DOCSLIB.ORG

The Rev. Jesse W. Abell Lent IV (Year A) March 30, 2014 John 9:1-41

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Rev. Jesse W. Abell Lent IV (Year A) March 30, 2014 John 9:1-41 1 The Rev. Jesse W. Abell Lent IV (Year A) March 30, 2014 John 9:1-41 This month the animated movie Frozen came out on DVD. You may have heard of Frozen . It’s a Disney movie, one of those musical animated films, like Disney used to, like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, or the Lion King . It’s a good movie. It’s well done. In fact it was nominated for some Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards. Now it is only sort-of-inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s short story “The Snow Queen,” but it’s still a wonderful story. Perhaps some of you have seen it. For those who haven’t, I don’t think I’m going to ruin it for you by talking about the starting premise of the story. The story is really about the relationship between two sisters: the older sister Elsa and the younger sister Anna. As children, they are very close to each other—they are best friends really. Anna particularly enjoys Elsa’s special talents. You see Elsa has a magical ability: she can create winter weather instantaneously, snow, ice, wind. They have lots of fun together, but then one evening, while playing in snow Elsa has created, Anna has accident is hurt. They are able to fix Anna up, but Elsa will forever carry the sense of guilt and blame for Anna’s accident. She feels so responsible, so burdened, by the mishap, that she shuts herself off from the world, even from Anna. What a lonely place to be. That sense of guilt and blame can be very powerful. It can isolate us and keep us from living life to the fullest. And yet, when something goes wrong, something in our human nature demands to know what the reason is, to point the finger at who or what is to blame. It’s nothing new. It’s a predicament as old as humanity itself. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus encounters one such case. While he is walking around the city of Jerusalem, Jesus comes across a blind man. Not just any blind man, but a blind man who was born without sight. There a couple interesting things about that. For one, nowhere in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, are there any stories about prophets healing those who are blind. But, the Hebrew Scriptures, in their prophecies about the coming Messiah, foretell that the Messiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” 1 Healing the blind is a healing ministry distinct of God’s Messiah. 2 Another interesting thing to consider is that nowhere else in the gospels are told that Jesus has healed someone who was born with their disability. Jesus healed plenty of paralyzed people and restored sight those who were blind, but this is the first and only time that we’re told he healed a person born blind. Perhaps that made more of an impression on them; perhaps they thought it might be easier to heal someone who used to be able to see, than to heal someone who had never been able to see. The way the blind man is introduced so casually has many scholars thinking that this man was well-known to the community, so Jesus, his followers, and the religious leaders all know this man and his backstory. 1 Isaiah 61:1 in the Septuagint. 2 See also Isaiah 29:18, 35:4-6, 42:6-7 for prophecies about healing the blind. © 2014, the Rev. Jesse W. Abell. All rights reserved. 2 Sadly, it’s not the most shining moment for the disciples. They don’t discover the man and then rush into action to help him, bringing him to Jesus to be cured. Instead, they try to assign blame, to figure out whose fault it was that this man was born blind. “Teacher,” they say, “who sinned, this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” Since he was born blind, you might assume that it must be the parents fault. But, then again, some rabbis believed that the human soul existed even before birth and that there was a chance that the soul could have rebelled even before a person was born. And inquiring minds want to know! “So, Jesus, who’s to blame?” We can only imagine what this man’s life had been like. Perhaps he thought he was to blame for his blindness. Perhaps he lived with a sense of guilt and shame, not knowing exactly what wrong he had done but feeling burdened by it all the same. His life was one of isolation it seems. Those in the area noted that he used to just sit around and beg. Evidently he didn’t have anyone to care for him, so he had to beg on the street to get by. He was a survivor, but he survived alone, probably unwanted by most of those around him. Sin and guilt can do that to use. It can make us feel alone and shamed and burdened. I know a lot of preachers in mainline churches are shy about talking about the subject of sin. But, I’ll let you in a secret—perhaps it’s best we keep it amongst ourselves—sin is a reality in all of our lives. None of us are perfect. Only Jesus was perfect, and the rest of us have to live with being flawed and broken and just have to try our best. “Sin” is one of those words that now probably carries a lot of unhelpful connations after 2,000 years of Christianity. In Greek, it’s called hamartia. And in its original meaning, like