Thursday, February 28, 2008

Wanting

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." But I do want.
On good days, I try to want what God wants. Perhaps the contentment of sheep is merely that of being close to the shepherd and wanting what the shepherd wants. Psalm 23 seems unrelated to John 9's story of the man blind from birth. Did the blind man want his sight? It is assumed so in the story and of course he would, wouldn't he? But I wonder if it was his primary 'want'? If you were blind from birth, would sight be what you wanted? Or would you have the same desires as we do today; security, safety and comfort, a good meal and shelter, hope for tomorrow? Did his new vision provide for any of those wants?
Jesus, as a good shepherd, doesn't ask the blind man what he wants. (Look to other stories where that question comes before the healing, not here.) Jesus gives him what he needs; new sight, a new vision and then exits the story. We get to watch as the no-longer-blind-man is enlightened as to who Jesus is, and the real identity of the Pharisees who question him. After the man has come to 'see' the truth, Jesus returns. The man is now ready to 'see' Jesus and does.
Our question revolves around our wants. We want security. What does security look like to Jesus? (Mt. 10:9). We want safety. Jesus disregards what we call safety and calls us to take up the cross (Mt. 10:38). We want to see God. The blind man first sees a prophet, then one who leads disciples, and finally a Messiah. He enters the journey to the 'light of the world' who came that "those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind."
Examining the contrast between our wants and God's, do we dare 'want' to see?

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