Job 42.16, 10-17, Mark 10.46-52
Bridestowe, Lydford, Last Sunday after Trinity (Proper 25), 28/10/2012
‘My teacher, let me see again.’
‘Go; your faith has made you well.’
Believing is seeing.
Approaching life through the eyes of faith gives a very different, privileged perspective.
Believing is seeing.
The believer is one whose eyes are opened to the world in a whole new way.
Believing is seeing.
You don’t even need the use of your eyes to know this.
For the blind beggar Bartimaeus, believing was seeing.
By faith, Bartimaeus ‘saw’ that Jesus would have mercy on him, he believed that Jesus would restore his vision, he believed he would be healed.
Believing, Bartimaeus saw himself differently. As one who God valued and loved. Others, quick to condemn him in his suffering, dubbed him ‘son of the unclean’. But Bartimaeus believed Jesus when he said, ‘Whoever does the will of God is my brother,’ and saw himself that way.
Believing, Bartimaeus saw others differently. As ones who could be persuaded and transformed. The crowds tried silencing him when he first began to shout for Jesus, but he would not let them stop him. When Jesus responded to his persistent cries the crowds turned to Bartimaeus and said, ‘Take heart, get up, he is calling you.’
Believing, Bartimaeus saw Jesus differently. His belief in Jesus was radical - for Bartimaeus was the only person in the gospel of Mark to call Jesus the ‘Son of David’, uniquely seeing Jesus as a king in Israel’s messianic line. And when in the same breath Bartimaeus pleaded, ‘have mercy on me!’, it demonstrated that he uniquely envisioned the messiah as a gracious, generous, giving leader.
And believing, Bartimaeus saw life differently. Society would keep him in his place - with the other beggars at Jericho, a tourist spot, the last pilgrimage stop before Jerusalem. With just a cloak to warm his back at night and to spread out on the ground to collect the pennies the pilgrims might toss him in the day. But when Jesus called him, Bartimaeus threw off his cloak, sprang up and went to him. Even before he was given his sight he threw away all he had because he envisaged that Jesus would transform him.
Believing is seeing. It is opening one’s eyes to a different world, a view of one’s self, of others, of God, of life, removed from all restrictions and bathed in the light of Christ.
Imagine if Bartimaeus had held to the contrary view that ‘seeing is believing’ - that the way things appear are the way they must remain. Accept your status as a poor outcast, believing that God has put you there. But no, Bartimaeus believed Jesus when he said, ‘The last will be first’. It gave him a vision of a different future. And he followed towards that light.
Mark’s gospel is full of blind men. Often they are people whose eyes can see but whose inner vision is constrained by a lack of belief.
And so the two encounters of Jesus prior to his meeting Bartimaeus: the encounter with James and John who wanted to sit at either side of Jesus in his glory, who failed to see that Jesus was bringing in a whole new way of relating, where ‘whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all’; and the encounter with the rich man seeking assurance of his salvation, who failed to see that Jesus was bringing in a whole new way of wealth creation, where one’s riches are gained through giving away. These men’s unbelief blinded them to the new ways of Jesus' kingdom.
Maybe even Bartimaeus could not foresee what Jesus would do with him, once healed with his sight restored. ‘Immediately he regained his sight,’ writes Mark,‘and followed him on the way.’ As Jesus left the last pilgrimage stop before Jerusalem and headed into the city for the final campaign of his world-changing mission, the one he called to his side to walk with him was not a man of wealth and influence; he was not one of the disciples aspiring to share the glory of their Lord. It was this ‘son of the unclean’.
He could make no greater or clearer a statement to his opponents than what they saw that day - that the dawning of the kingdom of God was coming not in fire and armour and great works of power, but in a ragged pilgrimage procession of a teacher and an outcast, making their way to the city to challenge all the social, economic, and political powers of the day, in love and healing. The last had become first, for all to see. [1]
And so to us. Imagine if we held to the view that ‘seeing is believing’ - that the way things appear in our lives are the way they must remain. Imagine having to accept your poverty, or your suffering, or your grief, believing that God has given you these things, so they must be endured.
But no, understand that God is not one to keep people in poverty, grief, or suffering. Be encouraged by the belief of Bartimaeus. Embrace his vision of a different future. Follow toward the light which drew him.
Open your eyes to a different world, a view of your self, of others, of God, of life, removed from all restrictions and bathed in the light of Christ. Believing is seeing.
Believing, you can see yourself differently. As one who God values and loves. Others might harm and condemn you, but through the eyes of faith when you look in the mirror each morning you see a person who is deeply held in God’s embrace.
Believing, you can see others differently. As ones who can be persuaded and transformed. Your enemies have potential to be friends with you, through the eyes of faith. Those who harm you can be challenged and changed, in the love of Christ. And your brothers and sisters in Christ - they can be so enriched by having you beside them in their lives.
Believing, you can see God differently. Not as one who inflicts trouble to test or punish you, but as one who suffers with you and wants to bring you through. This recalls Job, who had voiced many doubts during his time of suffering, but at the end of his encounter he saw God in all his wonder and grace, and repented of his former blindness.
And believing, you can see life differently. The world through which you travel, the companions on your journey, the adventures you have on the way, take on a whole new look when you walk with Jesus.
The key to seeing this way is in reminding yourself of what God has done for you. This is what we do at the eucharist, where together we recall that God redeemed us from the slavery of sin through Jesus, ‘giving him to be born of a woman, to die upon the cross, and to rise again for us.’
And at the eucharist our eyes are reopened to the people we now are in Christ:
'Through him thou hast made us a people for thine own possession, exalting him to thy right hand on high, and sending forth through him thy holy and life-giving Spirit.' [2]
We approach the communion rail as men and women visually impaired by the violence which life has done to us. We leave the rail having once again remembered all that Jesus has done for us, with our belief renewed, our sight restored, our spirits attuned again to his Spirit; ready again to walk out from here with him, towards our own Jerusalem.
Notes
[1] A grateful nod towards Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man, p.281ff
[2] Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion service
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