Sermon for October 24, 2021 - He Left His Cloak Behind
GOSPEL: Mark 10:46-52
The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.
46As [Jesus] and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51Then 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.” 52Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Much to wonder about and ponder in this story.
Jesus is on the road.
Jerusalem awaits.
Three crosses await.
Jesus leaves Jericho,
another stop along the way
the disciples and the large crowd follow.
They leave for Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
I wonder if this year’s crowd is larger than last year’s,
Do people know Jesus is headed to Jerusalem too?
Have they heard Jesus teach that the Son of Man
is to be betrayed into human authority,
to suffer,
be killed,
and three days later rise from the dead?
Maybe Bartimaeus knows.
It is not a fluke that this is
Jesus’ last stop before Jerusalem.
Was Bartimaeus sitting on this road last year,
during last year’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover?
Maybe this is just his usual begging spot.
He doesn’t cry out to the Son of David
until he hears that it is Jesus of Nazareth walking by.
Bartimaeus is not asking this Jesus for a coin.
He is not asking for justice.
There is no entitlement.
He asks for mercy,
he does not claim to be worthy,
And he asks it from Jesus, Son of David.
Bartimaeus is not merely acknowledging that Jesus is Jewish,
he is calling Jesus the Messiah,
the anointed one,
the prophesied one from the house of David.
This is the first person to make this acknowledgement of Jesus.
Bartimaeus is first to call Jesus “Son of David”
He is blind.
But he can see who Jesus really is.
Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus for mercy.
The crowd rebukes him.
They sternly ordered him to be quiet.
But he did not quiet,
like an infant in her mother’s arms,
Bartimaeus cries out all the more
to his Heavenly Parent in the flesh.
In the end,
Bartimaeus follows Jesus,
on Christ’s journey to the cross.
I wonder what Jesus has packed for this trip to Jerusalem.
Did Jesus keep the advice he gave when he sent the 70,
take no bag, no shirt, no extra cloak,
Go with God and a staff?
I think so.
I read an interesting story recently,
this is from Donna Schaper “All Is Calm”
There we were, in love and on the rim of the Grand Canyon on New Year’s Eve. As we watched the sun go down, we remembered the hotel was full and we needed a place to stay.
My husband had a brainstorm. “I’ll bet the ranger at the bottom of the canyon is lonely, especially tonight. Let’s call him and see how he would feel about having guests.”
The ranger’s telephone number was in the book. We dialed, explained our situation, and offered to bring groceries down. Ranger Gary said he and his wife, Gina, would love company.
After an uneventful passage down the curving canyon, we arrived at the bottom. We were invited into the ranger’s large cabin and served a nice dinner. Then Gary and Gina showed us their “sports room.” It was full of abandoned sports equipment — high-class hiking boots, expensive backpacks, fancy hats, and even fancier walking sticks that people had left behind.
-“People can walk in easily enough with all of this stuff,” Gary said. “They just can’t walk out.”
— Donna Schaper, All Is Calm
(St. Mary’s Press, 1999)
I have never been to the Grand Canyon,
but I can imagine the windy path,
easy enough to make your way down,
far more difficult to make your way back up.
Many people were forced to leave their prized possessions behind
in order to climb back up the canyon.
Some of these items,
like fancy boots and polls,
people thought would be helpful on their journey.
When Jesus invites us on a journey,
we are invited to travel light.
We might think we know what we will need on our journey,
but the point is to trust God in and with our journey
We recently heard a story of another person
who Jesus invited to follow,
who came to Jesus in a time of need.
The Rich Young Man or rich young ruler asked Jesus,
Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life.
What must I do?
Jesus responded in love.
you lack one thing - sell what you have,
give the money to Bartimaeus,
I mean, give the money to the poor,
then come follow me.
He couldn’t do it.
He left grieving, for he had many possessions.
It is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle
than for one who is wealthy to enter the kingdom of God,
Jesus teaches.
Who then can be saved? We and the disciples cry out…
For mortals it is impossible. But not for God.
For God all things are possible.
Bartimaeus did not ask Jesus
what must I do in order to see?
He asked for mercy.
What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked.
My teacher, let me see again.
Except Bartimaeus already could see with eyes of faith
exactly who Jesus is.
No one else on that road called Jesus “Son of David”
with the cross awaiting.
As suffering and death are imminent,
Jesus looks not to his own needs,
but to Bartimaeus.
What a loving Saviour we have.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
By the way,
Jesus had just asked the same thing of James and John,
what do you want me to do for you?
They asked to sit at Jesus’ right hand and left -
They wanted glory.