in the Greek-speaking world of Jesus’ time, it didn’t necessarily have all of these moral overtones. In classic Greek literature, it was a hero’s “tragic flaw.” That proclivity or habit that the main character in a story has. A trait that is both their strong point and their weakness. Do you remember the ancient story of Oedipus the King ? He was that orphaned prince who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. His birth parents try to get them out of their house in an attempt to avoid the prophecy about him from coming true. But Oediupus’ tragic flaw, his hamartia, is his determination. He finds out that he is adopted and what the prophecy said his fate would be, and it is his determination to avoid that fate that drives him to runaway and to unknowingly kill his biological father and marry his biological mother. His hamartia is his downfall. The Greek term hamartia is also used in ancient gaming. Imagine yourself back at summer camp, down at the archery range. You pick up a bow and arrow, and try to shoot the bull’s eye on a target. But you miss and your arrow goes into the ground. That’s hamartia too: “missing the mark.” This hamartia , what our English Bibles call “sin”, comes in all shapes and sizes. From intentional mistakes and errors to flaws and mistakes. It’s so widespread that it is simply a part of life. Our daily lives are filled with these sorts of errors. It’s a fact of life. We know that, so did the disciples. So they ask about the blind man, “Jesus, who screwed up to make this man blind?” But, Jesus reveals the great leap in assumption that the disciples make: They assume that bad things must be someone’s fault, that someone is always to blame. Jesus says, essentially, “No one. Sometimes bad things just happen.” Then he reaches down, and like an ancient esthetician at a spa, puts a little mud on the man’s eye lids and tells him to go wash it off. Miraculously the man is healed—something that confounds the religious leaders and outrages them. © 2014, the Rev. Jesse W. Abell. All rights reserved. 3 There’s plenty of material to work with if you want to explore why the religious leaders feel so threatened by this miracle, but I want you to notice how things unfold at the very beginning: Jesus and his followers come across a commonly-known blind man. The followers want to pinpoint who is to blame, who missed the mark . But, Jesus skips right over blaming, to healing the man and making his life whole. We all are flawed. We mess up. We sin. We have to accept that. That’s why our baptismal vows say, “Whenever you sin, will you repent and return to the Lord.” NOT, “If you happen to sin…” but “Whenever” We could dwell on all those mistakes. We could live with regret. But then, like the blind man in the gospel story (or Else in Frozen ), we wouldn’t be fully living. You could hold on to those burdens. But they get heavy and they weigh you down. They keep your hands so full that you have trouble opening them to world and to those in need. That’s Jesus, in his wisdom, knows that just as much as forgiveness, we need healing from our broken. And Jesus wants to make us whole. The blind man had been blamed, he’d felt the guilt, he’d felt the isolation and the brokenness. But Jesus goes straight towards the healing and wholeness. That should be a lesson to us all. True, “sin” ( hamartia) is a fact of life.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Reverse Backstory Tool
    REVERSE BACKSTORY TOOL Filling in this Reverse Backstory Tool for your characters will help you understand the big picture: what they want and need, what motivates them, what their backstories might be. Planning out their wounds and the lies they tell themselves will also help you choose what traits might help them succeed and which will get in the way. Plotting this information in the brainstorming stage (or even as you revise, to add depth to your character) will help you determine what sensitive areas to target, creating challenges for your hero. © Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, 2013 1 http://writershelpingwriters.net PRAISE FOR THE EMOTION THESAURUS “One of the challenges a fiction writer faces, especially when prolific, is coming up with fresh ways to describe emotions. This handy compendium fills that need. It is both a reference and a brainstorming tool, and one of the resources I'll be turning to most often as I write my own books.” ~ James Scott Bell, best-selling author of Deceived and Plot & Structure PRAISE FOR THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS BOOKS “In these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized and astonishingly thorough volumes, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created an invaluable resource for writers and storytellers. Whether you are searching for new and unique ways to add and define characters, or brainstorming methods for revealing those characters without resorting to clichés, it is hard to imagine two more powerful tools for adding depth and dimension to your screenplays, novels or plays.” ~ Michael Hauge, Hollywood script consultant and story expert, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read © Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, 2013 2 http://writershelpingwriters.net.
