Fourth Sunday in Lent C.  March 18, 2007.   Our Lady of Grace 7:30, 11:30, 6PM.  1 Samuel 16: 1b. 6-7, 10-13a.  Ephesians 5: 8-14.  John 9: 1-41.

Wherever I am in my apartment at the Rectory my dog always lays down so that she can stare at me.  Often she rests her head on her paws as if she were sleeping…but with her eyes wide open she watches me.  It is obvious that my dog likes me a lot.  If I were only half as good as my dog thinks that I am I would be very good indeed.  I have watched parents stare at their sleeping baby in the crib.  If most of us were only half as good as our mother and father think we are we would be very good indeed.  When God looks at us God seems what no one else can see.  God sees that we were given vast potential as we come forth from the hand of God.  God sees that we are made in the image of the God who created the universe.  God sees that we are his children and that we were created to live forever. If we were half as good as God created us to be we would be very good indeed.

Too often we focus our attention only on our weakness and our sins.  Even when we are acting big and important, it may be our way of covering up our sense of insecurity, shame and powerlessness. I propose that the biggest barrier to success in life is our weak or negative image of ourselves.  Yes, we are sinners and we often make bad decisions.  On the other hand, in God’s eyes each of us has infinite value.  We were created to be saints and we were made for heaven.  As Jesus hung on the cross he saw not the sins of the world as much as the value that every one of us has in the eyes of God.   Jesus died for us because God loves us and believes in us.  If we didn’t have limitless value in the eyes of God the death of Jesus on the cross would be pure foolishness.   When we see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus as he hung on the cross, then we begin to understand our true value and worth in God’s eyes.

After the man who was born blind was healed of his physical blindness Jesus went looking for him.  Jesus asked him,    “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  The man-born-blind had obviously met Jesus before he was healed, but he couldn’t see Jesus then so he didn’t recognize him.  The man answered, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”   Jesus said, “You see him now.”  “He is the one speaking to you now.”   The man said, “I do believe, Lord.” And he worshipped him.   He no longer calls Jesus “sir”.  Jesus is now the Lord of his life.  Not only are his eyes healed, but his whole life is changed as he worships Jesus.  Now that he has seen Jesus and believed in Jesus he will see everything, including himself through the eyes of Jesus.

The yard next to the church if filled with oak trees.  Every fall the ground and the sidewalk are covered with acorns.  It is possible to look at an acorn in many ways.  For some acorns are a nuisance that has to be cleaned up as they crunch under foot.  For the squirrels acorns are the food for the winter that they hurry around gathering into hiding places.  For those who are wise and willing to look into the future, an acorn contains a mighty oak tree.  An acorn is more than a nuisance or a bite sized morsel of food on a cold day.  For those who see as God sees and believe in what God has created, a tiny acorn contains a mighty tree.  When we see an acorn for what it really is, we are able to plant it and discover the power of God hidden inside of it.

When you look in a mirror, what do you see?  Do you see a pretty face?  Do you see crooked teeth or wrinkled cheeks?   Do you see someone you like or someone that you are trying to hide?  If we look into the eyes of Jesus on the cross and see our image reflected there, what do we see?

Do we see in Christ’s eyes the reflection of our image as beloved children of God?

Do we see in Christ’s eyes the gifts, talents and opportunities that are ours, free of charge, as children of God?

Do we see God's mysterious, sure and positive plan for our lives?

David was a teenager and a shepherd.  He was the youngest of the children of Jesse.  When the Prophet Samuel came looking for the new King of Israel among the eight sons of Jesse, Samuel thought that God has chosen the oldest son.  Choosing the oldest son was the custom; besides the oldest son looked like a king.  David wasn’t even invited to the feast; he wasn’t that important. He wasn’t the stuff that kings are made out of.  When the teenager David was called in from the fields to join sacrificial banquet, God said to Samuel “There he is.  Anoint him, for he is to be king.”    “Samuel anointed David in the presence of his brothers and from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed on David.”    David became the greatest of the kings of Israel and the great grandfather of the Messiah because of who he was in the eyes of God.

God heals our blindness during Lent so that we might truly see Jesus and in seeing Jesus accurately see ourselves as we are in the eyes of God.   God’s love for us, God’s plan for us, and God’s mighty and merciful love for us are more than we could ever hope for or imagine.  A whole new way of life begins when we see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus.   Believing in Jesus is only the beginning.  Seeing ourselves through his eyes makes all things new. We thank God for new eyes that see what only God can see.