Learning to See Again

A few years ago my wife Judy and I spent 5 weeks touring Europe. We started out with my daughter and son-in-law in Cambridge, England, and then we travelled through Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France. We were able to see some beautiful places – from the historic cathedrals in Strasbourg and Cologne, to the cliffs of the Amalfi coast and the tranquil beauty of Lake Lucerne.

It was a great experience, but I need to tell you one thing I noticed … no matter where we were and what beauty lay before us, the ubiquitous cell phone … iPhones, Samsung Galaxies and Blackberries – they all seemed to have more appeal to the human eye, than the wonders which lay before us.

I remember one evening in Lyon, seated at a restaurant with an exquisite view of the old city, and at a nearby table sat a family of five – mother, father, three children – each one of them was looking down – thumbs flying on the keyboard of their smartphone. We watched … and we watched … and we kept looking back at them. When would they look up? When would they talk to one another? When would they show some appreciation for beauty and conversation?

We waited in vain …

At one point, the father tried half-heartedly to begin a conversation, but within moments he gave up and returned to his device …

None of the family members are present to each other. In a way, they aren’t really there. They can’t see the other people at the table. They can’t see the old city dating back to the Romans, the Soane River, or the people going by on the street.

They are blind … blind …

Now, I love technology. I feel naked if I leave home and forget to bring my phone with me. But I do know, when I’m talking on my phone or checking my e-mail, I’m less present to the world around me. On more than one occasion I’ve almost slammed into a telephone pole while I’m walking and looking down at my phone. Even when I’m just having a conversation on the phone, my ability to see and appreciate the world around me grows smaller.

The Gospels have something to say about this – about blindness and seeing. In the scripture passage we read today from the Gospel of Matthew, we have the story of two blind men being healed. This is just one of many stories in the New Testament about Jesus healing people who are blind.

I need to tell you, there are so many stories about Jesus helping people to see, because that’s one of the most important things Jesus does – Jesus cures blindness. But we’re not just talking about physical blindness, the message of Jesus is about curing our spiritual blindness as well.

The last verse of that story in Matthew, is probably the most important verse. It says about those two blind men, “Right away they could see, and they became his followers.”

Might that be the whole point of the story - when we gain the ability to see in a new way, we will become followers of Jesus? And maybe, that blindness is the greatest challenge facing our affluent western world? Are we blind?

The other day, someone was telling me about his experience with an Automated Teller – a bank machine. He was mad. Apparently this ATM machine required him to push a button indicating whether or not he wanted the screen to be in English or French. He said to me, “Why do I have to push a stupid button to choose English or French. It’s a waste of time. I shouldn’t have to do that in British

Columbia!”

What’s he whining about? It’s a machine where you press a button and money comes out of a slot! What’s to complain about that?

But we do … we complain about the silliest things …

A couple of years ago, we celebrated my son’s wedding in Calgary. At the reception I overheard a conversation among some people. I didn’t know them. They were complaining about their flight from Toronto to Calgary. It seems someone had a medical crisis on the plane, and they had an emergency landing in Winnipeg to get the person off the plane. They were in fact speculating that the person may have died, because a police officer even came on board for a short time.

But here’s the line that caught my attention. One person says, “And you won’t believe this, the plane sat on the runway for three hours! – three hours! And they wouldn’t let us off!”

In Canada that’s even the kind of story you might hear reported on the news. People will listen to that story. In the midst of lifting a fork of food to the mouth, we’ll put it down! The glass of wine will remain poised just before touching the lips … “Oh my gosh, how long did you have to sit on the runway? Are you okay?”

“They made us sit on the runway for three hours!”

Wait!! What happened after that? Did you fly through the air incredibly? Did you soar into the clouds like a bird? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight … and complain about it the whole time you were up there?

“I’m never flying West Jet again!”

You’re flying!! Look out the window! It’s crazy! You’re sitting in a chair in the sky! You’re thirty thousand feet in the air travelling at 600 miles an hour? You’re like an ancient Greek god! You’re like superman!

Really … really … everybody on the plane, the whole time they’re on it should be yelling out, “I can’t believe it … WHOOOO!”

But … “There are always delays …”

There are news stories about how slow air travel is. Whole news stories on the television.

Not too long ago I saw a woman on the news. She says, “We were going from Toronto to Vancouver, and from the time I left my house, until I got off the plane in Vancouver … it took ten hours!”

Listen … that used to take 30 years and people would starve to death and freeze to death along the way. Babies would be conceived and born along the way. It would be a different group of people who get there, than the group of people who started out!