    [Show full text]
  • Plot? What Is Structure?
    Novel Structure What is plot? What is structure? • Plot is a series of interconnected events in which every occurrence has a specific purpose. A plot is all about establishing connections, suggesting causes, and and how they relate to each other. • Structure (also known as narrative structure), is the overall design or layout of your story. Narrative Structure is about both these things: Story Plot • The content of a story • The form used to tell the story • Raw materials of dramatic action • How the story is told and in what as they might be described in order chronological order • About how, and at what stages, • About trying to determine the key the key conflicts are set up and conflicts, main characters, setting resolved and events • “How” and “when” • “Who,” “what,” and “where” Story Answers These Questions 1. Where is the story set? 2. What event starts the story? 3. Who are the main characters? 4. What conflict(s) do they face? What is at stake? 5. What happens to the characters as they face this conflict? 6. What is the outcome of this conflict? 7. What is the ultimate impact on the characters? Plot Answers These Questions 8. How and when is the major conflict in the story set up? 9. How and when are the main characters introduced? 10.How is the story moved along so that the characters must face the central conflict? 11.How and when is the major conflict set up to propel them to its conclusion? 12.How and when does the story resolve most of the major conflicts set up at the outset? Basic Linear Story: Beginning, Middle & End Ancient (335 B.C.)Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle said that every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
    [Show full text]
  • Backstory-The Gospel Told As Story
    BACKSTORY-THE GOSPEL TOLD AS STORY BACKSTORY LIFE@LARGE REVISITED Backstory is the new and revised version of Life@Large. We took all the best elements of the original version, simplified it, clarified it, and made it highly intuitive to use and wonderfuly visual to look at. The result is a very simple, very graphic, very clear presentation of the gospel message. Here is the opening premise: There are seven billion people in the world. Seven billion stories. And yet there are themes in our stories that are universal: betrayal, love, romance, redemption, sacrifice . The question is if there’s a larger story or narrative to which all our stories relate, one that makes sense of our shared experience—a common Back Story. The booklet goes on to explain the backstory which, of course, is the gospel: 1) Intimacy: God created us to know him 2) Betrayal: Humanity rebelled and sin seperated us from him 3) Anticipation: The Scriptures promise of a coming Deliverer 4) Pursuit: The coming of Christ 5) Sacrifice: Jesus’ death and resurrection 1 6) Invitation: God invites us to return to him 7) Reunion: The age to come—judgment and eternal life. As you can see, Backstory provides a broader more comprehensive BACKSTORY explanation of the gospel and thus a more compelling case for Christ. POSTCARDS FROM CORINTH ORDER ONLINE AT CRUPRESS.COM © 2010, CruPress, All Rights Reserved. CruPress.com HOW TO SHARE “BACKSTORY” 1. Read aloud the black pages, beginning with the “Does this prayer express the desire of your white text (the summary statements), followed by the heart?” If yes, ask if they’d like to pray the prayer right Bible passages.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion
    The Bulletin of the Colloquium on Violence & Religion COV&R ____________________________________________________________________________________________ No. 45 October 2014 “THE ONE BY WHOM SCANDAL HAS COME” COV&R Object: “To explore, criti- cize, and develop the mimetic model of Critically Engaging the Girardian Corpus the relationship between violence and religion in the genesis and mainte- nance of culture. The Colloquium will be concerned with questions of both research and application. Scholars from various fields and diverse theo- retical orientations will be encouraged to participate both in the conferences and the publications sponsored by the Colloquium, but the focus of activity will be the relevance of the mimetic model for the study of religion.” The Bulletin is also available online: The Gateway Arch and city of St. Louis at night http://www.uibk.ac.at/theol/cover/bulletin/ COV&R Conference: July 8-12, 2015 at Saint Louis University Contents The Colloquium on Violence & Religion invites you to par- “The One by Whom Scandal Has Come” ticipate in its 25th Annual COV&R Conference. The theme COV&R Conference 2015 1 of the conference, “The One by Whom Scandal Has Come: Announcements 2 Critically Engaging the Girardian Corpus”, offers the oppor- Program of COV&R at the AAR 2014 3 tunity to look retrospectively at the relationship between mi- Letter from the President 4 metic theory and its critics in order to discuss constructively Musings from the Executive Secretary 5 the role these critiques have played in the development of
    [Show full text]
  • Spontaneous Backstory Creation Ryan Sullivan Department Of
