Sermons

“What Do You Want Me to Do for You?”

Psalm 34:1-8; Mark 10:46-52 – Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn

Vista La Mesa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

La Mesa, California – November 18, 2018

 Holy God, bless the speaking and the hearing of these words that we might open our hearts to your presence and find our soul’s desire.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

As a rule, I don’t usually have dreams that I remember having when I wake up.  As another rule, I don’t sleep well when I’m away from home.  Somehow this means I am more likely to dream when I’m away from home.  Take Friday morning for instance.  I was dreaming that we were finishing up a youth group meeting.  It wasn’t our youth group, or at least I don’t remember recognizing any of the kids.  The person I do remember was BJ Barlow, our Regional Minister for Youth and Young Adults.  I was asked to give the closing prayer, and so I did.

Except during the prayer these two boys – and again, I have no idea who they were, so no need to change names here – these two boys who were sitting to my left started talking and poking each other.  We were praying!  And they were getting louder and louder.  And finally, I just interrupted myself praying, and said, “EXCUSE ME?!”  And apparently it came off as quite harsh because the last thing I remember is that BJ banned me from coming back to youth group, and I felt really, really bad.

Now, BJ has since assured me he wouldn’t kick me out like that and agreed that the behavior needed to be addressed.  But I tell you this not to solicit sympathy for my crowd control methods, but to remind us of the theory that when you have a dream, all of the characters are a representation of yourself.  Because this is the only way this dream makes sense.  I am the kid who makes noise when I’m not supposed to in youth group.  I am the annoyed pastor who doesn’t get why the kids can’t pay attention when they’re supposed to.  I might even be BJ Barlow, upholding high standards for youth leadership.

This is not really a sermon about dream interpretation.  But I’ve long thought that this approach can be applied to scripture equally fruitfully.  What can we learn from a passage if we take each character in turn and imagine ourselves in their shoes?  What insights might come if we try to recognize the ways in which we’ve done what they’re doing in the story and think about why we might or have behaved in similar ways?  Some stories have more characters than others, of course, but even a passage as short as the story of Bartimaeus in Jericho can yield helpful lessons with this method.

As we look at Bartimaeus and those around him this morning, let’s do it through the lens of gratitude, since Thanksgiving is approaching.  While it isn’t an explicit theme in this story, I think we will find that the drama here speaks to our relationship with thankfulness.  We’ll come back to that once we’ve run through the various actions of the characters here.

Let’s begin with Bartimaeus.  There are three major movements for his character.  There he is, most likely where he usually hung out to beg for alms, on the side of the road leading out of Jericho.  And what does he do first?  He hears that Jesus is passing and he immediately starts shouting.  He seizes the opportunity without hesitation.  For some of us, this is hard to imagine.  But try.  Clearly, Bartimaeus has heard of Jesus and knows he’s been healing people of various maladies across the countryside.  Perhaps he’s even said to himself before that if Jesus were to show up he would do everything he could to seek out his healing power.  Whatever the back story here is, Bartimaeus was ready.  Have you ever needed something so badly that you jumped at the first chance to get it, without worrying about the consequences?

The drama increases in Bartimaeus’ next move.  People tell him to hush, but instead he shouts even louder.  The stakes have gone up.  How loud are you willing to yell?  What level of persistence are you up for?  Are you willing to embarrass yourself?  Have you ever needed something that badly?  One of the important reasons to consider ourselves as each character in a Bible story is to recognize the ways in which we may not be like them.  If you’ve never needed something as badly as Bartimaeus did, it’s important to notice that your perspective on scripture and faith is going to be different than people who have, and to let those other folks be the center of the story.  But if you have been in this same desperate place where Bartimaeus is, and had people around you telling you to hush, here is your chance to know that God approves of your persistence.  This story is for you.

The third moment of Bartimaeus’ role in this story may seem a little too simple to offer a lesson, but it’s not.  Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”  And Bartimaeus answers the question.  It seems pretty basic, and yet…  Again, imagine yourself as Bartimaeus.  Jesus is asking you “What do you want me to do for you?”  Do you know what your answer is?  Do you even know where to start?  Is your response ready on the tip of your tongue, or do you need to think about it?  Are you going to get hung up trying to “be careful what you wish for”?  Are you hesitant to ask because to do so is to risk naming your deepest heart’s desire and exposing the chasm in your heart where its absence lives?  We can learn a lot from Bartimaeus.  “What do you want me to do for you?”  “My teacher, let me see again.”  This is the response of a man who knows what he needs and who has cultivated an immunity to the risk of disappointment.  Perhaps that is a large part of the faith Jesus says has made Bartimaeus well.

Sometimes when we read stories from scripture, we don’t pay much attention to the secondary characters.  In the song based on this story, the two people mentioned are the “blind man” who “stood on the road and he cried” and Jesus.  But for our purposes, it’s just as important to notice the people around Bartimaeus.  Because in our dream interpretation approach this morning, we are them too.  So let’s see how closely these shoes fit.  What do they do first?  Bartimaeus starts shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  And then the story says, “Many sternly ordered him to be quiet.”  Is that you?  Do you hate it when someone makes a fuss?  Are you guilty of trying to minimize others’ needs by telling them to stop carrying on about them?

Here’s another twist our dream interpretation approach offers.  If we’re everyone in this story, then this moment suggests that sometimes we are guilty of sternly ordering ourselves to be quiet, embarrassed and judgmental about our own attempts to get our needs met.  How sad.  And yet, it’s hard not to recognize this lesson as true.

What’s even weirder, but no less familiar, is what that crowd does next.  One minute they’re chastising Bartimaeus for bothering Jesus, but the next minute, once Jesus has heard him and invited him over, they’re all about that.  “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.”  How fickle we are!  How often we will about-face, depending on what the person in authority has deemed appropriate!  We know we’ve done this to others, waiting to support them until it’s clear which way the wind is blowing.  Is it possible to be two-faced to yourself?  Probably.  We all want to fit in so badly.  The craving for a sense of belonging frequently overwhelms our capacity to behave with wisdom and integrity.

What’s important to note is that once this story becomes about the direct interaction between Bartimaeus and Jesus, the crowd disappears.  Bartimaeus knows what he needs, and Jesus has stopped by the roadside to listen.  Our opinions about what someone else is pleading to God for do not matter.  The voices in our own heads, the ones that try to stifle our own prayers and minimize our needs, fade away in the presence of Jesus.  There is only the gentle, generous question: “What do you want me to do for you?”

And this is where we get back to thanksgiving.  How would our lives be different if we lived with an assumption that Jesus is always asking us this question?  How would our lives be better if we lived with an expectation that we’re always going to have a lot to thank God for?  Would it be easier to answer that question, without hesitation?  Would it be easier to resist the voices inside us (or outside of us) that are scolding us for making a fuss?  “What do you want me to do for you?”  If we’re living with a constant focus on gratitude, could it even become second nature to dare to take on the role of Jesus in this story and ask the question of people whose needs are greater than our own?

There is so much God wants to do for us.  There is so much God wants to do through us for others.  In this season of Thanksgiving, let us not be naysayers, sternly scolding those who cry out to God for their needs to be met.  Let us not quiet the cries of our own hearts nor join in encouraging others only once it’s expedient.  Let us trust in God and believe that when Jesus asks what we want him to do for us, it’s because he loves us and wants us to have abundant life.  Let us give thanks for all the ways those pleas have already been heard.  Let us commit ourselves to helping others meet their needs.  Let us rejoice together as we worship the God who stops and listens, and hears and heals.  Let us give thanks for all our many blessings and share them as God would have us do.  Alleluia and Amen!