Sermon
St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC
October 29, 2006 - Proper 25B
The Rev. Vicki L. Smith
Blind Bartimaeous
I really like the story
of the healing of Blind Bartimeous. It is such a joyous story, and Blind
Bartimeous is alliterative and therefore fun to say. It’s very interesting
that we know his name—that’s rather unusual in the gospel stories. Most
people that Jesus heals are anonymous—the woman at the well, the ten lepers,
etc.; we never know their names. But Bartimeous we know. The literary
critics tell us that is because Bartimeous is the only one in Mark’s gospel
who really understands, making his witness a turning point on the road to
Jerusalem. He is certainly to be remembered for that.
The other thing that I
think makes Bartimeous unique is that he knows he is blind. I know that
sounds silly but it isn’t. Bartimeous knows that he is not seeing, that he
is missing something, that his perceptions are limited. He knows his need.
That puts him well ahead
of the people Isaiah is talking to—they are blind and missing some very big
things, and they don’t even know it. Isaiah describes their world with these
words: No one brings suit justly, no one goes to law honestly; they rely
on empty pleas, they speak lies, conceiving mischief and begetting
iniquity. Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not
reach us; we wait for light and lo, there is darkness; and for brightness,
but we walk in gloom. We grope like the blind along a wall… we stumble at noon as in the twilight… we all
growl like bears; like doves we moan mournfully.
We all growl like bears;
like doves we moan mournfully. Does that sound like America today or what?
We are snappy and snarly. We are confused and lost, as though groping in
the dark. And we wonder why. Like Bartimeous, we are blind—but we don’t
know it. We are missing a great deal and our perceptions are severely
limited. We need the touch of Jesus to restore our sight at least as much
as Bartimeous did, but we are blind to our need.
We see the need for
prayer in schools, but we blind to the need for decent facilities and
current textbooks. We see the need to have “under God” in the pledge of
allegiance, but we are blind to our own resistance to God’s will and how far
from living “under God” we all are. We see the need for having the 10
commandments posted on the courthouse wall, but we are blind to the call for
justice for all God’s people. We see the need to protect the unborn, but we
are blind to the thousands of children already born who live in poverty,
hunger and disease. We see the need to put “In God we trust” on our money,
but we are blind to the selfishness of how we use our own funds.
No wonder we growl like
bears and moan like doves. Like the people of Isaiah’s time, we’re
willfully blind; we live far from God’s justice and righteousness and our
transgressions are many. Like Bartimeous, we need the healing of Jesus to
open our eyes and heal our blindness that we may truly see our world and
what God would have us do in it.
We begin by recognizing
our need and asking for Jesus’ help. We say with Bartimeous, “My teacher,
let me see again.” Open our eyes, Lord Jesus, to the wonders of our world,
the abundance of your creation and the joy of life in you. Open our eyes to
the needs of our world, that we may see the injustice that surrounds us and
the struggles of so many of your children. Open our eyes to our own
sinfulness, to the role we play in making the world what it is; open our
eyes too, to Christ’s forgiveness and healing that we may see the path of
righteousness in the midst of the confusing and contentious ways of the
world. Open our eyes, Lord Jesus, and heal our blindness. “My teacher, let
me see again.”
Our soon to be presiding
bishop, Katherine Jefferts-Schori was asked in an interview with The
Oregonian Newspaper last July: Is schism or a break in the Anglican
Communion the worst thing that could happen during your nine year tenure?
Her response was: I think the worst thing that could happen would be for
the church to forget why it’s here, to forget our mission. We can work at
healing the world around us, at transforming the communities in which we
live, or we can spend our time arguing.”
We can continue growling like bears, moaning like doves and groping in
the gloom, or we can ask that Jesus heal our blindness and open our eyes,
that we may act on what we see.
|
Home
