Invitation to Preach

I am honored and humbled to have been asked back to College Green to preach. I  have spent time seeking what God would have me share with them.I have to say, I don't know how preachers deliver God's word week after week - it is a challenging thing to speak into someone's life. After much deliberation and several false starts, I finally ended up with the following:

What Would You Ask For?

Tonight we are going to explore together how to get the things you need. We all have needs, right? I do. I’m sure you can think of things you would like to have. So let’s talk about getting stuff. I’ll warn you in advance. This is an interactive sermon and from time to time, I will be asking you for the answers, so pay attention. You might want to take notes. I don’t have all the answers, but together I think we can come up with some good ideas.

Let’s begin with something simple like getting groceries. Have you ever had to get groceries? How do you get groceries? First you have to figure out how much you can spend. Then maybe you make out a menu, and you list what supplies you are out of – my Mom had a whole patter I can still remember: bread butter salt pepper milk sugar tea bags juice meat potatoes vegetables and salad!

Then you drive to the store, you fill your cart, checking off things from your list and adding in a few niceties. Not too many. If you are like me, you keep a running estimate of the total in your head. If you are like my sister, you keep a running total on your calculator. After all you have a budget and you do have to be careful. You look wistfully at the pot roasts that run a good $50, I remember Sundays at my grandmothers when pot roasts were weekly events. Those days are long gone. You leave the pot roasts where they are. Then you go stand in line, waiting your turn to cash out. It’s a whole big process. You need the right place, the right people, the right resources.

Let’s say you were getting groceries. You did all the things that had to be done, and now you are standing in line waiting to pay. Suddenly you hear a rumor that the richest man in America, Bill Gates is in the store. According to Forbes, he is worth $66 billion. You’ve heard the stories about his generosity. You know he has given large gifts of cash to people who ask for help. You think about that pricey pot roast. You look at your heaped-up cart, think about the balance in your check book. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone helped with the groceries this week, you think.

You see a large group of people over in the produce aisle and head in that direction. You get a crazy idea. Maybe Bill Gates will give you some money to help with the groceries and the mounting pile of bills. You rush toward the produce area, calling his name. “Mr. Gates! Mr. Gates!” People around you are frowning and giving you dirty looks. They shush you.

You know you will likely never have this chance again. You have nothing to lose. You yell louder. “Bill! Bill Gates! Help me!” You can hardly be heard over the noise of the crowd. You jump up and down, waving your arms, frantically trying to get his attention, yelling “Bill! Bill! Over here!”

Quickly a hush falls over the crowd. Someone pushes you forward. “He wants to know who is calling his name.” You find yourself face to face with the richest man in the world. He is focused on you. He smiles. He says very kindly, “What do you want me to do for you?”

And you say –  [wait for responses].  This is the interactive part. This is the part where you tell me the answers! Remember, this is the richest man in America. This is a man worth $66 billion. What would you ask him for? To pay for your cart of groceries? To pay for a pot roast?

OK, maybe this scenario sounds a bit too far-fetched to happen. Let’s hear the story of a man who had just such an encounter.

Mark 10: 46 (NRSV) [see also Luke 18:35-43 and Matt 20:29-34] As [Jesus] and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁸Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ ⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’

Picture this scene. Jesus and his disciples and a huge crowd are walking along, going from the city of Jericho to Jerusalem where is he about to go on trial for his life and end up being crucified – the whole reason he came to earth – the most important thing he will do. It’s hot and dusty and noisy. Animals are braying and children and shouting and laughing.

Here’s this guy sitting beside the road begging. He is dirty and smelly. He is poor because he is blind and cannot work. He is just going about his usual business of trying to get the stuff he need, to get the groceries, if you will. Suddenly someone tells him Jesus is coming his way. He has heard the stories about Jesus, how he has done miracles. Heard he even healed another blind person. He knows this might be his only chance to get help from Jesus. So he begins yelling for help. “Jesus! Jesus! Help me!” He doesn’t even know what direction to point his cry.

The crowd shushes him, but he cries louder. “Jesus! Jesus! Help me!”  Now why did those people try to silence him? What do you think?  [wait for responses – this is where you have to think]

What was Jesus’ response? He stood still. Imagine that! He stops what he is doing, as if Bartimaeus is a very important person, and calls him to come forward. Jesus heard him despite the clamor of the crowd, despite the distance between him and Bartimaeus. He took his focus off what was coming and made time to be with Bartimaeus.

It makes you realize that all it takes to get God’s attention is for us to call to him. Jesus hears our hearts even when we don’t even cry out loud. He is very attuned to us and wants to hear our call. And he draws near when we want to ask him something. He loves to be with people, loves to listen to us.

Do you know, really know, that God hears you when you call and will stop and listen to you, no matter how much noise and interference there is, no matter what time of night or day? Do you realize that God does not consider us to be unimportant or a nuisance.

Jesus says, “Bring him to me.” Call him over here. Let him get closer. Bartimaeus could have sat at the edge of the road and pouted. I don’t want to go over there. And if he can’t or won’t heal me, what’s the use? I’ll just keep sitting here in my misery and try to make the best of it.”

