I want to see

Mark 10:46-52
The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus
46 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. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 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.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 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.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Our gospel reading is fairly short today.
And it doesn't contain Jesus speaking as he has been in the last few weeks gospel readings about his journey toward the cross.
Instead, we have a story of healing.
A brief story but one filled with amazing depth.
There are lots of details in this story that I love.
Lots of phrases that deserve to be savoured:
It's a story that invites us in - to be a part of it.
So let's take a break this morning from the rather harsh teaching that we've been following over the last few weeks and enjoy this brief interlude.
And lets focus on Jesus ministering in one of the many interruptions that assailed him on his way.
Lets imagine ourselves on this part of the journey with Jesus.
Would we find ourselves in the crowd with Jesus and his disciples, attempting to leave Jericho?
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.
Can you imagine yourself in that crowd - perhaps pleased to be on the move again, glad to continue the journey, happy to be part of Jesus entourage.
I'm sure you've seen something of the USA Electoral coverage.
Every step of the candidates' journey, they are accompanied by vast support networks - a huge circus of activity.
And, as the election looms nearer - some states have already started voting- the crowds get larger and larger and the circus becomes more and more bizarre.
As Jesus journeys through towns and villages, his following grows too and, as we've already witnessed it becomes impossible for him to do anything quietly.
It's impossible for him even to find time to pray.
In our story today, perhaps you'd find a place in that crowd, swept up in the euphoria that surrounded Jesus, hanging on to his every word, desperate to see what he would do next.
Perhaps you'd be right in the thick of it, squeezing your way out of Jericho, impatient to be on your way, desperate to see where the next stage of the journey will take you, loving the noise and the bustle and the excitement.
And then being annoyed as Jesus comes to a grinding halt, as the procession stops - and for what?
To heed a beggar, a blind beggar at that.
Perhaps you'd be a part of that crowd, feeling contempt that something so trivial should stop the great machine that was the Jesus entourage in its tracks.
Or perhaps you'd experience a frisson of excitement as Jesus stopped yet again - wondering what on earth he'd do now.
You're in that crowd.
And your progress is halted.
Are you frustrated and anxious to be on your way?
Or are you filled with anticipation, wondering what bizarre spectacle you're about to witness now?

But maybe the crowd that accompanied Jesus is not where you'd be found.
Maybe that whole circus theme is not your scene.
Maybe you'd find yourself alongside Bartimaeus, one of his fellow beggars?
Or perhaps you'd be one of those shushing him, telling him not to call out to Jesus?
One of those who knows that there is no way that Jesus would notice a blind beggar, or hear his desperate calling?
Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Would you be one of those pouring cold water on the hopes of Bartimaeus, ridiculing his audacity in thinking that Jesus would have anything to do with him, sternly ordering him to be quiet?

Or would you be with the folk who heard Jesus calling Bartimaeus?
One of those who was tuned in, sensitive, even over the babble of the crowd, one of those who encouraged Bartimaeus to approach Jesus?
One of those responsible for Bartimaeus throwing off his cloak, leaping to his feet and coming to Jesus.
They called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”
Would you be one of those people, eyes open for opportunity, willing to see others made well?

Wherever you find yourself in the crowd- with Jesus or with Bartimaeus, frustrated at being held up or excited by possibility, what about the interaction between Jesus and Bartimaeus?
What effect does that have on you?
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.”
I want to see again.
The words of Blind Bartimaeus to Jesus.
I want to see again.
A simple request that contains a world of longing.
I want to see again.
Perhaps we'd like to take ourselves out of the crowd now, wherever in that crowd we might have imagined ourselves.
Perhaps we'd like to take ourselves out of the crowd and ask for that same healing for ourselves: I want to see again.
A longing that lives deep within us.
A longing to be able to see with eyes of faith, with eyes of hope, with eyes of compassion, with eyes of love.
A longing to lose the cataracts that have formed over our eyes as we have become cold and distant, unmoved by the pain of the world around us, hardened by life.
I want to see again - maybe our deepest longing today.
We're no longer a part of that crowd.
We're in the spotlight.
We are the ones in need of healing.
We are the ones who need to throw off our cloaks and approach Jesus with a spring in our step and hope in our heart, seeking healing from the blindness that afflicts us daily, the blindness that makes us turn away from life, that makes us live less than our potential, the blindness that holds us back, that imprisons our spirits.
I want to see again.
We cannot continue to hide in the crowd.
It is important that we place ourselves alongside Bartimaeus, facing our fear, acknowledging our need for healing, having the faith and the courage to ask Jesus to restore our sight.
And hearing those words of Jesus spoken for us:
Your faith has made you well.

Faith involves us leaving the safety of the crowd, throwing off our cloak of fear, recognising our blindness and asking for healing.
And then hearing Jesus say to us:
Your faith has made you well.

