Introduction
Baptism is sometimes called enlightenment. The gospel for this Sunday is the story of the man born blind healed by Christ. “I was blind, now I see,” declares the man. In baptism God opens our eyes to see the truth of who we are: God’s beloved children. As David was anointed king of Israel, in baptism God anoints our head with oil, and calls us to bear witness to the light of Christ in our daily lives.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who is present, who gives life,
who calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Amen.
If you were to keep watch over sins, O Lord, who could stand?
Yet with you is forgiveness, and so we confess.
Gracious God,
have mercy on us.
We confess that we have turned away from you,
knowingly and unknowingly.
We have wandered from your resurrection life.
We have strayed from your love for all people.
Turn us back to you, O God.
Give us new hearts and right spirits,
that we may find what is pleasing to you
and dwell in your house forever. Amen.
Receive good news: God turns to you in love.
“I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live,” says our God.
All your sin is forgiven in the name of ☩ Jesus Christ,
who is the free and abounding gift of God’s grace for you.
Amen.
Prayer of the Day
Bend your ear to our prayers, Lord Christ, and come among us. By your gracious life and death for us, bring light into the darkness of our hearts, and anoint us with your Spirit, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Jesus says, I am the light | of the world;* whoever follows me will have the | light of life. (John 8:12)
Readings and Psalm
1 Samuel 16:1-13
David is chosen and anointed
Psalm 23
You anoint my head with oil. (Ps. 23:5)
Ephesians 5:8-14
Awake from sleep, live as children of light
John 9:1-41
Baptismal image: the man born blind
First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Samuel anointed David even though he was the eighth-oldest son of Jesse and did not match his brothers in height or other physical characteristics. With the anointing came endowment with the Spirit of the Lord, designating David as the Lord’s chosen successor to Saul.
1The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
Psalm: Psalm 23
You anoint my head with oil. (Ps. 23:5)
1The Lord| is my shepherd;
I shall not | be in want.
2The
Lord makes me lie down | in green pastures
and leads me be- | side still waters.
3You
restore my |
soul, O Lord,
and guide me along right pathways | for your name’s sake.
4Though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall | fear no evil;
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they | comfort me. R
5You
prepare a table before me in the presence | of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil, and my cup is | running over.
6Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days | of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the | Lord forever. R
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
Because we now live in the divine light which is Jesus Christ, we conduct our lives in ways that reflect the light of Christ, so that our activity is truly pleasing to God.
8Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.
Live as children of light—9for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and
right and true. 10Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to
mention what such people do secretly; 13but everything exposed by the
light becomes visible, 14for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it
says,
“Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Gospel: John 9:1-41
Jesus heals a man born blind, provoking a hostile reaction that he regards as spiritual blindness to the things of God.
1As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi,
who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this
man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be
revealed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day;
night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said this, he
spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s
eyes, 7saying
to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and
washed and came back able to see. 8The neighbors and those who
had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to
sit and beg?” 9Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but
it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10But they kept asking him,
“Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man called
Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’
Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12They said to him, “Where is
he?” He said, “I do not know.”
13They
brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a sabbath day when
Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the Pharisees also began
to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my
eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others
said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were
divided. 17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about
him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18The
Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until
they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and asked them, “Is this your
son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20His parents answered, “We
know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but we do not know how it is
that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He
will speak for himself.” 22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews;
for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the
Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23Therefore his parents said,
“He is of age; ask him.”
24So
for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to
him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25He answered, “I do not know
whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I
see.” 26They
said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27He answered them, “I have
told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again?
Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28Then they reviled him,
saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29We know that God has spoken
to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30The man answered, “Here is an
astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my
eyes. 31We
know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who
worships him and obeys his will. 32Never since the world began
has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33If this man were not from
God, he could do nothing.” 34They answered him, “You were
born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
35Jesus
heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you
believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered, “And who is he,
sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37Jesus said to him, “You have
seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38He said, “Lord, I believe.”
And he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that
those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40Some of the Pharisees near
him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41Jesus said to them, “If you
were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin
remains.”
Devotional from Pastor Dave
The Gospel for today is the healing of the blind man. Jesus used spit and clay on the man’s eyes. Then told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He came back able to see much to the dismay of the religious leaders. They quizzed him on how and who healed him. Notice the way the healed man refers to Jesus.
There is growth and a progression here as he sees more and more clearly. He refers to Jesus as a man. He says “The man Jesus did this for me”. Next he calls Jesus a prophet. He says “To be able to do this he must be a Prophet”.
Then towards the end he sees Jesus as the Son of God. Finally he claims him as The Lord of Life. Notice the closer that he gets to Jesus, the more time he spends with Jesus, the clearer he sees God! That’s the way it works for us, because, you see, that’s what it means to have Christ-like eyes. When our eyes have been opened by Christ, we see with our hearts and we realize what Jesus taught long ago. That we are all in this together, that we all are persons for whom Christ came and died. When our eyes are anointed with the spirit of Christ, we see people differently. We see them as part of God’s family. We accept them and embrace them and help them and treat them with respect and love. That’s what it means to have our eyes opened by Christ. It changes the way we see ourselves and the way we see other people.
Prayers of Intercession
Turning our hearts to God who is gracious and merciful, we pray for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
God of insight, open the hearts of the church and the world to all who testify to your deeds of power. Raise up voices in your church that are often silenced or overlooked due to age, gender expression, race, or economic status. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, empower us to care for the land and all living things that dwell in it and beneath it. Provide rich soil for crops to grow. Bring rain to lands suffering drought. Protect hills and shorelines from damage caused by erosion. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, bring peace to all people and nations. Anoint leaders who seek goodness, righteousness, and truth on behalf of all. Frustrate the efforts of those who would seek to cause violence or terror. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, you care for our needs even before we ask. Come quickly to all who seek prayer this day, especially Edna Christenson, Sharon Hurajt, Gary Mead, Merle Overvig, Evan Peterson and Evie Roen. Accomplish healing through the work of doctors, nurses, physical therapists, nutritionists, and all who tend to human bodies. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, help this assembly lift up the unique gifts of each person who enters, no matter their physical capacity, cognitive ability, or sensory need. Help us to be creative and brave in making our facilities and our ministries accessible to all. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, you call out to those who are asleep and awaken them to new life with you. We give thanks for your saints. Join us together with them as your children in this world and the next. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
According to your steadfast love, O God, hear these and all our prayers as we commend them to you, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We thank you, living God, for the body and blood of your Son, which sustains us in the wilderness and the garden alike. As Christ has loved us in this feast, so send us to love Christ in our neighbors. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Blessing
Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. Holy God, speaking, spoken, and inspiring, bless you, unbind you, and send you in love and in peace. Amen.
Copyright © 2020 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Used with permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SBT003627.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Revised Common Lectionary, Copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts, admin Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.