What Do You Want Jesus To Do?
Preacher: Marcia C. Wilkinson

October 29, 2006

Mark 10: 46-52

Today’s gospel account of the blind man receiving his sight occurs when Jesus and his disciples are part of a large crowd heading for Jerusalem from the city of Jericho about 20 miles away.  Jesus had already announced that his death would be brutal but his resurrection would follow.  All of these things were coming very soon.

How curious that the blind man is given a name in this story where in the other story of the blind man healed, he is not named.  Scholars point to the fact that his naming might shed a deeper meaning.  Bartimaeus, son of Timeaus, the relationship between father and son, is an indication that the blind man was once associated with a prominent family, but, was now regarded as an object of wretchedness. His blindness and having to beg for his living were proof that in one way or another, B. was a social outcast.

His cry is simply, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  Notice he did not ask at first to receive his sight, only for Jesus to recognize him and his need for help.  It was only after Jesus called him over and the crowd encouraged him to take heart, to get up, and go to Jesus, did the dynamic moment of meeting take place.   B. who cried out to Jesus, was heard, and told to come alongside Jesus.  Notice that B. needed the support of others nearby.  But once activated he was so eager and excited to get to Jesus that he threw off his cloak, maybe his only possession, and abandoned his place on the street to go to Jesus.

When B. is asked “What do you want me to do for you?” he replied, “My teacher let me see again.”  The interesting thing here is that Rabbi is not used in the ordinary use of the title.  It is rather like the word Rabbouni used by Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb when Jesus called her Mary, and she recognized him as her Lord.  B. held a devotion and reverence for Jesus that went deep, and deeper than the generic title Rabbi.  He recognized and acknowledged that Jesus was profoundly more than a teacher.
    
In B.’s blindness, we see the awful helplessness of fallen humanity.  He knew his need, and he responded by calling out to Jesus, for mercy, for healing.  His sight is restored not by healing actions on Jesus’ part, but by Jesus’ simple declaration:  Your faith has made you well.  Here the Greek verb signifies that he not only received a physical cure but the gift of salvation.  And, that brings us back to the use of his name in the story.
 He was blind and needed his sight.  But he was a man who needed to be spiritually saved as well.  Because of Jesus’ mercy his state of darkness was met with light, and he was given eyes to see the world and his inner soul as well.

The theme that strikes me in this gospel is this; our all powerful God who wants to save us does not coerce our will or preempt our free response.  We must first acknowledge our own helplessness in order to receive.  Then, we must speak our desire for God to help us, to save and heal us.  The amazing thing is B. cried for mercy, mercy that Jesus would receive him.  But when Jesus asked him what he wanted specifically, he spoke the desire of his heart- to receive his sight.  In crying out to be saved by the one he knew could save, Jesus gave him his love gift of grace, and total healing.

Even if the blind man had not been given his physical sight, he would still have received his spiritual sight, and therefore made well, because he leaned on Jesus’ power and will and grace.  How many of us today have been sitting along the roadside of our lives not moving toward personal contact with Christ?  We have blinders on regarding our spiritual destination, and content to let life takes its own course.  We remain preoccupied with the things of our personal worlds.  And, in a parallel vein, how many of us see each other waiting for Christ to come alongside but do not offer encouragement to go to Jesus for he is calling?

Bartemaeus knew that he was blind.  We may be sighted, but do we have a vision that resembles God’s vision?  Do we see through His eyes with clarity and the way of kingdom power?  Or, is our vision distorted, and maybe lacking altogether?
If we are to be clear sighted people of the kingdom in today’s world, we must recognize our blind spots, those vision problems that keep us from living into the gospel.  And, then we must trust that God is listening to us when we cry out for God to have mercy on us. 
           
Our other readings this morning help us to recognize some blind spots to bring before the Lord.

1. (Isaiah 59: 1-4; 9-19) We have not faced our need to call upon the Lord for health and help in our community- to answer the grief in our hearts.   Instead, we have allowed the enemy to get inside our walls and shake us and make us question God’s truth in his church.
2. (Hebrews 5: 12-6: 1, 9-12) We have become dull in our understanding and although we have been taught the disciplines of God’s word we need to be taught again.  The basic elements of God’s oracles are necessary if we are to be his people set apart for the kingdom.
3. (Hebrews 5: 12- 6: 1, 9-12) We have forgotten the need for honest repentance.  Having tasted the good life in Christ and the goodness of God’s promise, we have become complacent.   We need to repent and cry out for mercy again and again.

A question for us this morning: Is it possible that these blind spots have become barriers between us and God so that God cannot hear us?  The prophet Isaiah says it best:  “we wait for light and yet there is darkness; and for brightness but we walk in gloom.  We grope like the blind along a wall, groping like those who have no eyes; we stumble… for our transgressions before God are many and our sins testify against us… The Lord saw it and it displeased him… he saw that there was no one to intervene. So his own arm brought him victory” (Isaiah 59: 9b-16).  And, his name is Jesus.
  
The promised Messiah came, and the Prophet Isaiah words came to pass.  “And as for me, this is my covenant with them says the Lord:  my spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.”  That is God’s promise for us to today, for those who come to him asking for his mercy.

So, what do you want me to do for you Jesus is asking?

My hope is that we seek God’s mercy and cry out to him to bring awareness and healing to our blind spots so that we might see more clearly his vision for us.   Firstly, I pray for God to visit us in this community of faith at All Saints’ to answer the grief in our hearts- so that we can build God’s truth in his church with the power of His Holy Spirit.  Secondly, I pray that we would be reinvigorated by God’s word and find joy in learning, relearning, and living into the ways of God- so that our light will shine from this place, and God will be honored.

This is the healing Christ wants for us if we will come to him.  And, I believe God is calling us to today from the various roadsides of our lives, to get up, take the step without fear, and walk to where he is waiting.

Amen