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as this. The reality of being a Christian is that it is not easy. In Ephesians, we were told to
“live as children of the light- for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right
and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfaithful works
of darkness, but instead expose them.” Please do not misinterpret me on this point: I am
NOT suggesting that we equate Israel with works of darkness. There is certainly more
than enough injustice, cruelty, and violence on all sides. What I am suggesting is that a
new outlook on this situation is appropriate. Unquestioning support of anything in this
world is dangerous. In even discussing this issue, I am sure that I have offended some of
you. But we have been challenged to root out injustice where we see it and to expose it to
the light. We must not simply see things as we want to see them (as comfortable as that
sometimes may be); we must constantly question why we see things the way we do.
We must ask of ourselves and of those institutions of this world, “Do I see this way or
that because this is the way it has always been done, and I don’t want to rock the boat?”
Or do we sometimes find that we have, indeed, been blinded by our circumstance or
cultural context and try to regain our sight by looking at things anew?
To return again to the drama of the passage from John, we see that many of the
characters, both the disciples and the Pharisees alike, either could not or would not
question or challenge the institutions of their time. To do so would open them up to
public criticism or even isolation. None of us are beyond these fears as well. If we had to
choose our part in this drama, we might like to equate ourselves with the one who was
blind and now can see. Therein lies the ultimate danger. To quote Fred Craddock, “there
seems also to be a warning to his disciples in the words to the Pharisees: ‘if you were
blind you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘we see,’ your guilt remains.’
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