Jayne Slawson

Scripture: Mark 10: 46-52

When it comes to exercise I need lots of internal and external persuasion to keep motivated. The season of spring helps to boost my resolve and where else in the world can you walk or run, play soccer or baseball, golf, swim, bike, hike in as beautiful of surroundings as we have in Nelson.

Spring encourages us indoor exercisers to get out into the fresh air and take in the scenic beauty, which in itself has to be just as healthy. This past April as I was on the homeward stretch of my first out door run for the year, along Lakeside Park I tripped and fell, deeply gashing the left side of my face, my knees and my hands. I was doing what I so often find myself doing — "multi-gawking"... I was looking over at the other side of the lake and didn't see the uneven edge of the sidewalk under my feet ahead of me. That was the last time I went for a run outside this year. When I ask myself why I stopped, I could list a number of reasons: maybe I wasn't meant to be a jogger, maybe I drag my feet too much, maybe I was too old to be running, I am over 50 now. What if I had broken a bone, recieved a head injury, put an eye out, needed surgery, couldn't work, what if ? ... It was these what if's that allowed me to put up road blocks, blinding me from seeing past this one incident, and thereby giving up and closing the door to ever seeing running as a possibility again.

Then comes the story of Bartimaeus, a blind man who faced many road blocks in his life. Many of which he had no control over. Bartimaeus lived in a time when there was no assistance for those without sight . Some people considered blindness a punishment from a sin committed. The blind had few options in life. Begging was a kind of sanctioned financial system for those lucky enough to be allowed to beg. They were the forgotten, powerless people of this world.

This day begins like any other for Bartimaeus. He finds his way to the roadside where crowds pass by during the day and where he begs in hope for enough to live for another day. But this day will end differently. An encounter with Jesus will change his life forever.

Mark places the healing miracle of blind Bartimaeus between the story of the disciples squabbling over who would be the greatest in Jesus' kingdom and the story of Jesus enterance into Jerusalem and being hailed by the crowds as the Son of David. It is as though Mark is telling the story of Bartimaeus, not just for the fact of the physical healing miracle, but to focus on what it means to see in a spiritual way. For neither the disciples or the Jerusalem crowds see Jesus at all, yet a blind man does. And not only does this blind man see who Jesus is he makes the choice to follow him. The crowds will eventually call for Jesus crucifiction and the disciples will hide, deny and betray him, only to finally see the real Jesus after the ressurection.

Why is it that the blind man sees and those with sight do not? Bartimaeus obviously had heard about Jesus and his ability to heal. Jesus' ability to heal in itself interested people enough to go out to see him and to follow him, but not enough for them to recognize Jesus for who he was. Even though Bartimaeus was physically unsighted he has insight into who Jesus is.

In this small passage we see how this happens: Bartimaeus calls out, "Jesus, Son of David". Strangely, Jesus does not challenge this identification. The crowds try to silence Bartimaeus, but Jesus does not. Bartimaeus picks up on this and persistently calls out again, "Jesus, Son of David". Jesus stops everything and goes to Bartimaeus. Think of the obstacles here. Jesus has followers who do not fully understand his mission, there are detractors in the crowd who dog him all the way to Jerusalem and Calvary. He is about to enter the worst week of his earthly life—but he stops!

Bartimaeus has been able to identify Jesus as the Messiah due to Jesus' silence and not refuting this identification. But Bartimaeus sees deeper. Bartimaeus's persistent call and Jesus achnowledgement of Bartimaeus call, allows Bartimaeus to see that God is close to all of us in every circumstance and available to our earnest cries for help and hope, and Jesus stopping to go to Bartimaeus acknowledged Jesus compassion — Christ cares for each and everyone of us as if there was only one to care for! Whether a lost sheep, a lost coin or a runaway son, he cares for all who need care.

Bartimaeus offers us a portrait of what faith looks like. "Faith is needy, Faith is eager. Faith is assertive. Faith is hopeful. Faith is impetous and persistent and risky and raw. Faith is personal and relational. Faith ends something and faith begins something. Faith is about God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves, and faith is about us doing for God what only we can do. Most of all, faith often leads us to places we would just as soon not go." Listen to how Mark's words describe Bartimaeus, he begs, he shouts, he shouts louder, he jumps up, he throws off, and, immediately, he follows. He follows Jesus all the way to the cross.

There is nothing cool or careful about Bartimaeus, nothing proper, pious or proud, no mirage of self-suficiency to distance him from Jesus. There is just uppity persistence, honest need, and in offering that need assertively and eagerly to Jesus, Bartimaeus finds purpose, faith, he finds new life. Jesus instead of giving us just what we want, makes us do most of the work. Jesus asks " What do you want me to do for you?" And from this simple question is the answer of mature faith, "I want to see...I want to see the way things really are so that I can follow you Jesus, wherever you may lead me."( Dr. Susan Andrews, Presbyterian Moderator)

Sometimes to see with the new eyes of Bartimaeus is to see all the beauty and all the wonder and grace of God's breath taking creation and sometimes it is to see the cruelty and greed of a world in pain and fear.

Mike Riddle in his book, Sacred Journey, tells this story:

A couple with a small son lived in a cottage. They made a reasonable living for themselves, but had little left over for extra's. It happened that the wife's father was widowed and left alone. Somewhat reluctantly, the couple invited him to come and live with them. He gladly accepted. The couple became intolerant of his ways, especially at the dinner table, where he would tell the same old stories and jokes, and slip extra food to his grandson beside him. Over time the old man grew a little confused. He forgot what he had said a few moments ago: sometimes he even forgot where he was. What upset his daughter and son-in-law most was that he became a noisy and messy eater. He would slurp and belch and spray food out of his mouth onto the table. Oftentimes he would raise his plate to his mouth to scoop food into it, and because his grip was weak he frequently dropped the plates and broke them. Eventually, in frustration, the couple banished him from the dinner table to sit at a small table in the corner of the room. They gave him a wooden bowl to eat out of so that it wouldn't shatter when he dropped it. Their young son was sad to have lost his grandfather from the table. One day the boy's mother came across him carving a piece of wood with a knife. "What's that your making?" she asked her son. "Oh", said the boy, "I'm carving some bowls out of wood so that I will have them ready for when you and father reach old age". Slowly tears fell down the cheeks of the mother. From that night on, they invited her father back to the talbe, and gave him fine china to eat from.