As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  

(John 9:1)

It may surprise you to know I don’t use much in the way of L’Oreal haircare treatments. Or any other L’Oreal products for that matter. I’m told they’re not as cheap as the shower gel I use in the shower. But I do see their adverts sometimes and I’m aware of their slogan: ‘because you’re worth it’. Spend that extra bit of cash because you’re worth it. Because you deserve it. You’ve worked hard. You deserve it. You’ve been an upright decent respectable person. You deserve it. These are your just desserts. And we get what we deserve in life, right?

What of the man born blind in our gospel reading? Did he deserve that?. This is the question behind the question the disciples ask of Jesus: “Rabbi, who sinned?” The prevailing view among a lot of folk at the time was that you get your just desserts in life. If something bad happens to you it’s because of some fault of your own; some sin you’ve committed. On the other hand, if you’re doing well - if you’ve earned enough to treat yourself to some L’Oreal conditioner maybe - then God must be looking favourably upon you.

Maybe we still, 2000 years later, believe that to some degree. We want to believe that the universe is fair that way and that we get our just desserts. You’ll hear it said loudly enough in our society. Work hard and you’ll get rich. That’s all it takes. Duncan Bannatyne even wrote a book about his success called “Anyone Can Do It”. So it becomes easy to assume that those who aren’t just so successful in life it must be their fault. On benefits: it’s because they’re lazy scroungers. Coming here and claiming asylum? Deny them benefits and they’ll stop coming, right? Single parent who can’t afford to feed her kids? Absent fathers, right? Have there been times when the Church has bought into that mindset? Are there times when we’ve bought into it?It’s easy to do.

But I’m reminded of a song I learned many years ago:

Show me the alley. Show me the train.

Show me the hobo who sleeps out in the rain

And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why

There but for fortune go you or I.

Show me the prison. Show me the jail,

Show me the prisoner whose life has turned stale

And I’ll show you a young man with so many reasons why

There but for fortune go you or I.

Maybe there’s a reason why we want to believe that we get our just desserts in life and so does everyone else. Part of us wants to deny the fragility of life: that we can be barreling along, carefree as the wind, happy, well- off. But all it takes is an icy patch on the road or we nod off at the wheel and suddenly maybe we can’t work anymore. Or a sudden economic downturn destroys a business and we need those benefits. Or some nutter decides to declare war and drop bombs on your country and you have to throw yourself on the mercy of others. Or your partner gets a shocking diagnosis. “Rabbi, who sinned?”

Or maybe we want to think that success in life validates us in some way and that we have indeed earned our just desserts. Not like those failures: the drug addict, the prostitute, the homeless beggar on the street. “Rabbi, who sinned?” 

Who sinned? Truth is, all of us. Maybe some more than others. Maybe some of us more egregiously than others. Maybe some of us clinging to the self-righteous belief that we, uniquely among humanity, are morally spotless and above reproach. How often do we pay lots of attention to the specks in the eyes of those who deserve our compassion while paying so little heed to the planks in our own?

Do we get our just desserts in life? No. And thank God for that. This is Lent. This is our journey toward Easter. This is our journey toward the Cross and the Resurrection. So let me wind forward a bit and bring us to the door of the Cross. Look up. Look at Jesus. Nails hammered through his hands and his feet, stripped naked, hanging in agony, blood dripping from the wounds of his crown of thorns. Did he deserve that? Does anyone deserve that? “Rabbi, who sinned?”

We did. We all did. Humanity did and does and probably always will. Do we get our just desserts? No. And thank God for that because through that Cross, through that pain and death we are washed clean and we are forgiven. This is the good news of Jesus Christ: that we do not get what we deserve. We get so much more. We get the grace and forgiveness of God that we cannot possibly earn. We get the love of God that we cannot possibly deserve. We get the promise and prospect of eternal life in his presence that we cannot possibly claim as somehow our right.

“Who sinned?” the disciples asked . Jesus says ‘no one’ and that this is a chance to show what God is about. Then he helps him. He heals him. He changes the question from ‘whose fault is this?’ to ‘how can I help?’ This is the change in mindset Jesus has come to deliver to humanity: that we are at our most glorious and beautiful as human beings, as children of God, when we love one another without standing in judgement. This is the change of heart that Jesus asks us to make; to see that the sorrows of others are opportunities to share the love of God in a world that is so often heartless. This is the change of question in a world that tells tales of just desserts: from “Rabbi, who sinned?” to “How can I help?”

Father we rejoice in the Gospel of your Son. That we do not get what we deserve but way more. We get your love and grace and the prospect of Heaven. May we share that love and grace and, by loving one another give the world an image of your Heaven

Preached at Baxter Hall Eastriggs and Annan Old Parish Church

Complete Service