 Good morning. As y’all may know the lectionary has been guiding us through the Gospel of Mark. We’ve been through many familiar teachings and accounts of Jesus, today's selection is no different. However, I hope to bring light to some interesting aspects of the passage and give us some things to reflect upon.
Where has Jesus been prior to this moment captured in the Gospel of Mark? Up to this point, Jesus has established himself as a teacher who brings enlightenment and is savvy in his confrontations and challenges. The latter is especially true when he is dealing with the religious leaders of his time. He has demonstrated having divine power displayed through healings and miraculous acts. He’s done all these things in and around Galilee, and thus has a growing fame that has brought on the ire of the religious leaders. Today’s selection from Mark is the last account before the gospel shifts its focus to Jerusalem and Jesus’ predicted death and resurrection. Here in October, our lectionary journey has taken us through Chapter 10 of Mark’s gospel. We’ve heard about the religious leaders questioning Jesus about divorce and the disciples denying people from bringing children to Jesus. We’ve heard of the man with many possessions asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. And last week the Zebedee brothers were asking to be Jesus’ right-hand men. In this chapter of Mark we’ve bounced between stories of the selfish, those looking for personal gain, and those in faith, and possibly desperation, coming to Jesus. Now we are here at this passage at the end of chapter 10 where a blind beggar encounters Jesus, or perhaps Jesus encounters the blind beggar, but before we get into the encounter I would like to take a moment to have us consider two thoughts about the beggar. First, the beggar is identified as “Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus.” This is interesting because there is a repetitive nature to the identification. “Bar” in Aramaic means “son” or “descendent”. We have what looks like an Aramaic phrase, Bartimaeus, being attributed to him as his name, followed by a Greek description “son of Timaeus”. It essentially reads “son of Timaeus, son of Timaeus”. All this to say, we may not know who this beggar was but he was connected to Timaeus, and those with early encounters with Mark’s gospel may have known who Timaeus was. Second, the man was not just a beggar, but also blind which adds other layers to his situation and the encounter. We don’t know how he became blind, but we do know that he previously, at some point in his life, had sight. We gather this from his response to Jesus. Blindness, and other physical ailments in ancient times came with stigmas - maybe he sinned and was made blind as a punishment, or he angered some deity incurring their wrath. However, I don’t believe this is how God, who is love, operates but rather ancient people trying to make sense and explain life occurrences. Either way, there are ramifications for the man. In his commentary on this passage, Luis Menendez Antuna states, “Although he is the ‘son of,’ men in his situation would not be able to form a family, work to sustain himself and his dependents, or fulfill some obligations proper to civic and religious life.” You see, he was a beggar because he was pushed to the margins of society due to his blindness; how could he live normally in the community? He’s forced to be a beggar because of a systemic problem and he therefore gets placed in the category “other” where he is left to beg in order to survive. Alright, now let us dive into the encounter between this man and Jesus. I am going to break this account into 6 parts. The first is The Pleading. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” While this man is described as a “beggar”, the action he takes is different from begging. He’s not asking for food, or money but something soul worthy; he’s asking for mercy. He is calling out in desperation with the knowledge of something deeper, and I suggest it is something deeper due to how the man refers to Jesus. The gospel writer identifies Jesus “of Nazareth”, while the man calls him the “son of David” implying a royal lineage and perhaps acknowledging prophetic statements about Jesus. I wonder how he came to this conclusion. Does he hear others talking about Jesus before He comes through? Can he hear others murmuring in the crowd their suspicions that Jesus is the Son of David? What does he know of Jesus? What has Jesus done so far that this man knew of? Regardless of how the man knew, his proclamation is a bold and potentially dangerous, political statement in Roman occupied Judaea. Perhaps it is this statement that leads to the second part, The Rebuking. Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Could it be that the crowd tried hushing him because of his statement? Or because he is being loud and they are annoyed? In his blog post about this passage, D. Mark Davis, describes the crowd’s actions as an “anti-healing: the crowd was trying to make the blind man mute.” We’ve seen these types of actions before in the Gospel of Mark - People trying to runinterference or “assist” Jesus. In the beginning of chapter 10 the disciples try to stop people from bringing children to Jesus, and at the end of chapter 9 we saw a similar thing when the disciples complained about someone other than them casting out demons in Jesus’ name. These instances remind me of a line from the U2 song "Stand Up Comedy" where Bono sings, “stop helping God across the road like a little old lady.” I think we humans think that we need to protect God as if God is fragile, or maybe we are the fragile ones, protecting societal standing and ideologies by excluding those that are different. Either of these could be the case for the crowd. However, for the man of desperation he shouts all the more and louder. He will not relent. He is determined to get Jesus’ attention. Part 3, The Stopping. Jesus stood still Do you remember the last time there was shouting in Jericho? While the physical walls of the city do not fall down, the same city walls this man is probably accustomed to resting against, what does happen is Jesus, the son of God, is stopped in his tracks by the man’s pleading cries. In the entirety of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is continually on the go, so this man’s actions have done something extraordinary. His cries have also overcome the “gatekeeping” crowd to get Jesus’ attention, opening the opportunity for the encounter with Jesus. Part 4, The Calling. ... and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. We humans are fickle. One minute the crowd is rebuking the man and now it’s gentle and encouraging. Those that were denying him just moments ago are now the ones being directed to engage with him in a positive way; “Call him here.” Once the man hears the encouragement of the crowd he is up and on the move. There’s so much faith happening here. Imagine what this looks like. He tosses his cloak, most likely his sole and cherished possession. If you are blind you do not toss your possessions. You are deliberate about where you place things - you need to be able to find them again. This is reckless. He sprang up indicating that he was eager and moving quickly towards Jesus. Most likely arms out in front of him to feel for obstructions and to brace himself for impact. Realizing that in this instance something grand was about to happen, perhaps the crowd parted, giving him an unobstructed path to Jesus. Maybe, they helped him along with a gentle touch or encouraging directions, “straight ahead”, “watch out for the hole”, “a little to left”, “almost there”. If you are blind you don’t move quickly, you are tentative with your movements, otherwise you’ll likely injure yourself. This is reckless. This blind man stands in stark contrast to Jesus’ encounter with the man with all of the possessions seeking eternal life earlier in chapter 10. The blind man tosses his cloak, whereas the other man couldn’t part with any of his possessions. One man with reckless faith, the other perhaps with faith that has been wrecked. Part 5, The Asking. 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.” Jesus’ question is the same question he asked the Zebedee brothers earlier in chapter 10. However this man’s request stands in juxtaposition to theirs. The Zebedees wanted a place of privilege and power, this man just wants to see again. There are times when we humans operate as if God is a cosmic vending machine, or perhaps a cosmic genie. We put our prayers in and out pops an answer to our desire, or we “rub” sacred objects - the Bible, the book of common prayer, the communion cup, and ask, “oh god give me my wish”. Yet here is a situation that seems like it might be true. Jesus asks “what do you want me to do for you?”. The door of possibility is opened for the blind beggar; he could’ve requested anything. He could have asked for eternal life. Or to be elevated to a place of power. Or wealth. Or strength. He could have asked for revenge on his enemies. However, he does none of those things, he pleads for mercy and chooses to ask to see again. Part 6, The Granting. Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. We’ve heard Jesus say these words before - the woman with the hemorrhage in Chapter 5 of Mark, and the encounter with the 10 lepers in Luke chapter 17. The blind man’s faith as demonstrated through his actions: calling out, throwing off his cloak, leaping to his feet, running to Jesus, and his humble request - has brought healing to his body. I would also suggest that he not only gained his physical sight, but he deepened his spiritual insight, because encounters with Jesus seem to do just that - change the person, and with this man it is no different. After regaining his sight he follows Jesus “on the way”. On the way to where? Jerusalem. Now what? How should we reflect on this encounter between the blind man and Jesus? I’ve got three things for us to consider. The first is that faith is powerful, it brings healing in different ways, be it physical healing, intellectual healing, social healing, spiritual healing, or emotional healing. It can assure us in moments of trial and stress. Faith can carry and sustain us. It can give us courage to do the audacious - like throwing off our cloaks and running blindly towards hope. The second thing to consider is what is our “cloak”? What do we need to “throw off”? What is keeping us from a deeper encounter with God? We may not need to be as reckless as the blind man, but we all have places in our lives where we could use some liberation and freedom from the things that are hindering us. We all have areas where we can be and do better. The last thing, which is more of a proclamation than a consideration, is that all can come to God. Jesus demonstrated this when he stopped and called the blind man to him. He demonstrated it with the children who were brought to him and through many other accounts in the Gospels. Despite what religious gatekeepers and holy quality control managers might say, despite what doctrine various church denominations ascribe to, despite the crowds that try to mute and the disciples that try to interfere - everyone is welcome is approach and experience God’s love, and in that, God’s healing. Amen.  By Kathryn Aubry-McAvoy, Lay Preacher
