The Courage to See

The Courage to See

Dear Faith Family,

My favorite part about writing these letters, is that it gives me an excuse to really dive in the gospels with a different lens. This week’s gospel, for example, is interesting. 

When I looked it what reading would be proclaimed, the term “blind man” comes up very early. Obviously, whenever we see this term, we probably will know that it’s the gospel where Jesus heals the blind man and is able to see. While it’s good that we know these stories like the back of our hands, it can be a temptation to say “oh, I know where this is going” and stop reading.

The temptation was there for me. I could’ve easily written a letter that explains that this miracle this proves that Jesus Christ is God (which is obviously true and life changing within itself), but I challenged myself to dive in further.

One thing that really stuck out to me is that Jesus asks his disciples to call the person who is calling out to Him. And even though the blind man obviously yearning for Christ, he was still instructed to “have courage” to approach the Lord. 

This is interesting for two reasons. First, Jesus relied on his disciples to bring those to Him. Our parish takes discipleship very seriously, and the most important aspect of discipleship is bringing others to Christ. His disciples don’t shy away from their commission, and heeds to Jesus’ command to bring the blind man to him, even if they had no idea what Christ would do for the blind man.

Secondly, it takes courage to do what Christ asks us to do. It’s obvious that the blind man knew that Jesus can perform miracles, it still took courage to approach Him. It’s like that in our lives sometimes. There are times when we KNOW what God is capable of, but we still need the courage to ask God to be God and to intervene/perform miracles.

This is why scripture is interesting. Yes, we know the stories (the blind man). Yes, we know how they end (the blind now seeing). But sometimes we take that for granted. We know all the stories of the Old Testament and the miracles that Jesus performed, but when we dive in and meditate on scripture, it’s much more than a biography of God’s people, it’s an instruction manual.

I don’t know about you, but I am constant need of instruction on how to be a disciple. When we dive into scripture, we get that instruction, even if it’s hidden in plain sight. When we dive into scripture, we telling our Lord, “I want to see”.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Brett Becker
Youth and Young Adult Minister