| Mark 10:46-52 "What Do You Want Me To Do For You?" |
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| Written by Georgia Harrison | |
| Sunday, 30 March 2008 | |
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Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He’s just leaving Jericho with his disciples and has only one more day of travel before he enters the holy city. He has invited others to be his disciple, such as the rich young man, but they were too comfortable in their limited lives to give up anything. Today there is a large crowd milling around him. The crowd has grown steadily larger and now as they leave Jericho he notices how noisy they are. While Jesus is on the move, heading down the road, another man is sitting still beside it. Bartimaeus has been blind for many years. He has been reduced to begging at the side of the road, here on the outskirts of Jericho. He finds that he is able to collect more from the travelers heading to the Holy City than he can from the people in his neighborhood. So every morning at the break of dawn he finds his way to this spot on the side of the road. Here he spreads out his cloak and begs those that pass by to take pity on him, a poor blind man. Most days the money that strangers throw onto his cloak is enough to buy some day old bread for his dinner. This particular day, Bartimaeus is settled in his regular spot when he hears a large crowd leaving Jericho. Wondering what is going on, he shouts at a passerby, “What’s happening?” No response. “What’s happening?” he shouts again. Finally someone answers, “Jesus of Nazareth is coming.” Jesus of Nazareth? His heart starts to beat faster and his mind races. Can this be the same Jesus who has been healing people all over the countryside! Surely not! But if it is Jesus the healer, then Jesus could heal him! But how can he get his attention, sitting here on the side of the road? The crowd is getting louder now and Bartimaeus imagines that Jesus has already passed him by. No!!! He can not miss this opportunity! So he yells out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The atmosphere of the crowd surrounding Jesus is jubilant. They are going to Jerusalem! And they are going with this new prophet, one who tells them wonderful stories. They are looking forward to being seen with him when they parade into the city of David. But what is that obnoxious noise coming from the side of the road? One of the many beggars lining the road is yelling. What a nuisance! What is he making such a fuss for? They have no money for him today. And so the people nearby are shushing Bartimaeus, “Be quiet! Pipe down! Silence!” How often does this happen in our society today? How often do we try to silence the poor, the disabled, the oppressed? I just got back from an immersion trip to El Salvador with a group of Perkins students. I saw firsthand the results of the horrible civil war that took place there in the 80s. I saw entire communities of people living in cardboard houses without electricity or running water. I saw what happened to those who tried to stand up for the oppressed, who spoke out against those in power. I saw the bullet holes in the back of the shirt that the priest Father Grande was wearing when he was gunned down. He had been speaking out against the government. I saw the chapel where Archbishop Romero was shot while preparing the elements for the sacrament of communion. Romero had been speaking out as well, going so far as to encourage those in the army to lay down their arms. I saw all of this, and much more. People are being silenced by systems of oppression, not only in El Salvador, but all over the world. Everywhere. Even here, in the United States. Even here in Carrollton. But in the story of Bartimaeus, the attempt to silence him only makes Bartimaeus more frantic. What if he has already missed his chance to be healed of his infirmity? What if Jesus has already passed him by? So he yells again, this time as loudly as he can, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He aks Jesus for mercy, using the name “Son of David.” This name often referred to the Messiah but it also meant healer. Jesus stops. Did someone call his name? He looks around. And then he sees him, sitting on the side of the road; a blind beggar, and he knows this is the one who called him. Jesus tells those near him to call the beggar to him. And then he waits. Now it is Jesus who stands still, commanding Bartimaeus to be on the move. You know how not long ago those WWJD bracelets were popular? Lots of folks were wearing them. I guess they thought that if they had a difficult decision to make, wearing the bracelet would remind them to consider What Would Jesus Do? Now when I get to this point in the story of Bartimaeus and I hear that Jesus, after hearing a guy calling for his help, stops in the middle of the street, I go nuts! What!? Everyone knows that the “Christian” thing to do is to help people with disabilities. At this point, Jesus should go over to the blind man, help him to his feet, and heal him. Isn’t this obvious? But apparently Jesus doesn’t have a WWJD bracelet because the Bible says that he just calls the blind man to him … and waits. Hmmm. The crowd, who seconds ago had been shouting at Bartimaeus to shut up, now is encouraging him to get up. He can’t believe his luck! Jesus has heard him and called him over! Without hesitation, Bartimaeus throws aside his cloak, coins scattering everywhere. He leaps to his feet and pushes his way through the crowd. But how will he ever find Jesus? Hands guide him, pushing him in the right direction, until he is standing right in front of Jesus. The disciples are annoyed when Jesus stops for the blind beggar. They still have 15 miles to walk before they will reach the city and then they will have to find food and a place to sleep. They don’t have time to stop for every beggar on the way! But