In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     Perhaps you heard that the so-called "BTK" serial killer, arrested last week in Wichita, is a Lutheran. At least, the man suspected of being this killer was arrested. The BTK stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill", and this man has been at large since he began his murderous rampage in the early 1970's. In an article in the Gazette on Monday, it was pointed out that this was about the same time that the man joined Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita. In the article, a number of Christ Lutheran's members were interviewed, together with some of his neighbors. And while the neighbor's attitudes toward this man were mixed, the church members were simply shocked. No one could imagine this fellow church member doing such a thing. He worked with the Boy Scouts--he served on the church council--he'd just been elected council president! Church members said they couldn't believe it--you sit next to a man at church, it's just hard to believe that he could be a serial killer. One church member interviewed on television said, "We don't believe he did it."

     It is strange, is it not, that we Lutherans, we Christians, find it so hard to see and acknowledge and admit, evil in our midst? As I've kind of been living with our Gospel text for this morning, all week long, it's come back to me again and again, how often we choose to be blind! Not that the good folks at Christ Lutheran in Wichita should have known that this man was a killer--it's just that we often come to church with blinders on. Partly because we don't really want to know our fellow church-members that well, partly because we don't want others to know US that well! So, we come to church rather anonymously. Oh, folks may know who we are, but we don't often reveal much to one another at church. And that's just fine with most of us. But then, we're shocked when we find out--there are "sinners" among us! God forbid! And we thought we were all upright, righteous folk here at Saint Luke's. Who knew--there were sinners among us? Well, we should all know, that there are sinners here. We should all know that WE are sinners. And don't try to give me that line of reasoning--"well, yes, we might sin in small little insignificant ways--but we're not serial killers!" No--not so far as we know--yet. But the point is--we, in the Church, in particular, ought to be more "aware" than that. We might well be shocked to find out there is a serial killer among us--but we ought not be surprised at sinfulness, and yes, downright evil among us. We ought not be surprised, because we Christians, at least, have had our eyes opened. We are not to be blind, to human sin, and disobedience and evil. We are not to be blind to the sin and evil of those around us, and not blind to our own sin and evil-doing. That's exactly what Jesus is telling us in our gospel lesson today.

     The encounter we hear about in St. John's gospel today, brings up very pointedly, how some folks think they can see, while they are blind, while those who are considered blind, may have the greater insight. The contrast that is presented here is between a man born blind, who is given sight by Jesus, and religious leaders who think of themselves as all-seeing, all-knowing, but who are in fact, blind to their own sin and disobedience. The Pharisees believed, as did most in the ancient world, that physical blindness or deformity of any kind, was the direct consequence of sin--your own or your parents. Consequently, the Pharisees, to be Pharisees, had to be, what they considered, physically whole and able-bodied. This was proof that they were in good standing with God--no physical defects. When they saw a man, like the man born blind in our lesson, they thought, without a doubt, that God had cursed this man with blindness, as a judgement upon his own, or his parent's sin. As they focused on other's outward abilities and disabilities, however, they became so pre-occupied, that they neglected their own standing before God. The Pharisees were all about pointing out other's sins and disobedience and shortcomings--so much so that they were blind to their own situation before God. And why should they attend to their own relationship with God? Obviously, they were righteous--they thought they were keeping the law and commandments of God perfectly--that's why they were healthy and whole--that's why they were leaders of Judaism. God wouldn't have put them in leadership positions, if they were sinners, or in some way deficient. So, they turned a blind eye to themselves, and concerned themselves with others--in particular, with Jesus, who seemed to make light of accepted conventional wisdom. Like, for example, the way that Jesus supposedly healed the blind man! The Pharisees saw this as an affront to God. If, as they believed, God had caused this man to be born blind as a judgement upon sin, who was this Jesus, to give the man his sight--and on the Sabbath, nonetheless! The Pharisees saw Jesus as arrogant, and a blasphemer who had no respect for God's justice. Jesus saw the Pharisees as the blind, leading the blind. The Pharisees saw Jesus as a troublemaker, who set people free from divine punishment, as if he were God, in the flesh. Jesus saw the Pharisees as blind to their own sin and self-righteousness, and blind to God's mercy and forgiveness. So, in this encounter, Jesus and the Pharisees are confronting one another. The Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus and to trip Jesus, so that they could do away with Him once and for all. Jesus is trying to get the Pharisees to take off their blinders, to look honestly at themselves--to finally, see themselves as the sinners they are--so that, they might then return to the Lord

     God, humbly repentant, confessing their sins, to receive forgiveness and truly, enlightenment. This, really, is what Jesus offered the man born blind, AND the Pharisees--not so much physical sight, but enlightenment. Not so much the ability to see, as the ability to see truthfully. What Jesus offered, the man born blind, and the Pharisees, and us--is insight--spiritual insight, that allows us to look at ourselves, and our neighbor and God, honestly. Because it is then, and then only, that our lives are restored and our relationships are renewed. So, what is this spiritual insight that Jesus is offering? What is it that we are supposed to "see"?

     Above everything else, we are to see that Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus said to the man who was being healed, "As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." We live in a world where there are all kinds of light sources--most of which are artificial and unreliable and distort reality. But to see honestly and clearly, we need to see everything in the Light of Christ. We need to be willing to see everything, not from our own perspective, but from the perspective of Christ Jesus, the Light of the world. Which means, ultimately, that we will have to stand before God, naked, our deeds exposed by the Light of Christ, who never allows us to hide ourselves, who never allows us to keep some of our sins tucked away in the shadows, who never allows us to keep our dirty little secrets packed away in some dark recess of our soul. No, the Light of Christ has come into the world to enlighten the world, and to illuminate us--to bring all of our sins and disobedience, out into the light of day, so that we will, first, be humbled by it; so that we will second, acknowledge and confess it, and so that third, and finally, we will be forgiven for it, so that, forgiven, freed, we can walk as children of the Light and of the day--not as children of darkness and night. St. Paul in our second lesson exhorts us, saying, "For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of the Light--for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.and, St. Paul says, "try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead, expose them." Earlier in this chapter, Paul describes these works, urging Christians to refrain from fornication and all impurity--from filthiness and unfitting speech, from bitterness and wrath and anger and slander and clamor. For it is a shame even to speak of these things that are done in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light, St. Paul writes, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it is said, 'Awake, o sleeper and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light."

     St. Paul knew full well, that it is a constant struggle in life, for us to walk as children of the Light, taking no part in the works of darkness. And that is why he issues a call to us--to those of us who walk with blinders on--to those of us who may be walking in a shadowy half-light. St. Paul says, "Awake, O sleeper--awake and look around you--see that you are in a living death--see that you are on a pathway that will only lead to death and self-destruction. So, wake up, and Christ shall give you light!" Wake up, and Christ will lead you to walk in love! Wake up and Christ will lead you to be imitators of God--wake up and Christ will fill you with the Spirit, so that you will always and in everything, give thanks, singing and making melody with all your heart, St. Paul writes. Wake up, and Christ will give you light, just as He gave light and sight, to the man born blind. Just as He desires to give light and sight, to all who walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Throughout this Lenten season, we hear again and again--now is the acceptable time--now is the day of salvation! So, awake, O sleeper, and Christ will give you light!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.