Great lines. John 9.

I don't know how universal this is (in America anyway), but our family accumulates lines from movies like they were photos stuffed in a box. (Does anyone do that anymore, or do we stuff them on a computer disk somewhere?) My guess is that it's common, since the American Film Institute has a top 100 movie quotes. Our family has a somewhat eclectic collection. It includes many of the famous lines, but other lines delivered with an interesting inflection or accent, or lines that fit family circumstances are more the norm. So while "Mama always said life is like ..." from Forrest Gump is the memorable quote (#40 on the list), our girls are more likely to burst out with "Run, Forrest, run." For years, a simple line from Mrs. Miniver, shaped how our three daughters addressed one another. In the movie, set during the London Blitz, the vicar delivers a stirring speech that begins, "This is the people's war!" But our girls were captivated by the son of the Minivers who is a cheery, naive, young soul who goes off to join the army to fight the Nazis. Every entrance he makes in the movie seems to start with a "Hello ..." The line our girls picked up on was "Hello, dad." said with an aristocratic, English lilt. And so it went ... younger daughter steps into the room and says to oldest sister, "Hello, dad." And oldest sister responds, "Hello, sonny."

Chapter 9 of John's gospel is filled with great takeaway lines and mini-scenes like that. I'll get to those in the next paragraph, but first a couple other thoughts. Remember that chapters are artificial divisions in these writings. Even so, this passage fits into a neat package, one story, of a length that matches other "chapters." One story in the chapter. A great story. I can imagine John really enjoying writing up this account, a smile on his face as he recalls how this blind beggar confounded the Pharisees with his plain-spoken words, and the seeing/blind contrasts and paradoxes in the rabbi's words and teaching.

First quote (John 9:9): Some people said, “This is the man!” while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” The man himself kept insisting, “I am the one!” Can you imagine the people talking amongst themselves as if the formerly blind man doesn't exist. Maybe shouting in the background in a DeNiro, Taxi Driver, voice, "You talkin' 'bout me? You talkin' 'bout me!"

Second quote (the simple report -- John 9:15b): The beggar is asked twice about his restored sight, once by the people, and once by some Pharisees. In both cases, his answer is essentially the same, and straight reporting: “He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I am able to see.” No extra words -- "it's a miracle, praise God, yippee skippee." We don't know, maybe the man's inflection or excitement said all that. Like the woman in Star Trek IV (the whale movie) who had been given a pill by Dr. McCoy, and as she's wheeled down the corridor is shouting, "The Dr. gave me a pill and I've got a new kidney." I'm sure that some times our witness needs to be this simple and matter of fact -- "I decided to follow Jesus, and now I'm able to see."

Third quote (the parents -- John 9:20,21): “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see. Ask him, he is a mature adult. He will speak for himself.” Once again, no one seems to want to pay attention to the testimony of the blind guy. Here, it's how the parents protect themselves by answering the Pharisees' questions with indisputable facts, but with no conclusions or opinions about those facts that gets to me. "Go ask him for yourself." Maybe they said this like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof in the opening scene when he introduces the song, Tradition, by talking about tradition:

For instance,
we always keep our heads covered,
and always wear a little prayer shawl.
This shows our constant devotion to God.
You may ask,
how did this tradition get started?
I'll tell you.




I don't know.

Two really great quotes (John 9:25, 27b): “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing – that although I was blind, now I can see.” and “Look!" the man exclaimed. "I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” (NLT) This is the place where I hear John chuckle thinking about those Pharisees, with all their learning and nuance and rhetorical skill, all twisted up by a simple fact, the blind man can see, and a simple conclusion, "this isn't hard to grasp, but you keep asking, so you must be really interested."

Final quote (the devastating rejoinder -- John 9:41): “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, but now because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains.” The Pharisees are ready to argue with Jesus, dispute his claim that they're blind, and he turns the tables on them. If only ...

The Grups. 1 Corinthians 4.

I know many of you won't know anything about grups (except, possibly the generational label). It's the word that popped into my mind as I read 1 Corinthians 4. For those of you too young, too old, or too smart, to have watched the original Star Trek series on television, grups is a word coined by the writer of an episode called "Miri." Grup is a contraction of grown-up. Miri is in the center of the group of boys and girls in this picture, who were a cross between the "lost boys" in Peter Pan, and "Lord of the Flies."

In the Star Trek episode, the grups are feared by the children, which makes any connection between the episode and chapter 4 of this letter, almost exclusively in the domain of my mind. And now in yours. But I like the sound of the word, and chapter 4 is about grown-ups.

Yesterday, we looked at what Paul was saying about resolving the divisions in the church at Corinth. I characterized that as "grow up!" If you had any doubt about that, today we read Paul saying, 'live like me, grown up.' And Paul decides to send Timothy who, as a faithful son, must be doing that too. "I'm sending a grup."

A couple of random thoughts on this passage. First, Paul can be a harsh disciplinarian. Verses 6-13 drip with sarcasm, and then Paul says in verse 14,"I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children." That correction is vigorous to say the least. He later asks if he should come with a whip. Somewhat related to this, we get a couple of indications that Paul's relationship with the Corinthians is a rocky one. "It's a minor matter to me if I'm judged by you..." and "Some have become arrogant, as if I was not coming to you..."

A third thought -- stewards are to be judged according to their faithfulness. We are all stewards, so adjust your thinking and actions accordingly. A final thought, what would it mean for Paul to come demonstrating the kingdom of God in power?

Oh yeah, one more thing. Punishment for the grups and anyone else who got out of line was invoked by chanting over and over again, "bonk, bonk."