SERMON FOR OCT. 29, 2000 PASTOR BARBARA KENLEY

"A TENDER VISION"

Mark 10: 46-52

The revival was leaving town. The preaching had been wonderful, the miracles plentiful. Souls had been saved. The faithful had been revived. But now the tent stakes were pulled up. The folding chairs stacked neatly. The show was moving on. Life could go back to normal.

Thats how this passage in the tenth chapter of Mark begins. First sentence, verse 46: "They came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho . ..." The story seems to start with what sounds like an ending.

And as good stories go, this one doesnt pick up steam right away. Verse 46 continues, "Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar was sitting by the roadside." Our storys not only over before it starts, now we are introduced, not to a star player, but a guy on the bench, someone on the sidelines. As we were taught to say in seminary: someone on the margins.

Verse 47 says, "When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he started to shout, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And verse 48 continues with just what wed expect, "Many sternly ordered him to be quiet ..." Who was this guy anyway? Why, hed missed the big revival in Jericho! We cant let someone like this reflect on our towns reputation. Hide him away where someone important like Jesus doesnt have to look at him, lest Jesus see him and think were not all were cracked up to be!" So they hushed him. Perhaps a few town leaders even positioned themselves strategically in front of Bartimaeus, so Jesus could pass by, with only pleasant memories of his time in Jericho. Verse 48 continues, "But he cried out even more loudly, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" A proclamation that wouldnt be silenced. A need that wouldnt be denied. Or a prompting of the Holy Spirit, that would not be grieved, even by a whole crowd against this one. Somehow this blind man, this beggar, recognizes Jesus as someone like unto David, the anointed king. And Bartimaeus begins the cry that would very shortly echo in Jerusalems streets, when Jesus enters the city in triumph. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Blessed his he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Verse 49, "Jesus stood still ...." From those three words we know, his was going to be a short stop. As a rabbi, if Jesus was going to teach, he would indicate that people were to listen by sitting down. But he was leaving Jericho, on his way to Jerusalem, and here he stops and say, "Call him here."

Verse 49 says, "And they called the blind man saying to him 'Take heart; get up, he is calling you!" The first miracle in the story takes place, not in the healing that will occur in a few verses, but it happens in the hearts of the disciples. A miracle takes place in the hearts of the crowd following Jesus out of Jericho. Those who had been hushers become welcomers and encouragers. "Take heart I" they say. Those who would have hidden Bartimaeus from view are now guides and heralds. "Get up; he is calling you!"

Verse 50, "So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus." No big deal, you say? You skip right over that when you read this chapter? How was Bartimaeus supposed to find that cloak again? Hes blind! That cloak might have been the most valuable thing he owned. It might have been his only shelter for the night.

In Exodus chapter 22, verses 26 and 27, we have the Lord giving this instruction, among many others, to the Hebrew people: "If you take your neighbors cloak in pawn (that is, as security or collateral), you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbors only clothing to use as cover, in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, (presumably because his cloak has not been returned and hes now exposed to the elements, God says) I shall listen, for I am compassionate."

Remember when Jesus called Peter to follow him? In Mark chapter 1, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were fishing in the Sea of Galilee and in verse 16 Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men and women." What happened? They left their nets. They left their livelihoods. They left all that they depended on and followed Jesus. And now heres Bartimaeus doing the very same thing. Verse 50, "And (he) came to Jesus."

Then Jesus asks one of those questions that just would have embarrassed me to my sox, if I had been one on his disciples. A blind man presents himself to Jesus and Jesus asks, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Five chapters back, in Mark chapter 5, Jesus and his disciples were in a large crowd, and everyone was jostling, elbowing one another, trying

to get close to Jesus. And a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years believed that if she but touched Jesus clothing, she would be healed. Sick as she was, perhaps weak from the blood loss, she made her way through the crowd, touched Jesus, and was made well. Jesus felt power had gone forth from him and he said, "Who touched my clothes?" And the disciples said in verse 31, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?" Now, in chapter 10 verse 51, Jesus says to a blind man, "What do you want me to do for you?" I would have been right there at Jesus elbow, trying to keep Jesus from looking bad, whispering in his ear, "Pssst! Master! Hess blind!"

