October 24, 2021

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

Mark 10:46-52

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. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 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.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 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 said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

| Centering Prayer |

Crying Out

Growing up, I loved the Bob Newhart sit-coms;

Both the early series where Bob is a Psychiatrist

And the later series where Bob and his wife own and operate a bed and breakfast in Vermont.

Three characters in the second series have left an indelible impression on my memory:

Larry, his brother Daryl, and his other brother Daryl.

It was absurdly funny to think that two brothers would be named the same.

Neither spoke; they didn’t have to.

Their introduction each week kept the laughs rolling.

If they could have spoken, what would they say?

Were they silent due to an intellectual challenge?

Or were they quiet because of an overbearing older brother?

Maybe they were just the quiet sort?

Two brothers with the same names;

Now that’s funny.

In a similar funny sort of way,

We are introduced to our main character in today’s Gospel:

Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus.

Now that’s funny!

Did you catch the joke? It was meant to make you laugh.

The Gospel author named this blind beggar twice:

Bartimaeus, would have been Bar, or, son of, Timaeus.

In the translation from Hebrew to Arabic

Every New Testament scribe would have burst out laughing and slapped their knee in delight

When they copied the Gospel from one scroll to another:

This man is redundantly named: Son of Timaeus son of Timaeus.

Every town has its character

And our Gospel author is painting a portrait of Jericho’s.

Jericho was an Arab settlement at the time of Jesus (and still is today),

So unlike Jewish towns,

The beggars would be right downtown.

Think small town life.

Everyone knows the son of Timaeus.

It was such a shame that he lost his sight in his younger days.

Now he sits on Main Street (Jericho really only has a Main Street) all day long,

Rattling his tin cup and shouting out to anyone he hears passing by.

The unknowing traveler gets the

Bartimaeus treatment.

#BartimaeusTreatment should be trending on Twitter, by the way.

The Bartimaeus treatment was

The loud, bombastic appeal of a persistent, blind ragamuffin. 

At the same time,

Other travelers would be quietly sneaking past on the other side of the road

Hoping the brash and obnoxious son of Timaeus with two first names

Wouldn’t hear them.

Those who know the son of Timaeus son of Timaeus

Avoid him.

They go out of their way to not deal with him.

They marginalize him.

They keep him contained.

Take a moment to reflect on the people in your social circles.

Who do you avoid?

Who do you marginalize?

“Life would be so much easier if I didn’t have to deal with ____________”

Who are the people in your life with two first names?

<Silence>

…

Being Healed

Like a fisherman watching a group of anglers headed towards a secret fishing hole

The crowd of enthusiastic people are encroaching on Bartimaeus’ turf.

That gives an edge to

son of Timaeus son of Timaeus.

It makes him a bit cranky.

If he was going to be heard, he had to amplify his message a bit,

Add some spice,

Up his game,

Stretch the truth.

The crowd expected Jesus to become king,

“So why not stretch it out a bit and give him a royal title,”

son of Timaeus, son of Timaeus probably thought to himself.

Look at me!

Pay attention to me!

Coins don’t magically appear in my cup.

Making a scene draws attention.

Attention puts coins in my cup!

“Jesus, son of David!”

A king has money to spare,

“Have mercy on me”

He says as he rolls his diseased eyes and extended his cup

Giving it a little rattle.

Members of the Chamber of Commerce probably had a conniption.

“Can someone please shut that man up!”

That’s just asking for it,

Like poking a hornets’ nest twice,

Like pouring gasoline on a fire.

When Bartimaeus wouldn’t be silenced

The annoyed crowd stopped attempting to mussel him.

They said to him,

“Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”

Something profound begins to take place in his soul.

How do we know?

Consider his actions.

Here’s a hint.

Bartimaeus throws off his cloak.

Blind, begging, homeless ragamuffins

Don’t just jettison clothing, even if they are just rags.

Throwing off his cloak means

The son of Timaeus knew his life as he knew it

Was over.

He isn’t coming back to retrieve it.

Hey! Rich, young ruler: take note.

Son of Timaeus son of Timaeus gives away all that he has

When he tosses his cloak,

Leaving it for the competition,

Leaving it for his fellow beggars.

Faith throws a cloak.

Jesus doesn’t make spit.

Neither does he touch his eyes.

Jesus simply commands him to be healed:

 “Go; your faith has made you well.”

Imagine that.

The one person the crowd wanted to marginalize in the worst sort of way

Ends up having more faith than all of them put together.

And that faith is sufficient to restore a blind man’s sight.

Those people in your life I had you reflect upon just a few moments ago?

Those who you’d like to forget, avoid, or just wish they’d go away?

What faith might they have? …

That causes Jesus to stop,

Stand still,

Call them close,

And heal them?

Faith is contagious.

Allow yourself to be exposed to the faith of those you’d prefer to avoid or make disappear.

Like a virus

Faith exposures

Can, and will, deepen your faith

grow your life,

draw you closer to God.

…

Following Him on the Way

With the immediacy of Mark

Son of Timaeus son of Timaeus

Regains his sight and

Follows Jesus on the way.

Like some tech companies who leave special Easter Eggs in their web pages,

Our Gospel author

– The same one whose humor is given voice by the naming redundancy –

Leaves us another delightful Easter Egg.

Here, then, is a deeper hidden message for Christians to hear:

“The Way” was a coded phrase,

Often repeated in the Aramaic oral tradition with a wink and a nod,

Meaning the journey of discipleship;

Following Jesus that leads to suffering, death, and resurrection.

To follow Jesus in “The Way” means

You are willing to join with Jesus as your companion;

You’re willing to suffer with him in his humiliation, whips, scorn, and crown of thorns;

You’re willing to die with him on a cross;

And You expect, simply by shear faith,

To be resurrected with him into eternal life.

Son of Timaeus,

Who had sight and lost it by some unknown circumstances,

Only to have his sight miraculously restored by Jesus,

Now leaves his begging cup and cloak behind and

Joins the journey with Jesus that leads to the cross and empty tomb.

The son of Timaeus will suffer like Jesus,

Will die like Jesus,

And will live again in the resurrection of Jesus.

Many of us hope “the Way” for us

Is suffering and death LITE,

With a special second helping of that whole eternal life bit.

“I’d like to have a sharp mind and healthy body, die in my sleep, and have those pearly gates swing wide open for me to enter.”

Isn’t that what most hope for?

Truth is,

To live is to suffer.

To die is universal.

To be resurrected is our Christian expectation.

Truth is,

If we want to follow in “The Way”

We must follow the divine One who was marginalized

And is largely relegated to the sidelines as irrelevant by today’s society.

If we want to follow in “The Way”

We must join a crowd

Of those we’ve previously marginalized, avoided, and treated with contempt.

If we are going to journey with Jesus together

We better start building bridges with one another,

Especially with those who cause us to shrug our shoulders

And we’d rather not even think about.

Following in “The Way”

Causes us to confront our own biases and prejudice.

Following “The Way”

Invites each of us to a deeper spiritual life.

Life’s journey is easy with friends;

But there is not much growth with such shared experiences.

Jesus didn’t come to heal the healthy!

He came to heal the sick and save the sinner!

Life’s journey along “The Way” of Jesus

Is where faith is nurtured, grown, and deepened.

It is where healing pours into the vessel of faith.

It is where lions lay down with lambs,

Opposites attract,

And disagreements are put aside.

Going with the flow on “The Way”

Makes us One with Christ and

One with each other.

Let us be united

On “The Way.”

Amen.