Hi all

This is not my sermon but I really enjoy http://www.fathermikeonline.. Father Mike is the Catholic priest of a Portland Oregon church.

The web is in audio but I down loaded this sermon onto mini disc and typed it out. His style is very powerful.

Mark Blackwell

~~~

You experience the world differently when you sit by the side of the road. The world feels, smells, is, different for those who sit and beg.

The scene that the gospel presents to us today is a powerful scene, a dramatic scene.

Jesus has come to the town of Jericho – one of the oldest inhabited places in the world, one of the most ancient cities. He has come to Jericho to preach, to proclaim, to heal, to call men & women to a reality greater than they have known to present to them a truth beyond any they have heard.

To invite them into a life they can barely imagine. And when he leaves the city of Jericho he takes with him a sizable amount of people – not only his apostles, not only the twelve, but many others who either temporarily or perhaps permanently are following him, have responded to him with reality and when they leave & because Jericho sits in the middle of a vast waste land – it is basically an oasis – in the desert & of course there were as in Jesus’ time no paved roads so when this sizeable group of people leave they travel along the dirt roads – the dirt paths and they kick up a tremendous amount of dust & they create a great noise & a great stirring & here sitting on the side of the road is Bartimaeus & he cannot see he can hear & smell he can sense & he senses the movement of the crowd he feels the dirt & the dust fall over his head & onto his clothes. He knows that something significant is occurring & from somewhere within the crowd the sound of Jesus’ name comes to him.

He cannot see ChristHe cannot understand all that is going on but he senses from the perspective of one who sits in the dirt & in the dark he senses that something, someone significant is passing through the world – is passing through his life. At the sound of Jesus’ name he calls out – he calls out “Jesus, Son of David – have pity on me.”

Son of David is not a description of Jesus’ father or parentage it is a title it is a descriptionto be a son of David is to be one like David one who brings power & glory.David was the great King of Israel. So He calls out Jesus who is like David Jesus who is full of power & glory have pity on me. Of course the reaction of the crowd is to silence him. Who is that ? They’re busy about their own agenda, which is to follow Jesus for their own needs & for their own reasons & the pathetic cry of a blind beggar sitting in the increasing clouds of dust is of no great concern to them.

“Be quiet” they say. “Be silent.” But he will not be silent. He will not be quiet because something in him is beginning to stir. Something in him is beginning to respond.Something in him without seeing or knowing still senses that someone significant some thing significant , is passing by. Then in his desperation he cries out even louder.Son of David have pity on me.

Amidst the chaos and noise of the crowd this plaintive voice reaches the ears of Jesus who says “Call him”.So they come to Bartimaeus & they give him some instructions – some significant instructions. First of all they say Take courage. In other words you’ve risked this much you’ve risked calling out& begging for pity, Go the next stepTake courage continue to risk & he does. Because he then responds to their next command Get up! Take an affirmative action. Move beyond being passive move into an position of responsibility & action -Get up!

Why? Because Jesus is calling you – & when he comes to Jesus, says to him a question that seems on the face of it . somewhat silly. What do you want? What would a blind man want? He would want to see.

The question is largerthan the man’s blindness. He says to him, What do you want ?& the man responds I want to see. Go then, Go your way. Your faith has saved you.

Now that statement is not as simple as it appears.It is not – well now you see go home, now you see go on with your life, now you see go do whatever you want. The statement is not just a statement it is a test. Your faith has saved you go your way. What will the way of the man be? Where will he go? & the next statement in the gospel reveals the whole purpose of the incident as well as the man’s choice because once his sight is restored we are told he follows Jesus on the way. In other words the way of Bartimaeus has become the way of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said – Go on your way _ go, go wherever you want to.& the way Bartimaeus chose to go was to follow Jesus on the way. That little phrase on the wayis pregnant with meaning & significance because it refers not to road from Jericho to Jerusalem . It refers not to the movement or action of Jesus or the crowd It refers not to the direction in which anyone was walking but rather it is a specific reference to Jesus’ own self description “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life”.

To follow Jesus on the wayis to respond to the invitation of God to become more than we are more than we can imagine. The purpose of the gospel was not to tell us that Jesus had the power to restore sight to the blind. The purpose of the gospel was to tell us that Christ calls each one of us from the blindness of our particular conditions or situations to follow him. & in choosing to follow him we rise from the mud we rise from the dustwe rise from the chaos we rise from the blindness we rise from the limitations of an imperfect world & our limited lives & we become something more something greater. The restoration of sight does not mean the restoration of life .

Bartimaeus could have had his sight restored & suddenly discovered that his wife was ugly that he was old & that he lived in a dry & barren land – that he was an old pathetic man dressed in rags. To see is not to know. To see is not to understand. There are many people who see & are bitter. Many people who see & are angry. Many people who see & are despairing Many people who see & cannot or choose not to see.Jesus did more than restore the sight of a blind man. He placed before that man a choice. – the ultimate choice. Who to follow. How to see. What to become.

We all sit on the side of the road. We all sit in some form of blindness or impairment. There is in the life of each of us something that causes us to draw backfrom what Godwould have us become. There isin the lives of each of us, factors, situations, temptations that say to us stay in the dirt, stay blind. Stay where you are comfortable. Stay with what is familiar. Do not have courage. Do not get up. Do not follow.

The world – our own human limitations – a variety of things can invite us to see our selves in a limited way. That is not how God sees us. God sees us as being capable of responding to God. God sees us as being capable of becoming more than we are. God sees us as being capable of being noble of being holy of being whole.

We cannot affect that on ourselves We cannot in and of ourselves create that. We canrespond to it. We are free as Bartimaeus even in his blindness was free to decide will I rise? Will I risk? Will I follow?

A blind man who viewed the world from the limited chaos & confusion of the dirt of the road risked, rose, followed. Do we?