    Spontaneous Backstory Creation Ryan Sullivan Department of Psychology and Neuroscience University of Colorado Boulder Defense Date: April 2, 2020 Thesis Advisor: Matt Jones Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Defense Committee: Matt Jones, Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Eliana Colunga, Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Paul Gordon, Professor of Humanities Abstract The ability to spontaneously construct narrative representations of others is an example of how predictive processing models can have implications for research in social cognition. In this study, subjects were given images or brief text excerpts of various people and asked to come up with a backstory for each. Responses were analyzed for length, structure, and source material. After analysis, cartoon images were found to elicit more evaluative clauses in their responses. Also, items that included text excerpts elicited responses that were of the narrative type most frequently. Subjects used people from their own lives as well as characters from fictional works as material when crafting their stories. The results of this study have implications for the study of fiction’s impact on cognition. Also, the neuroscience of such representations and clinical applications are discussed. Introduction Imagine you’re walking down a deserted street one afternoon when you see in the distance a man walking toward you with a strange, limping gait. It looks to you like he might be injured, so you walk a bit faster toward him to help. But a thought occurs to you that causes you to slow your step. Whatever injured him could still be there. It sort of looks like he’s trying to get away.
    [Show full text]
  • Play and Games in Fiction and Theory
    Angles New Perspectives on the Anglophone World 11 | 2020 Are You Game? Play and Games in Fiction and Theory Joyce Goggin Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/angles/2561 DOI: 10.4000/angles.2561 ISSN: 2274-2042 Publisher Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur Electronic reference Joyce Goggin, « Play and Games in Fiction and Theory », Angles [Online], 11 | 2020, Online since 01 November 2020, connection on 13 November 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/angles/2561 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.2561 This text was automatically generated on 13 November 2020. Angles est mise à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Play and Games in Fiction and Theory 1 Play and Games in Fiction and Theory Joyce Goggin Introduction 1 There are many reasons to read fictional texts as a kind of play form or game. For example, popular works of fiction disseminated in various in media such as novels, TV series and films, frequently foreground their relationship to games with titles such as Game of Thrones (HBO 2011-2019), The Hunger Games (2012), or Molly’s Game (2018). But beyond a survey of titles, there are also more significant reasons for considering fiction and games together. Indeed, the history of literature is replete with examples of fictional texts structured around games, from Boccaccio’s Decameron (1353) and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1392), to the game of Ombre in Pope’s Rape of the Lock (1712), to the preponderance of texts in various forms from print or codex to digital which have been published in the 20 th and 21 st centuries, and which somehow foreground their “game-ness”.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy, Theory, Literature
    PHILOSOPHY, THEORY, LITERATURE NEW & FORTHCOMING 20% DISCOUNT on all titles STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2015 Most SUP titles are available as e-books via our website or your favorite e-reading platform. Visit www.sup.org/ebooks for a complete list of offerings, as well as e-book rental and bundle options. TABLE OF CONTENTS Philosophy and Social Theory............................ 2-9 Literature, Criticism, and Literary Theory ............. 9-16 Art and Film ............................ 17-18 Pilate and Jesus Borrowed Light GIORGIO AGAMBEN Vico, Hegel, and the Colonies TRANSLATED BY ADAM KOTSKO Ordering Information .................2 TIMOTHY BRENNAN Pontius Pilate is one of the most Examination Copy Policy .......18 A critical revaluation of the humanist enigmatic figures in Christian the- tradition, Borrowed Light makes ology. The only non-Christian to be the case that the 20th century is the named in the Nicene Creed, he is “anti-colonial century.” The sparks of ORDERING presented as a cruel colonial overseer concerted resistance to colonial oppres- in secular accounts, as a conflicted Receive a 20% discount on all titles listed sion were ignited in the gathering of in this catalog. Use the following code to judge convinced of Jesus’s innocence intellectual malcontents from all over redeem this offer on hardcover and pa- in the Gospels, and as either a pious the world in interwar Europe. Many perback editions: S15LIT. Christian or a virtual demon in of this era’s principal figures were Please order by phone or online. Call later Christian writings. This book formed by the experience of revolution 800-621-2736 or visit www.sup.org.
