Opening Our Eyes

October 28^th, 2018                 “Opening Our Eyes”                     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Mark 10:46-52

         This morning our gospel reading picks up right where we left off last week.  Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for his final days.  He has told the disciples repeatedly about the suffering that awaits him there, but they still are unable to hear and understand his message.  In our reading for last Sunday, the Zebedee brothers James and John asked for seats of honor in Jesus’ kingdom.  Jesus made it clear that they will suffer a similar fate to his own, but that places of honor were not his to give.  He reminded everyone that the path to greatness in the kingdom of God is the path of service.  As the crowd passes on we have our healing story for today, which is immediately followed by Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city.

         At first this appears to be just one more healing story.  Jesus heals a man who was born blind, and you might wonder what I could find to say about such a thing.  But, if we examine this story closer, we can see that it is a metaphor for both physical and spiritual blindness, which is something that Jesus’ disciples were suffering from at this point in the story.  I believe we too, suffer from blindness today.  Let’s examine the story closer.

         We have three main characters or figures in the story; Bartimaeus, Jesus, and the crowds.  As the writer of Mark tells us Bartimaeus is a blind beggar, and while sitting by the side of the road, he hears the commotion of Jesus and his friends passing by.   He may be lacking physical vision but Bartimaeus has spiritual sight as he calls out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  This is the first time the Son of David title has been used in Mark’s gospel, so even though he can’t see Bartimaeus clearly knows what’s going on. 

         When he finds out that Jesus is interested in speaking to him Bartimaeus wastes no time at all.  He jumps up, drops his coat, and runs to Jesus’ side.  Jesus consents to heal Bartimaeus and makes it clear that the healing derives from Bartimaeus’ great faith.  That faith continues as instead of returning to his begging corner, or running off to start a new life with his new eyes, Bartimaeus chooses to follow Jesus on the way.  He is one of the only people in the Gospel of Mark that does this. 

         We cannot understand this story without looking at the role that the crowd plays.  As Bartimaeus calls to Jesus for help, the crowd repeatedly tells him to keep quiet.  They actively try to block Jesus from seeing Bartimaeus and they try to prevent Bartimaeus from being healed.  Their reasons could be many.  Perhaps they want Jesus’ attention for themselves, perhaps they think that Bartimaeus’ blindness was a result of sin and he didn’t deserve healing, perhaps they simply thought he was making too much noise and they were annoyed with him.  We can’t really know their motivation, but we can probably assume that their desire to block out Bartimaeus came from selfishness.  No one really wants to see or hear about another person’s suffering.

         Jesus of course, is our other main character.  Jesus sees Bartimaeus, he hears him, and he calls him to his side.  Jesus won’t be swayed by the voice of the crowd.  And even though he is in a position to help, Jesus doesn’t assume to know what Bartimaeus wants.  Instead, he asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”  How often do we remember to ask such things when we are in a position to offer help? 

         Jesus heals Bartimaeus and the Greek word used here is sōzō which refers to both physical and spiritual healing and salvation.  Jesus saves Bartimaeus from a physical blindness and he saves him, and all of us, from a spiritual blindness as well.  Bartimaeus is a character in direct contrast to the disciples who still can’t see who Jesus really is. 

         The overall message of this story is that Jesus has the power to heal blindness.  It could be the physical blindness that Bartimaeus suffers from, or it could be the spiritual blindness that the disciples were suffering from.  Jesus has the power to heal our blindness.  Jesus is the one who will show us mercy, by helping us to see our world more clearly.

         Of course, as I am sure you can imagine, there are a lot of ways that we have become blind.  In some things we are spiritually blind, and I would argue, in some things we are physically blind as well.  From where we are standing, we just can’t see our world very clearly.

         Let’s take one news story as an example.  And if I offend you today by getting political then let me apologize in advance.  Feel free to plug your ears, I will not be offended.  I want to talk about the “caravan” of migrants traveling from Central America supposedly to the United States.  Now, migrants traveling in groups are nothing new.  Migrants travel in groups for safety.  This happens all the time, and this group is not exceptionally big.  In fact, this group would hardly be worth notice except that this is an election season, and this is good fodder for those who are seeking election. 

