Open Blind Eyes

In one paragraph

Brian walked the congregation through John 9, the healing of a man born blind, inviting people to engage out loud rather than just listen. The format was conversational throughout, with church members raising hands, taking the mic, and pushing back on the text in real time. The thread running through it all was the question of what it actually means to see, physically and spiritually. The sermon...

Read together

1. John 9:1-41 primary text read aloud and discussed throughout the entire sermon
2. Isaiah 35:5-7 quoted as prophecy of Jesus opening blind eyes, connected to water imagery in the healing story
3. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 quoted by a congregation member on spiritual blindness caused by Satan blocking sight of the gospel

Talk about it

1. The pastor said that we can read a miracle story so casually that we get inoculated by it rather than encountering the reality of Jesus. Has that ever happened to you with a familiar Bible passage, and what has helped you read it with fresh eyes?
2. When the disciples asked Jesus whose sin caused the man's blindness, Jesus said it was neither the man's sin nor his parents' sin, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. How do you personally hold the tension between God not causing suffering and God being able to work through it?
3. The man born blind kept giving the same simple answer under repeated questioning: I was blind, now I see. He did not get into theological arguments. Where in your own story is that kind of simple testimony most honest and most powerful?
4. After he was healed and cast out of the synagogue, the text says Jesus found him. Has there been a time in your life when you felt rejected or alone and experienced Jesus finding you in that place? What did that look like?
5. The pastor and several people in the room talked about spiritual blindness being the deeper condition the chapter points to, and how humbling it is to become aware of it. What helped you become aware of your own spiritual blindness, and what has changed in how you see things since?