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Thoughtless Christian

- Mark 10:35-45
The Request of James and John
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

If you wanted someone to write your biography you certainly wouldn't ask the author of Marks gospel. Could he present the disciples in any worse light than he does?
It's certainly been something of a comfort to journey with Jesus and the disciples these last few weeks and, in witnessing their blundering and misunderstanding, realise what good company we keep in all our getting it wrong.
Today, we read of James and John asking if they can have places of honour, seated next to Jesus in the new kingdom.
To understand their story better, we might remind ourselves of the framework of Marks gospel.
As Jesus journeys with his disciples he is constantly trying to teach them about the suffering and death that is ahead for him. It seems that as the disciples eyes are opened to the uniqueness of Jesus, as they see more and more the wonders and miracles he performs, as they grow more and more excited about being apprentices of such an amazing, charismatic leader, Jesus redoubles his efforts to reveal to them his identity and purpose. His identity as the Son of God. And his purpose - to save the world by his death.
Yes he is the Messiah but not one that they might recognise.
His version of Messiah leads to suffering and death.
And, so it seems, in Marks gospel, that every miracle is sandwiched between Jesus teaching about his suffering and death.
It is important to him that the disciples begin to understand: This is not all about the highs - there are incredible lows to come.
Then we might feel a wee bit more sympathetic towards the disciples. How difficult it must have been, every time they were blown away by how amazing Jesus is, every time they just wanted to ooh and aha and marvel at his words and actions, Jesus brings them right back down to earth with a thud and starts to prattle on about how he must suffer and die.
No wonder they were confused. Now wonder they got frustrated and tried to argue with Jesus or tried to stop him launching into such dreary talk when they just wanted, for a time to remain on a high. Jesus is determined to haul them back to earth.
Actually, as Scots, that is something with which we should be very understanding, something of which we have lots of experience. It is a part of our psyche that none should get above themselves. As we grow up and even in adulthood, there are always those around us who will bring us back down from whichever cloud we find ourselves on, there will always be someone to ground us and keep our feet on the earth. There will always be someone to remind us that every pleasure must be paid for with pain!
Do you remember that TV advert recently - for yogurt- that showed a woman enjoying every spoonful of yogurt - and for each spoonful of pleasure she enjoyed, there were folk all around her stubbing their toes, tripping up, generally experiencing pain for every moment of her pleasure.
An animated version of Marks gospel might look similar. Every pleasure balanced by pain. Every celebration overshadowed by sorrow. Jesus keeping the disciples grounded.
But Jesus purpose is not to bring them down but to build them up.
Jesus wants to awaken them to the reality to which they are called.
A reality that will involve suffering and death.
A reality that though they haven't yet grasped the meaning of, they will live into in time.
It's hard to tell whether Jesus words to James and John: “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized It's hard to tell whether these words are a threat or a promise. My preference is to think of them as a promise: Jesus knows that these disciples will indeed live into that promise - when the time comes, they will be able to endure suffering, they will die for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus knows that they will "do him proud" when the need arises.
So this mornings gospel contains another attempt by Jesus to ensure that his disciples are as well prepared as they can possibly be.
When the other disciples learned what James and John had asked of Jesus, they were indignant.
I wonder if the reason the other disciples were displeased with James and John was simply because they wished that James and Johns question was one that they had asked.
It's infuriating when others push themselves forward into something we feel we deserve.
Jesus is probably well aware of the outrage of the other disciples when he continues his teaching - because Jesus then goes on to teach about how different his disciples must be.
Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
In our Christian walk today, in this part of the world, we may not encounter the kinds of trial that awaited the first disciples but we are still called to practice a life of service.
Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
Servanthood is a difficult path to walk. One that demands a lot of practise.
There is a Native American story about a young brave who goes to an elder and says, "I'm in turmoil. My heart is filled with good and with bad."
The elder tells him , "Two dogs live within the heart. One is good and the other is evil."
"How do I know which one will win?" asks the young man. "The one you feed will win," replies the older, wiser man.
"The one you feed will win,"
So it is with being a servant.
If we feed our servant nature, it will grow strong and overcome the desires that would make us want to be first in everything.
It is not wrong to have ambition.
It is not wrong to want the best.
Modelling servanthood does not preclude achievement.
In fact being a servant can actually be quite powerful. ( And I'm not talking about the cult that is Downton Abbey!)
For us to have an impact on this community that we serve calls for us not to ask: "whats in it for us?"
For us to have an impact on this community that we serve calls for us to be servants.
Calls for us to discover the needs of our community and do what we can to meet those needs.
Serving our community in small things and in large, all of which make an impact.
Perversely, that will get us noticed.
We will become known as people who are willing to serve, willing to be there for others, willing to give of ourselves to make a difference.
Feeding our servant nature until it becomes all that we can do - serving others.
Until we do it without thinking.

