19-Mar-23 (John 9:1-38)

Have you ever seen something bad happen to a good person? [Wait for answers] If you haven't yet, you will. It's something that we adults think about a lot and no one's really come up with a great explanation. Sometimes bad things happen because people do bad things and they affect other people. That's true of war and drunk drivers and stealing. Sometimes things happen for no purpose we can see, like earthquakes and floods and diseases.
The story from the gospel for today tells about Jesus and the disciples seeing a man that was born blind. The disciples ask Jesus whether the man was blind because of his own sin or because of his parents' sin. Jesus says, "Neither." He tells his disciples that sometimes bad things happen and we don't really know why.
Here's the thing. Even if we're really good, we might have some bad things happen to us. It doesn't seem fair, but it's the way the world works. But we also know this: Whatever we have to deal with in our lives, God will be there for us to give us the strength to get through it. Sometimes God will help us see a way to fix it. Sometimes God will send other people into our lives to help us. But always, God is with us when we face difficult situations.

Let's pray about that.
God, we thank you that, no matter what happens in our lives, we know you are with us and will help us get through it. We thank you for Jesus, who showed us how to live even when the world is unfair. Also, help us to help other people when they're facing difficulties in their lives.
We pray in Jesus' name.
AMEN.