when the blind man reaches Jesus something surprising happens. Jesus asks the man, “What do you want me to do for you?” Now why would Jesus ask that? Doesn’t he know what the man wants? He’s blind for goodness sakes! He wants to be healed! Isn’t it obvious?! But just because we have an infirmity, just because it’s obvious to those around us that we need healing, sometimes we don’t want to be healed. Like the rich young man that Jesus meets who is addicted to his wealth. Someone very close to me is an alcoholic. And even though several of us have told her so, and pointed out how it is making her life much more difficult, she won’t admit that she has a problem. Well, there was that one time her electricity was turned off because she forgot to pay the bill. And she did leave her purse at a restaurant once. But that’s not unusual, right? And she lives with back pain on a daily basis because she fell off of a ladder and broke her backAnd she did forget her daughter’s 19th birthday. We all have infirmities that we secretly want to keep. But not Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is shocked when Jesus asks him what he wants. But it doesn’t take him long to answer. He is very clear about what he wants. His heart’s desire is to see again. Some blind people might find themselves comfortable in the life of a blind person. After all, there’s not a lot of hard manual labor involved in begging. Although it’s not a very comfortable life, it is an easy life. But Bartimaeus doesn’t want his old way of life. So he tells Jesus, “My teacher, let me see again.” Now compare what Bartimaeus asks for with what two of the disciples ask Jesus for in the story that comes just before this one in Mark. In that story, James and John ask Jesus for a favor and Jesus replies “What do you want me to do for you?” (sound familiar?) Well, it turns out that James and John want to sit at his right hand and his left hand. In other words, they want power… and prestige… and probably all the physical trappings that go with it. Jesus tells them that the first shall be last and the last first. So these two disciples, who have been with Jesus for a long time, ask for power. And this nobody, on the side of the road, that has never even met Jesus, asks him for sight. Which of these people was really blind? The actual healing part of this story doesn’t take long at all. Jesus says to Bartimaeus, “Go; your faith has made you well.” There’s no spit or mud or touching or hand waving or fancy words. Jesus just tells him to go. That’s it. But the surprising part of this story is not the healing power of Jesus. It’s not the faith of the disciples. It’s not the size of the crowd. The surprising piece of this story is the faith of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road. Because Bartimaeus didn’t shut up when people told him to. He didn’t ask Jesus to come to him. He didn’t question whether or not Jesus could heal him. No. Throughout the story Bartimaeus shows a faith greater than almost anyone else in the gospel of Mark. He calls out to Jesus for mercy, calling even louder when the crowd tries to silence him. And he doesn’t use his blindness as an excuse to stay where he is. Instead he throws off his cloak, his one security blanket, leaps up and runs over to Jesus when he is called. Then when Jesus asks him what he wants, he clearly states his need. Bartimaeus is the surprise of this story. Now in El Salvador, before Archbishop Romero was assassinated, he was told that it would be dangerous to celebrate Mass in such a public place where many people, including his enemies, knew he would be. He replied that even if he was killed, that he be resurrected in the people of El Salvador. I visited “Equipo Maiz”, an organization dedicated to educating the people of El Salvador about their country’s history, including the civil war. I met people working for “Las Dignas”, a group working to improve the lives of women in the country. And I visited a couple of Basic Christian Communities, where they work together to improve the lives of those in their community and strive for the kingdom of God. And I began to realize that even though the powerful in that country have been working to silence the poor, the disabled, and the oppressed, the voice of Oscar Romero lives on still, in the very people he died to protect. He has indeed been resurrected in the people of El Salvador. Just as Bartimaeus was unwilling to be silenced by the crowd around him, the people of El Salvador refuse to be silenced. They are beginning to speak out for what they need. How many of us can state clearly what we want? If God asked you today, what do you want me to do for you, what would you say? Would you ask for power and prestige, as James and John did? Or would you ask to see again, as Bartimaeus did? Because we are all blind in some way. Couldn’t we all use healing? Don’t we all have our own personal infirmities that we need healing for? The very first step of Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit that you have a problem. If we can admit that we have a problem and if we truly want healing, The healing power of God is there. Because we worship a loving God. We worship a God who wants what is best for us. But we also worship a God who will not choose for us. In order to receive healing, we have to be willing to receive that healing. The end of the story of Bartimaeus is short and sweet. When he is able to see again, Bartimaeus follows Jesus on the way. And so Bartimaeus becomes a model for what it means to be a disciple, one who follows Jesus on the way. It’s not an easy way. It’s a life of giving all we are to God and others. But it is a joyful way. This is the best part of asking God for what we want. Because after I receive God’s healing and I can see again, then I too can follow Jesus on the way. Thanks be to God. |
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