Thoughtlessness:
That's what Jesus demands.
Not the conscious "always putting yourself last",
Not the big effort
Not even the martyrdom.
But the thoughtlessness
that comes as second nature.
Just like Jesus.
Serving because that's just what we do
Always putting others first
because that's just the way we are,
and in all this
making a huge impact,
without even knowing
because the nature of Christ
lives deep within us.
Thoughtless Christians
That's what the world needs more of.

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Simple living?

Mark 10:17-31

The Rich Man

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother. ’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

If Jesus were around today, he would give the stand up comedians a run for their money. He just had a way of saying things that brought some levity but, in the levity, there was often a punch that cut to the heart of the matter.

In today's gospel, a man ran up to Jesus, catching him just as he was setting off on another journey.

You know how that is...

You're edging your way out of the door, thinking you'll be in good time.

Against all the odds, you're ready to be on your way....

Then you're stopped in your tracks.

And it's never something simple that stops you.

Never something that can be kept til you return.

In Marks gospel, Jesus makes one journey - that is, the journey to the cross.

But all along the way, he stopped to teach and to heal.

And today's reading was yet another of those interruptions on the way to the cross.

This man, whom we call The Rich Young Ruler based on accounts in the other gospels presents Jesus with a question that must be addressed there and then.

It's a burning desire in the questioner that simply won't keep.

"Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

For a moment, Jesus is distracted by the man calling him good.

"Why do you call me good?" He asks. "God alone is good"

From the subsequent conversation, this man was familiar with the laws of life - it seems likely he practised them all diligently. But there was clearly something missing from his life. He wasn't fulfilled. He knew how to live - but that wasn't cutting it. He wanted more.

One of the startling things we heard last week from the folks from the Foodbank is that many of us are just one pay check away from going hungry. 

And that is something that I've come across with more regularity.

Demographics are changing.

Those who need help, with food, with shelter - no longer fit the stereotypes into which we like to box them.

The folk who turn up at the manse door these days are not, as has been the case in the past, folk chancing their arm or attempting a scam but people with stories of illness or redundancy or mental health issues that have led to their vulnerability and destitution.

You and I, worshipping together this morning are considered rich. We fall into the category that places us as rich people in the world.

Does that surprise you?

All of us gathered here - whether we're still trying to pay off student loans, whether we have mortgages that seem crippling month by month, whether our pensions have taken knock after knock over the years, whether our salaries fail miserably to keep up with inflation, we are considered wealthy on worldly terms.

We have a roof over our heads.

There is food in our cupboards.

We had a choice of clothes to wear this morning.

We may have driven or been driven here this morning.

We have access to education, to healthcare.

We have a choice of leisure or cultural pursuits.

We are wealthy.

And, whether we like to admit it or not, we are attached to our wealth, a wealth often achieved at the expense of others.

Those we will never meet - in factories halfway across the world, who manufacture the clothes we like to buy as cheaply as possible.

Those we will never meet, who gather crops in all weathers so that we can have out of season food whenever we want it at reasonable prices, for us.

Those we will never meet who precisely and painstakingly put together the gadgets and electronic wizardry that we love.

Those we will never meet who don't even earn in a day the loose change we spend on a latte or a fast food takeaway.

We are attached to our wealth.

We feel entitled to it.

Jesus does not condemn the young man who questions him.

Jesus looks on him with love.

What a powerful statement.

v21 - Jesus, looking at him, loved him.

Jesus told him: " You lack only one thing - go sell what you own, and give the money to the poor."

Neither does Jesus condemn us this morning.

He looks on us with love and says: " You lack only one thing - go sell what you own, and give the money to the poor."

And how hard it is for us to follow when faced with such a demand.

Peter, the disciple makes a good try at squirming out of it. Just as many of us will.

In v28 , Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

That's a refrain often heard in churches: " look at what we've done"

And Jesus message is: well done, now go and do more.

Impossible?

Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

And this is where the gospel becomes good news even for us wealthy worshipers this morning.

Jesus looks on us with love, not condemnation.

And offers us grace.

Offers us the understanding that to do this thing that is so difficult, to achieve the impossible, we will need the power of God transforming our lives, turning them upside down, pouring in grace that makes all things possible.

In the work of the kingdom, we can never feel that we've done our bit. Not while there are poor and homeless and hungry folk in the world, and right here on our doorstep.

The work is never done.

And we have much to share.

Jesus looks on us with love, not condemnation.

But his message takes no prisoners.

Go and do more.

And let's notice one more thing about today's gospel.

When the young man runs up to Jesus and kneels before him, this is just like all the other stories we have been considering these last few weeks in marks gospel" stories of healing.

Folk came to Jesus and knelt before him seeking healing.

So it was with this young man.

He knew that something was amiss in his life.

He was good, he kept the law, he followed the church's teaching, but he knew that his life was not as abundant as it could be.

Jesus told him how he could find that abundance.

How he could experience that something more that was missing from his life.

Jesus showed him the way to being healed.

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Word!

For us today.