Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church

October 25, 2009

Introduction to Second Reading

Timing can be key. Can’t it? When-something-happens informs the meaning that gets attached. When-stuff-happens influences what happens next…what’s said next or done. Timing can open or close doors, or…shed light like in our second reading today from the end of the tenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. With today’s story of miraculous healing, Mark closes the door on Jesus’ ministry outside Jerusalem. His next chapter opens onto details of the day we call Palm Sunday.

And add to timing location, well, that helps sharpen on what there is to see. The location of our text is the prominent city of Jericho which, in Jesus’ day was cosmopolitan, wealthy and bustling. A hub for trade, connections, and deal, and home to beautiful palaces occupied by Jerusalem’s aristocracy in winter. In such a city, it’d have been interesting to know who Jesus visited and talked with while there…but Mark tells us only that Jesus and his disciples came and left, because Mark is more interested in our seeing a blind man sitting in the dirt on the outskirts of Jericho. 

So, let’s imagine we’re one of the busiest and most important of roads in the area, teeming with people, animals, carts; some in a hurry, some making little or no progress. There’s noise, dust, the commotion… Up, ahead travelers finally have got Jerusalem in their sights, their goal. But, of course, to see their goal, they have to look over the heads of the poor, the broken, and the dispossessed that litter by the side of the road. We join the crowd around Jesus, traveling with him, hoping to learn of him. Listen…

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When [Bartimaeus] heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So, throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately [Bartimaeus] regained his sight and followed [Jesus] on the way.

Here our text for today ends….may God bless to our understanding this reading from the Word.

For Protestants – especially Lutherans, today’s a day to celebrate. Why? Because, this is the Sunday closest to October 31^st on which, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his theses or statements of concern on the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany, thus, giving rise to the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe. Our roots as Presbyterians are in that Reformation, and Reformation Sunday offers us annually, an opportunity to celebrate our past, to lift up our distinct theological emphases and ponder God’s ongoing reformation of the body of Christ…. 

I’m particularly drawn with the latter, especially after Jim’s sermon last week. Though, before going on, we must pause with thanks, once again, for this year – 2009 - has included the 500^th anniversary of one of our founding father -John Calvin’s - birth. Born July 10^th, 1509, his vision still informs governance, worship, ministry and our stewardship of all we have received and are. Happy 500^th Birthday, John Calvin!

Honoring Calvin and continuing to embrace the Reformation’s famous cry “grace alone, faith alone”, we acknowledge today and give thought for another of the Reformation’s banners, ecclesia reformata semper reformanda” the church reformed and always reforming.   For, in today’s readings, at least for me, the pattern of reformation, (small “r”) cries out for notice. In both readings there is movement: a person in need cries – has cried – out in faith, the crier receives sight or insight through a personal encounter with God. Bartimaeus is changed. His past is over and done, the new for him has begun thanks to Jesus, likewise Job is at peace – of the sort the world cannot give - through his encounter with God.

 I think it’s safe to say, Biblical healing/restoration stories seem always to be about more than a reversal of physical misfortune. At Jesus’ word…the paralyzed stand and walk; an elderly, barren woman is with child, a child presumed dead, awakens, and Job’s health, not to mention family and fortune are not only restored but multiplied…and a number who “once were blind, now, see.”   The connections between seeing and believing are perhaps more obvious, revealing and strong. In each encounter with God, we see more about a person’s growing in faith than taking off dark glasses. In the reading from Job: Job had cried out in faith. He’d received a profound experience of God in the poetic language of a storm, and he’s given insight, such that he claims:, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.” In Mark’s story, blind Bartimaeus cries out, is called before Jesus, asks and receives.” 

And, since we’re celebrating Reformation Sunday, let’s go on. Luther strikes me as similar to Job or Bartimaeus in that he cried out in faith, for a long time but finally encountered God’s grace and mercy. The details of Calvin’s spiritual wandering and experience of God are sparse, but he too confesses to something happened along the way to gift him with first-hand knowledge of God.

Coming to see “who Jesus is” is the goal of faith, and it leads to deeper discipleship.   Only the un-blind can see where to follow. Job and Bartimaeus each do just that and then, we learn, in that new life, Job lives in comfort to an altogether unimaginable old age, while Bartimaeus, this last recruit in to the discipleship army, marches with Jesus toward Jerusalem, a palm branch in hand. 

