Our gospel story today is about the relationship between hearing and seeing
… between seeing and being saved. According to Mitzi Minor, hearing and
seeing are central themes in Mark’s gospel. Early on Jesus tells the
disciples, "See what you hear!" (4:24). In two
stories where Jesus heals the blind, Mark shows how blind and deaf the
disciples are, along with the Pharisees and the people (8, 10). Jesus is always
saying things like, "Let anyone with ears, hear!"
(4:9, 23;
These stories are actually about perception, of course, and discernment, about
inner sight or insight. Jesus’ words open our eyes to the reality we had
not perceived heretofore. Being his follower means looking at the world in a
different way. We need our eyes opened lest we be fooled. A friend sent me this
story of how our vision is sometimes skewed:
While waiting for my first appointment in the reception room of a new
dentist, I noticed his certificate, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I
remembered that a tall handsome boy with the same name had been in my high
school class some 40 years ago. Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded
any such thought. This balding, gray-haired fat man with the deeply lined face
was way too old to have been my classmate. After he examined my teeth, I asked
him if he had attended the local high school. "Yes," he replied.
"When did you graduate?" I asked. He answered, "In 1964.
Why?" "You were in my class!" I exclaimed. He looked at me
closely, and asked, "What did you teach?"
We don’t see ourselves as we are, but Jesus shows us who we are. Sinners,
to be sure, so we can’t be proud. Also: beloved of God, so we can
rejoice. I’ve already admitted to you my shameful secret that sometimes I
watch a TV show called “What Not To Wear.”
The fashion victim one evening was a short African American woman who was a
little overweight. She talked about how people on the street didn’t even
see her. I wasn’t sure whether she meant because she was short or because
she was African American or because she was a woman, but I know people in all
those categories have spoken of feeling invisible at times in our society. They
bought her a new wardrobe, changed her makeup and gave her a great new haircut.
She looked stunning. But more importantly, her sense of self had changed.
Inside she was a different person. She announced with tears, "They will see
me now." But the truth was, she was seeing
herself with new eyes. That’s what Jesus does; he shows us who we are,
how God sees us, from the inside out.
Jesus also shows us the world as it truly is, and it’s not easy for us to
hear. The world works hard through a million messengers to skew our vision
… to say wealth is a measurement of worth … to say that might makes
right … to say that we can have it all … and that we deserve it/
Or, as Clinton McCann puts it, our society says your mission is "getting all
you can, canning all you get, and sitting on your can." Jesus speaks and
opens our eyes to a different world. Instead of the world dominated by the
principalities and powers, Jesus shows is the dominion of God. He calls us to
service … to self-sacrifice … to community … to caring for
the least of these … to power-with instead of power-over, to say we can share
it all (and why else do you think I put it in your hands?) But the world
doesn’t want to see what the dominion of God looks like.
Parker Palmer tells the story about a medieval Irish monk who died and was
buried, according to their custom, in the monastery wall. One day the monks
heard noises from within the wall and removed the stones to find their brother
alive and well. He began to tell them what he had learned on his journey
beyond. But everything he said was contrary to what they had always believed.
So the brothers put him back in the wall and sealed the crypt forever.
That’s what the world does to us … it makes us prefer the lies
we’ve been told to the truth Jesus offers. The principalities and powers
will even take their prevailing materialistic, consumeristic,
individualistic, violent worldview and promote it as the Christian view in the
supreme example of taking God’s name in vain! Anything to keep from
seeing the world the way God sees it. Anything to keep from seeing the
suffering it has caused or at least could prevent. Anything
to keep the blinders on … as we plod the pathway that leads straight to
hell.
The world creates illusions … gives them false names … then
punishes anyone who dares to say the emperor has no clothes. They call war
"peace." They call violence "entertainment." They call
selfishness "fiscal responsibility." They call sex "love."
They call testing "education." They call manipulation
"advertising." They call exploitation "business." They call
death "life." It’s all smoke and mirrors. Let the buyer beware!
Jesus tells us the difference between the truth and the lie. Do we want to see
it? In The Divine Comedy Dante is asked several times in his journey
through the realms of the dead what he is doing there since he is still alive.
