October 28, 2018
Jer 31:7-9; Heb 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52
Brookdale
Do you ever wonder why we are sitting here listening to the Scriptures and sharing communion, when the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket out there? We all have our own problems, including some pretty serious health issues. And when we read the newspaper or watch the news, it gets worse. Politically, our nation’s leaders seem to be becoming more corrupt and uncaring. Many of our church leaders have been found guilty of shielding the worst sort of evildoers. So why are we here?
Well, today we’re here to hear about Bartimaeus, a man who had the same kinds of problems as we do, only a long time ago. Bartimaeus was blind, and he didn’t live at Brookdale, with wonderful caring people to look after him. He lived on the street and lived by begging. His country didn’t just have corrupt leaders, like Herod; it was ruled by a foreign power, as if Russia or China ruled this country and extorted heavy taxes from us. And his church was run by priests who were supported by onerous temple taxes and cared more about purity offerings and their clerical robes and privileges than about poor people like Bartimaeus. So Bartimaeus understood personal suffering and political and religious corruption.
Jesus met Bartimaeus outside of Jericho at the end of his walk from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he would denounce the priests, the scribes, and the temple tax.
Now Bartimaeus may be blind, but he does “see” that Jesus is special and can help him. And he really wants help. So he calls out to Jesus. When people around him tell him he’s embarrassing and should shut up, he calls out even louder. But Jesus responds, as he always responds to true seekers. So the bystanders encourage Bartimaeus, and he throws aside his cloak and approaches Jesus.
Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Duh! Bartimaeus is blind! Does Jesus think he wants a color TV or a sports car? But this is an important question. Bartimaeus needs to see, but what does he really want to see? That is what Jesus is asking.
This parable is not just a miracle story to tell us that Jesus could do anything. This story about Bartimaeus is a story aimed at us. It’s about spiritual blindness. We are spiritually and emotionally blind, as individuals and as a society. We do not understand the world around us, or “see” what we ought to do. Think about it. For centuries, Christians persecuted Jews as “Christ-killers.” They didn’t see that the Jews they hated included Jesus, Mary, and all the apostles! Nineteenth century Americans boasted about liberty and equality while owning slaves. Thank goodness, we’re not like them. But what are we blind about?
Jesus often talks about spiritual blindness. We don’t see—understand—that God’s values are different from ours and better than ours. The disciples listen to Jesus preach against status and then ask to be first in the kingdom of God. I’m sure we do the same. God help us, bishops have covered up for pedophile priests, thinking that would protect God’s church. How blind (and evil) is that?
Bartimaeus wants to see, and Jesus enables him to see. He can enable us to see. But we might not like what we see. Maybe I’ll see that I’m in the wrong; maybe I’ll see that what I thought was important is just trivial; maybe I’ll even see that my critics have a point. Seeing clearly will surely bring some pain. Are we ready for that?
When Jesus gave Bartimaeus the gift of sight, he told him, “Go your way.” The Gospel tells us that Bartimaeus followed Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. “The way” was how the first Christians described what they were doing. They were following Jesus in the way that he taught them, the Way of loving neighbor and trying to live according to God’s values. They were trying to make the world a better place by seeing as Jesus saw and being better people and living as Jesus had taught them.