born blind

In John 9 Jesus is asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus steps out of the theological corner into which his disciples have painted themselves and tells them, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

I’m a person who’s spiritually and emotionally blind. I’m wounded by the many blunders I’ve made: broken relationships, stupid choices, ill-conceived plans, all stemming from lack of foresight or from ignoring the data in front of me. My tendency is to either blame myself or (in the tradition of Freud) my parents. But Jesus offers me the hope that God is working through all of the mess of my life, and that he has a better design than I or my parents or anyone else around me could have imagined.

In fact, Jesus offers that hope as motivation to get out of my corner, stop licking my wounds, and move ahead with confidence that God is using me for the good of his Kingdom: “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As long as Jesus is my light, he can shine through me to bring light into this world.

Marx or Jesus

I had a social studies teacher in junior high who was a self-proclaimed card-carrying Communist. He was passionate about redistribution of wealth and redressing the wrongs that had been suffered by the common man. He was also white. I mention this because I’m guessing that he asked to be assigned to teach in my junior high, which was predominantly African-American (this was before busing) and next door to a high school that had been the scene of race riots in the years previous. I don’t remember specifically anything he taught us in the classroom, but I do remember that he took us on a field trip to the Fillmore district and then to see one of San Francisco’s housing projects (both were in African American neighborhoods) to impress on us both the beauty of African American arts and culture and to see the results of social injustice. Not exactly the planetarium or an introduction to the symphony.

Obviously my teacher was driven by a vision of the world and the sense that he could make a difference by molding young hearts and minds. His vision came from Karl Marx. He believed in the power of education and used his influence to affect classrooms full of junior highers, many of whom were living the injustices that he felt so strongly needed to be corrected.

And it makes me wonder: What gets me out of bed in the morning? How much am I trying to make a difference in this world? How much am I trying to influence others to make a difference? My vision of a better world doesn’t come from Marx, it comes from Jesus. Jesus was like my social studies teacher: driven by a vision, teaching that vision to others, convinced that his students would make a difference in the world. But instead of a vision drawn from economic theory, Jesus’ vision came from the heart of God. And so his methods came from God’s Word. And his means were and are people who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

It sounds a little weird to compare Jesus to my social studies teacher. But what I’m really doing is comparing myself to my social studies teacher. And I have to ask myself: based on the evidence of my life and of his, whose vision of the world is more compelling, that of Marx or Jesus?