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Seeing Again
from the Blind Beggar
by Captain Andy Miller
God Restoring Our Vision
Mark 10:46-52
Sitting on the curb with calloused hands, weather-worn feet, and a
dejected spirit that’s tired of pleading for money and begging
for food is a blind man. He has been sitting in this spot as a
default, for he is afraid that there will not be other safe
places for him to exist. All he possesses is a coat and the
clothes he is wearing. He doesn’t need it to warm his body
because of the blistering heat of
Jericho. Instead the coat laid over his
legs is there to collect change. To us he is a famous blind
person that we know only by his father’s name: it is
Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus). I am sure you, like me, are not
surprised by this scene from Mark’s Gospel. We expect blind
beggars to be sitting in a place of dependence. This condition
does not take a way from the fact that he wanted to see again…
If we are to understand the scene of Bartimaeus we need to be escorted
into the back-story that Mark, the evangelist writing this
Gospel, wants us to see. There are two scenes that come before
Bartimaeus’ plot. The first is the story often referred to as
the “Rich Young Ruler.” A person who says that he has kept all
of the laws of Moses since he was a boy, asks Jesus for the
one thing he needs, the one thing that he can’t buy. He comes
to Jesus and “falls on his knees…[asking]…what must I do to
inherit eternal life” (10:17). Jesus explains that he must
give his many possessions to poor, and Mark gives us picture
of his emotions: “At this the man’s face fell. He went away
sad, because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:22). This man
couldn’t see, and did not want to see.
The second scene is of two of Jesus’ faithful disciples, James and John,
as they ask Jesus, “we want you to do for us whatever we
ask” (10:35). Now this is quite a request. It reminds me
of kids saying to their parents, “I am going to tell you
something really bad, but I don’t want you to be mad at me.”
Jesus courteously responds, “What do you want me to do for
you?” And essentially they ask for political positions in his
kingdom, like asking to be to be Secretary of State and Vice
President, or being appointed to a Divisional or Territorial
staff position. Jesus painfully describes the weight of their
question, alluding to the fact that they are missing the point
of Jesus’ ministry. These men did not yet see…
Then Mark brings us a picture of someone who is completely opposite of
the rich man and the self-aggrandized James and John. He
presents for us a poor blind beggar,[1]
a person who is mocked by crowds. Do you remember or have you
ever seen someone picked on by crowd?
I am a faithful Chicago Bears fan. One year while my parents were living
in St. Louis
they got tickets for us to go the Rams-Bears game. My family
and I put on our Bears jerseys and went to the game, only to
discover that our tickets were at the very top of the dome.
Coming in late [after the holiness meeting…of course], there
we were walking up the isle, in a sea of blue and gold, and
seemingly everyone was commenting or yelling at us about what
they presumed to be our stupidity. I felt like all of
St. Louis was against me. It didn’t
help that we walked in late because we went to church and by
the time we arrived the Bears were loosing by a wide margin.
Bartimaeus’ embarrassment happened because of his disability.
He’s already been thrown down to the curb, he’s already been
denied access to society, he’s already caught in a position he
can’t control— because he no longer had his sight. You can
imagine why he wanted to see.
The world itself is also suffering from a kind of blindness. Are we aware
of the dysfunction of our world where people are living in
hunger and the resources to help them are held in our hands,
and yet people die from preventable causes? William Booth when
asked “what is the problem with the East side of
London?” and he quickly said “The West
Side of London.” There is a relational problem that blinds our
world.
We know that many people are searching for something that only Jesus can
provide, seeking self-satisfaction through work, friendships,
media, cell phones and we might be able to sense that our
world is still shouting like Bartimaeus, “I want to see
again.” There was a time when our world could see, it had
direction…at creation, but sin perverted that vision and
purpose. That is why our world is longing for something else,
it is looking to see again.
We in The Salvation Army might say, “Well, that isn’t us. We ‘do
justice.’ Or, I took a workshop at a recent event, I got
really teary eyed watching that video of a partner territory,
or my corps took a mission trip.” Others might respond, “We
have case workers who handle these things at our Corps.”
Certainly in The Salvation Army we have a polished image of
helping our blind world, but what about you? Work is done,
people are served, funds are raised, and we are doing the most
good, but have we personally been involved in helping a blind
world?
Too many Salvationist are not in the “fight.” For Officers we go AWOL
when we simply see the Corps as the place we work. And
Soldiers go AWOL when they see the Corps as simply a church.
They pull into the Corps on Sundays and maybe for music
practice and see it as their church of choice. Participating
in the Corps in this fashion takes just about as much
faithfulness as watching a favorite television show every
week. These are marks of a blind fighting force within The
Salvation Army.
As an Army there is no doubting the vision we had at the beginning of our
movement. We had a picture of where we were going-We were
going to bring the world to Jesus, or rather we should be
saying “We are going to bring Jesus to the world.” This vision
can too easily be lost, and we can find not only the world
blind, but we find the Army blind as well.
