Before we follow: October 27, 2024

 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. 

The gospel author wrote, “So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.”  He threw off his cloak.  Given that he was a blind man begging on the streets, it’s very likely that his cloak was his most important possession.  He didn’t have three other cloaks hanging in a closet somewhere. To throw that cloak off was in incredible display of faith. He either knew that Jesus would give him his sight, or he believed that someone would help him find that cloak again.  That means to get this cloak back, he required a miracle or the kindness of the strangers who were trying to silence him. He gave up his most important possession for the opportunity to be in the presence of Jesus and the chance that he might see.

            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?