The Blind Servant

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the ancient world, and even into the middle ages, to be blind left open a peculiar set of employment options. Two jobs often reserved for blind men were poet and prophet/priest. In many cults of the past, the prophet or priest or seer was often blind. It was thought that a blind prophet had his power to see the physical world replaced with an ability to foresee the future, or to see the will of the gods.

The blind poet is a stock figure in history. Legend has it that the great Greek poet Homer was blind, as well as John Milton, James Joyce, and several other significant writers throughout history. Church history even has its own blind bard, if you will – the fourth-century Alexandrian theologian Didymus the Blind, known for his incredible memory and stirring theological insights. The archetype of the blind poet assumes that because one has been deprived of the physical sense of sight, the eye of the mind is opened to other ways of thinking and processing, and thus new forms of creativity.

Today's Old Testament lesson speaks of the blind and deaf servant of the Lord. The Lord says: “Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear.”

Hear, you deaf! Look, you blind, that you may see! The Lord calls to His people this way, acknowledging your sinful condition. For indeed you are deaf and blind. This is the consequence of idolatry, the consequence of chasing after not-gods.

The dead are deaf to all calling, to all supplications, to all pleas for help. This is why we do not pray to the dead. The dead are buried and gone from our realm. The blessed dead who die in the Lord are beyond the pale of this world and the problems of its citizens. And the heathen dead are already judged for their unbelief and are beyond the cries of this world, their ears filled only with the sounds of their own torment.

Even the walking dead of this world are deaf also. Those who remain dead in their sins and trespasses are insensitive to the calls of the faithful, to the appeals to faith, to the cries of moralistic browbeating. They are dead, beyond all hearing.

The walking dead of this world are beyond hearing the call to faith, except that the Holy Spirit first make them alive. But they are not deaf to the hissing of the serpent. The ungodly hear the accusation of the Law, and they fear its strict judgment. The Law says “Do this, and live; disobey, and die.” Those who are dead in sin are just that – dead. They have no power to keep the Law, and they know it. And so they despair. Their frightened, terrified consciences know the judgment for sin, but they have no power to do the Law. Therefore, they are driven to despair, or else driven to anger and malice against God. The natural man becomes an enemy of God, precisely because he feels and knows God's righteous condemnation against him. He rebels against God because of this judgment.

And the walking dead of this world are also blind to the things of God. Their dead, cold eyes fail to see the workings of the hand of God in their lives. That they have body and soul, eyes, ears, and all their members, and all that they need, is a mysterious working to them.

C.S. Lewis wrote a fictional account where he imagined that the difference between heaven and hell is that everything in hell would be cold and dreary and gray, and there would be no music or laughter or bright colors. On the other hand, those in heaven would be dazzled with the radiance of a seemingly infinite spectrum of colors, the wonder of the music of the universe, and all the sensations one could possibly handle.

The ungodly are dead and impervious to a world of pleasure and joy that are available to the people of God, simply by virtue of being in communion with God and free to enjoy His creation without terror of judgment. They are deaf to the beauty of the Word of God and the joyous message of the Gospel. They are blind to the vision of the heavenly host gathered in the midst of the Church, worshiping with the saints on earth.

Even the baptized children of God have the innate human tendency to become blind and deaf to their own sins. You become desensitized to the scandal of immorality, and you turn a blind eye toward the deeds of darkness perpetrated in this world. You cover your ears when the Lord's Name is taken in vain. You look the other way when you ought to look to the honor of your father and your mother, to the good of your neighbor, to the well-being of your brother. You are deaf to the calls of the widows and orphans for mercy. You are blind to the poor and needy in the highways and byways, those who need your charity and generosity. You are deaf to the preaching of the Word of the Lord, even though it is preached in free course in this age like never before in the history of salvation.

