Homily, Sunday October 22, 2021
Bartimaeus
Mark 10:46-52
It is such a short story
Just a few verses
It almost causes a sleepy yawn (I can make myself yawn…who knew;)
…another story about Jesus healing a blind man
…or is it??? ;) ;)
In these few verses
THERE. ARE. SURPRISES. EVERYWHERE!!!
I’m guessing that all of you have heard the phrase
…related to real estate:
“Location, location, location”
Experiencing all the SURPRISES in this text
Is all about location
Throughout this liturgical year
We have been following the arc of the Story of Jesus
Through the lens of Mark and the Marcan community
Since early September we have been hearing
from the mid-section of Mark’s Gospel
It is called the “Journey Narrative”
Jesus is always coming and going from various towns
…always heading to Jerusalem
This section is bookended by two stories
Two stories about blind men who regain their sight
The first one…which we did not read on Sunday…
Is a gradual healing story
Jesus takes the action
He spits into the blind man’s eyes
At first he only partially sees…people look like trees
And then Jesus gives it a second go to completion
The purpose of this first bookend story is to prepare the hearers…us
for just how difficult it is to change the way we see
To see with fresh eyes.
Jesus has an agenda as he journeys toward Jerusalem
He wants his disciples to “get it”
To “get it” deeply enough to survive what will happen in Jerusalem.
Their heads are full of false expectations
…of Conquering Messiahs not Suffering Servants.
They need fresh eyes.
The SURPRISES are not just in today’s text
They are all over this section
2 weeks ago: SURPRISE!
The pious young rich man
Who calls Jesus “Good Teacher”
A very observant Jew
Follows all the commandments
“Since birth” the text says
SURPRISE! He is the one who fails the discipleship test!
He can’t take that next step toward following Jesus.
And last week
SURPRISE!
The disciples, the ones who have been hanging out with Jesus
The ones who have benefitted from private tutoring!
They are caught…it is comical:
“Teacher…we wish you to do whatever we ask you”
“Well then…O brilliant ones,
what do you wish that I should do for you?”
“Grant us that we should sit
one at your right hand and one at your left
…IN YOUR GLORY”
It is surprising who doesn’t “get it”
And it’s more surprising WHO DOES!
The outsiders
Those who know nothing!
Those who have never read the prophets
Never been to the Temple
The Syrophoenician woman
The Little children
(who count for nothing in the ancient near-east)
And this week
A BLIND BEGGER!
And he has a name
In an honor-shame society
His name means “son of honor”
This would cause lots of eyebrows to raise
Bartimeaus is clearly on the shame side of the Honor-Shame divide!
Everyone want Bartimaeus to quiet down
“SHUT UP” the disciples and the crowd say
“Be quiet
Stay on your beggar’s mat
Don’t bother the Teacher”
But… Bartimaeus…shouts all the more loudly
“Jesus, Son of David (where did he get that?)…Have Mercy on Me!”
BUT the biggest surprise of all is how Bartimaeus responds
“He threw off his outer garment
Sprang up, and came to Jesus”
Remember, the Rich Young Man who couldn’t take that next step.
But here is Bartimaeus
throwing off his one and only possession!
A beggar’s cloak…it’s his protection, it’s his warmth, it’s his roof, it’s his home.
And Jesus, echoing exactly what he earlier asked his disciples, says
“What do you wish that I should do for you?”
They asked for POWER…to sit at the right and the left
Bartimaeus asks for the gift of sight
Everything the disciples got wrong
Bartimaeus gets right
The surprise of Bartimaeus
Puts a question to us
Just as it did to the disciples
Following is hard
We are taught NOT to follow
NOT to be “followers”
The very word is derogatory
But it isn’t being a follower that’s the problem, is it?
Its choosing to follow the wrong person…
It’s bad choosing that can cause our own suffering
The Bartimaeus question is
Why am I still clinging to my cloak?
What IS my cloak?
What is it that keeps me from choosing well?
Surprise!
This is much more than a healing story
This is a call story
A call for me and for you
Jesus told Bartimaeus to GO
But he didn’t GO
He came.
He followed Jesus.
Wherever that might lead.
His faith saved him, the story says
He is set free to choose
To go or to follow…he chooses well.
Thursday at the Food Pantry
Some of us experienced a kind of Bartimaeus moment
One of the Pantry’s clients
After having loaded her groceries into her car
Came back in, to the sign in desk…
Mary Ellen and Peggy were sitting there
I was visiting them since my station was empty…
This client came back in
She leaned on the check in table
And reminded us “Don’t forget” she said
“Don’t forget…always, always, give GOD the Glory”
After she left
There was a palpable quiet
Her proclamation of faith surprised us…
And in receiving her witness
In some way…for me…I believe…
My own faith was deepened
For Mark
Miracles don’t produce faith
Miracles are experienced by people with faith
I don’t know
But the Food Pantry
Just might have been a miracle for that woman on that Thursday
It seemed that way to me
And her exuberant profession of faith
Was. Contagious.
It caused Peggy and I to struggle to remember that childhood song
“Rise and shine and give God the glory glory”
I think…I believe…she helped to remove some blindness.
Miracles don’t produce faith
It is faith that gives us the eyes to see them
To see God in all things
And…I don’t know
Maybe THIS is a miracle
Our being here today???
Gathered as a community at worship
In word
And remembrance
And sacrament
ALL so that when we go from here…
We go with our sight a bit keener
And maybe
Like Bartimaeus…and the woman at the food pantry…
We might profess exuberantly
And in a contagious way
our faith that Christ has set us free
…Free to toss aside our cloak.
Free to love and to serve
All the way to Jerusalem!
