloam. When he washed his eye, the clay fell away, but the newly created eye began to live and immediately he could see. The Creator of the Universe, in His compassion and love for a poor blind man created eyes that he might see.
This miracle, of course, is an image of our own condition. We are born blind from our birth – not blind to the world, but blind to the heavenly kingdom. Our spiritual eyes are missing and we are unable to perceive fully the beauty and power of God. We have, of course some sense of God’s existence, even some indirect experience of His presence and love – but we are unable to directly perceive Him, for in our fallen state, we lack the ability to do so. Our God in His great compassion and love for mankind provides a means by which we can by the action of His grace be reborn and acquire new eyes with which to behold the beauty of his Kingdom and new ears with which to hear His loving voice. Rather than the pool of Siloam, we are washed in the font of Holy Baptism and are born anew into the Kingdom of God.
The disciples, when our Lord encountered this blind man, asked “Who sinned this man or his parents that he should be born blind.” They hoped to find some “logic” by which to understand the misfortune and suffering of this one person. Our Lord, however, answered in a manner which prepared them to understand not the operations of this world, but rather the manner of life in the Kingdom of Heaven, replied, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” We are born spiritually blind, not in punishment for our own sins, or even in punishment for the sins of our parents and forefather, but rather we are born spiritually blind because we are born into a fallen and sinful world.
This blindness is not the punishment for any sin, but rather the natural condition and consequence of our fallen nature. And God does not reject us for this cause, but rather He uses our weakness, our imperfection, our disability, as a means by which His glory, His power, His love, His compassion, is revealed. All of our life is a means by which God’s glory can be made manifest, if indeed we allow Him to work in us.
Consider these thoughts for a moment. God works in each of us every day – for God is with us! – And these works are for our salvation. We are given our lives in this world for our salvation and in order that God’s glory may be made manifest. Having been born again through Holy Baptism into the Kingdom of Heaven, you have received a great gift from God – the gift of the Holy Spirit and of the grace of God flowing through you like living water. This being the case, you now have a responsibility to use this gift for your salvation and for the salvation of the world.
“You are the light of the world” our Lord said to His disciples. We are the light of the world because we bear within ourselves the light of Christ. His light shines in our soul and enlightens our heart and fills our life. And having this light, our Lord commands his disciples “Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” You have the light of Christ, now you must learn to let it shine before men in all that you are and all that you do.
Do men see the light of Christ in your life? Do they see in you a life of prayer, a life of holiness, a life of serving God, a life of worship, a life of God’s love and mercy and compassion towards others? What does the world see when it looks at you? Do you encourage the light of Christ in yourself by your life – do you strengthen that light by constant prayer and worship of God; do you wipe away by self-denial and fasting the dirt of sinfulness which blocks the light; do you, by repentance, remove the distortions of sin in your life; do you feed that light by works of mercy and righteousness? Or do you neglect the light of Christ in you by lack of prayer, lack of attendance at the services of the Church, by catering to own self will and passions? Do you even hide the light of Christ in yourself by avoiding any mention of Christ, by avoiding any evidence that you are not of this world but are instead born into the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you quench the light of Christ by your sins? Your whole life is given you by God to work out your salvation and to manifest His glory. If you do not live your life according to the life of the Church, then you are in an even worse state than the man born blind.
Maybe some down to earth thoughts may really tell us if we live for Christ—in your life do you have pride, self-will, anger; do you drink alcohol more than you should, smoke (either tobacco or other things) thus destroying your body, where He should be residing; do you talk appropriately, like with no profanity or lies; do you overeat just because you can or when you are with others; do you pray before meals or activities, or not, due to being around non-Orthodox, you call friends? Another words, is your life, the Light of Jesus showing through or are you blinded by living in this fallen world, just because…..!
Who is to be more pitied than the man born blind? It is the man who having once had his sight and who having seen the beauty of God’s creation has lost his sight. The man born blind does not know what he cannot see and therefore knows that something is missing but does not mourn what he has never had. The man who could once see not only is deprived of the joy of his sight, but also mourns that which he has lost. What a great tragedy it is for a man who has once been enlightened by the light of Christ to lose that light. Such is the man who has been enlightened by Holy Baptism, but then neglects that great gift of God. He allows the grace of God to die out by neglecting to pray, by neglecting the feasts of the Church, by neglecting the law of God by which we live our lives in Christ. That light is choked out when we do not attend the services of the Church, when we do not keep the fasts, when we fill our lives with secular priorities, impressions, tasks and entertainments and leave out anything spiritual.
You have been given the light of Christ, and in order to maintain this light and life in yourself, you must first pray – pray every day privately speaking your heart to God both with the prayers of the saints and the prayers that arise in your own heart. Second you must also read the Gospel a little every day. Also read spiritual books and articles and contemplate the life of Christ. Read the lives of the saints, the letters sermons and writings of the fathers and mothers of the Church. Contemplate what you have read and let it sink into your heart. Third you must attend and participate in the services of the Church. Coming to the Church is not optional, something you do if you have time, or something you do only on special occasions – but rather to be in the Church as often as possible, feeding on the hymns, the readings, the lessons, the icons, the prayers, and joining your own prayers to the prayers of others as an expression of our unity and oneness in Christ. Also you must receive the sacraments as frequently as you are able – never negligently, but with full preparation and prayer – for it is by the sacraments that we most abundantly receive the grace of God. Order your life according to the rhythm of the feasts and fasts of the Church, celebrating the memory of the saints and the Holy Days.
Fourth you must also let your light shine in works of righteousness and mercy to the world. Acts of charity and giving to the poor are powerful means by which we are touched by God. But this is not all. We must order our lives to live according to the morality and holiness taught to us in the law of God. In our lives we must avoid sin and fight fully against the temptations to sin that assail us both within and without. By our lives, it must be obvious to all, that we belong to Christ and that we love Him and His Church above all else.
These things we must do, or we will lose the light that we are given. These things are not arbitrary rules which we follow because it is “nice” or “good” but rather we do these things because they are the necessity of our life in Christ. They are as necessary to our spiritual life and health and salvation as is breathing, eating healthy and drinking water, are necessary to our worldly life. If you neglect to breath, you will suffocate, if you neglect to eat or drink you will starve – so also if you neglect to pray, if you neglect the Gospel, if you neglect the life of the Church, if you neglect the righteous and holy life; you will die and the light and life which was given to you by Christ will be lost and you will lose the Kingdom of Heaven.
My brothers and sisters, we have been given this great gift by God, let us not neglect it, but rather let us nurture the grace of God in ourselves and in those around us that we might not be shut out of the Kingdom of God but that rather the light of Christ may shine in us and we may enter rejoicing into the presence of God and live forever in His Kingdom.
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