In Bartimaeus’ story one hears echoes of the calling of Jesus’ first disciples, Peter & Andrew, James and John. Jesus called and the fishermen immediately left behind their nets – symbols of their old way of life – to follow him. Likewise, Bartimaeus threw off his old way too – the cloak spread on the ground before a beggar to collect coins. In this process of crying out in blindness, to seeing, it is Jesus/God who initiates. It’s the same for us on our journey of faith and I particularly like how John Shea, a contemporary writer and theologian names this process, “Our blind and begging condition makes us ready but it is the call of Jesus that raises us off the ground.” (John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers: Easting with the Bridegroom)

Our ancestors discovered as have we that while physical sight may not required for transformation or discipleship, openness to restoration by God is. Job suffered much and cried out a long–g-g-g time. Likewise, blind Bartimaeus tenaciously called Jesus from the gutter. His voice and spirit must have been desperately strong. He didn’t just murmur; he cried, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me,”   We can imagine the crowd and disciples shushing him in order to hurry along the way to Jerusalem. But Bartimaeus persisted, strong in both voice and spirit. The strength of both, it seems is necessary, because Jesus’ mercy requires participation. Jesus did not assume, nor did he provide what remains unseen or unspoken. Bartimaeus’ faith propelled his decision to speak his need, to claim his need and his sight was restored.

Those who call upon the Lord are restored, the Bible instructs. So, we ask: for what do we wish? And…how do we come to the point of being vulnerable enough return toward God? Sometimes it’s made to sound easy and quick. I confess to being fairly skeptical of the 180 degree, born-again, overnight kind of restoration.   Some changes may happen that way. I do know that changes, reformations, that endure unto the generations always are a process of relinquishment, letting something die so that something promising can be born, emerge, come into the light.. 

 Our turning to God, our crying out for direction/ for seeing a path forward can be described in many ways. Reformation is one of those ways. We don’t use that word much these days. But we do use a lot of its synonyms, which also begin with “r”: like “renovation, reorganization, restructure revitalization. The church, the corporate body of Christ, is a living voice that calls for the wandering to return and then host a restoration banquet. In order to fulfill this mission, the church – we – must constantly be reforming. And yet, most church folks know all too well that many “r” words can be fighting words in congregations, a source of conflict. The synonyms of reformation signal change and change is often heard as a synonym for “loss.” (Mary W. Anderson, CC 10/19=8/2003 p. 20)

We enjoy 20/20 hindsight on THE Reformation past. And we are also humbly aware of a certain blindness lodged within us before present needs for reformation or restoration. And we remember there were certain citizens in 16^th century Geneva who did not embrace John Calvin was the greatest thing since sliced bread. We remember that not everyone in our Presbyterian domination in the 1950’s vote in the affirmative that women as well as men should be minister of the Word and Sacrament. And, moving this beyond the church, not everyone was inspired in 1963 by Martin Luther King, jr’s “I have a Dream” speech. As Dr. King preached and protested in the 1960’s, many of the adults in my life were shaking their southern heads and lamenting all the trouble he was causing. Decades later, this “troublemaker” is a martyr and a hero, whose birthday is a national holiday. For those of us of a certain age, our children and grandchildren shake their heads at the stories we know first hand. They just can’t believe such things took place in their relatives’ lifetimes. Reformation….restoration by God, we need it.

It is the rhythm of faithful discipleship that moves us, on occasion, to be troublemakers and with God’s help to become humble witnesses to what God intends in this life. So, on this Reformation Sunday, I am less interested in how the church was reformed, and more …in recalling the lessons of reformation: Reformations teach us that we continue to need reform and asks us to claim: the corners of the church, of society, in need of reformation. ‘Call us to ask: Where are our blind spots? And who’s calling from the sidelines, like Bartimaeus, to be noticed by those in the mainstream, on the way? What do we allow to go unchallenged today that will one day cause our grandchildren to shake their heads at how blind we were to the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ? 

Anne Sutherland Howard, in her book Claiming the Beatitudes, writes:”We are not too different from those first century people. We like stability, security. We like to see our problems solved and our affairs in order….” But then she asks: “What would we risk to experience the kingdom that Jesus promises? “ And I’d add: What would happen if we let ourselves experience of vulnerability before God/Jesus/the Spirit, that Job displayed or Bartimaeus…the moments that take us out of our comfort zone and into new relationships with God and within the beloved community of the body of Christ? 

As disciples of Jesus we believe that faith can redress human need. As people of faith, we have blind spots….okay…and we also hear the words spoken to Bartimaeus: “Take heart, get up, he is calling you.” Mark Wegener, writing on this text, urges us to be like Job or Bartimaeus – to be “…peoples who are not too proud to ask for mercy, people who are ‘saved by faith,’ people who follow Jesus on the way…” to helping bring in God‘s kingdom, people reformed and always reforming. To the glory of God. Amen.