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Pentecost 21, Proper 25 Lesson: Job 42:1-6, 10-17
October 25, 2009 Psalm 34:1-8. 19-22
The Rev. Wallace Marsh Epistle: Hebrews 7:23-28
St. James’ Church, Marietta Holy Gospel: Mark 10:46-52
I speak these words in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I decided to title my sermon today after a movie with a relatively catchy title. I titled it, “Eyes Wide Shut.” If you remember the 1999 movie, “Eyes Wide Shut,” it drew considerable attention for reasons that I am not going to discuss or promote from this pulpit. The reason I am referencing the movie is because I believe the title has something to do with today’s Gospel reading. The movie revolves around one unresolved question: Is the protagonist (Tom Cruise) living his life with his eyes wide shut?
I reference the movie “Eyes Wide Shut” simply because the question behind today’s Gospel reading is fundamentally and radically different than that of the movie. The purpose of today’s Gospel reading is to ask us if we are living our lives with our “eyes wide open.”
In today’s Gospel reading, we see a blind man, Bartimeaus, call out to Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me.” When the crowd sternly orders him to be quiet, he calls out even louder, “Son of David, have mercy upon me.”
Jesus says to him, “What do you want?”
Bartimeaus says, “I want my sight. I want to see again.”
Jesus responds, “Go, your faith has made you well,” and Bartimeaus’ eyes are opened.
The point of today’s passage is quite simple and quite clear. The persistent faith of the blind beggar results in his eyes being opened.
If you spend time coming to church, or you have been a part of Bible studies, or you read the Scriptures at home for your daily devotion, you know that throughout Scripture there are there are many, many, many recurring themes. One of my favorite recurring themes is if you see a man in Scripture heading toward a well to get some water, you know he is in trouble. You know that he is about to meet a very powerful woman who is going to school him in the way of the world or in the way of love.
Abraham’s servant meets Rebekah at the well and arranges a marriage for Isaac. Jacob met Rachel and Leah at a well. Moses met Zipporah at a well. Remember in John’s Gospel Jesus meets a woman at the well, and that is a very interesting discussion that takes place.
Another consistent theme throughout Holy Scripture is the one we have today , and that is, blindness. If you are reading a passage in the Bible and you happen to stumble upon someone who is blind, odds are, two or three verses later, there is a good chance their eyes will be opened.
The prophet Isaiah speaks that, “The eyes of the blind shall be opened.” Psalm 146 says, “The eyes of the blind will be opened.” Matthew’s Gospel is full of blindness. In the 9th chapter, two blind men follow Jesus and their eyes are opened. Again in the 20th and 21st Chapters, the eyes of the blind are opened. In Mark’s Gospel, two Chapters before the one we have today, Jesus spits on his eyes and he starts seeing trees and his eyes are opened. Then in Mark’s Gospel, Chapter 10, the one we have before us today, we have blind Bartimeaus.
Blind eyes are constantly being opened throughout Scripture. One of the most prominent passages about blindness occurs in the Book of Acts. Now I know that Episcopalians are not the best at recalling Scripture, but I should hope that you know the person I am talking about if I say there is a blind man in the Book of Acts. Maybe you are drawing a blank. If you are, now is the time to let you know we have a Bible study on Wednesday night at 7:00. We have a good time, a good discussion, a variety of people with a variety of different points of view. Sometimes if it is necessary to use the Table of Contents, we will not laugh at you.
In Acts 9, we encounter a man by the name of Saul; he later becomes Paul. He is walking along the road and suddenly a light from heaven flashes and Saul falls to the ground. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice calling from above saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” To which Saul says, “Who are you?”
The voice says, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city of Damascus.”
If you remember the story, you know that Paul rose from the ground. Chapter 9:8 says that as he rose from the ground he opened his eyes, but he could see nothing. For three days he was without sight. For three days his eyes were wide shut. When Paul finally makes it into Damascus, a man by the name of Annias shows up and Annias lays hands on Paul, he prays over Paul, Paul is full of the Spirit, Paul is baptized.
At that moment (Acts 9:18), “immediately, something like scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he regained his sight…and he was baptized.”
