'THE WISDOM OF BARTIMAEUS'

Rev. Brent Russett

By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:

http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/                

_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, September 2^nd, 2012:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/8242/good_news_016_sept02.mp3
____________________________________________

Broadcast Notes:

********************************************************************

‘The Wisdom of Bartimaeus’ 

            This morning I want to talk to those of you who are facing significant challenges in your life, and I want to do that by telling you the story of Bartimaeus.

Mark 10:46–52 (NIV)

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means ‘son of Timaeus’), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’

So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’

⁵² ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

            Some of you are probably thinking, “What does that story have to do with my life? “

            I love to read biographies. Not just any biography. But I love to read biographies of people who have done a lot of things right in their life. Generally, I don’t read biographies of people in Hollywood. Fame is not an indicator of a life well lived.

            My all time favorite biographies to read are those who have journeyed far into the kingdom of God. I love to read the stories of the men and women of God.

            I don’t know if you have noticed but sometimes following Jesus is hard. Sometimes you have to go against the crowd and against the grain. Some people navigate that with grace, others not so much.

            I figure that if I can learn from other people’s mistakes that I can avoid those mistakes myself. And better yet, if I can learn from other people’s wisdom – well better yet.

            How about you? Are you the kind of person who has to learn where all the pitfalls are, by falling into a pit. Or can you watch other people fall into the pit, and you are smart enough to walk around that pit. Do you have to learn everything by trial and error yourself, or can you have the humility to learn from other people’s experience and wisdom.

            I am hoping that you are the kind that can learn from others, because this morning I want to talk about the wisdom of Bartimaeus.  Bartimaeus shows up in the story the week before Jesus goes to the cross.

            It was a morning like any other morning. Bartimaeus was sitting at the side of the road – at his usual spot, doing his usual thing. He was blind. There was no social safety net. All he could do was beg.

            Bartimaeus had heard rumors of Jesus. They were Messianic rumors. When the Messiah came, one of the signs according to the book of Isaiah was that he would bring healing to the blind. But as far as Bartimaeus new Jesus was somewhere afar off.

            Have you ever been there. Life is hard. You have heard rumours of a powerful God: a God who is able to step into your situation. And yet it seems like he is always somewhere else. You’re in Jericho and he is in Galilee. Sometimes God and his work seems to be far away.

            This particular day Bartimaeus was sitting in his usual spot, saying his usual things, “alms, alms for the poor”. But there was something different. The crowd noise was different.

            So Bartimaeus asks someone, what is going on. Jesus of Nazareth is in town today. When he heard this, he didn’t even bother standing – he just started to yell – "Jesus, Son of David", (that by the way is a name for the Messiah), "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He yelled it gain, "Jesus , Son of David, have mercy on me!"

            As far as he could tell there was no response. So he kept on yelling "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" But there was a response. The response was from the crowd. The bible records that many rebuked him and told him to be quiet.

            Bartimaeus was calling out to Jesus. Do you know what we would call it if you were to call out to Jesus?  We would call that prayer. Have you ever called out in prayer and it just felt like you were calling out into the dark? Have you ever called out in prayer, and you wondered if you were being heard.

            More than that, when you pray you experience opposition. Oh it may not come in the form of people telling you shut up. But opposition shows up in forms of feeling of reluctance. Or feelings like I should be doing something else or I don’t have time, or I am not sure this is working anyways.

            The reality is that the enemy of your soul is telling you to shut up. The last thing that Satan and his demons want you doing is praying. The last thing they want is you calling on God to bring the power of God to bear on your situation.

            That is why many of you find it so difficult to get down to the business of prayer. You know you should. You may even want to. You know you need to. But it is so hard just to get there. That is the enemy of your soul telling you to shut up.

            Bartimaeus had a choice to make. Did he listen to the crowd or did he keep on calling out. He kept on calling out – "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Without that persistence, this story would not have been recorded in scripture, Jesus would have passed him by, and he would not have been healed.

            I don’t know what it is about persistence in prayer. But it is taught all the way through scripture. To teach the disciple to pray and never give up Jesus told the story of the unjust judge, (Luke 18:4-7). Persistence matters.

            For Bartimaeus, persistence paid off. In spite of the fact that he didn’t know if he was being heard by Jesus, in spite of the fact that he was getting opposition from the crowd, Bartimaeus continued to yell.

            What would you do if you felt God close by?

Mark 10:49 (NIV)

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’

So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’

            I have never found prayer or God to particularly predictable. But I do know there are times when God stops. And in those moments it seems like we are invited right into the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

            I don’t know what to say about this theologically. I know that whenever you pray God hears you. I know that we are invited to come boldly into the throne room of grace because of what Jesus has done. So that is true all the time.

            But I will tell you experientially, I know that sometimes I am praying and heavens feel like brass – and if feels like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. There are other times when I know I have prayed through. It is like I am standing in the presence of the king. Most of the time when I pray, I know God is hearing my prayers and it is like I know by faith that he has heard.

