Being on the Way

Lord, we sometimes open our eyes in the morning, and do not notice the sunshine, the green of trees, the colors in our rooms, the warmth or sorrow in the faces around us. If we had been blind, like Bartimaeus we would long to open our eyes and see all that is to be seen. We could not have enough of this light-filled world around us.


Give us a relish, Lord, for all that our eyes can take in: not the pre-selected shots of the TV screen, but the endlessly varied landscape and peoplescape that surrounds us. We pray with Bartimaeus: Son of David, show us mercy. Master, let us receive our sight.

 

Found on and adapted from the website: https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/mark-1046-52

Scripture – Mark 10: 46-52 (CEB)

Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.” They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.”

Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.”

Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way. 

Musing:

I have a confession to make, I wish I were Blind Bartimaeus or any one of several the characters in the Gospel stories that encounter Jesus, are healed by Jesus, or that are somehow changed by a meeting with Jesus. I just think this life of faith thing would be so much simpler. Just look at this story, Bartimaeus is blind, Jesus heals him and follows Jesus on the way – no questions – no hesitation. He throws off his coat, jumps up, and comes to Jesus anticipating the result and ready to have his entire life altered by it.

I want to look at joining Jesus on the way once you have found what you need to live. You see this can be literally finding your sight, healing, wholeness. It could be freeing yourself of what holds you back from being what God has gifted you to be. It could be throwing off that which has a hold on you that makes you feel safe and secure even if that is what provides for you. What you need to live isn’t about security or provisions as much as it is about letting the you that is you be free to be you.

For many in our world it is blindness, disease, poverty, hunger, oppression, abuse, neglect, imprisonment that keeps them from being free to join Jesus on the way. For you and me and others it can be stress, anxiety, mental health, substances, greed, low self-esteem, or a host of other things that keep us from finding what we need to live. As the beloved of God, we are called to life, to live life in such a way as to make God’s dream of us at our creation real. We need to understand what blinds us and then we need to call out, even when those around us push to silence our call, call out for mercy and for the healing. And once we find life, once we understand what it means to live the life God dreams for us, we need to throw our cloak away and join Jesus on the way – the way to a world that is just and peaceful and whole. Being on the way is making that road we walk with Jesus as we seek justice, love kindness and walking humble with our God.

Son of David, show me mercy. Amen.

Closing Prayer

O Jesus Christ, teacher and healer, you heard the cry of the blind beggar when others would have silenced him. Teach us to be persistent in prayer and give us courage to ask plainly what we need from you, that we might respond in your name by the power of the Spirit through the ministry entrusted to us for the sake of the gospel.

O Jesus Christ, teacher and healer, you heard the cry of the blind beggar when others would have silenced him. Teach us to be attentive to the voices others ignore, that we might respond through the power of the Spirit to heal the afflicted and to welcome the abandoned for your sake and the sake of the gospel. Amen.

 

~ from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers copyright © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress. Posted on Thematic, Intercessory and Scripture Prayers for the RCL, Vanderbilt Divinity Library. http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

 

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