Mark 10:46-52
Father with a Newborn Baby
One day, shortly after the birth of their new baby, the mother had to go out to do some errands. So, the proud papa stayed home to watch his wonderful new son.
Soon after the mother left, the baby started to cry. The father did everything he could think of to do, but the baby wouldn't stop crying. Finally, the dad got so worried that he took the baby to the doctor.
After the doctor listened to the father and all that he had done to get the baby to stop crying, the doctor began to examine the baby's ears and chest and then down to the diaper area. When he undid the diaper, he found that the diaper was indeed full.
"Here's the problem," the Dr. said, "He needs a change."
The father was very perplexed, "But the diaper package says it is good for up to 10 lbs.!"
Rev. Jerry Piper, one of my colleagues and best friends, said there are two times to praise the Lord:
“When you feel like it and when you don't.” So much of our faith life rests on our ability to engage the Lord in joy-filled times and dark times. Somebody told me this week, "When it rains, it pours, and I replied, “but God will always give you an umbrella;”my friend replied, “Sometimes it is not an umbrella but a bucket, and you may have to bail for a while.”
The experience of life is one of joy and hardship— the two go hand-in-hand, and you can't escape it. Sometimes, I wish we didn't have to go through the hardships of life but as I have said before it's in those hardships or wilderness times that growth takes place, it's what we do with the time that we have that matters the most. Do I fill my swimming pool with pity, guilt, and shame or do I praise that the Lord that I have water on a hot sunny day? The Lord is the Lord of all even in life and in death.
Even the goats understand that you have to praise the Lord or sometimes just shout out. If you've ever been to a Pentecostal church, you know that it can get quite loud. The Sanctuary is filled with people everywhere they stand clapping hands, praising the Lord, and shouting to the Lord and sometimes in tongues. The expressions of faith that they give off are intoxicating; during college, I spent time at an Assemblies of God church, and I could never quite get the hang of it; maybe at that time, I was just too reserved and prim and proper, but I never got the hand of the clapping and the shouting and the praising the Lord the way they did. Soon after that experience I returned to my roots and attended a United Methodist Church.
I think what makes it so hard for us as a people of faith is this: we have progressed in Western Christianity that we have become so reserved and boring that we have forgotten how to express to God what is on our hearts and spirits. By praising or shouting to the Lord we release ourselves from the bondage of this world.
The gospel text this morning deals with a man by the name of the Bartimeaus; he is a blind beggar on the road to Jericho; he is a poor man who has nothing but his faith and his cloak. Every day he would beg for money from travelers on that road this one particular day Bartimeaus hears that Jesus is coming through not just any Jesus, but this is Jesus the Nazarene. Bartimeaus hears begins to shout, “Jesus son of David have mercy on me!” He shouts he shouts so loud that the crowds are trying to keep him quiet they say, “don’t bother the Lord!” Jesus pauses when he hears Bartimaus, and he has compassion on him he asks Bartimeaus “what would you like me to do” Bartimesus replies “I want to see,” Jesus lays his hands upon his eyes and for the first time in his life they are opened and he quickly takes off his cloak and follows Jesus.
I think not only in the church we need to shout out to the Lord but also take off our cloaks of guilt, shame, fear, and, most importantly, not measuring up. Bartimaeus was a poor beggar who got the attention of the Lord by recognizing that he was the Messiah the son of David if a blind beggar can get the attention of Jesus how much more does it take for us to get the attention of Jesus?
God gave us a voice for a reason, and some of those reasons include praising and, at times, shouting out, but our voices are also for speaking out against injustice and suffering and speaking up for those who can't speak for themselves.
I want to share with you the prayer of St. Francis Francis of Assisi. Francis was a very wealthy individual who had an inheritance from his family and yet saw the needs of the poor. Francis rejected his family's money and position and began to minister to the poor and the oppressed; he realized that there was something more to this world than just money and possessions; sometimes, I think that individuals in this world trust money and possessions more than they do the Lord so all of Francis's life he gave all that he had he died alone and was buried in a pauper's grave but he left us one of the most powerful prayers that was ever written.
Amen.
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