Sermon - Cast off our cloaks

Emabutfo by Nandipha Mntambo, 2009

A sermon preached at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 28th October 2021 (Year B, Last after Trinity, Proper 25), based on Mark 10:46-52 and incorporating text from music and hymns sung during the service.

Good News in a Nutshell
During the pandemic, we saw aspects of our society from a new perspective – but the discourse about how to address poverty and injustice seemed to fall back to the familiar party lines. Can we (the church) find a renewed calling in the example of Bartimaeus; helping the world to learn how to throw off our cloaks, instead of flashing our political colours at each other like matadors, learning how to debate in a respectful way, seeing beyond the same old arguments? Then we will be acting like true disciples.

Sermon

In our gospel reading today we see pivotal moments on a number of different scales. Moments when things seem to change direction; when there is a change of perspective. 

At one level, the encounter between Bartimaeus and Jesus on the road outside Jericho may be seen as a pivotal moment in the whole gospel. Jesus and his crowd of followers are on their way to Jerusalem. In their rear view mirror, we look back on the years that Jesus has spent teaching and healing in Galilee; a ministry which earned him a large following -  both of admirers, keen to see more of the miracles he performs, but also critics, who, enraged by his radical teaching, are plotting to kill him. 

Looking at the road ahead, beyond the place where Bartimaeus was begging, we see these different strands coming together, as Jesus journeys closer to the cross. His entry into Jerusalem will be triumphal - riding on a donkey; herald of the coming Kingdom in fulfillment of the prophecies - an event anticipated by Bartimaeus, the first person in the gospel to address Jesus as ‘Son of David’ – foresight from a blind man. But critics and admirers alike eventually abandon the one who has come to save them; because he doesn’t live up to their expectations - his Kingship and Kingdom doesn’t conform to the image in their mind’s eye; Jesus dies alone on the cross and in Mark’s Gospel it is only there that his true identity is revealed. 


In the gospel reading we see of course a pivotal moment for Bartimaeus himself who, having heard that Jesus was approaching, starts causing a commotion - shouting louder and louder, calling Jesus by name.

Immediately before they pass the blind beggar 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.” 

Jesus’ followers are blind to this teaching, telling Bartimaeus to be quiet and stop making such a fuss. But this makes the beggar even more determined to be heard. In fact, his plea for mercy is so loud that we still hear it today – it became the basis for the “Jesus Prayer” - words at the centre of the great tradition of contemplative prayer – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

 

Bartimaeus had not been born blind, but had lost his sight somehow later in life. He had learnt to adapt to his circumstances; acquiring a cloak and begging by the roadside; but when he heard Jesus was coming He saw the possibility of regaining the sight he once had. 

 

Jesus stops and calls for Bartimaeus to be brought to him. The desire within Bartimaeus is by now like a coiled spring which finds release. He springs up, throwing off his cloak - not caring that it would be trampled by the jostling crowd all around. In so doing he denies himself his only means of shelter and his source of income - he would have used his cloak to collect alms. Bartimaeus sacrifices all for Jesus - before he had received anything in return. What courage! What faith! 

 

Jesus knew what Bartimaeus wanted - but didn’t reveal his divine power immediately. Instead, he empowers Bartimaeus by asking him “What do you want me to do for you?” In response, Jesus grants Bartimaeus the ability to see again - and straight away he puts this new sight to the use it was intended. Bartimaeus becomes the only person we know of who was healed by Jesus to immediately follow him - and so becomes for us, we who have also been saved by Jesus, a great model for our own discipleship.


In the gospel reading we also see a pivotal moment in the attitude of the crowd towards Bartimaeus. 

At nearly 850 feet below sea level, Jericho is the lowest city in the world. As a blind man begging on the side of the road out of Jericho, Bartimaeus is the archetypal “lowest of the low.”

At first, unable to see the message of universal love and hospitality in Jesus’ teaching or in the example of his ministry, the people pass by this lowly figure - denying him a place in the crowd and then attempting to silence him - to deny him a voice. 

But how quickly their tone changes after Jesus instructs them to stop and bring Bartimaeus forward. The lowest of the low is raised up and placed centre stage. In an instant - people stop telling Bartimaeus to shut up; they now say “Take heart.”

During the lockdown, we experienced something of a pivotal moment - an about-turn in our perception of those, like Bartimaeus, that we had previously taken for granted, ignored or had attempted to silence; often these were the people who were unable or could not afford to stay at home. 

Low paid delivery drivers and supermarket workers - often on the receiving end of a great deal of unnecessary abuse by angry customers - became seen as key workers and were applauded in the street, along with doctors and nurses. The homeless were offered hotel rooms. We saw more clearly the plight of families who rely on breakfast clubs and free school meals; and the tragic effects of environmental damage. 

But in the difficult conversations that have followed in the media and in Parliament, it is hard to see beyond the familiar battle lines. We find it difficult to throw off our cloaks of political allegiance or the security blanket of our familiar arguments. 


The church has long been a magnet that attracts individuals and societies at pivotal moments. Times of great joy and times of great distress. 

Perhaps at this time, we - the church - can find a renewed calling through the example of Bartimaeus; helping the world to learn how to have difficult conversations about how we seek justice for those whose plight has been so starkly revealed. Giving us the courage to throw off our cloaks - our security blankets - to discover what it is that shapes us why it is that we disagree; rather than simply flash our cloaks to one another like matadors in the ring. To begin to find the common ground, respect and mutual understanding beyond the divisive battle lines of party politics or global economics so that we might hear Jesus asking us “What is it that you want me to do for you”? and have the amazing grace to respond likewise. 

Amen. 

Image:  Emabutfo by Nandipha Mntambo, 2009