Today I’d like to share some thoughts about the importance of asking questions. In today’s reading from Mark Chapter 10, I became curious about Jesus’ conversation with the brothers Zebedee. (Isn’t that a great word, Zebedee? It means “Gift of God” and according to some interpretations it was the name of a humble fisherman who was the father of the disciples, James and John.) So, about the brothers Zebedee. We know that they have made great sacrifice. They have given up a lucrative fishing business, left their families and friends and have followed this man Jesus, the one many call “mad”, the one who keeps telling them to turn the world upside down, to become servants in order to become great, to get in line last in order to be first in the Kingdom of God on earth. The brothers Zebedee are likely getting tired in their ministry. (Anyone out there ever get tired in your ministry?) and so, they ask Jesus, “What’s in it for us? We are doing everything you asked of us, promise us the front row seat in the afterlife. We want to sit at your side. What’s in it for us?” Jesus, as he often does, answers with a question, “What is it you want me to do for you?” he says. Like a good therapist, he knows there’s often a deeper meaning in our asking and in our prayers. Jesus asks lots of questions according to scripture. In many of the stories in scripture, the reader can pretty quickly figure out the answers, usually within a chapter. The parables, for instance, are simple stories that illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. These narrative stories in Mark, follow Jesus thru his life, as he tries to teach his followers what it means to walk the way of love. I read that there are over 100 questions in Mark, they engage us and get us to think. In Mark 8, Jesus asks the disciples “Who do the people say that I am? They reply, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah. Pressing them further Jesus says “But who do you think I am?” When the disciples want Jesus to perform miracles in a great storm at sea, (Mark chapter 4), he asks “Why are you so afraid?” He knows there’s more to their fears than the fact that the boat might sink in the storm. In the healing stories Jesus often asks questions first: In Mark Chapter 5, a woman hemorrhaging for 12 years asks Jesus for healing. He says “Who is it who touches my cloak? Who is this person of such great faith, who are you, what is your whole truth.” He knows that these questions can lead to understanding her deepest needs. She does tell her whole truth, and Jesus heals her. Not in Mark, but in John Chapter 4, (my favorite Jesus conversation), he asks the Samaritan woman at the well, “Will you give me a drink.?” He is breaking racial and religious and gender barriers with this simple question. He shows her radical acceptance. She answers him, shares her whole story, including the mistakes in her life, and so Jesus gives her living water, everlasting life. Later in Mark, Chapter 10, a deeply faithful blind man comes to Jesus and shouts, “Jesus have mercy on me!” even though the crowd tries to shush him, Jesus calls him forward, Jesus doesn’t usually shush people, and he asks the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus never assumes, he always probes deeper. He seems to love the questions. Loving the Questions is a program offered by the Diocese of Western Mass. It is a community of people who are interested in thinking and discerning, or discovering what the Holy Spirit has in store for them. Together they ask the question: “What is God calling us to do?” Several people from this community have participated in this program…you can find out about it online also. I wonder if the title “Loving the Questions” comes from the poet Rilke’s lovely little book which is comprised of 10 letters written to a young poet friend. Rilke writes “Be patient toward all that is unsettled in your heart and try to love the questions themselves” Jesus knew that many things are unsettled in our hearts and that often pondering the questions leads to answers. Sometimes surprising ones. So how can loving the questions help us in our personal lives, and in our community and church ministry? I know that in my life, at this stage of age, strength, and responsibilities, I find myself asking questions a lot, sometimes they are difficult ones that are frankly hard to love! They can reveal the need for change that can be challenging. In interpersonal relationships, asking questions can lead to understanding and to finding common ground. It can banish stereotypes and illuminate the many things we have in common. We could surely benefit these days from finding more common ground. And if we don’t ask, we likely won’t find it. And what about our work in community and ministry. Often, we get into a rut of thinking we know what others want and need. Surely creating dialogue regularly and often with the people we serve could lead to more effective ministry. Remember the