Accepted, welcome, listened to, and healed
Bartimaeus did not want glory,
he followed Jesus,
And he left his cloak behind. This is profound…
Bartimaeus was blind.
He was a beggar.
He sat at the road side,
jacket out in front of him to collect the coins, perhaps,
and, in faith, Bartimaeus leaves his cloak behind,
certainly his prized possession,
likely his only possession from his former life.
Healed spiritually, healed physically,
restored to community,
Bartimaeus has nothing to lose
and he can follow Jesus,
and leave his old life behind.
You too are invited to follow Jesus,
and it might just be an uphill journey.
What might you need to leave behind
from your old life
so that you can follow where Jesus is leading?
What might the church need to leave behind
in order to be the Church we are called to be?
Could we leave our building behind
if Jesus asked us to?
Could we leave Zoom behind
if Jesus asked us to?
For some its the Pews,
or the pipe organ,
the PowerPoint or the paper bulletins.
Or less tangible possessions
like pride, power or prestige.
Perhaps we, the church, also
have some-things we would not want to leave behind.
Like the many people who left prized possessions behind
to make their way up the Grand Canyon,
Like Bartimaeus, who left behind his only possession,
the only piece of comfort he had in his old life
whether talking our journey as a church
or our own faith journey
We can’t bring all our baggage with us.
Bartimaeus had a choice.
In that moment, accepted by Jesus,
loved by Jesus,
healed by Jesus,
He has to either cling to the old possession that he trusted
for comfort and livelihood,
or cling to Jesus.
Bartimaeus had nothing to lose,
it would have been ridiculous to hold onto that cloak.
What do you have to lose?
Why are you still holding your cloak?
Self sufficiency needs to die.
The rich young ruler couldn’t be self sufficient,
neither could Bartimaeus,
neither can any of us in between.
Self sufficiency is a lie that needs to die.
With Jesus, the Kin-dom of God has come near to you.
The invitation from Jesus is:
Repent, believe in the good news, follow me.
To repent means to do a 180,
to change your mind,
to change your life,
away from your old ways and to return to God.
That means letting go,
or in the words of Martin Luther,
to fear, love, and trust God above all else.
So turn to God.
Like Bartimaeus,
like the baby in her mother’s arms,
call out to Jesus in your need.
Be honest with God: What needs healing in your life?
What do you want Jesus to do for you?
Our God is all ears - talk to God,
cry out to God,
tell God what you’re afraid to let go of.
But be ready to leave your cloak behind,
for Jesus invites us to travel light.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Jesus asks Bartimaeus, and James and John.
Perhaps our prayer too ought to be the reverse:
Jesus, what do you want me to do for you?
Something I find profound in today’s story,
something that the crowd might have finally figured out,
and when I say crowd, think of the faithful people
who follow Jesus.
The crowds had tried to send the little children away from Jesus.
Jesus called for the children.
The disciples tried to move on
after the woman with hemorrhages for 12 years
touched Jesus’ cloak.
Jesus called for her.
The crowds sternly told Bartimaeus to be quiet,
Jesus called for him.
Did the crowd finally hear and understand Jesus?
The crowd says to Bartimaeus, take heart,
get up,
Jesus is calling you.
Finally, For once, the crowd hears Jesus’ invitation
and helps the one lost sheep
find their way to their Good Shepherd.
As we follow Jesus,
who are we trying to silence?
who are those people on the road that we ask to be silent?
God is not finished listening to them.
Instead,
we are called to be encouragers in the body of Christ,
to share the profound truth for those in need,
“Get up, Jesus is calling you.”
I believe what is needed right now,
in the church, in the world,
is deep listening.
People do change. Often when they feel heard.
I shared this idea months ago,
when considering Jesus’ interaction with the
Syrophoenician woman,
remember, the one Jesus called a dog.
As Jesus listened to this person,
who belonged to an ethnicity
that Jews were taught to hate,
we see a shift in Jesus’ mission and ministry:
that Jesus is the Messiah not just for Israel,
but for all nations.
Then Jesus lifts up and welcomes the little children.
In the paraphrased words of Bishop Yvette Flounder,
Maybe we hear God best
from the people who differ from us the most.
Stop aiming for the conversion of others.
Listen for your own conversion.
People do change.
Most often when they are heard.
Bartimaeus was heard.
Then he was healed.
May you listen deeply to those you meet on the journey,
and listen for your own conversion.
May you turn away from your old life,
leave your cloak behind,
and be healed.
And accepted, welcomed, and sent by God’s Spirit,
May you follow Jesus wherever he leads you.
Thanks be to God. Amen
