PROPER 25B – Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52 –

A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

Being Clear About What We Want

INTRODUCTION – From Service to Being Served

Perhaps you’ll recall that last week I preached about us being called by God to serve, because we follow a Lord and Master who came to serve, and that the path to greatness is paved with acts of service.

One way to interpret this week’s Gospel is as the flip-side of last week’s Gospel. That is, what about those times when we are the ones who want or need something, when we are the ones who are on the receiving end of being served?

SOME OLD LESSONS I LEARNED

Somewhere along the way, a very long time ago, I learned something that was not a helpful lesson. In fact, it was really bad teaching.

I learned that I was not really supposed to have much in the way of wants. Sure, I needed the basics of life – love, food, clothing, shelter, touch – but it was sort of a sin to want anything. To want something, the lesson went, smacked too much of entitlement or greed or something like that. Be grateful for what you have, but watch out when it comes to wanting too much more than that. This lesson can even have some Christian seasoning added to it. “It is better to give than receive.” “You’re called to serve others, not be the center of attention yourself.” From last week: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve…” (Mark 10:45)

Of course, if the Son of Man came to serve, someone has to be on the receiving end of that service. Some of us missed that key point, somewhere along the way.

BARTIMAEUS

Let’s take a look at Bartimaeus for a moment. Son of Timaeus – perhaps we can call him Tim Jr. Tim Jr. had evidently been able to see at some point in his life, but had gone blind. And like just about all the blind people of his day, he had to resort to begging. Could Tim Jr. support himself this way, and get enough to squeak by? Probably. Faithful Jews were certainly taught to give alms to the poor.

But as Kiyo Kobayashi said in our Lectio Divina class last week, simply getting money given to him did not solve his main problem. His main problem was that he couldn’t see. There was a big difference between what Tim Jr. needed to get by – some money to eat and get a night’s lodging somewhere – and what he wanted.

He wanted to see again. He wanted his dignity back. He didn’t want to be a beggar and an outcast for the rest of his life. He wanted to be able to work and contribute to the community, just like everyone else. He wanted to have the option of falling in love and getting married, just like everyone else. He wanted the chance to have an excellent, joy-filled life – just like everyone else.

Tim Jr. was sitting by the side of the road on the outskirts of Jericho, Mark tells us. This would have been a strategic spot for begging, as people traveled back and forth between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was travelling by. He had heard of this fellow Jesus. He had heard that he healed quite a few people. And Nazareth wasn’t that close by. When might Jesus be back in Jericho? Maybe never again. That was the answer.

This is where it gets interesting. Janet Koelling commented during last week’s discussion that she was struck by how much action Bartimaeus took, once he realized that Jesus was there. You see, he wanted something, and he wanted it badly.

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Son of David.” This was a title used by some Jews who were expecting a royal Messiah. Jesus evidently never used this title for himself. Jesus preferred “Son of Man” – as in, “identifying with all people”, a prototype of what it means to be a human being. Still, Jesus knew that many of his fellow Jews were looking for a Messiah, in the line of David, who would make everything right for Israel again. You certainly didn’t hear people throw around this “Son of David” title lightly.

Many people immediately told Tim Jr. to shut up. “The rabbi is busy. He’s moving on from Jericho. He doesn’t have time for you. You’re embarrassing us! Shut up!”

“SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!” (again, but with even more volume)

Jesus stopped, and said to his disciples, “Call him here.”

And they went up to Tim Jr., and said, “Take heart; get up! Jesus is calling you.”

Tim Jr. didn’t need to hear any more than that. He threw off his cloak and sprang up – “sprang”, I tell you – all in one motion. And he came to Jesus. Whether he was guided or not, I don’t know, but he was in front of Jesus in an instant.

And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Wasn’t it obvious what he wanted? On the other hand, this was his chance to say exactly what he wanted. Nobody every asked him what he wanted. They just dropped a shekel or a half-shekel into his hand, said “shalom”, and moved on. Some people didn’t even do that. What did he want? He wanted so many things? But mainly he wanted to see again.

“My teacher – “rabbouni” in Aramaic – let me see again.”

And Jesus said, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he could see again. OMG, as the kids might say today. Oh – my – God! Son of David? What about Son of God, here in the flesh, and now I am looking right at him, clear as day.