But NOW the people want to help him. They encourage him to go to Jesus. And maybe he needed the extra push to figure out where Jesus was and get there.

I can’t help but think that Jesus was moved with compassion for this blind beggar who was desperately calling his name. I think he knew what was about to happen, and I think he was smiling.

When we are in the midst of our brokenness and can’t see the light, but call out to God for help, I think it delights him no end. He joys over us because he knows what can happen, sees what is coming, realizes how the change will affect our lives. He loves to bless his children and see that we have the stuff we need.

We often forget that the closer we are to God, the closer we are to his power and his love, the easier it is for him to help us. When we sit at the side of the road in a mess, tangled up with all sorts of ungodly stuff, it takes more for God’s love to reach us and his power to deliver us. There is a reason we are constantly encouraged to read the Word and pray and do those spiritually formative things. It draws us closer to God, and helps us be the person God intends for us to be.

So in our story, Jesus looks right at Bartimaeus and says  - -  “I see you are blind. Come here and let me heal you.”  No! He says “What do you want me to do for you?”

Now why in the world did Jesus say that? After all, he is God. He knows everything. And even if he weren’t God, surely he could see that this man is blind. He must know that the man wants to see! He certainly knows he is more than able to heal the blind. Why didn’t he just say – “Ah! I see you are blind. You have come to the right person. How wise of you. Now, I am sure you are interested in being healed.”

Why would he say “What do you want me to do for you?” That seems like a no-brainer question. Tell me why he would say that. [wait for responses – time to think again]

Could it be that Jesus saw much more than just a man who was blind? Was he trying to draw this man into a conversation? Did he want the man to negotiate something beyond mere eyesight?  

How often do we let one aspect of our experience define who we are? It would be easy for many of us to see ourselves in a narrow way. I’m the student flunking math. I’m the person with cancer. I’m the retired person. I’m the old person. I’m the broke person. I’m – whatever is most troubling us at the moment. But Jesus sees us as whole, sees all of us.

Just imagine you are Bartimaeus. You are standing before Jesus, desperate for something that would make your life better. What would you have said if God looked at you and asked you ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Think about that for a moment. If you stood before God Almighty, and he was willing to give you anything you asked for, what would you ask for? [think about it]

Back to our story, what does Bartimaeus ask for? “The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Why do you think Bartimaeus asked for sight? [wait for responses – think again]

And what happened after Bartimaeus asked? The Bible tells us – ⁵²Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.” He got what he asked for!

Many people would never have had the courage to call out for help in the first place. I applaud Bartimaeus for asking. Sometimes I think my problems and needs are too small and too petty to take to Jesus. Or I think he wouldn’t want me to have it. But Jesus puts no restrictions on what we can ask for, does he?

Other people would have stopped the moment the crowd shushed them. They would not have known whether they had the right to pester God with their puny problems. They would have been more concerned with what other people thought of them than with the opportunity to get help.

We do that too, don’t we? We let someone else tell us what is appropriate for us to ask God about. But I can go to God myself and if what I am asking for is inappropriate, he will let me know. And at the same time, without condemnation, show me a better way.

I think Jesus would have actually been willing to do much more than just heal Bartimaeus’ physical sight. But Bartimaeus didn’t ask for anything else this time. Jesus didn’t argue or negotiate. No, he just healed him. He was willing to meet Bartimaeus’ need to see, even though he could have done much, much more than just heal his blindness.

I think Jesus knew that over time, Bartimaeus would adjust to his new sight, and come to realize that he was dressed in rags and that his life could be much fuller and much happier. I think he hoped that Bartimaeus would come to him with more needs.

God is so much more capable and caring than we are able to realize. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us to call out to God and he will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things that we cannot even begin to imagine. What a wonderful promise. God does want us to ask for help. He answers us when we call. God is far more creative and capable than we realize and he has answers to questions we don’t even know we should ask him. Most of all he loves us and wants us to be happy.

As I think about my own life, my own situation, I realize I, like Bartimaeus, can call out to Jesus about whatever is troubling me most. We get so used to putting up with things that we forget we have an advocate with the ability to do something about our less than ideal circumstances. We forget that God wants us to come to him and talk with him and lay out our hearts before him. We just put up with irritations and inconveniences and don’t even bring these things to God. We turn into grumpy whiney beggars rather than taking our needs to the one who can help. We miss out on so many blessings because we don’t ask. The Bible tells us that we don’t have what we need because we don’t ask. (James 4:2) We are encouraged in John 16:24 to ask, and we are promised that we shall receive, that our joy may be full. Are you full of joy? Has God been meeting your needs? Have you been asking?

The good news is that Bartimaeus joined the crowd and followed Jesus. He stayed close to Jesus and that is the right place to be to continually be blessed by God and to continue to learn those great and unsearchable things. Be encouraged to bring your requests to God and be uplifted by his response in supplying all your needs.

Lord, remind us that you are always more ready to listen than we are to pray, more ready to give than we are to receive. Help us to ask that we might receive that our joy may be full. Give us sight and insight that we might continue following You closely.

Amen.