“How Bartimaeus Got His Vision Back”

Mark 10:46-52, Psalm 107:10-16

March 11, 2007

Bartimeaus was down and out. Busted and blind, begging by the side of a dusty road on the outskirts of town, he was waiting for something, anything to come along. You could say blind Bartimaeus had seen better days.

Close your eyes and picture Bartimaeus. You can almost hear the sound track of his tragedy. It’s the music of a mouth harp, whining long, lonesome, tones that twist your soul till you want to cry. Real sad. Real bluesy. Pity poor Bartimaeus.

This is not what Bartimaeus expected out of life. He had dreams once. He had high hopes. His very name meant “Son of Honor.” All his life Bartimaeus thought he was going to be somebody. All his life Bartimaeus had visions of doing something special. Something big. Something significant. Deep inside Bartimaeus knew he was born to be something better than a beggar.

But now his vision had faded. The light was gone. Somehow his life got off track. And there he sits, in dark desperation, on the desert’s edge.

Have you ever sung the “Blind Bartimeaus Blues?” Have you ever felt hopeless? Down and out? Your situation might not be as dire as his was, but do you ever feel like you were born for more than the life you’re living? Like you’re supposed to be doing something more significant, but you don’t know what it is? You feel sidelined. In the dark. Do you ever feel like you’ve lost your vision for life?

Maybe you don’t really even miss it any more. You’ve gotten used to the “same old same old.” But nothing excites you. Nothing ignites you. Nothing inspires you. You’re aiming for nothing, and hitting your target. If so, then maybe Bartimaeus’ story is your story, too.

One day Bartimaeus finally heard some good news. He heard about Jesus. He heard that Jesus was in his vicinity. Way down, Bartimaeus felt something faintly familiar: hope started to stir. It churned around in his gut. For the first time in years Bartitmaeus got the idea that maybe somehow things really could get better. Maybe there was some way out of this pit. If anybody could help him, it was Jesus.

So Bartimaues began to shout! “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

What a remarkable, power-packed prayer! Not very long. No fancy words, but fraught with power.

Think about what it meant for Bartimaeus to call Jesus the Son of David. About a thousand years before Bartimaeus was born, God made David the king over his people Israel. And God promised David that one of his offspring would sit on the throne in Jerusalem and rule His people forever. For about 420 years it happened just as God said. King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Kings Abijah, Jehosaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, these were all descendants of King David. Sons of David.

But God’s people turned from Him. God’s people ignored His ways and worshipped other gods. And the kingdom of David seemed to disappear. God’s promise seemed to fizzle.

For nearly 600 years alien powers had dominated the chosen people: The Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks. And for all of Bartimaeus’ lifetime, he and his people had been under the heel of the Romans. It looked like God was a promise breaker. It looked like God’s Word couldn’t be trusted. Where was the Son of David who would rule God’s people forever? Would He never come?

You see what Bartimaeus was saying when he called Jesus the Son of David? He was saying, “Jesus, I believe you’re the One God promised. I believe that you’re living proof that God can be trusted. I believe that you are my rightful king!”

The blind man saw what many people missed. King Herod didn’t see it from his palace. Governor Pilate didn’t see it from his mansion. The high priest Caiaphas didn’t see from the Temple what blind Bartimaeus saw from skid row. They saw Jesus as nuisance to be ignored, and then as an enemy to be eliminated. Bartimaeus saw Him as his only hope.

So Bartimaeus started to shout! He cried out to Jesus. Hear the passion in his voice! Hear the urgency in his plea. This was his one shot. This was his chance to get pulled out from the pits, and he wasn’t about to squander it. He poured himself into his plea. He begged like he had never begged before. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Sometimes our prayers are so pretty. Sometimes our prayers are so polite. Presbyterians don’t shout: at least not to God. But when we really want change, we pray like Bartimaeus. We plead with the Lord. When we’re tired of our poverty and our blindness and want to get our vision back, our vibrance, our vitality, we cry out.

When we decide we’ve had enough of the same old same old, and we want to grasp all that God has for us, when we want to be what we know we were born to be, those polite, pretty prayers won’t cut it any more. In the words of the Apostle Paul, our prayers become groans too deep for words to express.

Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus. And what happened when he did? The people around him told him to hush! They tried to shut him up and shut him down.

The same thing will probably happen to you. When you’re ready to get your vision back and you cry out to Jesus for help, there will be people who try to stop you. You’ll face discouragement from unexpected sources.

“Jesus isn’t going to help you.” “There’s nothing He can do.” “You’re just getting what you deserve.” “Things will never get better for you.” “You’re a sinner.” “You’re a loser.” “Give it up!”

But Bartimaeus didn’t listen. When they tried to shut him up, he simply shut them out. He had more faith than they did. And instead of concentrating on his own pitiful weakness, Bartimaeus focused on the goodness and power of Jesus. This was the Son of David, and nothing was going to keep Bartimaeus from taking his best shot. So he cried out all the more.

And Jesus heard him. Jesus always hears when we cry out to Him. So Jesus stops and tells the people to call Bartimaeus. And they go say to him, “He’s calling you.”

“He’s calling you.” Have you ever heard those words? I have. Or words very similar. When I was a teenager, before I knew I was going to be a minister people said to me all the time, “Rod, I think the Lord has work for you.” I knew what they meant, but I was sure they were wrong. I was going to be a musician. In fact one time at a music conference an older man said to me, “Rod I think the Lord has work for you.” Then before I could shrug it off -- as I had become pretty good at doing -- he added, “and I think you know it.”

It was three or four months before I heard the call for myself. I was reading my Bible one night before I went to bed. I turned off the lights and prayed. I said, “Lord, I thank you for your Word,” then out of nowhere I felt an urge, almost a compulsion to add, “which I must preach.”

But the point is other people knew it before I did. And that is so often the case. Just over a year ago our Executive Presbyter, Paige McRight, came out and helped lead our Elders’ Retreat. Afterwards she and I were talking about how well our new elders did on their examinations for ordination. I said, “I’ll bet that Laura Viau is going to become a Commissioned Lay Pastor one of these days.” Paige said, “No, Laura will go to seminary!” As soon as Paige said it I knew she was right.

I didn’t say anything to Laura about it, but about six months later – at a Presbytery meeting in my home church -- she told me she had heard a call into the ministry.

Many times other people are more aware of our “calling” than we are. So if people are saying to you, “I think the Lord has work for you,” if people are telling you, “He’s calling you,” they’re probably right!

And dear ones, I’m telling you. He’s calling you. He’s calling some of you to become full time ministers of the Gospel, but that isn’t what I mean.

Church, He is calling you. He has work for you. He has entrusted us with all this land. He has entrusted us with incredible gifts and talents. He has entrusted us with considerable financial resources, as evidenced by our cars and clothes and houses and vacations. And above all He has entrusted us with the Gospel.

And He has placed us here in the middle of a growing area, filled with people who need His love. He wants them to know Him and love Him and serve Him. And He wants them to come to faith and grow in faith. And He wants to make that happen through you and me. He’s calling you. He’s calling you.

Church, the Lord has work for you. And I think you know it.

Bartimaeus didn’t listen to the voices of discouragement, and neither should we. But when they said, “He’s calling you,” Bartimaeus sprang into action.

The Bible tells us that he threw his cloak aside, jumped up and came to Jesus. Bartimaeus wasn’t going to let anything slow him down.

Some commentators say he had his cloak spread out for people to throw money on. So when he threw his cloak aside, he was leaving begging behind. He threw his beggars cloak away because he knew he wasn’t going to need it any more.

Others think he was wearing his cloak, and he took it off so he could move more quickly.

Either way, I can’t help but think of Hebrews 12:1 “… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Jesus is calling you! He wants to restore your vision. He wants to use you to do something significant. Something big! This is what you were born for. So run to Him. Like Bartimaeus, get rid of anything that might slow you down: ungodly habits, grudges, selfish pride, sinful plans, an over-cluttered schedule. Get rid of anything that might slow you down, and run to Him.

That’s when the story reaches its climax. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Bartimaeus is standing face to face with Jesus (and you and I are standing there with him), And Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?”

With all due reverence and respect, what kind of question is that? Doesn’t Jesus know? Bartimaeus is blind! Of course he wants his vision back.

