One of the greatest scandals of Jesus' life came out of a simple kindness. He and his followers came across a man who had been born blind in John 9. The followers had a simple question to ask their teacher: "Who sinned here?" They wondered whose fault it was that the man had been born with a disability.
The ancient world believed that hardships such as illness, tragedy, disability and poverty were not accidents or random events. Instead they were the judgement of God visited upon the offenders. But if this man was born with a disability, was it because he had sinned before he was born...or God knew he was going to sin...or was it the fault of the parents and the Almighty was punishing their child for their deficiencies? Whose fault was it that this man had to suffer so?
Jesus' response was revolutionary. "Neither the man nor his parents sinned. He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed through him." Jesus spit in the dirt, rubbed mud on the man's eyes and told him to go wash. The man could then see and the religious establishment lost its collective mind because the healing happened outside of their designated parameters.
Whose sin brought tragedy? My newsfeed is full of opinions. "Hurricanes are the fault of liberals who defy God!" "Hurricanes are the fault of conservatives who despise science!" We are quick to look for who to blame for things that are out of our control. And somehow the people that are at fault just happen to be the ones that we disagree with on other political issues. Funny how that works.
Sometimes tragedies happen so that God's work can be revealed. God's primary way of working on the Earth is through his Church. For all its faults...for all its shortcomings...the family of God on Earth is how He has chosen to show himself to the world. Tragedies are the time where our generosity and compassion and creativity and faith are supposed to shine the brightest. Times of crisis...when people have lost everything...are the moments when the Church should have its arms open the widest and should be speaking the loudest its words of encouragement and support and hope. That is how God's works and God's presence are revealed. That is how the world sees the true face of God.
And...if Jesus is any sort of example...responding in this way will rile up the religious establishment who love their buildings and their rules and want to keep the world at bay so that their religion can remain pure.
