Text: Mark 10:46-52

I’m sure you’ve seen the ad on TV where the elderly lady has fallen and is yelling “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” It is an advertisement for a Life Line button and support system. Many people laugh at the ad—-and it is a little over-acted—-but if you have been in that position you would not find it laughable

The word “help” is one of the hardest words for Americans to voice. Most people would rather crawl out into the street than call for help. There are many reasons for this.

We were never taught how to ask for help and have few role models to follow.

We love our independence and the “American Way” is to be a “rugged individualist”, taking care of our own problems.

We are afraid to ask as we’d rather die than have people think we can’t take care of ourselves.

We are afraid that we will “bother” people with our requests. I have been told many times by parishioners that “I didn’t want to bother you with my problem, as I know you are very busy.” To which I always respond by saying—-if I’m ever too busy to stop and share people’s problems, then I should get out of the ministry!

Blind Bartimeaus had no such qualms about asking for help, and his story teaches us a lesson about asking for help and the meaning of faith and trust. The greatest lesson he teaches us is that God’s healing should lead to discipleship.

Have you ever been completely unable to see? Although I haven’t experienced it, it must be terrifying. To not be able to see is to be completely vulnerable. To not be able to see means you have to trust others to help you and to look out for you. In one of my courses in Counseling Psychology, one of the exercises we did to experience the need for trust was a trust exercise where a person stood behind us and we closed our eyes and fell backward. It required trust of the one who would catch you for otherwise you would end up with a very large bump on the back of your head. Another exercise asked us to blindfold ourselves and let someone lead us through an unknown territory. We were completely dependent on the person leading us to keep us from stumbling and falling over various obstacles in our path. It gave me a glimpse of what blindness would be like.

Blind people have much to teach us about trust and faith—-and the blind beggar Bartimeaeus teaches us about faith and trust through his story that we read in the Gospel of Mark today.

Bartimaeus was a blind beggar. He had no choice of what to do, as begging was the only way to provide for himself. He was sitting by the roadside as the crowd of Jesus and his disciples approached as they made their way out of Jericho going up to Jerusalem. When he heard that Jesus was about to pass by, without hesitation and without any sense of embarassment, Bartimaeus began to shout: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” The crowd around him may have thought that he was making a scene and tried to silence him,, but he continued to shout until Jesus asked that he be brought to him. Bartimaeus was blind and the only way he could hope for a productive life was to regain his sight. He knew his need, but notice that he didn’t lead with his need for sight, but rather his need to be seen by Jesus.

He shouted “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner ” and not “have mercy on me, a blind man .” Bartimaeus seemed to understand that his vision was not only clouded but that he needed spiritual healing as well. He opened himself to the possibility that his healing might be physical or spiritual, with an outside chance that it might be both.

One of the first things I learned in counseling psychology was that people have a “ presenting problem ” and an underlying “ real problem .” Bartimaeus seemed to realize that while his “presenting problem” was blindness ; his “real problem” might be more than physical blindness . He cried “have mercy on me, a sinner!” He realized that Jesus could do something about the things that bind him, as well as blind him. And Jesus responded by asking him: “ What do you want me to do for you .”? And Bartimaeus responded by saying: “My teacher, let me see again.” (not “heal my blindness”) and Jesus responded: “Go, your faith has made you well.” (The Greek word for “healing” can also be translated “saving”). God’s healing saves us . And immediately his sight was restored and he followed Jesus as a disciple on the Way to Jerusalem in grateful response. He had more than his eyesight restored—-he was saved by the contact with Jesus. God healed him through Jesus both physically and spiritually.

And this is where we have a problem today. I fear that too many Christians are “healed” and then just go on their way and not on The Way of Jesus in discipleship. Once we have been healed we go the way that so many people in Jesus day went—on their own way, not on the way of discipleship. Think of all the people Jesus healed—-the leper in Galilee, the roof-destroying friends of the paralytic; the man with a withered hand, the Gerasene demoniac, the 7 lepers ( only one of whom returned to thank Jesus); and so on and on. They were healed and went their way and never are heard of again in scripture. Blind Bartimaeus was different—-he followed Jesus as a disciple on the way to Jerusalem and death and resurrection.

And this is the problem that we have in our present times . The church as the body of Christ on earth has been turned into an “itch-scratcher”. There is a church I read about with a large sign in front of it that illustrates my point.

One week the advertisement was “Lonely?” then come to our church. The next week the sign said: “Depressed?” Come to our church. “Anxious?” Come to our church. Every week a different malady. Every week the promise that Jesus could fix it.

This is what I call a “Where-does-it-itch” style of Christian ministry . You tell us, the church, where you itch, what needs you have, the church exists to scratch where you itch. An example of this is given by preacher William Willimon, recalling a conference he was at where the speaker, a well known television evangelist said: “God wants to meet every one of your needs in life. Whatever your heart desires, bring it to the Lord in prayer”. He then illustrated this conviction of divine beneficence by telling of a woman of his acquaintance who, when she had been unable to find a part of her favorite red shoes, prayed to God and….there were her shoes, right under her bed!

Our church here wants to grow—-and it is tempting to do as one church grown consultant wrote: “Go out into your neighborhood and find out what people need. Child care? Elder care? After school programs? Then begin those programs. Churches who meet needs grow.”

And many of our churches do this and wonder why the people whose needs they provided for don’t become a part of their church. Jesus could have asked the same question—-all of the people who Jesus helped—-where were they? They went on their way—many times without saying thank you to Jesus.

What churches need to do is not just “scratch the itch” but to make disciples of those whose needs they are trying to meet. What people in the world today need is not “fixing” but transformation as they relate to God and follow the way that Jesus walked

Persons who have been touched by Jesus healing and have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, cannot just be “ takers ” but also need to be “ givers” . If you have truly been touched by the salvation and healing of God and have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, you will do the same thing that Bartimaeus did—–you will follow on the Way. Bartimaeus alone among the other hurting, oppressed, victimized, suffering, hungry ones, became a disciple. He had the ability to see, even when he couldn’t see, what Jesus was really about.

The story of the healing and the response of Bartimaeus invites us to ask: What do I want from Jesus? We look at Jesus, and too many of us see him as a solution to all our problem, freedom from our aches and cares, a magic want waved over our lives to fix everything. Too many of our churches begin with the selfish invitation to let Jesus fix our needs and never follow through with the selfless invitation to love and serve God and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus makes a claim on our lives . This is the same Jesus that said : “He who would be first must be the servant of all.” This is the Jesus who said: “He who would save his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” This is the Jesus who said: “If anyone would be my disciple, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” The way of Jesus is the way of the Cross . It is the way of discipleship.

The real questions here are: “ Is Jesus our Lord, or our errand boy? Are we his faithful followers or only his pestering clients? A better question to ask is: What does Jesus want from us. And the answer Bartimaeus gives us—-follow Jesus on The Way.

What is “The Way”?

It is the way of discipleship. It is calling us to a life of service. It is the way that Jesus walked when he was on earth. It is the way of LOVE of God and neighbor and not just yourself.