Blindness: 1 John 2:7-11

1 John 2:7-11 (NRSV)

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

Some of the most painful disagreements we will have in our lives are those with other church members. The hurt can be so much more acute because, I think, our expectations are that much higher.

And yet, surprisingly, (or not), those disagreements are common. Very common. 

Hurt is hurt, and when coupled with high expectation, a broken church relationship can seem impossible to overcome without intervention.

We have lots of guidance from scripture: teachings on forgiveness, and verses like this from I John that chastise us when we forget who we are and when we fail to love our sister or brother in Christ.

But words only get us so far.

Rightly, here John likens that sense of broken relationship to darkness leading to blindness. When we are angry with another, we cease to fully see them for who they truly are. We become blind to the Christ in them.

And what do we do then?

When blindness strikes it is always helpful for a guide. Someone or something to lead us. That may be another person: a mediator perhaps. 

Or it may be education. Someone to teach us how to forgive if that's a skill we haven't mastered yet. At St. Paul's in Lent, we will be spending the entire season looking at forgiveness.

Because quite honestly few are expert at it!

Blindness need not be permanent. Seeing the other for who they are - both flaws and graces - first takes acknowledgment that we need to do so. 

And then it takes practice. It takes walking side by side with others on that journey.

And it takes faith.

We are not alone on this journey. And when the division strikes the heart of the community, we have others to whom we can turn for healing.

But first we must open our eyes and see!

Lord, teach me to forgive. Help me to reconcile those relationships in my life where hurt has taken root and has caused me not to see the other in their entirety. Amen.