    [Show full text]
  • The Novel- Writing Training Plan Steps to Get Your 17 Ideas in Shape for the Marathon of Writing
    Dialogue Backstory Character Arcs Plot Conflict Story Arc Subplots World- building Narrative Arc THE NOVEL- WRITING TRAINING PLAN STEPS TO GET YOUR 17 IDEAS IN SHAPE FOR THE MARATHON OF WRITING ProBY WritingAidKATHY EDENS AND LISA LEPKI ProWITHWritingAid GUEST CHAPTER BY KATJA L KAINE ProWritingAid ProWritingAid INTRODUCTION So you are ready to write your novel. Excellent. If you write 500 words each day, in 100 days, you’ll have 50,000 words. That’s a book in about 3 months. Totally do-able. Or maybe you are planning to go full-tilt and take part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where the goal is to get your first draft done in 30 days. Go for it! Think of this book as your training regimen. Trying to run a marathon without taking the time to prepare your body would be hugely difficult. Maybe not impossible, but certainly harder than if you had spent the time getting your muscles ready. Similarly, it’s not impossible to write a book without spending some time in advance preparing your brain for the task, but thinking through some of the essential elements of your story will make the whole process easier. Give yourself a couple weeks before you start writing to think through your narrative, plan out your key plot points, flesh out your characters, and begin to build your world. This way, when you begin your writing journey, you will have a map to follow along the way. Turn the page, and let’s get started! CO NTENTS CHAPTER 1: Start with Your Original Idea 3 CHAPTER 2: How to Construct a 3D Main Character 5 CHAPTER 3: How to
    [Show full text]
  • Paying Attention to Works of Fiction As Well As Fictional Worlds
    [Expositions 11.2 (2017) 34–56] Expositions (online) ISSN: 1747–5376 Pleading the Case: Paying Attention to Works of Fiction as well as Fictional Worlds ERIK SCHMIDT Gonzaga University ABSTRACT This essay argues that philosophical literary criticism should take questions about medium, genre, and form more seriously. Section one distinguishes between works of fiction and the fictional worlds they realize. Section two explains why philosophers should pay more attention to the features of a work of fiction that enable it to realize a fictional world. Section three uses Shakespeare’s Othello to illustrate how one formal feature of a work, dramatic irony, can be philosophically important. “And we would allow her advocates who are not poets but lovers of poetry to plead her case in prose without meter, and show that she is not only delightful but beneficial to orderly government and all the life of man. And we shall listen benevolently, for it will be clear gain for us if it can be shown that she bestows not only pleasure but benefit. Plato, Republic (607d–607e) Introduction Fiction plays an important role in philosophy. To see this, we only need to think of such prominent thought experiments as John Searle’s story about an isolated person translating Chinese characters, Frank Jackson’s story about a color-blind color scientist, or Judith Jarvis Thompson’s story about awakening to find yourself surgically connected to a violinist in renal failure. These stories, and others like them, figure prominently in a wide range of philosophical efforts to develop counterexamples, illustrate complex concepts, and establish various modal claims.1 35 Schmidt Fiction also makes an appearance in philosophy in other ways.
