October 29, 2006, Proper 25B

Jeremiah 31:7-9, Psalm 126 , Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 10:46-52

Blind Bartimaeus

I. Blind Bartimaeus is a story

1. of healing, or of miracles,

2. or maybe faithfulness and transformation,

3. Certainly of the compassion of Jesus

4. or it might be simply the ability to see God at work in the world around us.

II. It reminds me somewhat of something that happened at the seminary during my senior year.

A. You don't dare get sick during seminary.

1. People will smother you with pastoral care. Here you are about to die with the flu and 20 people either knock on your door or call you on the telephone to check on you, to see how you are, to see if there is anything they can do for you.

2. Each person wants to show how caring they are. They thrive on an opportunity to practice their pastoral skills. Now, you got to understand that they wouldn't be in seminary if they didn't really care - but enough is enough - you get to a point where you want to say: just go away and leave me alone, I can be miserable by myself, thank you.

B. Seminarians are always looking for new ways and occasions to practice their pastoral and evangelization skills - let everyone beward.

1. My last year in December on St. Andrew's day - St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. Our dean at the seminary was Dean McDonald - on St. Andrew's day he  always wore his kilt - and hired a bagpiper to come play for chapel. Well, last year it had new consequences.

2. Before the service the piper stood outside and piped - calling out to all within hearing distance that something different was happening. And just as the service was about to start - here came two new people, ragged, tattered, and definitely streetwise. Now you should have seen the seminarians spring into action. These two people - the same ones that so many ignore on the street - suddenly found themselves the center of attention - surrounded by well-meaning seminarians who were going to prove that they could respond in appropriate ways to two needy people. They helped them find the place in the service, explained what would happen next, took them up to the altar rail for a blessing at communion. Several of them even took them over to the dining hall for lunch. After that, Betty became something of a regular figure on campus.

3. My friend, Nancy - who has a Phd. in child development, made Betty her special project. She took time out to minister to her in a very real way - trying to teach her and help her to overcome those things which kept her bound to her way of life. Nancy was determined that she could change Betty. Nancy even went so far as to visit Betty in her (Betty's) home. Betty's home was under a bridge over Waller Creek. She and Tom even had a mattress they slept on. When it rained and the water began to come up, they would put the mattress on top of the water and sewer pipes that ran under the bridge tp keep it dry. Betty was much like any other woman, proud of her home and showing off her pictures and knick-knacks. Nancy became aware that she really wasn't going to be able to help Betty when she finally realized that as she (Nancy)  sipped on a coke during their visit, Betty sipped from a bottle of vodka.

4. What does Betty have to do with Bartimaeus? They are both people who live on the edge of society - outcasts.

C. Jericho -

1. Is an oasis in the middle of the desert. As you travel south along the Jordan river from the sea of Galilee, you are in a valley that is several miles wide. And all you see along that valley is rock and sand - except near the Jordan river itself where a few trees grow. But as you approach the Dead Sea - even those few trees have given up trying to grow. But here in the midst of all that rock and sand, is an area over a mile across where trees grow and houses rise up from the desert floor.

2. Jesus has passed through Jericho and is headed for Jerusalem - headed for destiny - a date with a cross.. Our story says as he is leaving there - so he is past the tree line - headed back out into the rock and sand - and there on the side of the road is a man.

D. Blind Bartimaeus -

1. - is half-sitting and half-sprawled, blind, dirty, covered with an old smelly cloak. He is an outcast, one of the dregs of society. Because he can't do anything else - he begs for the few coins that will buy him a morsel to eat, a bit of drink. This is the kind of man that you would pass on by and turn your head so as not to see. He is invisible to the average person.

2. He senses a crowd and as someone brushes against him he grabs the hem of a robe and asks, What is it? What's happening? Just to shut him up, an answer is given, Hush it's Jesus of Nazereth. Jesus of Nazereth - he's heard that name. He's heard the stories and in a flash of  inspiration, of imagination, of desperation -he calls out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

3. The crowd is incensed - what right does this begger have to call upon the rabbi - he is not worthy - how dare him to interrupt the teacher. Hush, be quiet, silence. They try to shut him up but they can't.

E. He dares to barge ahead in the face of adversity.

1. They didn't understand that the desire of Jesus, the desire of God - is health. Health and salvation for all people - not just for those who society considers worthy. But blind Bartimaeus knows that this is different - this is real - and he dares to push the limit.

2. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Sounds a little like the "Jesus Prayer" doesn't it? Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me. That's a prayer that I pray when I don't know what else to pray. Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me. It seems to cover all the bases without making demands. And Jesus responds.

3. Take heart, Bartimaeus, he is calling you. The crowd immediately cheers on Bartimaeus, Take heart, he is calling you. Maybe the little guy wins after all. Maybe the invisible person is seen. Maybe God hears even their prayer.

F. Healing begins when we take the first step - and it finds fruit when we find the strength to give up that which keeps us enslaved.

1. Bartimaeus throws off his mantle - his coat - he sheds his outer covering - that which protects him from the weather, from the people, from the hurts and the sneers, and the jeers. Each time he is mentioned, he is called "Blind Bartimaeus" - his blindness has been part of his identity. He must now let go of that part of his identity and  open himself to the possibility that God can touch his life. And he jumps up and comes to Jesus - no hesitation. He stands before the master - stripped of his facade - ready to be made anew.

2. What do you want? Jesus asks. He offers Bartimaeus the same opportunity to voice his desire that he gave James and John in last week’s lesson. We look at Bartimaeus, blind and virtually helpless and we say, don’t you know what he wants? Isn’t it obvious? But Jesus does not assume that he knows what Bartimaeus wants. Maybe he wanted money only - actually that’s probably what everyone else thought - that’s why they tried to make him be quiet. Jesus does us the honor of listening to what we have to say.

3. I want to see is the answer. I want to see what God has in store for me. I want to see the dawn of the kingdom of God. But more important - I want to be seen and recognized by people - I'm tired of being overlooked - of being discounted - invisible.

III.We are healed - or not - according to our faith.

A. And Jesus says, "Go. Your faith has made you well."

1. And Bartimaeus can see - it's as simple as that. But he doesn't go - instead he follows Jesus - becomes a witness to the power of God in his life.

B. Betty - our homeless person - just like Bartimaeus is one of those people who is overlooked in most cities - homeless - without visible means of support - one of the forgotten on the edge of society.

1. What keeps her enslaved is the inability to give up that which forms her identity. She likes her vodka, she likes her "home" under the bridge, she likes wandering the streets of Austin looking for handouts and digging thrpight  people’s cast offs. Betty may be one of those people God has placed in our lives to give us perspective in life - maybe to give us the opportunity to reach out, even as Jesus reached out.

C. Elizabeth

1. I have a friend, Elizabeth. She had a stroke when she was a young woman with three children. She prayed that she would be healed - daily she prayed, but the physical healing never came. For seven years she blamed God and hated him. She escaped into alcohol and became one on the edge of society. What she was slow to realize is that God had something else for her - the ability to witness to the grace of God's healing in her - not physical, but spiritual. Her stroke still forms her life, but it no longer controls her nor does it keep her bound. Although she is physically handicapped, she is not outcast or overlooked by society. Jesus healed her from the inside. He wrapped her in the love of her friends and family and gave her back her reason to live. She - despite her physical handicap - is now a vivid and vital witness to the presence of Jesus Christ in her life.

IV.We all go through life looking for miracles - and some of us even find them.

A. There was a little boy sitting on a park bench reading his Bible.

1. And he yelled out in jubilation, Oh, our God is so great. He's wonderful. A man passing by heard this and came over to see what the boy was yelling about. And the boy replied, God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites crossed over and were saved. Oh, God is so good.

2. Well, the man was an enlightened man, he's taken a university course in the Bible. So he though he would set  this young lad right. Well, God didn't really part the Red Sea. You see, where they crossed, the water was only about three inches deep and so they were able to just walk across. Well, the boy was just downfallen, but he figured that the man was older and knew more. So he turned back to the Bible in silence and the man turned to go.

3. He had gone no more than 10 feet when he hear the boy yell again. Oh, our God is so great. He's wonderful. The man came back and said, what is it now? The boy replied, God drowned the entire Egyptian army in 3 inches of water.

B. Are we willing to give up that which separates us from God to find freedom? Or will we stay bound by an identity we are not willing to give up to God's will? It doesn't matter if that identity is being blind or being rich.

C. Bartimaeus gave up the blindness which kept him spiritually and physically bound. Betty can't give up the homelessness which separates her from the society around her. For Elizabeth, healing looked different, and she eventually recognized and accepted that.

D. The difference may be like our last story. Are we like the little boy - ready to see and receive a miracle at every turn? Or do we identify with the man for whom a miracle will never happen?

Please feel free to email me with any comments or questions at nan@doerrworks.com