Sermon on John 9:1-41
Pastor Jennifer Garcia
You’d think people would just let Jesus perform miracles in peace. But no, the religious leaders were nitpicking the details: Jesus shouldn’t have healed this guy on the Sabbath, so obviously he’s not from God, and the whole thing is suspect.
The religious leaders were determined to misunderstand Jesus and to oppose the Beloved Community he was expanding.
I realize they were trying to protect the people in their care in the sensitive political situation of occupation by the Roman Empire. But they were so busy trying to discredit Jesus that they didn’t appreciate the literal miracle.
They weren’t willing to tell the truth about what had happened. And so, they were missing out on the healing and restoration of the Beloved Community.
Jesus came to reconcile the world with God in a way we could grasp. We humans connect with the physical world. We connect better to God when we can see God in human form, hear Jesus’ voice, touch his hand or the hem of his clothes.
When Jesus healed the man, he mixed his saliva with the dust of the earth and smeared it on his face. It sounds a little gross, but I’m reminded of the children’s rhyme: “God made dirt, and dirt don’t hurt.”
This healing wasn’t dissimilar to God creating Adam out of the dust of the earth and blowing God’s breath into his nostrils.
Jesus was reenacting the creation of humanity, showing us we have a God who still creates and wants to be in relationship with us and the world.
And this story isn’t just a healing story; it’s a call story. After the miracle, the religious leaders were so committed to opposing Jesus that they refused to believe the healed man was who he said he was, then they interrogated his parents, then they interrogated him again, and when they didn’t like what they heard, they kicked him out.
After all this, Jesus came back to the man and had a conversation in which he revealed his identity as the Messiah. It’s similar to (though shorter than) the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well that we read last week.
Jesus was revealing his identity to surprising people, who told others about their encounters with Jesus, spreading the good news of the Beloved Community. Many people believed in Jesus because of the Samaritan woman’s testimony. The man in today’s story found a much more resistant audience. But they both told the truth about their encounters with Jesus, which is what followers of Jesus do.
The truth can be hard to hear, though, and even harder to tell.
It’s often the case for our relationship with creation.
When I was in seminary, one of my professors was a big advocate for climate justice. So, as I procrastinated on papers for her class, I found myself going down various rabbit trails online to learn more about climate change and things I could do to live a less wasteful life.
I learned about recycling and composting, found some low-waste swaps for various household items like shampoo bars and safety razors, and educated myself on how damaging the fashion industry is to the planet.
I found myself getting overwhelmed, though, when I learned about microplastics: pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters.[1]
They might be from larger pieces of plastic that have degraded into smaller pieces, or they could be from things like body washes and toothpaste that have plastic microbeads for exfoliation. They can come from our clothes when we wash fabrics like polyester.
When they wash out to our oceans, marine life can swallow them, thinkingthey’re food. Then, we eat fish that have microplastics built up in their systems. Plus, it impacts our drinking water and even the air we breathe.
In preparation for our creation care Lent and Easter, I read a book called Total Garbage: How We can Fix our Waste and Heal our World by Edward Humes, and it says,“we each consume somewhere between five grams of plastic a year, and five grams a week,” which is about a credit-card-sized amount of plastic. There’s a big difference between eating a credit card a week and a credit card a year, but neither sounds good.
There’s a lot we don’t know about the full impacts of microplastics, but I think it’s safe to say they’re not ideal.
So, when I was sitting in my little apartment, reading about things you can add to your washing machine to catch microplastics, I was hyperventilating and starting to panic.
I know it doesn’t help to hide from the truth, but there are some truths I don’t want to know.
And yet, in the chapter right before our Gospel reading today, Jesus said, “the truth will make you free.”[2]
I still find the concept of microplastics overwhelming, but I recognize that in order for there to be free and abundant life for all, we have to tell the truth about what’s going on with our planet and the impact we’re having on it.
We can’t change what we don’t know about.
When my nervous system calmed down after reading about microplastics, I decided that I wasn’t going to let the fact that I couldn’t do everything perfectly keep me from doing something. I try not to shame myself for ways I’m still growing.
Yes, I still buy salad kits that come with numerous plastic bags, but I also try to buy as many personal items as I can that have compostable packaging.
No, I haven’t bought any of those microplastic-catching devices for my washing machine, but I do try to thrift and buy clothes in natural materials when I can.
“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” is a quote attributed to Voltaire.
It’s impossible to live a perfectly eco-friendly life. We can’t let that stop us from making small, gradual changes toward simpler, more conscious lives.
The most important word in that sentence is “we.” We’re not in this alone. That’s why we’re doing this theme for Lent and Easter. We’re not just individuals. We’re part of the Body of Christ, who came to create Beloved Community and bring a more abundant life for all.
We can tell the truth:
1. The truth that plastic is an incredible material that has amazing life-giving possibilities and also takes hundreds and hundreds of years to break down and can have harmful effects on us and our environment.
2. The truth that we can’t fix our environment without massive global changes.
3. The truth that God created this world and called it very good.
4. The truth that God still loves this world.
5. The truth that God invites us to cocreate a healthier relationship with creation.
Like the Samaritan woman at the well, we can tell the truth to people who are hearing it for the first time.
Like the man who had been blind, we can tell the truth to people who are actively resistant to it.
Either way, we can follow Jesus, who came to heal, reconcile, and bring life abundant.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Do what you can to love the earth.
Tell the truth.
Build life-giving community wherever you go.
Share God’s love with the world.
[1]https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
[2] John 8:32