This man said “go”. Go where and do what? Go back to Jericho? Go ask someone for a job? Maybe. But right at this moment, all he knew to do was follow this man who had given him back his sight.

Check out Tim Jr.’s behavior.

He was sitting on the side of the road begging, just like on every other day. But when his moment of opportunity came, when he heard that it was Jesus coming by, he seized the moment.

He began to shout. When ordered to shut up, he shouted even more loudly. He threw off his cloak. He sprang up. He came (probably dashed) to Jesus. He stated exactly what he wanted. And when he was made whole, he made a decision to follow Jesus.

LESSONS FROM BARTIMAEUS

There was a moment in my marriage to Julia, a number of years ago, when she said to me, “Peter, what do you want?” And you know what? I had a terrible time answering, because I didn’t think I was supposed to want anything! You’re talking about a former Peace Corps Volunteer who chose to move out of my first Peace Corps house – one with running water - because I wanted more of the Peace Corps experience that I had imagined, one with an outhouse in the backyard, thank you very much. Cold showers for almost three years? No problem. Cooking everything on a two-burner propane stove? No problem. Riding a transport that was so crowded that a student was sometimes in my lap, and when I got to school, my leg was asleep? No problem. Washing my clothes in a 5-gallon paint bucket? A real pain, but I wasn’t going to pay a local person to take my clothes to the river and wash them.

What did I want? What did I want? Wow – what a question!

How life can change, if we can voice out loud – to some other human being – what we want.

We talked last week about voicing it. Jesus probably knew what Tim Jr. wanted, being that Jesus was a pretty smart dude. But Jesus wanted him to say it. We have to take what we’re thinking on the inside, and be honest and real and matter-of-fact, and say to another living, breathing person, “This, __________________, this is what I want.”

There’s a power in that. Especially when what we want is grounded in what God wants for us, too. I’m not talking about greed here. That’s something totally different.

I’m talking about legitimate wants – things that add meaning and dignity and real value to our lives. Health. A good job. A dream to inspire us and that will demand our best. A partner whom we can love and from whom we can receive love. A good friend. A purpose or a cause that demands the use of our gifts and our creativity.

WHAT I WANT

What do I want?

I want St. Ambrose to be a community where we can be real with each other – a place where people can be honest with each other and say, “This is what I want. What do you want?”, and a place where we work together to make it happen. I want St. Ambrose to be a place where people can walk in the doors, and whatever is going on for them – joy, sadness, disappointment, anger, depression, top-of-the-mountain celebration, confusion – folks can feel confident and safe enough to say, “This is what’s going on for me today. It’s Tuesday and I’m angry. It’s Wednesday and I am over-the-top happy. It’s Sunday and I’m feeling kind of low.” And no one tries to fix it or take it away, but we are there for each other, with whatever is going on. I want a church where people can be authentic with each other, and a church where, by the power of the living God, we are all transformed.

What do I want?

I want a flow around money – in my life and in this church – where money comes in and money goes out, and it’s not a struggle, but more of a celebration. I want to be able to savor money – savor it for all the good that it can bring to my life, to yours, and to all the people who are in desperate need of the kingdom.

I want to walk across this great country of ours, and collect stories of God’s grace and people’s faithfulness and gratitude and generosity. And while I walk across the country, I want to raise one million dollars for Episcopal Relief and Development, from generous people who want to make a difference in the world. And by the time that walk happens, in 2013, I want each of you to be so committed to Christ, and so committed to this church, that this church doesn’t miss a beat, because each person will be taking 100% responsibility for what he or she wants St. Ambrose to be, and each person will be taking 100% responsibility for listening to what God is calling each of us to do, as members of this community.

I want this to be a church where every single member can go after what they want, and where we offer support to each other, in such a loving, faithful way, that folks are inspired to go after whatever God is calling them to be and do.

I am changing, and it is due to the ongoing presence of Jesus Christ in my life, and it is due to people like you in my life, who support me and love me and challenge me to not just sit by the side of the road, hoping against hope that people might notice me and offer me a half-shekel or two. I have gone from being a person who didn’t know what he wanted to a person who is looking – in expectation – for how the Lord will lead me and guide me and bring about the things that I want, just as he did for Bartimaeus.

CONCLUSION

I guess the questions for you are pretty obvious by now. What do you want? Who are you going to articulate those wants to? Do you trust that the Lord also wants what is best for you, and that the One who came to serve, came to serve you, too?