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Proper 25 B
Isaiah 59:1-19
Called to See and Follow “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.” (Mark 10:51-52) What do you want Jesus to do for you? Go ahead. Be specific. That’s OK. Jesus encourages that. This shows your faith. Biblical wisdom says that we have not because we ask not. It amazes me in reading the Gospels that people would come to Jesus with obvious ailments, asking Jesus to heal them. They obviously would be lame, blind, deaf, or leprous. Most of the time, however, Jesus would ask them, “What do you want me to do for you?” Naming the problem seems to go a long way toward getting a solution. To the man who had been lame for more than thirty years, Jesus asked, “Do you want to be made well?” The lame man did not answer Jesus directly, but began to recite the reasons why he was still sick. Maybe the man wondered who he would be if he were made well. Maybe he would not know himself any longer. Maybe he could not even articulate his problem. Jesus healed him anyway. Sometimes we can live with our problems because they are familiar to us. They are part of our identity. On the other hand, if we so desire, we can work through our problems and accept the healing that God has for us. According to all our scripture passages for today, the barriers to God and to the wholeness God offers us are the barriers that we build. We can abandon those barriers and walk out into the fresh light of God’s healing and forgiveness. But first of all, we have to name those barriers. We have to come to some sort of self-recognition. Naming the barriers is the first and most important step in overcoming them, or rather, the first and most important step in giving them to God who will tear them down with his own mighty hand and outstretched arm. The crowd around us will try to keep us from making our way to Jesus. The crowd would like for us to stay as we are. It makes us more like them. If we don’t change they are not challenged to change. If we don’t seek justice they don’t feel compelled to seek justice. Status quo is very comfortable and requires little energy. The blind man (Bartimaeus) in our passage from Mark’s Gospel knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to regain his sight. He was crying out to Jesus for mercy. The people around him “sternly ordered him to be quiet.” If we are going to follow Jesus and accept his healing in our lives, we cannot listen to the crowd. We cannot listen to the voices of the nay-sayers who would keep us from following Jesus. We have to get up and follow Jesus of our own volition. We have to fall in love with Jesus of our own volition. Bartimaeus got a break because Jesus called for him. Jesus is calling for all of us to come closer to him. Notice that when Bartimaeus regained his sight, he began to follow Jesus “on the way.” Where was Jesus going? He was going up to Jerusalem. Jesus had set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem and face his accusers – to face Herod whom he had called “that fox” – to face death on the Cross. The formerly blind man went into this with his eyes wide open. Now that he had light he would follow Jesus in all the light he had. Like the blind man who threw off his cloak and sprang to attention, we have to throw off whatever is holding us back or slowing us down. There doesn’t seem to be a moment’s hesitation on the part of Bartimaeus. He evidently had been sighted at one time and had lost his vision, because his request of Jesus is “My teacher, let me see again.” Once we get a glimpse of God and the wonder of following him, we are never happy if we lose sight of that vision. We have to reclaim it. That’s what repentance and forgiveness are all about. God never changes. When we reclaim our sight, we can train our faculties “by practice to distinguish good from evil” as our Hebrews passage so eloquently says. On the third Wednesday of each month, I have been offering A Public Service of Healing and Holy Eucharist. As I look around at the congregation this morning, most everyone appears to be in robust health. But I offer the healing service not only to pray for physical health, but to pray for spiritual and emotional health. Everyone is broken somewhere. I also offer it because of my own personal experience. The healing services I have attended over the years have deepened my faith in God’s providence. For several years after the death of my husband, I attended a healing service at an Episcopal Church every Friday. Little by little the gaping wound in my heart began to heal. Believe me when I say that only God could have worked such a miracle. All of us have a part of our lives that could be better or could be healed. Maybe there are old wounds of unforgiveness that have pitched their tents in our lives. Maybe these issues are setting up barriers between us and other people, and over the years these barriers have somehow come between us and God. The prayers of the healing service provide a way for us to tear down some of those barriers. The prayers of every Eucharist help us to tear down those barriers. I am not saying they will all come tumbling down at once, but we have to start somewhere. So, do you want Jesus to heal you? Would you still be the same person that you are now? Would you recognize yourself if you allowed Jesus to heal you? Do you want Jesus to open your eyes? Be prepared to have your eyes opened to his grace and love in a way that you had not imagined. Be prepared to begin to follow him more nearly and to think of him more often. I close with the words of verses 2 and 3 of hymn numbered 440 from The Hymnal 1982: All our knowledge, sense, and
sight Gracious Lord, thyself impart! Amen. |
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St. Margarets Church, Moultrie, Georgia