            But there are times when there is just a sweet sense of his presence. Bartimaeus enters into the presence of  Jesus and Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?”

            That may seem to be an odd question. But Jesus seems to ask this question of a number of people. I think sometimes when we are in the presence of God he asks it of us.

            If God were to come to you right now and ask you, “What do you want me to do for you?” what would you answer?

            I have talked to a number of people who don’t have any problem praying for other people, but they have a whole lot of problems praying for themselves. But Jesus comes and asks “What do you want me to do for you?” It is right to ask for yourself.

            Bartimaeus got to the issue that had defined him. His blindness. Now I know that a number of you have chronic stuff going on in your life. Some of you have been defined by trauma’s in the past. Some of you are defined by what you were a victim to. Some of you are defined by an illness such as cancer. And when you go to God – he doesn’t always take the issue away – but he takes the definition away. But to never pray about those issues that want to define you is a mistake. Bartimaeus says, I want to see.

            Jesus said, "Go your faith has healed you". How did Jesus know he had faith. I think he saw faith in the persistence of the calling. Persistence in prayer matters.

            People here is what I want you to know Even when it feels like God is far away, even when it feels like you are calling out into the dark, even when you experience opposition, persistence in prayer matters.

            Keep praying – And pray about those things that define you---they don’t need to define you.

Come with me to verse:

Mark 10:52 (NIV)

⁵² ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

            Bartimaeus receives and answer to prayer and he follows Jesus down the road. It is 34 kilometers from Jericho to Bethany. The next story that happens is Palm Sunday where Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowd was worshiping and praising God. It is not unreasonable to think that Bartimaeus was in that crowd.

            It is interesting to note that the crowd had tried to shut Bartimaeus up and now the Pharisees tried to get the crowd to shut up. But worship is always a good response to who God is and what he has done.

            Now we know that Jesus went into Jerusalem, and then he came back out again – and he was with his disciples only. Bartimaeus must have gone home. What a fantastic experience: Healed, and the Palm Sunday processional.

            I could of course stop the story here. Because it is nice and neat. But I am sure that news of the next week would have reached back to Jericho. You know the next week – the week that we are travelling into now. Holy week. In a few short days from now Jesus will be hanging on a cross.

            Now what is Bartimaeus suppose to think. The one who answered my prayers is further than ever away. The one who I felt so much joy about  in the middle of the crowd has now died. I don’t get this God. What is going on God?

            Yes I can see, but the man who gave me sight has now left me on my own.

            I think that one of the most disturbing things about the spiritual journey is that mystery of having been touched by Jesus and having experienced the joy of the Lord and then all of a sudden things seem so dark. You wonder if you experienced what you thought you experienced. You look back on the old days and wonder – God where have you gone?

            That is why we need to walk with Jesus all the way to the cross. There will be those times in your spiritual journey, where after having experienced the goodness of the Lord that you will cry out like Jesus did, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46; Mark 15: 34)

            Have you ever been there? I have. The old mystics use to call it the dark night of the soul. The God that you experienced has become remote and unattainable.

            Here is what I have learned, the end of the story is not written yet.  Sunday is coming.

            As we have tracked with Bartimaeus this morning I can’t help but think that there are some of you now, where he was. There are some of you who have heard rumours of God, but he doesn’t seem close. Keep listening. When there was a stirring in the crowd – and there was the remotest chance that Jesus might hear him, Bartimaeus yell, "Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me". And he kept on yelling. He persisted. People there are some of you who are at the point where you really need to persist. God will see that as faith, and he will respond. Persist in spite of your feelings, despite the opposition. Keep praying.

            And when Jesus says "Come here", deal with the issue that defines you. Let him deal with those core things. When he asks, “What is it that you want me to do for you?” be ready with an answer.

            Some of you are at the point where you have followed Jesus on the mount of Olives and you are worshipping with the crowd. Keep worshipping. Keep praising. God loves the praises of his people. There will be people who will try to hush you up, don’t listen. Worship.

            Some of you are at the point where you have had this experience of God, and you remember the joy, but now God seems remote. It’s Friday. And it not the TGIF kind of Friday. It is the kind of Friday that shakes you down to your boots. You walk into that dark night of the soul. I want to remember the story is not finished. It is not over. It may feel over. But it is not over.

            Go back to the beginning and persist in prayer. I want you to know that Sunday will come.

            Let me pray with you:

Lord Jesus, I ask that wherever people find themselves this morning, that you would speak deeply into the core of their life.  I ask, Lord, that you would allow them to know that you are there, even when it feels that it’s dark all around, that you would help them to persist in prayer. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

May you know Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.  May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart.  And may the heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding love.

Rev. Brent Russett

_____________________________________________________

To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/8242/good_news_016_sept02.mp3