Sermon for 28 Oct.

EGADS Have I really not posted in 2 months?!?!? Alas. A slightly ranty sermon...

Mark 10.46-52

     Have you been following the US election campaigning? It’s quite interesting. You have two candidates, being carefully and intentionally shepherded from place to place, meeting the right people, getting the best photo op, saying the best sound bites.  It’s all been carefully scripted. There’s not supposed to be any surprises, any delays, and pauses that have been intentionally added in.  Politicians, especially campaigning ones, have VERY strict schedules – literally every minute is planned and executed by professionals. No matter where they are, our campaigning politicians are moved so that they will NOT be late. Their planners will not have to re-write their calendars. To pick up a minute or two throughout the day is fine, but to lose time – simply not a reality.  Likewise, the people being casually met along the way, those who have a second here or a pause for handshake there – these are people who will display the correct reaction.  After all, it’s what the cameras want to see, it’s what the media are gathered for.  So we see campaigners meeting with the ‘average’ person – the one who will be happy to be greeted, the one who will have a clue as to who is greeting them.  You don’t see, in what the media shows us, the mentally ill, the afflicted and addicted, the disabled. You don’t see the disaffected, the unhappy, the angry. The handlers have been very careful to make sure of that.

     Hmm. So, given the gospel that we’ve just heard, I guess we can agree that not much has changed in 2000 years. Jesus’ friends and planners, the people who try to keep him on track, are trying to keep things running smoothly.  They want to prevent interruptions and distractions. They want to make sure their ‘man’ is not seen with someone less than favourable. And what could be less favourable than to be distracted and delayed because of a blind beggar? Here’s a man who has no employment options, has nothing to contribute to society, has in fact been rejected by the community. Why on earth would anyone want to have their day disrupted for someone like that?  And on top of it all, this guy clearly has no manners – after he’s been told to be quiet, he keeps at it, getting even louder than before.

     Son of David, have mercy on me.

     It’s a simple request. 7 words. Yet they carry a lot of weight to them.  They carry the weight of one who has been oppressed, who has been hurt. One who has been rejected, who has not known mercy. One whose entire life depends on the kindness of strangers. One who is not welcome where others go, one who is not welcome in worship, in celebration, in community.

     Son of David, have mercy on me.

     Jesus barely hears these words and he changes his plan – he overrides the best interests of the other disciples, he delays the whole group of followers as they are leaving Jericho. He stops everything because one unfavourable person was brave enough to ask him.

This is the Jesus I love – the Jesus who will break from the norm, who will reject convention, who prefers to do ministry whenever the opportunity arises.  This is the Jesus who will comfort the afflicted (namely Bartimaeus) and afflict the comfortable (the large group following him). This is the Jesus that declares to the world that God’s love and grace is on offer to everyone, no matter what our earthly preferences might be. This is the radical Jesus whose focus is on hearing people, helping people, loving people.

      I love too that Jesus’ followers, as soon as they realise that Jesus wants this ministry to happen, step out of the way. This is their demonstration of humility, of realising that they were not on the right path and immediately accepting their own need to change.  They change from trying to keep Bartimaeus quiet and out of sight to the people who are telling him to get up and go to Jesus.  They have, in last week’s gospel, been told that their request for power and authority isn’t going to happen the way they think it should; this week’s gospel shows them living out that reality.

     I love that Bartimaeus is confident enough in his faith to be open with Jesus.  He doesn’t ask for riches and glory, he doesn’t ask for the perfect life – he asks for a chance. He asks for change. Jesus knows that this man is blind, but rather then force whatever he thinks the man might need, he asks him what he wants.  “Let me see again.” This is not a request for first sight, but for renewed sight – let me see ‘again’ suggests that Barti has lost sight and all that goes with it. It’s not a request to make him powerful and authoritative, thereby making him outside the community in a different way, it’s a request to keep him humble. With renewed sight, Bartimaeus won’t be able to beg anymore – he’ll be able to get back into the workforce. He’ll have a hard time getting a job, and starting to make a life for himself – but it’s what he wants. 

     I love that the message to us is as complex and multi-faceted as the words that are spoken in the gospel. We’re given a few short sentences that are packed with meaning; we’re given a short message that is packed with invitation. We’re invited to break from the normal pattern of our lives when the chance to exercise our ministry arises. We’re invited to ask someone what they need, rather than assume.  We’re invited to reflect on our own actions and amend them when we see ourselves being exclusive. We’re invited to think about what it is that we would ask Jesus for, if he were standing in front of us.  We’re invited to ponder on what we have lost that we want back; and to be aware of what the ramifications of that re-gain would be.

      And we’re invited to step out of line from time to time; to break free from whatever or whoever is handling us and making sure we follow the prescribed path. We’re invited to look beyond what is comfortable to what is calling for us.  We’re invited to be radicals for the sake of the good news. We’re invited to recognise that ministry happens in the interruptions.  We’re invited to journey forward as boldly as the people we’ve heard from this week, ready to adapt to the lessons that God will put right in front of us; ready to answer the call when the world asks for mercy from the church. We’re invited to share with the world the promise, realised for Bartimaeus, that faith will make us – all of us - well. And we’re invited to follow Christ and celebrate in that wellness.