But Jesus, ever the patient teacher, waited to see what Bartimaeus answer would be. Heed come from the side of the road, to stand within inches of the Lord of the Universe. Did this blind man know who was standing before him? Did he perceive what so many sighted people had missed, and still miss? Bartimaeus had thrown off his cloak. What, or who, was he going to depend on?

And Bartimaeus replies in verse 51, "My Teacher." My Teacher! He couldnt read. He couldnt follow an itinerant rabbi, who taught on the move, from place to place. But in one word, the Aramaic "Rabbounni," Bartimaeus identified Jesus as someone greater than himself, and placed himself under the spiritual authority of the One headed for the cross.

And Jesus the Teacher answers, "Go. Your faith has made you well."

Can you imagine what it would be like to see the first thing Bartimaeus saw when he regained his sight: the face of Jesus? His new eyesight caught a tender vision of the One who heals and saves! His eyes were filled with a vision of the One who gives hope to those who think they are forever doomed to sit on the side of the road.

What do we, who know Jesus, need? Dont we also need a vision of Jesus? As those who are in relationship with him, we are blessed by having our vision renewed every day, as we pray and serve, and every week, as we are worship together in unity.

Isnt that what the world needs, too? What would make the world throw off their cloaks, throw down their video games, and drugs, and guns, and come from the side of the road, and from the ends of the earth, but a vision of Jesus?

We have, as individuals, a responsibility for how we live before God, and before others, r,eflecting the tender vision of the Risen Lord. But as I read the Bible, I see it is the Church that has the special charge, the weighty responsibility, of holding up a vision of Jesus to the world, so that, if Jesus "be lifted up, he will draw all men and women to himself." The Apostle Paul spends most of his time, in his letters, telling the Church how to do that. And when I look through the New Testament, I see that the Church is Gods Plan A, and as a dear pastor friend of mine always said, "Theres just no Plan B!"

Back in the first part of August, when the Elders and pastors of this church went on retreat, they began a process of praying, of listening to God and sharing, about what God is calling First Presbyterian to do. About who we are, as God has made us over these past 163 years, and who God desires us to become in the future. We studied scripture. We talked about it. And we prayed some more.

We acknowledged that while it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people, our Lord is for everyone, and if we are to reflect that, then everything that we do as a church must reflect that we think not only of those who are already in our midst, but of those who have never even thought about coming here.

As Pastors and Elders, we also agreed that unity in the church tells others more about Jesus than individuality. I, by myself, am not the

church. Neither is Pastor David, or any single Elder or Deacon. We all are the Church together.

And we concurred that, as the Westminster Confession has been teaching us for over 300 years: our chief "end," or purpose, is to glorify God.

So we proposed and ratified a new mission statement. This will help us to evaluate what we do as a Church to give others a vision of Jesus, and keep us on that course in years ahead. And as we promised this summer to communicate this vision, we shared it yesterday morning, first with the Deacons, and now this morning, to the wider congregation. It states "First Presbyterian Church - united to glorify God; inviting all to the hope found only in Jesus Christ."

Sounds simple, doesnt it? Its already some of who we are. Which means that we are, even now, giving some a partial vision of Jesus. But now the excitement begins, as we strive to complete the picture. Will be like the disciples, who hushed Bartimaeus, as he called out to Jesus, the only hope? Or will we allow God to transform us, into those who would shout, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you," and help point the way?

Im blessed with confidence to know the answer to that question in many of your hearts is an undeniable, "Yes, Lord! I am here! Make me one who points to you, so others can see you, and see you more clearly!" In the days ahead, lets follow the leadership of the Elders, as they guide us in our mission, and teach us how to give all others a tender vision of Jesus right here in First Presbyterian Church.

Let us stand and sing our Hymn of Response, "Christ Of The Upward Way" #344 in our blue hymnals.

Rev. Barbara A. Kenley

First Presbyterian Church

100 North 10th Street

Richmond, IN 47374