beginning of the pandemic? besides being fearful, we as a church community were forced to ask questions we hadn’t asked much in the past. We asked, “What is it we truly need in our corporate life?” Worship accessibility was on the top of the list. Who would have predicted 10 years ago that today we would have on-line worship and a team of brilliant tech ministers? What a wonderful surprise! Co-warden Ben Cluff and I spend quite some time with Heather, (“quality” time ☺) asking lots of questions, then we join with the officers, and the vestry for more discernment, more questions. We don’t always have answers; sometimes we decide to stay the course for a while, sometimes (often) we need more data, (input from you, advice from experts), and sometimes we come to consensus quickly. So, I’ll leave you with these thoughts: Where do we need to ask more questions? Here are some we might ask: do we have the energy and resources for a particular ministry? Or is there a new and different way to show God’s love in the world? Is there a balance of work, rest and play in our personal and corporate lives? How can we serve the community best? What does walking the way of love mean in my life, at this age and stage of life? I think Jesus would say, keep asking, keep probing, find the deeper meaning and the hidden need, be patient and above all, expect wonderful surprises. I’ll end with Rilke: Quote: Be patient with all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you may not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. Amen  by Steve Houghton, Lay Preacher
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you our Lord and Redeemer. This morning’s gospel is hard to hear for our Capitalist Society and those of us who live in it. In fact, in a number of bible studies I have been a part of it has been described as harsh, unrealistic and even un-Christ-like because Jesus would never have spoken with such condemnation about anyone. For that reason many of us dodge this gospel as much as we can. Growing up, my family considered themselves to be middle class. My parents bought their own home, bought new cars every few years and put me and my five siblings through college or an equivalent education. In order to do this my father worked two jobs and my mother worked nights. I don’t think we were rich by any stretch of the imagination but compared to much of the rest of the world we were. In fact, compared to many in our community we were. The cost of being in the middle class was a loss of time for us to be a family. My Dad worked in middle management and also worked at the nearby race track selling bets on the horses at night and on the weekend. As a result he was tired most the time and often not available for family activities. I was sometimes upset that he didn’t take the time to play catch with me or teach me the finer points of basketball ball that he wanted me to excel at as he had in his youth. I believe he was even more upset about it than I was because he spent a good deal of his later years apologizing for what he hadn’t done when we were growing up. My Mom’s job meant that Dad was babysitting for the six of us when he could have been resting or doing something with one of us kids individually, like play catch. It also meant that Mom was feeling under pressure to keep the house orderly, clean, cook the meals and meet the mark as a fifty’s mother and housewife. So as I grew up the mark was set for what success was and what was expected of me. As a young adult graduating from high school I had a bag of expectations. Those included how I was to treat my fellow human beings, how I was to treat women, what role my religion played in my actions in the world, how and when I was representing my family in my actions. There was a lot of stuff my parents gave me to help me become a respectable member of society so I picked up that bag and moved forward. (pick up bag) I went to college and got a whole new set of expectations and obligations to shoulder. Things like thinking for yourself and doing the research in order to make the right decisions. Things like being eligible for military duty when an unpopular and possibly unjust war was going on and should I serve or should I find a way out. (Pick up backpack) I met Charlie and found a new set of expectations and obligations as a husband and partner. What did I need to do to put a roof over our heads and keep us fed while we both went to school. (Pick up backpack) Then our first child arrived and new expectations and obligation came with being a father and guide. Since unemployment was high the best option at the time was to join the military and with that came the obligations of being a noncommissioned officer and leading men in successfully completing our mission. (Pickup bag) When we left the military I needed to find a job that would allow us to have the things my parents had attained so I found a good job and began to build a new division in that job. As you would expect, that included a whole new set of expectations and obligations. (Pick up backpack) So right now I don’t think I can get through the door never mind the eye of a needle and there were and are a lot more bags that I picked up getting to where I am right now. And what does all of this have to do with the rich young man? This story or a variation of it appear in all three of the synoptic gospels. This morning’s reading is from Mark. Mathew has the story at chapter 