An encounter with Jesus changes our lives and sends us out to serve others and tell everyone about him.
Vicar Erik C. Nelson
March 15, 2026
Texts: Jeremiah 2:4-13; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 8:46-51
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
If I had the ability to add one person to our church’s calendar, that would be Eric Norelius. And his day would be today, March 15th, the anniversary of his death.
If you aren’t familiar with Eric Norelius, he was known for being one of the founders of the Augustana Synod, which is one of the predecessor bodies of the ELCA. He was a Swedish pastor who came over to the U.S. and worked hard to help connect Scandinavian immigrants together into a network of congregations.
His work still continues to this day, through the congregations he helped start. He helped start First Lutheran in Saint Paul and Augustana in Minneapolis, both of which themselves planted several other churches, including Messiah, San Pablo, and Calvary in our neighborhood.
He also helped start Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, a school still committed to training students for leadership and service.
But one of the biggest pieces of his legacy was the children’s home he started in Vasa, Minnesota, that then grew into what we now know as Lutheran Social Services, one of the largest social service networks in the United States.
Eric Norelius’s life was marked by first knowing Jesus as a friend, as a brother, knowing the love of Jesus deeply. And then he turned to go share that love with others in a way that makes a difference in people’s lives.
In our readings today, we hear this story that we’ve heard many, many times, about the man born blind who experiences healing. In this story, we hear a similar pattern.
The man encounters Jesus, who sends him to the pool of Siloam, and after his healing, he goes out to tell people about Jesus and about the real, tangible difference that Jesus made in his life.
One thing that sticks out to me in this story is that Jesus had just left the temple grounds at the end of the previous chapter, the highest point in the city. And then he encounters this blind man and sends him to the Pool of Siloam, the lowest place in the city and back. I imagine it wouldn’t be an easy journey for anyone, especially someone who can’t see the way.
So I imagine that on that journey through the city and down the steep valley, the man probably had people helping him, maybe looking at him weird for the mud on his eyes, but letting him know which way to go. This healing, like many of Jesus’s healings, wasn’t just by one person for one person. It was with the help of many people, in order to bring this one person into the community in a new way.
He went to the pool, washed, and then came back able to see. But instead of celebrating with him, the people he encountered on his return challenged him and said that his healing was the work of demons. But I love his response.
Instead of engaging too much with the theological and philosophical debates, he simply shares his experience. “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” His life was changed by an encounter with Jesus, and he just wants to share it with others.
And I love the line that, after managing their theologizing and debating, he sees they’re obsessed with Jesus, and he just asks if they want to follow him too.
I see this as an example of a person living with a soft heart and open hands. Someone who refuses to harden his heart, someone who does not engage in the cynicism of the world, and instead knows the love of God, and that love of God flows out through him.
He’s someone who would just be discarded, according to the ways of the world. But in the reign of Christ, the people on the outside become the insiders.
We see this again in our Old Testament reading, with this very well-known line, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Of all these brothers who could have been chosen to be the king, God chose the youngest brother, David, who was out with the sheep. He probably was stinky. He was small and young. There was nothing about him that would say that he would be a great king for the nation.
But instead, he was, as we know, from his writing in the psalms and other places, he was sensitive. Psalm 51, which we’ll sing later, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” is attributed to David. He had a soft heart. And this is the way that God works in the world, among God’s people. With soft hearts and open hands.
God calls us to be sensitive with one another and caring. And God wants us to serve together for the good of others.
This is something we see in the life of Eric Norelius and his legacy. He and his fellow immigrants were kept at a distance and not trusted. These Swedes with their strange language and unfamiliar liturgies were the outsiders in this land.
And yet they built these congregations and institutions for the good of their neighbors, for their city, for the state and the whole country. LSS isn’t only for Swedes. It’s for everyone. And think about how many millions of dollars of grocery and rental assistance have flowed through San Pablo, Augustana, Calvary, and Messiah in the last several months. Think about how many immigrants and marginalized Americans that LSS has helped in the last 150 years.
Today’s reading is a reminder that God does care about our lives. God cares about the ways we physically encounter the world and one another. And God’s hand of healing is always extended to us.
Thanks be to God.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