         What can we see and what can we know about this group of refugees and migrants?  Well, the loudest voice in the country is our President, and he will tell you that this migrant group is something to be afraid of.  He will say that there are gang members in this crowd who are coming here to hurt us.  He will say that there are “middle eastern” people in this crowd which is also meant to cause fear.  As if we should be afraid of a whole category of people.  Our President will say that these people are acting illegally.  And, he will suggest that the correct response to this group of desperate people is military action.  Are these the words of truth?  Or is this simply the loudest voice out there, the voice of the crowd, trying to block our vision?  Is our President deliberately telling lies to try to keep us blind?

         Reporters in the crowd of refugees can tell us what they understand and what they see in this group of people.  They tell us that these are mostly families, people and their children.  They tell us that they haven’t seen any “middle eastern” people, again assuming that this is a whole category of people we should fear.  Those that are there tell us that the things the President is saying are not true.  They tell us that these people are looking for work, they are looking for safety for their families.  They might stop in Mexico, they might go back to Central America, or they might walk over 1000 miles to the California border.  They are simply looking for a new life in anyway they can find it, because their families are suffering and they fear for their lives and the lives of their children.

         When we open our eyes, we can see that these are not people out to get us, rather these are people just like us.  They are people with families, they are people who want better lives, and they are people in a desperate situation.  They are not people trying to break the law, or trying to enter the country “illegally”.  They are people who are seeking amnesty which is a human right and part of international law.  To respond to these people with fear and violence would be a tragedy. 

         There are those in our administration who say that these people deserve to go to prison because they are breaking the law.  And they dare to suggest that the Bible would support such treatment.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  When we open our eyes, we see that the Bible supports migrants and refugees more than any other group.  Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites are told to remember that they themselves were once refugees from the land of Egypt.  What would it mean for all of us white Americans to remember that we ourselves were once refugees and migrants whose ancestors came to this land seeking a better life? 

In the Old Testament, how you treat the refugee directly affects how God will treat you.  In the New Testament, Jesus tells us that how we treat the stranger will determine our salvation.  How could a Christian possibly support such demonization of a whole group of people?  You can disagree with me about our immigration policies but don’t you dare use the Bible to support the view that immigrants should be incarcerated, that children should be torn from parents, or that the correct response to those seeking asylum in our country is military power.

         Now, I am just using this as one example of a way that our world tries to keep us blind.  And again, I apologize if you are offended by politics in a sermon, but some things just need to be said, and sometimes it is my job to say them.  There are many voices out there that like the crowd in our gospel reading, try to keep us from seeing the truth of our world.  When we come to a place where truth and facts are suddenly up for debate, we come to a place where people would prefer that we be kept blind.  But, if we continue to seek our God, our eyes will be opened. 

If we are willing to really look at our world we will see many things.  We will see many ugly things like suffering, racism, injustice, hunger, violence, poverty, greed, and wrath.  And we will see many beautiful things like love, peace, compassion, generosity, the glory and value of nature, and the fellow humanity of our neighbors.  Jesus has the power to open our eyes, to offer us a spiritual salvation, and that includes the ability to really “see” the world around us and those that we share this world with.

         This is stewardship season, and one thing that our faith helps us to clearly see is the power of how we use our money and other gifts from God.  This is a time to consider how we might invest in this wonderful family of faith.  We open our eyes and we see this place clearly, our blessings and our flaws.  Sure, there are some things we could do better.  But here in this community, we are trying to be our best selves.  We can pool our resources to make a difference in the lives of the unseen people in Warrensburg, like at the Food Center, and around the world, like in Malawi.  We can form a community where we work together to open our eyes.  Through educational opportunities for adults and children, we learn together, study our faith, and grow in our love of Jesus.  We want to really see our God, and who we are, and who our God is calling us to be.  Investing in this family of faith, is an investment in our vision of the future.  This is the community where we challenge each other to really “see” the world and grow in our faith.  And this is the community where we can really be “seen”.  A place where people really know who we are, and really welcome us with the love of Christ.

         As you go out into the world this week, I encourage you to really look and see the world we live in.  Don’t simply listen to the loudest voice out there and don’t believe the lies.  Words matter; and how we say and do things matters.  We have seen this week that lies and hatred have a violent end.  It’s not OK.  Don’t let the crowds keep you blind and block you from Jesus.  Seek Jesus out, call to him, and let Jesus open your eyes.  May we all look together at the real world around us and may we see clearly what is really going on.   

This week I pray that Jesus would show us mercy through his gifts of healing.  May we be rescued from physical and spiritual blindness, and may we go out into the world, opening our eyes, speaking the truth, and willing to open the eyes of others we meet.  Amen.