by Kim Thoday.

To See or not to See (1 Samuel 16, Mark 10:46-52), by Kim Thoday.

According to legend in the ancient Greek city of Thebes there reigned a king called Oedipus. Oedipus sought to investigate the cause of all the strange and unnatural occurrences in the city. He rashly promised the citizens of Thebes that he would sort out the cause of this curse upon the land and show the villain no mercy. The king consulted the blind prophet Teresias for advice and guidance. Though Teresias warned the king against this enterprise, Oedipus pursues his passion to identify the arch-enemy who is the cause of all his problems. Oedipus eventually discovers that he himself is the villain who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. This shocking revelation results in his wife (his mother) committing suicide and his children being disgraced. In a fit of rage and despair, Oedipus turns upon himself and strikes out his own eyes. The legend goes that it is only after he has blinded himself that Oedipus truly is able to see. And what did he in his blindness see? He saw that his problems and the problems of Thebes stemmed from his blind pride. In his physical blindness he also saw that he ultimately needed to trust in the will and wisdom of the “gods” to find peace and purpose in this life. It took blindness for a person to truly see.

The Old Testament tells a story about blindness that leads to sight. The writer of 1 Samuel tells of how the man of God, Samuel, seeks out a new king to replace Saul. He believes he has found the ideal regal replacement in the person of Eliab: “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But God requires a certain blindness of Samuel. That is a blindness to superficial observations and constructions of reality. God says to Samuel in regard to his assessment of Eliab: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16: 6-7). So here, God shows Samuel another way of seeing. It is a seeing within, a discernment that looks beyond pretence, persona and prestige. It is a seeing that is wise. Samuel of course goes on to choose David as the regal candidate.

Truly seeing, that is, learning to gaze at God’s horizon, is the mark of a deeply committed spiritual life. Such a gaze knows of the possibility of the abyss of the “nihil,” yet with perceptive faith choses, in Paul Tillich’s understanding, “the courage to be.” Shakespeare’s line: ‘to be or not to be’ is a question of ultimate concern. It is the question of religion. Do we choose hope or despair? Do we choose meaning or meaninglessness? Ultimately do we choose life or death? Faith in the biblical sense is a choice of courage that is supra-aware of the threat and anxiety of non-being and meaninglessness and actively decides for a meaningful life that transcends and integrates doubt and hope and does not deny the existence or experience of both. This is the faith of Jesus Christ and this is what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. This faith is not an escape from the consequences of being human. Rather it is the faith that is able to see what truly matters in life; to be able to see through the fears and fantasies that would rob us of the courage to be. Great is the grotesqueness of a person who has the eyes to see and yet remains blind to life.

The New Testament records Jesus’ encounter with a man, a beggar, called Bartimaeus. He is physically blind and yet he chooses the courage to be. He has faith that Jesus can make him whole. I can hardly imagine what it would have been like for this man – blind perhaps for years and living in a religious culture that regarded such disability as condemnation by God. Here is a man totally alienated by his culture and community. Here is a man denied basic human rights, a refugee in his own land. Here is a man denied the benefits of his religion and according to the theology of the day, denied access to God’s forgiveness and salvation. And yet he asks Jesus to have mercy upon him. What courage, what faith! Consequently he is healed, but he is healed because spiritually he sees. He sees what really matters. And so Bartimaeus follows Jesus as a disciple . ‘on the way.’ He sees that he is thoroughly dependent upon God, through Jesus Christ (Mark 10:46-52). To see or not to see is perhaps the question.

Blessings in Jesus’ name

KIM THODAY, HEWETT COMMUNITY CHURCH OF CHRIST, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

http://www.hewett.com.au