The story of Jesus and the man with blindness in John 9:1-41 can counter the disability discrimination of Christian Nationalism.
The reflection below is one I wrote for “Jesus and Justice in Public,” a study-action guide by the Wisconsin Council of Churches. They developed this guide to help the Church respond to the rising threats of White Christian Nationalism that have become increasingly violent and include attacks on our democracy. The guide offers hands-on ways that the Church has historically engaged in civic life and what these practices can look like in our modern context.
I was invited to write a series of homiletical helps so that preachers can connect these lessons to the readings in Lent from the Revised Common Lectionary for Year A. This reflection is for the Fourth Sunday of Lent and focuses on John 9:1-41, the story of the man born with blindness. However, these essays can be used at any time of the year as well.
Aktion T4: “Unfit for life”
In a sinister program benignly titled Aktion T4, the Nazis carried out the systematic murders of some 100,000 Germans they deemed “unworthy” or “unfit for life.” This deadly policy was aimed at people with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities or those with special needs. According to Dean G. Stroud, editor of Preaching in Hitler’s Shadow, Nazis believed people who were greatly dependent on the care of others did not deserve to live because they took advantage of the strong.
“In a world where love had no meaning, the notion of caring for the helpless and those with special needs carried no worth or merit; the mentally and physically challenged were viewed as only a drain on society,” Stroud explains (136). As a result, the Aktion T4 program carried out forced euthanasia in secret against targeted patients who were transported to killing facilities where they were gassed, starved, or killed through lethal injection.
Disability discrimination today
Christian Nationalism today carries forward the belief that those with disabilities are worthy of nothing more than mockery, disdain, and contempt. We see one example in Donald Trump’s infamous ridicule of a disabled reporter and his disparaging rhetoric against those who are “weak.” But the “banality of evil” (to use the words of Hannah Arendt) is most evident in policies and practices that discriminate against those with mental and physical disabilities. Such policies include defunding public mental health initiatives, failing to accommodate an employee’s disabilities, and refusing service to those who are blind or who are in wheelchairs, to name just a few.
John 9:1-41, the man born with blindness
The story of the man born with blindness in the Gospel of John offers an opportunity for preachers to address disability discrimination. In this extended narrative, Jesus heals a man who cannot see which sparks a fury among the religious leaders. They demonize the man by saying that his blindness was a result of sin.
Yet the man holds his own against their accusations and turns the tables on them with wry humor and forthright testimony about Jesus. In this story, the man with blindness is neither weak nor a “drain on society.” Jesus sees him as a human being whose healing can give glory to God. Later, Jesus confides in him the purpose of his mission, trusting him with his own knowledge, divine wisdom, and purpose.
A word of caution
A word of caution about preaching a sermon based on John 9:1-41. We need to be careful not to inadvertently perpetuate ableist stereotypes about blindness in the ways we talk about this story. This can happen by using “blindness” as a metaphor for sinfulness, something that Jesus admittedly seems to do in v. 41 (“If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”).
At the same time, we can remind listeners that Jesus is, in fact, turning the tables on those who have controlled the narrative about who is sinful and who is not, who is worthy of life and who is not. To quote Gerhard Ebeling, who preached a sermon for a victim of Aktion T4 in 1940, “Jesus stands up for the life of the weak, the sick, and the vulnerable. Not only with words and expressions of sympathy but with action. He healed the sick, he gave love and companionship to the despised and rejected sinners” (140, in Preaching in Hitler’s Shadow).
Our congregations can help counter the disability discrimination of Christian Nationalism by coming alongside those who have disabilities. We must listen to them, accommodate their needs and honor them and their stories. Also, we can celebrate their gifts as beloved ones of God.
Central Question, Central Claim, Central Purpose
(The Central Question, Central Claim, and Central Purpose statements are a way to organize and provide direction for a sermon that I developed in the book Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013). Here are possible Central Statements for a sermon countering the disability discrimination of Christian Nationalism based on John 9:1-41.)
Central Question. What are ways we can recognize the value, worth, dignity, and contributions of those who have disabilities, thus countering the assumption that they are “sinful” or a “drain” on society?
Central Claim. Jesus turned the tables on those who have controlled the narrative about who is sinful and who is not, who is worthy of life and who is not, thus affirming that those with disabilities are worthy of respect, healing, and justice.
Central Purpose. This sermon invites the congregation to counter the disability discrimination of Christian Nationalism by coming alongside those who have disabilities, listening to them, accommodating their needs, honoring them and their stories, and celebrating their gifts as beloved ones of God.
To see the full series of sermon helps, download “Jesus and Justice” here.
Read also:
Weight Shaming and the Church: Let’s End This Theological Malpractice
Prodigal Sisters, Prodigal God: The Surprise Party
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and ordained in the ELCA. Dr. Schade does not speak for LTS or the ELCA; her opinions are her own. She is the author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Her newest book is Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation, co-authored with Jerry L. Sumney and Emily Askew (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).
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