Nevertheless, Jesus asks. It’s as if Jesus wants to hear him say it. Or maybe He wants Bartimaeus to hear himself say it. In any event, even though He knew what Bartimaeus needed and wanted, Jesus gave him the opportunity to ask for it.

Dear ones, Jesus wants us to ask! That’s what I’ve been saying in these sermons on prayer. Ask. Trust Him. Put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t hedge your bets. Go on record by saying, “Lord, this is what I want and need. This is what I ask.”

It seems that in Scripture the Lord responds to prayer more than He responds to need! How many times do we read, “Then they cried out to the Lord, and He answered them?” Or “I cried out to the Lord and He answered me.”

Yes, the Lord knows what you want and what you need. But He wants us to ask. So ask. Daily. Continually. Constantly. Ask.

Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” And on one level Bartimaeus answer isn’t surprising. He says, “I want to see.”

But on another level his answer is amazing. Not just because he had faith that Jesus could restore his vision – though that’s surprising enough. The word he uses for “to see” (anablepw) is rich in meaning.

It not only means “to see,” it implies “to see again.” Of course. Bartimaeus had vision once upon a time, and now he wants it back.

But the word means even more than that. It also means “to look up.” It’s the word Mark uses to tell us that before Jesus fed the 5,000 people, He took the five loaves of bread and two fish and looked up to heaven and prayed. (Mark 6:41) It’s the same word he uses to tell us that before Jesus healed the deaf mute He looked up to heaven again. (Mark 7:34)

When Bartimaeus says, “Lord, I want to see,” he’s saying far more than, “Lord, let light pass thorough the cornea of my eye and stimulate my retina, and let all the nerve endings work so that I can perceive shape and depth and color in the natural world.” He’s saying, “Lord, I want to look up!”

“I’m tired of my blindness. I’m tired of being down and out. I’m tired of looking down all the time and seeing nothing. I want to look to you, Lord. I want to see the world as it really is. Lord, I want to look up!”

The word has two meanings. “I want to look up” and “I want to see.”

Beloved, that’s the main thing I want to share with you today. When you’re down and out, when you feel like there’s got to be more to life than this, that God has more for you than what you’re currently experiencing, cry out to Jesus. Tell Him exactly what you want to do. “Lord, I want to look up! Lord, I want to see!”

And Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go. Your faith has healed you.”

Can you imagine the joy Bartimaeus felt when he heard those words, when he felt his vision restored? He cried out to Jesus, and so he changed his tune from the “Blind Bartimaeus Blues” to the “Bartimaeus Boogie!”

I hope and pray that will happen to everyone who hears or reads this sermon. I pray that you will hear those dynamic words from Jesus. “Your faith has healed you.” And I pray that it happens now. I pray that today your vision is restored,

But if it doesn’t happen today, don’t give up. Jesus says it’s your faith that will heal you. Keep trusting Him and keep crying out.

And if it doesn’t happen tomorrow, don’t give up. Keep trusting Him and crying out.

And if it doesn’t happen for a week or a month or even for years, don’t give up. Keep trusting Jesus. Keep crying out to Him. And one of these days He will say to you, “Your faith has healed you!”

Jesus said that to Bartimaeus, and what did Bartimaeus do? He followed Jesus. He followed Him through the desert, from Jericho to Jerusalem. He followed Him to the temple. He followed Him to Calvary’s cross. He followed Him to the empty tomb, And for the rest of his life, and for all eternity, Bartimaeus followed Jesus.

Like Bartimaeus, our place is to follow Jesus. Do what you see Him doing in the world. Follow His teaching. His words. That’s how we live the vision, that’s how we fulfill the vision He gives us.

When you’ve got the blind Bartimaeus blues, when your vision is gone, cry out to Jesus! He’s your only hope, but He’s all the hope you need.

Don’t let anybody stop you! Don’t let anybody hush you up. You cry until you know He hears you.

Before too long, He’ll call you. He’ll call you to new vision.

Get up and run to Him! Throw away anything that would keep you from reaching Him.

And look up and see.

Then follow Him. For the rest of your life, for the rest of eternity, follow Him.