Why is this story important? Why am I telling you about the conversion of Saint Paul when today’s Gospel reading is about blind Bartimeaus? I am telling it because Paul went from eyes wide shut to eyes wide open. What happens to blind Bartimeaus is the same thing that happens to Paul, and it is the same thing that should happen to you and I when we profess our faith in Jesus Christ.
The fact that blind Bartimeaus and Saint Paul’s eyes are opened is a great miracle, but what makes this story so important for us is the fact that they go from eyes wide shut to eyes wide open.
What does that mean for us? Both Bartimeaus and Paul’s eyes are opened, yes they are, but their eyes become wide open in the sense that their eyes and their hearts are open to the love of God in Jesus Christ.
Notice the last line in today’s reading. It says that once Bartimeaus’ eyes are opened, he not only sees again, but he follows Jesus. Where is he going? Where is he walking? Where are they going? He is following Jesus to Jerusalem. Bartimeaus is doing what we all do when we say that we have faith. Bartimeaus is walking with Jesus, the way of the cross. He is walking with Jesus in love, something we do each week – walk in love as Christ loved us. Follow Jesus.
Now the question before us today is whether we actually do this. Do we walk around with our eyes open or do we walk around professing to be Christians, professing to be people of faith, with our eyes wide shut? Perhaps the title of the movie appropriately describes the way each of us lives. I know that I am certainly guilty of walking around with my eyes wide shut. Most of us are. That is why we come to church. We come here each Sunday to pray that our hearts and our eyes may be opened.
I would like to conclude with a little story that happened to me two weeks ago. As most of you know, I have been here about twelve weeks now, a couple months. For twelve weeks, the person who is the Associate Rector, the second in chain of command (the chain of command is just a theory; it does not really exist. If you need something done there are about twelve other people you should ask), but go behind me, around me, but go with me for a minute.
For twelve weeks, I have been walking around this building with my eyes wide shut, with little knowledge of who and what was going on in the back of the church, with the little school we call Wonderful Days. Perhaps there are many of you out here in the same boat; you say Wonderful Days and wonder what are you talking about? Perhaps you are unaware that 30 low-income children around the age of four are bused to this church every single morning, Monday through Friday. They are not only taught the fundamentals of an education to prepare them for kindergarten, but they are given two meals a day. It is a tremendous outreach that we do from this church, something we should all be very proud of. It makes a tremendous impact on our community.
For twelve weeks, I have been eating lunch back in the conference room next to Wonderful Days. I had been watching them stack food, hand out food. I have been watching them do that with my eyes shut. One day when they were stacking bread, my eyes went from shut to open. I asked Carol if there was a need for more bread because I happen to be marrying a girl whose father is in the bread business. He worked for Flowers, the maker of Nature’s Own. They are a very generous company. They do a lot of outreach.
As it turned out, Carol said that they did need more bread, so a few hours later I sent my to-be father in law a short email. I attached the Wonderful Days Mission Statement. He got excited and sent another email to somebody else, and they got excited and sent an email; the emails went on and on. Finally, it ended up on the desk of somebody who ran the bakery in downtown Atlanta.
The person who ran the bakery in downtown Atlanta was very excited. He does a homeless mission for the people in Atlanta. He was excited because he lived a few miles down the road in Smyrna. He knew about Wonderful Days because he ran in our 5k race and knew about St. James’; and his eyes were opened. He said he would give 40-50 loaves of bread every week for your students.
The reason I tell you this is not to pat myself on the back; I do that all the time. The reason I am telling you this is because I, especially, and all of us are guilty of walking around our daily surroundings with our eyes wide shut. I tell you this because think of what would happen if we were to walk around our daily surroundings with our eyes open. Think of all the possibilities. Think of all the things that could be accomplished if we just did something like sending an email. Think of what might be accomplished if we went from eyes wide shut to eyes wide open.
I do not know where you are in your life right now, what you are struggling with, but in a few minutes we will all come to this table like blind beggars, just like Bartimeaus. We will have our hands out and our eyes closed. As you stretch out your hands and your eyes are closed, I pray that your faith in Christ and Christ’s love for you, in his body and in his blood, may open your eyes and open your hearts to new life. Amen.
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