Year B, Pentecost 23 Mark 10:46-52 The Gospel readings from Mark over the last few weeks have not been easy. The disciples have made some serious missteps. They have misunderstood Jesus, argued with Jesus, bickered amongst themselves about who is the greatest, and requested special seats of honor. I have struggled with these readings not because I am horrified by the disciples’ words or actions, but because I can identify with the disciples in so many of their words and actions. I know their fear and anxiety because I often feel that fear and anxiety.
Today’s reading is a welcome reprieve from the readings
of the last month---finally, a simple miracle story. I mean, who doesn’t love a good miracle story?
Often commentators talk about Bartimaeus as an example of what discipleship
should look like. They contrast him to the story we heard earlier in chapter
10. That story was about a rich man who
had come to Jesus and asked him what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus reminded him of the commandments and
the man confirmed he had followed them all. Then Jesus told him he needed to
sell all he had and give his money to the poor—then he could follow him. The man went away grieving because he had so
many possessions. We don’t know what happened to the man, but it would appear
that he did not become a disciple of Jesus.
Bartimaeus provides a perfect foil for the story of the
rich man. What we know of Bartimaeus is this: he was a blind beggar. That’s all
we know. If he was begging on the
streets, we can assume he had few resources.
It would also seem that he had few friends supporting him. When he initially called out to Jesus from
the crowd, he was sternly ordered to be quiet.
There are other stories in the gospels where friends or family advocated
for someone needing Jesus’ help. This is
not one of those stories. Since he didn’t have anyone advocating for him, he
had to advocate for himself. He had to
be as persistent and bold as possible. Despite being ordered to be quiet, he
continued to call out to Jesus. Jesus
always appreciated persistence and asked him to come forward.
He had most likely heard about Jesus. He had probably
heard that he was a miracle worker---perhaps even more than a miracle worker.
But given the fact that he was blind, he was totally going off what other
people had told him. What he had was faith. In chapter 11 of Hebrews, we are
told that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.” He had more than faith, he had desperate faith. Often times desperation makes us do idiotic
things. But sometimes, faith with a
little desperation can enable us to believe and reach in ways that comfortably
content people cannot possibly imagine.
Bartimaeus took a risk in
giving up his most valuable possession and in the end gained his sight. And here is a crazy thing, he didn’t call out
and say, “Jesus, help me.” or “Jesus, heal me.” He said, “Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me.” He understood something that the rich man didn’t understand, that before we can be
saved, before we can reach eternal life, we must first ask for mercy, from the
one person, the God who can grant it. Mercy.
Now you might think, well it was probably easier for him
to give up a cloak than the rich guy to give up everything….which was probably
the point of Jesus saying, how hard it was for those who have wealth to enter
the kingdom of heaven. The more you have, the harder it is to let go. Anybody who has downsized a house gets that.
I have experienced the reverse recently. Since we are living in the rectory of
my husband’s church and the rector who originally lived there had six children,
we live in a much larger house than I am accustomed to. Every time I walk in, I
think, “we need more furniture.” We
don’t need more furniture, but all those empty rooms seem to be mocking me. So for the first time in my life, I
understand that need to acquire more things to fill empty space.
Now it’s highly unlikely that any of us are going to sell
everything we have. But there are
disciplines we can add to our life that enables us to prioritize what we do
with our stuff. The first time I pledged to a church was when I was 22
attending a Catholic Church. I gave $10 a week and I was proud of that. I felt very adult in making that pledge. Then
I decided to start investing because a friend was working at an investment firm
and he went through my budget with me. He asked me how much I spent on certain
things---what I gave to charity and the very next question was how much I spent
on entertainment. I had to admit that I
spent more on entertainment then I did on charity. I was embarrassed, but not enough to change
my spending.
It was really not until
after I was ordained that I made giving a priority…where I budgeted the
essentials like housing & food and then the very next thing was what I gave
to charity. It took me about 10 years, but eventually I got to 10%. There have been a few years since then when I
could not make 10%, sometimes not anywhere close to that. But I have realized
that the more resources I have, the more effort I have to put in to giving more
of myself. It requires more
intentionality in my life. That is one
of the reasons why the act of creating a pledge and writing it down has always
been meaningful to me.
After Bartimaeus sprang up and threw off his cloak, Jesus
asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Bartimaeus answered, “My teacher, let me see again.” I think it’s important that we consider this
question that Jesus asked of Bartimaeus, which is the same question he asked
his disciples earlier in the Gospel.
What do we want Jesus to do for us?
But since it’s our Ingathering and we are talking about stewardship, it
might also be a good time to wonder, what does Jesus want of us? Once Bartimaeus
was given his sight, he immediately followed Jesus. We often focus on how we can follow Jesus,
but what Bartimaeus shows us is that there is a step that comes before the
following part. Before we can follow
Jesus, we have to be willing to let go of something. He threw off his cloak so he could run to
Jesus. What might be holding us
back…both as individuals and as a church? What do we need to release or give away
so that we can rise up and follow?