    [Show full text]
  • Void Generalities
    The material in these pages did not fall from the sky. If you decide to share the text/images or plan to include them in your own teaching, please credit the source. Likewise, if you’d like me to come give a workshop for your chapter or group, just give a holler. Thanks. © 2012-2018 Damon Suede with Damon Suede ONCE UPON A TIME… there is no such thing as a beginning. Beginnings & Endings are artificial. AB INITIO (“from the beginning”): No story can begin because there is NO single beginning. AB OVO (“from the egg”): Stories shouldn’t start from scratch . Horace Ars Poetica…ideal epic poet "does not begin the Trojan War from the double egg" (nec gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo). The crack in the egg allows us inside…offers access to the character’s essential core. IN MEDIA RES ("into the middle of things"): All stories begin in the midst of action. exposition gradually revealed via dialogue, flashbacks, description, history. We look for cracks. Also cf. WABI-SABI in Japanese art: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect. EVERY CHARACTER IS A STICK TO CRACK THE EMOTIONAL PIÑATA OF THE READER. Swing hard! The ACTION is how readers determine what came before. (…like life ) Fiction extracts emotion… SHOWING & TELLING: show the CAUSE so they can feel the EFFECT. Two strings of the sitar. By playing upon what’s visible, vibrations reveal what is hidden. You must crack your characters open to release the energy trapped inside them. JUNGLE GYMS: We must be curious so that readers can use their imaginations properly.
    [Show full text]
  • The Social and Literary Relevance of Comic Books
    Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Filip Hatala We Live in a Society: The Social and Literary Relevance of Comic Books Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Christopher Adam Rance, M.A. 2020 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Filip Hatala I would hereby like to thank my supervisor Christopher Adam Rance, M.A. for his patience, time and helpful input. I would also like to thank my family and friends who have supported me all throughout these 5 years of my bachelor’s studies. Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 6 1 History of Superhero Comics: The Golden Age and Superman ........................................... 8 1.1 The Caped Crusader in the Night .................................................................................... 9 1.2 World War II and the Super Soldier .............................................................................. 11 1.3 Social Norms Change and a Wonder Arrives ................................................................ 13 1.4 World War II and the Great Depression Come to an End, but the Golden Age Continues. ..................................................................................................................... 15 2 The Cold War Picks up Steam, as Gold Turns to Silver ....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Digital Filmmaking Lecture 2 a Story & Dramatic Structure Story
    Digital Filmmaking Lecture 2 A Story & Dramatic Structure Story & Drama Stories portray and depict a person or persons (characters/protagonists) (fictional or real) located in a place and time who are affected by an incident that triggers a series of sequential events that lead the character to a new state of being. Keep in mind that everything we allude to in this discussion refers to archetypes of storytelling and drama not stereotypes. These may appear formulaic but actually the recognizable elements we discuss have emerged over time as patterns in storytelling. The antecedents traverse different media from early spoken word drama, writing prose to film and television. Whenever we refer to rules we actually mean precedents. In order to keep your audience engaged, I believe any story combines archetypes with innovation. If all elements in a story are easily recognizable, the story will be a cliché. If nothing is familiar to the audience, the story would be thought of as an experimental film and if that’s not the intent of the author, the audience may shut down. I believe that the storyteller uses expectation and surprise to prod and coax the viewer’s attention through the experience from beginning to end. All rules are meant to be broken but to break rules with an understanding of how they work helps produce an original outcome rather than a mere mess. Dramatic Structure A film is built like a building. The various structural story elements you will use are- •Story Events •Beats 1 •Scenes •Sequences •Acts Storytelling and Filmmaking Cinematically, the main building blocks you will work with to build a dramatic story structure are shots and sound.
    [Show full text]