Being Blind

 Sermon for Oct. 24, 2021

As we start thinking about this Gospel reading, I’d like you to consider a tough question:  In what ways might you be blind? 

For Bartimaeus, the answer was pretty clear, and he cries out to Jesus to help him.  Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Of course, Jesus probably realizes the man is blind, but Jesus wants Bartimaeus to identify the problem for himself.  Bartimaeus answers, “Let me see again.”  So, Jesus heals him, saying, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

But it’s interesting – Bartimaeus doesn’t go.  Instead, he follows Jesus “on the way.”  What’s up with that?  You know, if Jesus tells you directly to do something, it might be a good idea to do it.  But, on the other hand, I guess if I’d known that kind of healing, I’d want to learn more about the healer, too….

When we call out to God, I think Jesus asks us to name our need, just as he did with Bartimaeus:  “What do you want me to do for you?”  We often don’t know our needs very well, especially if the problem is blindness – after all, you can’t see what you can’t see.  So, it would be great if we could recognize the various ways we’re spiritually blind.

Well, what should we watch for?  What might be signs and symptoms of spiritual blindness?  Here are some possibilities:  Maybe our anger when someone points out a truth that stings.  Maybe our exhaustion when we find our calendars ridiculously full.  Maybe our arrogance in believing no one else can do something as well as we can.

When we see these symptoms of what’s broken within us, we can offer them to God for healing.  After all, that’s how healing usually works:  You have to seek healing in order to receive it.  Bartimaeus did that, and healing came to him immediately.

But that wasn’t the only miracle in today’s reading.  The other is that Bartimaeus didn’t do what Jesus told him to do – go back to live a normal life.  Instead, Bartimaeus followed this person who’d healed him so he could learn about the healing God provides.  Before he took up a normal life, Bartimaeus learned to see the need for healing in others and how to pass on that gift he’d received.  

Jesus wants the same for us – to heal our blindness.  Part of that’s because he loves us and wants us each to be made whole.  But I think it’s also because he wants us to learn to be healers ourselves.

Jesus is inviting each one of us to look for the blindness in our relationship with God and offer it up for healing.  Maybe our relationship with God is reflexive – we pray only when something hurts badly enough.  Maybe our relationship with God is obligatory – we pray as part of our routine and check the box when we’re done.  Maybe our relationship with God is absent – we know God loves us, but we don’t really reach out.  None of this means we’re bad people.  It means that, on our own, we can’t see what we can’t see.

So, what might those findings tell us?  Maybe that our primary spiritual blindness lies in how we see God.  If prayer is a reflex, maybe we see God as a spiritual first responder in times of crisis.  If prayer is an obligation, maybe we see God as a boss or taskmaster assigning us more work.  If prayer is absent, maybe we see God as a divine clockmaker who just sits back to watch.  We need to ask God to show us who God is before we can trust God to heal us.  And then, like Bartimaeus, we’ve got to get up and follow where God’s road leads.

When our vision is healed, it lets us see God more clearly, but it also helps us see ourselves more clearly.  We’re not made to be rugged individualists, seeking God only when life hurts badly enough.  We’re not made to be worker bees, killing ourselves day after day trying to earn God’s favor.  And we’re certainly not made to be alone, a cog in the wheel of a creation that spins around us but doesn’t care about us.  No – we’re made in God’s image and likeness, so we’re designed to live the way God lives – in relationship and for relationship, empowered to bring love alive in all we do.

God heals our blindness so we can bring healing to others.  God blesses us to be a blessing.  You know, we pray each week, maybe each day, that the kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.  That doesn’t happen by magic.  It happens through people like Bartimaeus, people like you, people like me – people who offer God our blindness, receive the gift of sight, follow Jesus, and pass the peace.

In fact, here’s one of those people now:  Liz Olson, to offer our stewardship witness this week.