But there is another who is deaf and blind in another way entirely. He is the servant of the Lord. “Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send?” declares the Lord. This is a fitting description of the pastor of a Christian congregation, the holder of the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The pastor of the Lord's congregation is blind. He is blind to the flaws and failings and sins of his people. He is blind to the wandering and swerving and meandering of the sheep set before him. He does not see those who wag their tongues at him, those who turn their faces away to face the world's glare. He does not see the emptiness and utter poverty of those placed into his care. He does not see the despicable character of the world's sinners.

Likewise, the Lord's minister is deaf. He is deaf to the grumblings of the people of God in the wilderness as they yearn for the pots of meat in Egypt. He is deaf to the complaints of the world that he is too strict, too judgmental, too old-fashioned. He is deaf to the calls to water down the stringency of the Law, or to muddle the pure sweetness of the Gospel. He is deaf to flattering praise and to biting insult. He does not hear the evil that comes out of his people's hearts and minds and mouths.

The servant of the Lord sees many things, but does not observe them. He sees the ways of the world, but does not follow them. He sees the trends of society, but is not blown about by them. He sees the doings of his people, but forgets what he sees. He is as blind to his people's sins as Hosea to the former sins of his harlot wife Gomer. He sees, but his mind forgets what he has seen, because the sins of his people have been passed over. Those sins are no more, because they are obliterated by the light in which the servant of the Lord sees.

The ears of the Lord's minister are open, but he does not hear. The pastor's ear is a tomb, as it has been said. What he hears, goes in and dies. It is remembered no more, either by God or by your pastor. He hears the ramblings of the world. He hears the ravings of the devil. He hears the griefs and pains of his people. He hears the cries of the poor and needy. And his ears are open, but he does not hear. When you make your confession to him, it is not his ear, but the ear of God into which you speak. And God has promised to blot out your transgressions.

Therefore, as St. Paul exhorts, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you.” Awake and arise, because this day has dawned, and the Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings. Awake and arise, because the glory of God is risen round about you. Awake and arise, because you are no longer dead in your sins and trespasses, no longer blind to the gifts of God, no longer deaf to the voice of your Savior.

Christ will shine upon you because the Holy Spirit has blown upon you, stirred the waters of your regeneration, and poured the life of Christ into you. The world that formerly sat in darkness is illumined by that paradoxical darkness of the cross of Christ. For in that dark day, the Light of the World invaded the darkness of sin, death, and hell. The gates of hell were broken forever, and the captives were led free into heaven. And then, when His three day rest in the tomb was completed, our Lord Christ rose victorious, to shine the all-consuming glory of God upon the world, to proclaim freedom to all who sat in darkness.

That light of Christ still shines upon His people to this day. And, thanks be to God, it will continue to shine, so long as the Lord is true to His promise to provide pastors who proclaim His Word and administer His Sacraments according to His institution. He says, “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.”

The Lord gives you His servant to do just this. The servant of the Lord is charged to lead the blind in the way of truth, into the light in which they may regain their sight. He is charged to lead the faithful in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake. He is charged to make the darkness into light by preaching the all-consuming light of the Gospel into the dark shadows of this world, enlightening those who sit in darkness by the forgiveness of your sins. He is charged with making the rough places level by leading you on the level ground of the Lord's path.

The servant of the Lord is blind to sin and deaf to iniquity, but he is awake, alert, and prepared to lead the people of God in the way of the Lord that leads to everlasting life. He leads them in the Way that is the Truth and which leads to Life. He proclaims to you the forgiveness of your sins by the blood of Jesus. He washes you with the living waters from the Rock so that you may be raised to live, so that your eyes may see and your ears may hear. His open ear takes in your confession, and you receive in return the forgiveness of your sins spoken upon your own particular struggles, into your own ears. He holds up the Holy Body and Blood of Christ before your eyes, so that you may see not only bread and wine with your physical eyes but the Lamb of God through the eye of faith.

Christ the unfading Light
Of everlasting day,
Our Morning Star in splendor bright,
The Life, the Truth, the Way;
That light of truth You give
To servants as to friends,
Your way to walk, Your life to live,
Till earth's brief journey ends (LSB 829.4).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.