Are we blind to this amazing and incredible world in which we live? And if we’re blind to God’s world, I wonder if we might also have grown blind to the presence of God in our world.

Our Old Testament reading this morning is from II Kings. It’s interesting that there are these two books called I and II Kings in the Old Testament, because they’re really not so much about the kings of Israel as they are showing and telling us about the action of God in the world, and specifically about two of God’s prophets – Elijah and his successor, Elisha. The real story is about God’s presence in our world. So our Old Testament scripture this morning is about one of God’s prophets – Elisha … and his ability to see God …

Here’s the story …

The King of Arum is upset. Arum is at war with Israel, and the king believes one of his officers is selling secrets to the enemy. The Israelites seem to be able to anticipate his every move.

But his generals say to the king, “The problem is this strange man of Israel called Elisha. He seems to know what you’re thinking and he tells the King of Israel your secrets.

And so the scripture tells us, the King of Arum sends out his army with only one task to accomplish. He brings together a great army to get only one man – the prophet Elisha.

One night, this great army sneaks up on the city of Dothan where Elisha is in residence. And when Elisha’s servant gets up early in the morning and pulls back the curtains ... “Whoa! We are surrounded by an army."

But Elisha … he’s cool as a cucumber, and he says to his servant, “Take another look. I don’t feel things are as bad as you think. Look again and count how many are for us and how many are against us. Can’t you see, we outnumber them."

The servant looks out the window, "Thousands of them. Two of us!”

And so the scripture tells us, Elisha prays. "Lord open his eyes."

And when the servant looks again, this time he sees the mountain covered with God's angels in chariots of fire. "Wow, there are way more of us than them!"

And Elisha prays again, “Strike this army of Arum with blindness. Lord, make these soldiers blind!”

And they become blind, and Elisha leads them right into the capital city of Samaria – right to the King of Israel.

And the king asks Elisha, "Shall I kill them?"

But the scripture records there was no killing … nope, they had a feast together, and the captured army is fed and then sent on its way, and the Arameans never fight Israel again.

If we could only have our eyes opened to see God, to see God’s angels, to see God’s will … to see God’s way for each one of us. If only our blindness could be cured, we might have vision.

But I don’t think the way things are, is the way things have to be …

There’s a psychotherapist, Roy Scheaffer. In his book “Retelling a Life,” he deals with the importance of imagination in healing. He has his patients tell their life story and then retell their life story according to a different overarching plot.

For instance, seeing God … putting God in every part of the story of our lives.

Imagine for a minute, your life has always been in the hands of God and God has been preparing you for this very moment – this very moment in the world … this very moment in the life of the church. Every incident that has ever happened in your life has been God's way to prepare you for now – for this day … for this time.

How do you feel? What is it you think God wants you to do now, here – this Thanksgiving Sunday of 2025?

Imagine … imagine …

That's a lot different from imagining your life, has been lucky or unlucky … blessed or cursed … or imagining there is no plan for your life at all.

Imagination is one of the greatest gifts God has given to the church - to give people a vision. As the Apostle Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” … let God cure our blindness … so we can see …

I want to propose something to you. You may think this is crazy, but here’s what I’m thinking, “Is it possible that the future well-being of our society just might depend on those of us with faith?”

Our society has lost its way. It’s blind. It has no spirit – no defining mythology … no deep, underlying meaning … no sense of gratitude or thankfulness …

We’re technologically advanced. We can perform the miracle of flight. Every day there are new discoveries in medicine and science. Computers can perform calculations with lightning speed. Our stores are filled with an abundance of material possessions. We have never been as well off as we are today.

The changes in the world are incredible…everything is so amazing right now…but has it made us happy?

Is it possible the future well-being of our society may depend on the people of faith?”

The church is about wonderful promises. It grounds us in a theology of abundance and gratitude, that cannot be destroyed by the circumstances of life …

The church is about death to life. It's about a nation of slaves being set free. It's about exiles returning home from captivity.

It's about people being healed.

It's about a new heaven and a new earth.

It's about Jesus being raised from death, and because he lives, we shall live also.

In the last book of the Bible – the Book of Revelation - it says these words, “Behold I make all things new. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to you the gift of living water – the water of life ...”

I wonder if those might just be the most important words the church can speak to a thirsty people, into this incredible and amazing world, to speak God’s word of meaning and hope, “Behold, I make all things new … to you who are thirsty … the water of life …”