19(:16-26). Luke (18: 18-29) has the story with a young ruler who has great wealth. Also notice this is not a parable, it is an encounter with a person who has met with Jesus as Jesus is teaching. There is not a lot to analyze or figure out, the facts are pretty clear. In the beginning Jesus asks why the young man called him “good” when only God is good. I had always found that part of the story confusing but as I was focusing on this to prepare for this sermon I realized Jesus was telling the young man that Jesus could not cause a change of heart, only God can do that. And after all Jesus was going to call the young man to make a change of heart. And something that slipped by me in the past was the phrase “Jesus loved him”. If you think about that a minute it tempers the harshness of the comment about how hard it is for a rich man to get into the Kingdom. So now let me start to put all these seeming disassociated things together and explain my thoughts on camels, eyes, and getting into the kingdom of God. The rich young man was a good man and was living up to the expectations of the Jewish faith as he knew it. He was doing it all the right way. He sensed, probably from Jesus’ teaching, that there was something more, another step he had to take to truly be a follower of Jesus. He asks Jesus that very question and Jesus tries to let him off the hook by asking what his faith asks him to do, which I think Jesus already knew he was doing. The rich young man was determined to meet the mark for what Jesus was asking of his followers and so he pressed on and because of that Jesus saw his determination and “loved” him. In that love Jesus was not going to let him off the hook but rather to give him the direction that the young man sought. Jesus said sell all that you have and give the proceeds to the poor and the rich young man went away sad because he had many possessions. Note that we don’t know what happened to the rich young man. Maybe he did sell all his possessions. Maybe he didn’t. Jesus’ focus shifts to address all those who have many possessions and makes a broad observation that it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Why would you think it would be so difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom? One reason might be that there is no time to work on entering the kingdom when you are striving to earn or maintain riches. Believe it or not even rich people have to work really hard to hold onto their wealth. It takes hours of work, late meetings, cross country trips and time away from home and family in order to hold your own in our Capitalist Society. Once you attain some of the riches you sought you find a new dilemma in trying to hold on to it. There are the physical dangers of theft, loss caused by nature, market crashes and other monetary disasters. All of these threaten wealth and possessions. There are the social dangers of going to the wrong clubs or attending the wrong churches or supporting the wrong causes or voting for the wrong party. All of these threaten your ability to continue to make more money or cause you to lose it to someone better aligned with perceived right thought. One of the greatest lessons our neighbors in need has taught me is that there is great freedom in not possessing anything. There is nothing to lose. You can take any position you want and no one can or will threaten you. Someone may think to take a swing at you but chances are they could get hurt as well and if you have nothing what does it matter what you say or what cause you support or who you cheer on. Of course that all assumes no one will listen to you. The greatest freedom is time, time to spend however you decide is right. These days very small voices are moving huge issues forward in the areas of equity, justice and fairness. We have evidence of this in our own congregation. The Kingdom of God was and is not a place somewhere out there or in another dimension as far as I know. It is right here, right now. Jesus many times over, said the Kingdom is here. How present it is depends on how much effort we put in to make it present. If we are caught up in chasing or maintaining wealth we won’t have time to try to make it present. So it is really difficult to impossible for a rich man to help illuminate or develop or spread the Kingdom. Also Jesus asks us to feed the hungry, dress the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the injured; all of which requires financial means. It is caring about and for the woman or man who is on welfare and doesn’t appear to do anything at all to help themselves. It means taking the time to put ourselves in the shoes of those we sometimes see as other and realizing the hurdles they have before them. Jesus is not saying that rich people are bad or that they are lost forever. He is saying that many of them may have to experience a change of heart in order to follow his lead. And he is saying that a change of heart is not easy and it is best done with God’s help. I like to think that the rich young man went home and after a lot of prayer began to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty and clothe the naked because of Jesus’ teaching and while he may have not sold all his possessions he became a benefactor to those in his community. And maybe that too is why Jesus loved him. How are you and I going to respond to Jesus call and admonition? Like the rich young man I think we should give it some thought. Amen |