In Bartimaeus we see a persistent person who is not willing to be
satisfied with his place in life. He could have very easily
said, “I’ll keep this nice spot in the curb, I’ll keep my
coat, I’ll keep my spare change, and I’ll be satisfied with
what I have.” No he is not satisfied. In his blindness he
persisted, in his blindness he cried out for Jesus, in his
blindness he had hope, in his persecution he cried out. He was
not willing to become a victim of his situation. Why? To
reclaim, he persists to reclaim his vision.
It is interesting to note not just the fact that he cried out but what
Bartimaeus said. When Jesus comes by and he becomes aware of
the event, he immediately shouts, “Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me” (10:47). There is only one other time
that Jesus is called the Messiah and that is when Peter makes
his confession (Mark 8). But even Peter doesn’t go this far,
to say “son of David.” This is a clear messianic title.
Both the gospels of Matthew and Luke make extended points at
the beginning of the accounts to list Jesus’ genealogical
connections to David. Though Mark does not go into the same
detail, we get a consistent theology (or a high Christological
formula) of who Jesus is. Many scholars believe that this is a
climactic point in Mark’s gospel, and the reason for that is
its placement directly before the beginning the Passion
(Jesus’ triumphal entry happens in the next chapter, AKA Palm
Sunday).
Jesus hearing this persistence halts his steps and says “Call him”
(10:49). I love the way that Bartimaeus responds to Jesus, as
he throws his coat down. We read that, “he jumped to his
feet and came to Jesus” (10:50). Notice that Jesus did not
need to come to him, but instead he comes to Jesus. Listen to
what Jesus says to him, “What do you want me to do for you”
(10:51)? Where have we heard this before? This is the exact
question that Jesus asks James and John (10:36), but they
responded in a selfish way.
Bartimaeus says, “rabbi, I want to see again.” Because it says ‘again,’
it indicates that he knows what he is missing. I can almost
hear him crying as he says these powerful words which expose
his soul: “I want to see again.” Jesus heals
Bartimaeus. I think there is something powerful in these last
few words that follow. Jesus heals him, “and [he] followed
Jesus along the road” (10:52). A literal translation is he
“followed Jesus on the way.” “The way” is the
earliest description of the people latter known as
Christians—they were first called followers of the way. In
Bartimaeus we see a prototype disciple, who hears Jesus call,
responds, has faith, and follows Jesus.
We might be challenged to be the same kind of
disciple. Just as
Bartimaeus could have been happy to hang on to his coat, hang
on to his change, and hang on to what he knew. He decides to
seek something better. Do we as a Salvation Army look at our
coat, and our pocket change, all that we know, and stay on the
side of the road? Are we satisfied with where we are today,
satisfied to simply be a charity, satisfied to have notable
programs? We could look at what we have, and not risk public
scrutiny of calling out to Jesus. This non-confrontational
position will cause us to lock our doors and avoid what God is
doing in the world.
If we play the safe card holding onto our coat, we will be more likely to
play the roll of the victim. We could easily whine about how
we aren’t like the local mega churches or whine about our
Corps not being cool enough to have Starbucks in the
fellowship hall. What counts is how we respond to Jesus’ call,
like Bartimaeus, and then we see who we can be as a movement
in light of his calling us.
The missional question then is not “What would Jesus do?” Rather the
better question is “What is Jesus Doing?” I believe that
Scripture and tradition show him being with the Bartimaeuses
of this world. God is at work in the world and we have the
privilege to join him.
Of any quality that Bartimaeus demonstrated it was that he was
persistent. Recently in my Territory there was a great new
missional conference called “Reclaim.” The work of reclaiming
is not at all easy. Do you love the Army’s mission of enough
to be persistent? Do you believe that God wants to use the
Army, and he wants us to become better? I hope you answered
yes, but the harder question is this, are you willing to
persist to reclaim?
I believe that Jesus is looking at our world and our Army today asking
the question that he asked twice in the passage: “What do
you want me to do for you?” Will we be like the (1.) self
satisfied rich man, (2.) the power seeking James and John or
will we say with (3.) Bartimaeus “Master, I want to see
again.” Do you want to see again? This implies
that at one time we saw what God wanted for our world and for
our movement. Do you remember ever having excitement about the
Army’s mission, something that led you to serve in this way?
If so, say with Bartimaeus, “I want to see again,”
in order to see the potential of the Army, see the unending
channels of service, see a movement that is inspired to walk
with Jesus, and see what the Holy Spirit wants to do with his
Army. This might mean that you are serving meals regularly in
your Corps’ Soup Kitchen or Shelter. It might mean that we try
something novel and learn the names of the people staying in
your Corps’ shelter.
I have committed the next 36 years of my life to serve as an officer and
my entire life to be used within the Army, I wouldn’t be an
officer if I didn’t believe that God wanted to restore our
vision, but we surely can not do it by ourselves. We don’t
restore or reclaim our vision; instead this is a gift of God,
and it is grace. The opportunity to reclaim our vision was
initiated by God in Jesus’ incarnation, his life, his
teaching, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension.
Meanwhile we faithfully wait for his return. Do you want to
see? Then let God reclaim your vision.
Silently now I wait for thee
Ready my God they will to see
Open my eyes illumine me
Spirit divine.
(SASB, 308)
[1]Interestingly we are
group that wouldn’t be here today if William Booth had not
have come upon an Open Air meeting in front of a bar called
the Blind Beggar.
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