Revd John Howard-Norman

Worship at home -  W/B 15th March 2026

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

My name is John Howard-Norman, I’m a Methodist Minister in the Middlesbrough and Eston Methodist Circuit. Welcome to this quiet space where we come together, conscious that as we meet, God meets with us.  

Let’s pray together.  

Opening Prayer

Loving God, as we pause in the midst of busy lives, quieten our minds and open our hearts. We come with our certainties and our doubts, our clear sightedness and our blindness. Meet us here, just as we are, and help us to see you ever more truly. Amen.

Hymn: Christ, whose glory fills the skies

Prayer:

Gracious God, we worship you as the one who sees all things clearly, whether the depths of the universe or the hidden corners of our hearts. Your vision is perfect, your understanding without limit. We adore you.

Yet we confess that our own sight is so often clouded. We see what we expect to see, and miss what we do not anticipate. We trust our own certainties more readily than we trust your Spirit, and we have sometimes been so confident that we were right that we have forgotten to remain open to you.

Forgive us, and open our eyes afresh.

Remind us that we are always beginners in your presence, and that this, too, is a gift.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer: You are invited to say the prayer in whatever language or version you prefer.

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Bible reading: John 9:1-41

The Bible reading from John’s gospel is long, but don’t be put off. The passage rewards careful listening. A man is healed, questioned, and finally found. Listen for where you recognise yourself in the story.

Reflection: Who Is Really Blind?

There is a particular kind of confidence that comes with expertise. The doctor who has seen thousands of patients, the teacher who has taught for thirty years, the mechanic who can diagnose what’s wrong with an engine by just listening to it. There is great value in such accumulated knowledge, and we rightly respect it. Sometimes though, that same expertise can become a closed door. The very experience that makes someone so capable of seeing and understanding the world as they expect it to be, can make them surprisingly resistant to seeing something new; that doesn’t fit the established pattern; that arrives from an altogether unexpected direction.

This is a very human tendency. And it is exactly what we see going on in John chapter 9.

The Pharisees in this story are not villains, however much we are tempted to caricature them as such. They are learned, serious, devout men who have dedicated their lives to understanding the ways of God. They know the Law. They know the Sabbath rules. They are quite certain, that a man who breaks those rules cannot possibly be from God. And so when a blind man is healed before their very eyes, they cannot allow themselves to see this for what it is. The miracle is real; the evidence is standing right there in front of them. But it doesn’t fit their preconceptions of the way the way God or the Law works. And so they reject it.

By the end of the reading, the irony is clear. The man who was blind can now see, in every sense. And the men who could see perfectly well have revealed themselves to be stubbornly blind.

This is a passage that invites honest self-reflection, because the Pharisees’ mistake is a common one. When certainty hardens into rigidity, it can close us off from the movement of God’s Spirit. It can cause us to miss what is happening right in front of us, simply because this wasn’t the outcome we were expecting.

Faith, at its most alive, holds knowledge and openness together. This is the kind of faith that is rooted enough to stand firm, and humble enough to be surprised. The question this reading quietly asks each of us is this: where might I not be seeing clearly?

That is not a comfortable question, but it may be one of the most important we can ask.

Why not ask God to open your eyes to all He is doing, both around and within you?

“…I was blind, and now I see.”

Hymn: Amazing grace 

The Prayers

Lord of all, we bring before you a world that is troubled and uncertain.

Where leaders hold great power over many lives; grant them wisdom beyond their own understanding, and open their eyes to the needs of those who suffer; the displaced, the poor, the forgotten, and the afraid. Guard this fragile world from the blindness of pride and the arrogance of power.

We pray for your Church, that it may be a community where hospitality is real,

quick to notice those on the margins, and faithful in reaching out.

We hold before you those known to us who carry heavy burdens today, whether in body, mind, or spirit. May they know they are not alone.

And for ourselves, Lord. Open our eyes to what you are asking of us this week,

and give us courage to respond. Amen.

Hymn: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Blessing

Go now into the coming week, with eyes open to God’s presence in unexpected places, a heart humble enough to be surprised by grace, and a life that reflects the light of Christ to all you meet.

Amen.