FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT — A
1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
There was a psychological experiment where participants were told to watch a video of people passing around basketballs. The researchers asked those watching to count how many times people in the white shirts passed the basketball to one another. In the middle of the video, a person in a gorilla suit walked through the circle, beat on his chest and then marched out. The researchers first asked how many times the ball was passed. Then they asked how many people saw the gorilla. In this experiment, 50% of the participants failed to see the gorilla! We don’t think that we fail to notice things. After all, if we fail to notice something we go about our day without noticing that we didn’t notice something. This experiment shows that sometimes, we literally don’t see things that are right in front of us. The fact of selective vision has serious implications for the Pharisees in today’s gospel. Jesus says, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” The Pharisees were so busy counting the number of the commandments that they didn’t see the new thing that broke into their circle with the coming of Jesus.
Jesus wants us to pay attention and see what is really going on. The wisdom of the Bible is captured in one of the classic statements of American theater. The phrase “attention must be paid” is a famous line from the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. It is spoken by the wife of the main character, Willy Loman, who is a struggling salesman. The line expresses his wife’s desire to affirm the dignity and worth of her husband, despite his flaws and failures. The phrase also implies a moral obligation to pay attention to the conditions and needs of others, as well as oneself. If you are not paying attention, if you are not seeing the gorilla, you can miss what God is doing in us and with us.
Look at the blind spots that occur in the Bible. What the people of Nazareth saw in Mary was a pregnant, unwed teenager. They were blind to her complete willingness to do the will of God no matter the cost. What the Pharisees saw in Jesus’ healing of the man born blind was the violation of laws, a lack of obedience to tradition, a lack of respect for Sabbath rest. They were blind to the fact that every day is a good day to show compassion, to bring comfort to someone who is hurting. What the crowds saw when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes was divine power capable of confronting the occupying force of the Roman empire. They were blind to the true meaning behind the loaves which was only fully expressed when Jesus gave us himself in the Eucharist. What the disciples saw during the crucifixion was the defeat of goodness, the dashing of their hopes and dreams that Jesus had produced. They were blind to the deeper reality that surrendering himself to the will of God Jesus broke the power of sin and death and made all things new. To know what’s really going on one must look beneath the surface of things. Attention must be paid.
All of which helps us in our Lenten practice. We are called to remove our blind spots and see things as God does, to “live as children of the light,” as St. Paul puts it. Think of the three traditional Lenten practices of prayers, fasting and almsgiving as ways of recovering our sight. When we pray, we see that God is God and we are not. In prayer we find that our plans, our desires, our preferences must surrender to the will of God. In prayer we stop looking in the mirror in order to see God’s glory. When we fast, we see that we don’t need to satisfy ourselves. Ordinarily we imagine that I have to look out for number one, that I have to do the things that make me happy. By fasting we see that God generously gives us happiness unasked and unearned. In giving alms we see that we are connected to one another. There isn’t anyone out there that isn’t brother or sister to me. In giving alms I learn to see others, particularly those who are hurting, as they truly are, precious in sight of God.
Everyone driving a car must be aware of their blind spot. Despite all the windows and mirrors there is still an area where you can’t see the car next to you. Only by being attentive to that blind spot can you drive safely. We have blind spots throughout our lives. We can be blind to the blessings that God is bestowing on us at every moment of our lives. We can be blind to the hand of God at work even in the midst of a world full of hatred and cruelty. We can be blind to the connection that we have with every person, and yes, even earth itself, that makes a demand on us. Jesus came that we might get that laser surgery to remove the cataracts of fear and doubt which cloud our ability to see that God is with us. Attention must be paid!
