Start:Stop-What do you want me to do for you?

Blind Bartimaeus by Nicholas Mynheer (2017)

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. My name is Phillip Dawson. This reflection will last ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a short bible reading, which can be found on page 50 in the New Testament section of the Bible. The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus. 

 Bible Reading – Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then 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.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Reflection

The story of the Healing of Blind Bartimaeus is placed in the Gospel of Mark on the boundary between Jesus’s teaching in Galilee and his journey into Jerusalem. In it we hear that Jesus of Nazareth becomes Jesus, Son of David. It is the first time that the phrase “Son of David” is used to describe Jesus, before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem – foresight from a blind man. The story is unusual in many ways – it is one of only two times that we are told the name of the person being healed. The story is also unique - Bartimaeus is the only person we know of who was healed by Jesus to immediately follow him. As a result, the parable is used to illustrate faith and discipleship.

Discipleship, as we are told later in the Gospel, begins with denial. Jesus says ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ But the crowd following Jesus seem to have got the wrong end of the stick. Society had denied Bartimaeus a place in the crowd. He couldn’t be much lower. The blind beggar was sitting by the roadside outside the lowest city on earth, using his cloak to collect alms.

Before they pass Bartimaeus on the roadside, the disciples had been arguing about who is the greatest. Jesus explained that “whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” But the crowd – which includes the disciples – seemed blind to Jesus’s teaching. Their first reaction on encountering Bartimaeus was to seek to deny him a voice. They “sternly ordered him to be quiet”. But, having heard that Jesus was approaching, this time Bartimaeus denies the crowd the satisfaction of living his life according to their script. He makes life awkward and uncomfortable for them by shouting even louder, calling Jesus by name. His plea for mercy is so loud that we still hear it today – it has become part of the basis for the ancient “Jesus Prayer” from the Eastern Orthodox tradition – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Jesus stops and instructs the crowd to call Bartimaeus. How quickly their tone changes – from denying someone a voice to welcoming them centre-stage, in an instant. In response, Bartimaeus takes denial a step further. Jesus taught that discipleship is not about acquiring more power or status, but letting go of it. In shouting at the roadside, Bartimaeus had already begun to challenge the way the crowd perceives his identity – letting go of their script - refusing to play the part of the meek and mild beggar. In casting off his cloak he lets go of his costume, denying the crowd their means of identifying him. In so doing he also denies himself his only means of shelter and security (his cloak would have been his livelihood – used to collect alms). All this is sacrificed before he had come before Jesus and before his sight had been restored. What courage! What faith! 

In Jesus’s response I think we see both the ultimate denial and the ultimate acceptance. Jesus, Lord of all, who knows our desires before we do, would have been aware of what Bartimaeus wanted – but he denies the opportunity to reveal his divine power immediately. Instead, he gives the blind beggar the dignity of being asked “What do you want me to do for you?” In response, Jesus grants Bartimaeus the ability to see - and Bartimaeus accepts a new identity as a disciple of Jesus.

For us, asking “What do you want me to do for you?” can be risky. It opens up the possibility of confronting a situation in which we might not be able to deliver everything that someone wants - we might not have all the answers – we lose our control. True hospitality – true love – requires us to deny our temptation for control - our need to have the first word and the final answer; as Rowan Williams reminded us when he spoke at St Martin in the Field’s last month on the theme of ‘Encountering the Other.’ Encountering the ‘other’ in ourselves – that which cannot be controlled – as well as the ‘other’ in those around us – allows us to grow. That is God’s script for us;

“If I am what I own and what I understand and no more, is there any sense in which I am free?...For us to be ourselves, to be human, is in some way for us to live in a readiness to be gifted and enlarged and enriched by what isn’t us.”

In his encounter with Bartimaeus Jesus showed the crowd – and us – a glimpse of true love. How often do we ignore those like Bartimaeus, going through life as part of the crowd – expecting, sometimes compelling others to follow a course we determine for them - denying ourselves the opportunity of encountering the other in ourselves and those around us. This is a failure of love, as Rowan Williams explained;

“The failures of love are so often something to do with the inability to let a loved person be the person they are…our compulsion, to write people’s scripts for them; and to say – If I love you, you must please me. If I love you, you must follow my script. When love is fulfilled, when it really begins to live, it has everything to do with that willingness to let that loved person be the person they are.”

 
It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said; “Do one thing that scares you today.” Letting our children, our partners, our work colleagues or a stranger, be the person that God wants them to be – rather than the person we want or expect them to be – can be a scary thought. In a few moments of silence before a time of prayer, perhaps we might consider how we will answer Jesus’s question “What do you want me to do for you?” Or – perhaps just as scary – imagine asking that question of someone you love today.

Prayers

As we join together in prayer asking God to help us to change ourselves and each other so that we might change the world, the response to Lord Jesus, light of the world is “Open my eyes that I may see the wonder of your word.”

Lord Jesus, light of the world
Open my eyes that I may see the wonder of your word.

Loving God,
Help us to resist our temptation to live as islands of self-sufficiency in an ocean of need.
Enable us to see beyond the crowd; to see your light in all people – especially those who are isolated and alone.
Help us to be generous in our encounters with difference;

   to make time to listen to others today.
We bring before you all those who are struggling to be heard in our world; the hungry, the cold, the frightened and the oppressed.

Help us to be aware of them. Help them to be aware of you.

Lord Jesus, light of the world,
Open my eyes to see the wonder of your word.

Gracious God,
Through your Son you have shown us that the last will be first and the first will be last.
Grant us the humility to sacrifice our longing to be in charge; our desire to always have the first word and the final answer.

Help us today to not only serve our masters but those who serve us.
We bring before you all those who are working for justice and peace. We pray for the government, the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London and all in authority.

Give us all the wisdom to follow you; being present to the needs of others before our own;
  asking how we can be of service, not presuming we already know.

Lord Jesus, light of the world,
Open my eyes to see the wonder of your word.

Eternal God,

Help us to find the confidence to call for your help.
Inspired by the example of Bartimaeus, strengthen our faith that we may cast away our cloak of self-preservation and rest safe in the knowledge of your everlasting love.
We bring before you all those who are facing difficult choices today.

Grant us the courage to get up and act on our calling; and to enable others to follow theirs;
Avoiding the temptation to write other people’s scripts for them – or insist they follow ours – but helping them to discern and follow your word.

Lord Jesus, light of the world,
Open my eyes to see the wonder of your word.

Blessing

Let us go now in the service of Christ,
   with love in our hearts,
   light in our eyes,
   and life in our souls.
To proclaim what he has done for us,
   and share what he has given,
   in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Amen

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop today. If you are interested in learning to sing, join our new Community Choir which meets this Wednesday from 1pm until 1.45pm. Our discussion group takes place from 5.30pm on Thursday evening. We would love to see you. 

I hope you have a wonderful day and a great week ahead.

The next reflection will begin in a few minutes.

Links

Image : Blind Bartimaeus – Nicholas Mynheer (2017)
Rowan Williams speaking on ‘Encountering the Other’ at St Martin in the Fields