Believing is Seeing and Doing: Sermon Mark 10:46-52

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

Well there he was Bartimaeus, blind, homeless, but this had not always been the case. He once had a family, a job, a house, kids, the whole works. He was active at the local synagogue, he never missed a Sabbath. He would tell his children stories of their forefathers. How Jacob had wrestled with God and God changed his name to Israel. He told them about how Abraham had faith in God enough to bring his own son Isaac to the altar to be sacrificed but God had stopped him just in time and about how God had used Moses to lead the Israelites out of the depths of slavery and into the light of freedom. Then things started to change, he started to get these real bad headaches and his vision would become blurry. At first he did not allow this to bother him but kept on working and living, but eventually the blurred vision got worse and worse and eventually he could barely see his wife and children. He told them to leave and go live with her father because he wouldn’t be able to support them or protect them. Then things went black and that’s the way it was.

He would struggle to find small pieces of food that were left outside of houses. He would lay his cloak on the ground so people could throw their loose change on the ground next to him. Most people avoided him altogether because in those days many people felt that blindness was caused by sinfulness either by the person or by their parents, so they were avoided. He was dirty. No one would help him find a place to bathe, no one had the time nor did they have the desire and that’s the way it was for years. He struggled to survive, always hungry and thirsty and everything always black.

Despite all the hardships that he faced he still loved God. He remember the stories that he told his children and he saw in his mind the people in those stories and how God always came through for them in the end. Now Bartimaeus always sat next to the road so he could be seen by more people and hopefully get more money and while he sat he listen to the people passing by. The conversation lately had been about this guy named Jesus who had healed people, even blind people. Some had even said that he was the messiah that had come to redeem Israel. Bartimaeus thought, “Wow, if only that Jesus guy would come around here.”

Then one day there was a commotion. There were more people on the road than usual and then he heard the name, Jesus. He was coming. Should he say something? Would Jesus come to him? Could he restore his vision? Something deep inside said “Yes, call out the name.” Bartimaeus opened his mouth.

Bartimaeus had a recognition of power and authority. We do the same thing. If we had a broken leg we wouldn’t go to AutoZone to have it fixed. We would go to the emergency room. If the doctor came in overalls, we might have a few questions, but if he was in a white coat, with a stethoscope and a pocket protector we would have no problem. Even though it might be some Joe Schmo from the street dressed as a doctor, we recognize the uniform as power and authority; we don’t ask for credentials or references, we simply accept what we experience. That’s why it is illegal to impersonate a doctor or a policeman; we recognize their authority and power without question.

Bartimaeus recognized Jesus’ authority, but how? Jesus didn’t have on a uniform, even if he did Bartimaeus was blind he couldn’t see him anyway. He had heard stories, but he had heard rumors before. No, Bartimaeus’ recognition came from a deeper place within him.

We have that some recognition of Jesus. I mean we have never seen Jesus. We see pictures of what Jesus may have looked like, but they are just artistic renditions. Our recognition originates from a different sense than sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing, but from a spiritual sense. God’s prevenient grace, which comes before anything, even before our recognition of who God is, gives us the recognition of the power of God and the power of Christ. It is grace that allowed us to have that first moment with God, when God was not just a figure in Sunday school or in the Bible but God became personal, a friend.

When Bartimaeus had a recognition of power, he still had a choice to make, act on that recognition or let it pass by. He could have let the power and authority, the grace of God, pass by and remain in darkness. Instead, Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He address Jesus by name and by title, Son of David was a messianic title and was reserved for the redeemer of Israel and Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to become the redeemer of not only Israel but also the redeemer of the world. Don’t we cry out as well? When we get to the last point, the straw that breaks the camel’s back, don’t we cry out to Jesus? “Help me, Jesus.” Have mercy, Jesus” Or simply, “Jesus” When we have recognition of power, when we realize that only God can help us in whatever situation we are in, we must act upon it. God’s grace not only gives us the ability to perceive God’s power and God’s love but it also gives us the strength to respond to it. Unlike Bartimaeus however, we are not limited to a once in a lifetime response, but even as mature Christians we continually respond to the gift of grace and power in our lives.

Why does Bartimaeus cry out and why does Jesus respond to his cries? Bartimaeus had a genuine need. He was blind, poor, dirty, and alone. He had lost his family, his friends, his possessions, and his sight. Jesus responds to Bartimaeus with the same question that he asks James and John a few verses before. “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus’ reply, “My teacher, let me see again.” Why does Jesus ask Bartimaeus this question? Was it not obvious to Jesus that the man was blind? Was Jesus not very observant? Or did Jesus want to make a point. James and John had asked for something very selfish and individualistic, to be on both sides of Jesus in glory. They were blind, but not in the same way as Bartimaeus, spiritually James and John were blind and yet Bartimaeus could see clearly. Jesus’ healing of Bartimaeus was not just a healing, but a restoration. Jesus reconnected Bartimaeus to a community and Bartimaeus wanted to become a part of that community, while James and John wanted to separate themselves from the community. Do we have any needs? Are they selfish wants or selfless needs? Our deepest need, whether we want to admit it or not is a relationship with God. We are programmed from day one to be in communion with God, but God gives us the power of choice, we can accept God’s invitation to connection or reject it for our own desires. We are faced daily, even as lifelong Christians, with this choice. Am I going to do for God today, or for myself? Am I going to spend today in connection and in conversation with God or am I going to satisfy my own selfish wants and desires?

What is Jesus’ response to Bartimaeus? “Go; your faith has made you well.” It is interesting to see that Jesus says that faith is the healing mechanism and it was Bartimaeus’ faith not Jesus’ faith that made him well. It was Bartimaeus’ response to the recognition of power or his response to God’s grace through Christ that made him well.

John Wesley referred to faith as a response to God’s love. Our faith is not born out of nothing, it does not come out of thin air, but it is a response to the love of God shown in God’s grace. It was Bartimaeus’ response to God’s initial contact through grace that made him well. Our response to our recognition of power or grace is also a restoration and a reconnection. Through the death and resurrection of Christ we are reconnected to God and we are reconnected with a community called the Body of Christ, the church. We might not be blind, physically but spiritually we are waling around aimlessly. Our spiritual vision is black as night, but God still initiates reconnection through grace. We must respond to it and the power of grace, the same grace that made the first contact, gives us the power to make that response.

That’s the end of the story, right? Not quite. What does Bartimaeus do once he has been restored? “Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.” He followed him, who, Jesus. This is the birth of a disciple, because restoration, rebirth, justification, or reconnection whatever you want to call it is not the end of the journey, but only the beginning. We don’t simply restore our connection with God and then leave it be. We don’t become part of a community only to not engage in it. The cross and resurrection of Jesus is not only for restoration but it is also a place at the table. It is an opportunity to spread God’s love in the world here and now. We don’t receive the fire of the Holy Spirit, the connection with God, only to sit it in the corner or in the closet, but instead we must take it up use it and follow Jesus on the way.

We see a four step process. We must have recognition of power, a response to that power, a restoration through that power, and a continuation in the power. All of this is done in the power of grace. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.