October 25, 2009 Job 42:1-6
Mark 10:46-52
May I Help You?
So here we are already into the heart of the football season. This is, in fact, week VII for the National Football League, or should we now say, “The International Football League?” You see, today, our New England Patriots are in London where they will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pat’s players have been reminded that this is not a tourist vacation but their work! Good thing, given the salaries they are being paid!
The game starts at 1:00 Eastern Time. So, on your way home from church be sure to stop by your favorite store and pick up an ample supply of chips and chicken wings. The weather forecast, by the way, calls for sunny skies and 60 degrees, which will be somewhat better than the weather last Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
So, Tom Brady did this interview for NFL, you know the usual pregame stuff and was asked if there was anything in particular Coach Bellichick told the team in preparation for the trip. Here’s what Tom said:
Well, he gave us all the places to stay away from. I don’t know if that makes us want to go there more, or should we stay away? I think he just reiterated what he needs from us and what he wants out of us. It’s a pretty unique experience for all of us-there’s no doubt about that – and playing in a great stadium like that [Wrembley Stadium.] But I think the trip will be memorable if we win, if we lose I guess it will be memorable for a different reason from what we’d want to be memorable for. [patriots.com 10.25.09]
Speaking of memorable events, today is Reformation Sunday. Today the Protestant Church celebrates the start of the Protestant Reformation, something Martin Luther hadn’t really planned to do. He wanted to reform the Catholic Church and posted these words to his famous 95 Theses on the door [the bulletin boards of the day] of the Castle Church in Whittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. He protested among other things the practice of indulgences (buying forgiveness) and a movement was triggered that went way beyond his expectations.
This statement shows how committed he was to the cause of reform:
Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason---I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other---my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.
So here we are on Reformation Sunday, Week VII for the NFL, recognizing two memorable events, but as Quarterback Tom Brady suggests, it may just be memorable for a different reason from what we’d want to be memorable for. [patriots.com 10.25.09]
Today is memorable because a blind beggar named Bartimaeus had the nerve to ask Jesus for help. Just think about the setting: Jesus is surrounded by his twelve disciples as they walk through the city of Jericho. As they head toward one of the gates, a large crowd follows along. This is a big entourage. There is lots of excitement. Jesus is a very charismatic man and the crowd is just buzzing with excitement. Remember: everybody was expecting Jesus to lead the way to a revolution, to break away from the oppression of the Roman Empire.
So what happens? A blind beggar yells out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” This “low-life” man has the audacity to ask Jesus for help.
“For heavens sake, man, do you know who you are talking to? He hasn’t got time to deal with you. This isn’t about you. This is about fulfilling the word of God; this is about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Just settle down there buddy; no more distractions. We have places to go and people to see!”
Ever attune to the needs of people, Jesus detects this incident occurring on the side. He stops in his tracks and looks over to the blind man and says, “Call him here.” So the people who were trying to get the man to be quiet now inform him that Jesus has just invited him forward. The man springs up, unable to believe for sure that this is really happening! “Jesus is asking me to come to him.”
The man finds his way and stands within a few feet of Jesus, his heart now pounding. He is so nervous he can hardly talk. “Imagine, me being next to this man Jesus who has energized the crowds and who has promised great things to come. This man who others had told him can heal people. He doesn’t know what to say? The beggar is blind but he knows that he is surrounded by a great crowd of people; they are silent, holding their breaths to see what happens next.
Then it happens: Jesus speaks with these most precious words, to me, a lowly beggar who manages to capitalize on his blindness: “What do you want me to do for you?” (repeat)
Can you believe it? He wants to know what he can do for me! Me, the beggar who can spend a whole day with an outstretched hand and hear no one ask a thing of him. Me, a man whom all are convinced has done some horrible thing and now deserves this penalty of blindness. Jesus, is asking me what he can do for me!
“My teacher, let me see again.” A simple, but oh so complicated request. “Let me see again.”
Jesus says to him, “Go, your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Now that’s memorable! That’s bigger than week VII of the NFL and its even bigger than Martin Luther’s paperwork posted on the bulletin board: this is the very essence of the love of God in Jesus Christ. This is the message loud and clear that God has a special place in His heart for the downtrodden, the lost, the lonely, and the sick. Jesus could have blown by this man Bartimaeus and no one would have given it a second thought. “The city if full of beggars! We can’t be bothered with the rift-raft. He can’t stop to help this pathetic excuse for a man because he has things to do!”
Do you hear what this story is saying? Jesus cares about each and every one of us. Jesus wants us to approach him with our needs. Jesus says to us just as he said to Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Have you ever told him? Have you every really put it right out there in prayer? Or, is this too confusing? “Am I supposed to pray to God or to Jesus? How is this supposed to work?” The answer is either because Jesus is God come to us to share our common lot. So don’t get hung up on the theology. Pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ, or pray to Jesus either way. Our hymns do both. Look through the hymnal: from “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” to “Jesus the Very Thought of Thee.”
Jesus asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”
There was an inspiring story in the news this week (aol.news “Teen Runner Stops to Help Competitor.”) about a seventeen-year-old girl named Helena Page. Helena is a cross-country runner and student at Randolph Career Academy in Philadelphia. She was near the end of a race, a half mile from the finish line to be exact, when she came upon a competitor from another school. Dominique Lincoln of neighboring Fels High was in trouble and, in fact, had collapsed. As close as she was to the finish line and as important as it was for her to finish the race for the good of the school, Helena had a higher calling, the need of a fellow human being. She is a licensed emergency technician. She elevated her competitor’s legs to improve blood flow to the brain, checked to see if she needed CPR and covered her, to protect her from the cold.
The story reports: “As [Dominique] regained consciousness, it was [Helena’s] voice she heard asking questions.” [ibid.]
I wonder if one of them was, “What do you want me to do for you?” I suspect so.
Helena was disqualified from the race because she stopped, but you can tell from reading the story that she really didn’t care about that. Her coach said, “She was willing to step up and act right away while others ran past…” Her mother said, “If a person appears to be in distress…she’s going to help.” [ibid.]
The story of Bartimaeus lives on, after all, it is memorable.