As he reaches the end of Purgatory and nears the gates of
Please, open your eyes and see! Seeing as God sees is not so hard, but it takes
the courage to be different. Jesus speaks to blind Bartimaeus
and Mark tells us, "Immediately he regained his sight and followed
Jesus on the way." Seeing is salvation. But what I am trying to say
today is that even before seeing is salvation, hearing is seeing. When Jesus
calls for Bartimaeus, Bartimaeus
leaps to his feet and comes to Jesus. He cannot see Jesus, but he can follow
the sound of his voice. Jesus asks Bartimaeus the
same question he asked the disciples in last week’s story. "What
do you want me to do for you?" You remember? When Jesus asked them, "What
do you want me to do for you?" their prayer was, "Lord, bless us!
Make us great! Let us sit on your right hand and on your left when you come
into your power!" They were all about supremacy, command and control.
Jesus answered their misguided prayer with a clear and emphatic NO!, then tried to explain to them his way of self-forgetful
service. They didn’t want to hear it. They refused to hear it. They were deaf
to his teaching so they were blind to his truth. Immediately Mark tells us the
story of Bar-timaeus, "son of Timaeus," the blind man who is ignored.
Jesus asks Bartimaeus the very same question, "What
do you want me to do for you?" and Bartimaeus
prays, "My teacher, let me see again." Right answer! Here are
the privileged: the self-important disciples, who have the luxury to follow
Jesus and think that makes them better than the rest … the self-righteous
Pharisees, who have the privilege of education and wealth and still think they
made it on their own … the self-centered people who have taken the day
off to catch the excitement, to be entertained, to give Jesus a whole hour of
their precious attention. And of all of them, this one destitute and blind
beggar … all but invisible to everybody else … has the sense to
pray the right prayer! Is he that smart or just that needy? Is he that
courageous or just that desperate? He does not pray "Lord, bless me!"
He prays, "Lord, have mercy on me!" That should be our prayer, too:
"Lord, have mercy on us! Open our deaf ears to your teaching and open our
blind eyes to your truth. Show us your glory and we will be comforted by your
hope. Show us your sorrow and we will be merciful to those who suffer. Show us
your way, and we will follow it in the world … even if it makes us
different … because only when we hear will we see … and only when
we see will we follow you into life everlasting."
Jesus asks Bartimaeus, "What do you want me
to do for you?" and Bartimaeus prays, "My
teacher, let me see again." Then Jesus speaks again, "Your
faith has made you well!" he says. "Your faith has made you
well!" And it was so. "Immediately," Mark tells us, "Immediately
(Bartimaeus) regained his sight and followed (Jesus)
on the way" (10:52). Hearing is seeing. Seeing is salvation. So, as
great as the miracle of blind Bartimaeus regaining
his sight may be, Bartimaeus hearing Jesus’
voice is just as great a miracle to my mind. Many others come within the sound
of Jesus’ voice in the Gospel of Mark, in the world today, but they do
not listen, and they do not see, so they are not saved.
But there is yet another miracle in this story that precedes even the miracles
of Bartimaeus’ hearing and seeing. Before he
hears, Bartimaeus is heard, and that is all the hope
of our prayers. Mark says, "When (Bartimaeus)
heard that it was Jesus of
Jesus hears him! Of all the miracles in this book, what is greater than this
… that God hears our prayers … our desperate pleas … our
cries for justice and mercy … our groanings
which cannot be uttered? Given our sins … our addiction to lies …
our preference to see the world in the way that gives us the best advantage
… regardless of what it may do to others and ourselves … regardless
of how many times we have refused to hear and have chosen blindness to the
truth that sets us free … it is nothing less than a miracle that God still
hears us. Even if you don’t feel that you have a voice in today’s world , you have a voice with God because God hears you. If
you pray for greatness and blessing and self-aggrandizement, God will hear and
tell you "NO!" Because you haven’t been
listening. Because
you are still blind. But the simple prayer, "Lord, have mercy on
me. Open my eyes, and I will follow your way,"
God will answer in the affirmative every time.
God will say YES! YES! YES! I think God is for us. I think God is much more yes
than no to us, and God’s no’s are only to protect us. I know God
hears our prayers and answers with what we need most … which is to be
heard … to be seen … and to have our eyes opened so we can follow
the way, the truth, and the life.
So I want to invite you today, join the heard. Even if nobody else hears your
voice, God hears you. And God calls you by name. And God will open your eyes.
Hearing is seeing and seeing is salvation.
May we pray?
Lord, have mercy on us! Open our deaf ears to your teaching and open our
blind eyes to your truth. Show us your glory and we will be comforted by your
hope. Show us your sorrow and we will be merciful to those who suffer. Show us
your way, and we will follow it in the world, even if it makes us different,
because only when we hear will we see, and only when we see will we follow you
into life everlasting. Amen and amen.
Rev. Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa