Rev. Doug Floyd

Lent 4 2026
Rev. Doug Floyd
1 Samuel 16:1-13, Ephesians 5:1-14, John 9

If the doors of the perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chambers of his cavern . . . Unless the eye catches fire then God will not be seen. – William Blake[1]

Today we’re considering eyes that are blind and eyes that see.

The blind man can see. Jesus covers his eyes in mud, and his eyes are opened. Scales fall from the Apostle Paul’s eyes, and he can finally see. John Newton writes, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

Samuel goes to Bethlehem to anoint the future king of Israel, but Jesse cannot see. He presents his older, stronger and fiercer sons to Samuel who replies, “The Lord has not chosen these.” “Are all your sons here?”

Jesse gives an excuse for not presenting David. “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel replies, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”

Now the Lord speaks, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.

At times, we are blind. We fail to see the glory that envelopes us. We cannot see the holiness of others. Consider Bob Dylan in his song “Idiot Wind,” he begins with such vehemence of his ex-love that it shocks the listener,

“You’re an idiot, babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe”

As the song progresses, he begins to acknowledge his own failure. He could not see her and she could not see him. He sings, “I’ll never know …your holiness or your kind of love.”

Then he confesses that they are both idiots. They are blind to the glory of the other.

“Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats
Blowing through the letters that we wrote
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves
We’re idiots, babe
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves”

We as humans often fail to see the beauty, the glory, and even the holiness of those around us.

In our Gospel story, the blind man can now see, but the Pharisees cannot see the blind man. They revile him. They cast him out. Even his parents are afraid of the miracle. They don’t want to offend the Pharisees. Here is a perfect picture of the “blind leading the blind.”

The man who has just received his sight, sees Jesus. “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. And he worshipped him.

Come Lord Jesus and heal our eyes that we may see, heal our ears that we may hear, and heal our voices that we may sing out in praise.

Now let’s think about the blind man before he encounters Jesus. He would have existed at the margins of society. It would be common to pass judgment on blind people. F. Graber writes, “The benediction on seeing a blind man was “Blessed be the truthful Judge,” which implies that the blindness was a just judgment by God either on the man’s own sins, or on those of his parents working themselves out in their children.”[2] Even the disciples assume the blind man in our story is suffering as a result of sin.

The blind are forced to sit at the edge of town and beg. They are totally dependent on the kindness of strangers. The shame and marginalization of people who were blind or crippled or leprous would be painful. When Jesus comes, he welcomes them to the kingdom of God that is unfolding.

And yet that dependence of the outcasts reveals something very true about our human condition. We are created by an Almighty Creator. This simple truth is the source of so many human problems, so much human sin. We are created and we are not the Creator. This means we are completely dependent.

As created beings, we have are blessed with all sorts of gifts and freedoms, but we are not independent. There is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. We are dependent upon the Creator who provides for us in the midst of the creation.

Because God gives us gifts through His creation, humans are tempted to turn from God to the creation, assuming the gift came from the creation. The Pharisees tended to substitute the law or Torah for dependence on the Creator. It is true the ancient Israel turned away from the law and became idolators. But actually, they were turning away from the Creator to created things. After the exile, the scribes and eventually the Pharisees sought to teach people the law, so they would never go into exile again.

But it is the God behind the law whom we serve. Without reliance on Him, their devotion became empty, white-washed tombs.

Jesus Christ heals the blind man. Opens the eyes of Paul. And has called you to Himself. In and through Christ, we are restored to communion with the Father above. We are adopted into the family of God, and He is truly our Father.

In our second lesson today from Ephesians 5, Paul calls us beloved children and children of light. When Paul preaches in Athens, he reminds them of our dependence on God. He says,

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’” (Acts 17:24–28, ESV)

“In Him we live and move and have our being.”

Most of the time we may live unaware of how truly dependent we are on our good and gracious Father in Heaven. We need our eyes opened to the light of His glory.

As Paul reminded us this morning,

““Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.””
(Ephesians 5:14, ESV)

There is much to meditate upon in this revelation. As part of our Lenten journey, let us awaken to the light of His glory. Here are a few ways we might begin to practice little habits of awaking.

One, we might practice looking to God for everything even the mundane. Two, we might learn to give thanks in all things. Three, our obedience faith then grows out of our childlike dependence upon the Father in Heaven.

Think of a child with a parent. The child trusts the parent for everything: food, protection, comfort, and more.

It is not selfish to look to the Father as our great provider in all things. Instead of fretting over higher prices, we ask the Father to provide. We ask for healing for ourselves and others. We ask for comfort. We are not looking to God as a Santa Claus but as a Heavenly Father who fills our life with good things. It is not wrong to cast all our cares on Him. It trains us to see that He is providing all the time.

There is a great moment in the film “Big George Foreman.” He has achieved great success, and his family has come over for dinner. The mom says that they should give thanks to God. George Foreman responds, “God didn’t provide this food, George Foreman did.” He would be broken before he realized that all good gifts come from the Father above.

This leads us to a second habit of children. Thanksgiving. Sometimes children have to learn this lesson, but hopefully it becomes as natural as breathing. My parents overwhelmed us with good gifts. They also taught us gratitude and generosity. I hope and pray we children live up to their model.

I put a quote from Bishop Richard Harries in the bulletin this morning, he writes,

“We must remember God at all times, in all places, in every occupation. If you are making something, you must call to mind the creator of all things; if you behold the light, do not forget him who gave it to you; if you see the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, glorify and marvel at their maker. When you put on your clothes, recall whose gift they are, and give thanks to him who in his providence takes thought for your life. In short, make every action an occasion for ascribing glory to God, and see you will be praying without ceasing and in this way your souls will be always filled with rejoicing.”[3]

I heard Rowan Williams suggest that gratitude is the response to a surprise blessing. Life is filled with surprises from the Father above. What if we could be surprised by good food, good friends, loving family and friends? Everything culminates in doxology, in song. When we finally have eyes to see, we realize how God has overwhelmed us with His goodness. All we can do is give thanks, is to rejoice, is to worship.

Our Father in heaven is our true provider. As we read in James,

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17, ESV)

The Lord blesses us with the air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear. He blesses us through the hands of other people. We depend on the people every day. And yet, He is always the true provider. In our Gospel story today, the blind man acknowledges Jesus as His provider and worships him.

Our daily meals are a perfect time to acknowledge our dependence on God and others. We offer thanks. What if we sit down to eat, we got in the habit of offering thanks for the food, the plates, the chairs, the table, the silverware, and more. It might seem ridiculous, but it also might remind on how much we rely on others to live. We don’t make our own clothes. We didn’t make our cellphones. In fact, we didn’t transport them from their point of origin to the store where we purchase these items. We rely of cargo ships, truck drivers, grocery stores, online stores, programmers, and all sorts of other people. Just an average meal, could entail the work of hundreds if not thousands of people.

Children also learn to obey their parents. Our obedience is an overflow of doxology. We rejoice in our good and gracious Lord and want to express our love by serving and loving others.

Lord open our eyes to your love, your glory, your rich blessings that surround us even now. May we lead the choir of creation in praise of your Oh Lord.

[1] William Blake, ‘A Memorable Fancy’, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1790–3. David Adam, Occasions for Alleluia (London, United Kingdom: SPCK Publishing, 2012).

[2] F. Graber, “Blind,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Lothar Coenen, Erich Beyreuther, and Hans Bietenhard (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 219.

[3] (Quoted in Richard Harries, Praying Around the Clock, Mowbray, 1983, p. x). David Adam, Occasions for Alleluia (London, United Kingdom: SPCK Publishing, 2012).