The Wonder of Faith

Reformation Sunday (O. T. XXX); October 29, 2006

Mark 10:46-52

Today the world’s Protestants are observing Reformation Sunday. On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses about the sale of indulgences, hoping to generate a campus debate on the matter. He likely did not intend to generate the Protestant Reformation, but that is what happened.

The question Luther was raising was whether good works – including giving money – contribute to salvation. He had come to believe that salvation is entirely the activity of God, offered to human beings by the grace of God and received by human beings by faith in God. You and I probably believe that, or words to that effect, so there is nothing controversial or difficult in pointing it out.

Given the emphasis of the Protestant Reformation on faith, and the Gospel reading for today, this is a good opportunity to talk about faith. We will let Bartimaeus be our guide in exploring the wonder of faith; he cannot teach us everything there is to know about faith, but he gives us plenty to chew on. Just in case you’re taking notes, there are going to be four points here.

Why Bartimaeus? When Jesus pronounces him healed, the Master says, “Your faith has made you well.” If the faith of Bartimaeus is able to heal his blindness, then surely the man can teach us something about faith! Our faith may not miraculously cure failing eyesight, but it may heal other terrible problems, and we can certainly learn something about faith from this formerly-blind beggar. Bartimaeus is hardly the only beggar along the Jericho road while pilgrims make their way to Jerusalem, but he’s the only one Mark tells us about. He is, apparently, the only one who cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”1 Here is the first thing to notice about the faith of Bartimaeus: it is focused. That is, he has faith in Jesus. He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” No “Will work for food” sign or randomly approaching people on the street: “May I ask you a question?” Bartimaeus has faith specifically in Jesus.

That is not really a surprise. When you and I have faith, we have faith in someone or something specific. You are not as likely to have faith in the institution of marriage as you are to have faith in the person you are married to. Perhaps I was a little off-base in the advice I gave to a stock broker once: “Have faith in God; have faith in the market.” On second thought, I had it right; I did not urge him to have faith in unspecified market capitalism, but rather in the stock market that he knew, that he understood and that he had experience with.

Since I have never done military service, I cannot speak from experience on this, but I have read plenty and believe this other example is appropriate. Soldiers, marines, and sailors are called upon to put their lives on the line and they do so regularly. They have to act with a great deal of faith. Yet I gather that they place their faith not so much in the Constitution, or the land, or even the flag, so much as they place their faith in the soldiers, marines and sailors on either side of them.

Bartimaeus shows us that saving faith, Christian faith, is faith in Jesus. He doesn’t give a detailed theological discourse on the nature of Christ – complete with proper use of the four Chalcedonian adverbs2 - but simply cries out to Jesus to have mercy on him. Oh, yes, he also calls him “Son of David,” which is true. Bartimaeus may be blind, but his faith is not blind; his faith is an informed faith. He does not say everything that one can say, but he does say something about Jesus that is true, and he knows enough about Jesus to ask him for mercy. So, the faith of Bartimaeus is focused; it is faith in Jesus Christ, the person who can save him.

Second point: the faith of Bartimaeus leads him to ask for what he wants. Again, that really should not be a surprise to us. If we have faith in our government, we write to our representatives and senators to ask for what we want. We may not get it, of course, but we ask. In my earlier years, when praying with people, I would generally hedge my bets, lest someone’s faith be damaged. My thought process went something like this: “Gee, if I ask God to heal this person, and God doesn’t heal this person, then her faith might be damaged. I had better pray, ‘If it is your will’ or something like that.” I suspect – and this is a moment of confession – that I was also protecting my reputation, although I was not conscious of it. “If I pray for God to heal her, and she is not healed, then she will think my prayers are not much good and she will lose respect for me.” Somewhere along the line I got a whack in the side of the head; if you want me to pray for God to heal you, that is what I will ask for, and if God doesn’t heal you, then that is God’s issue, not yours or mine. When Jesus asked what Bartimaeus wanted, the beggar said, “Let me see again.” He didn’t hint, he didn’t tease, he didn’t say to Jesus, “You’re so special, you ought to know what I want without my having to ask you!” He asked.

Here’s where we stand so far: Bartimaeus had faith in Jesus – specifically focused on Jesus, not free-floating – and it led him to ask for what he wanted. Third issue: he was persistent. There was likely a big crowd on that Jericho-Jerusalem road that day, lots of people trying to talk to Jesus, lots of beggars along the road. Bartimaeus was downright rude to keep shouting, and to shout even louder, to get Jesus’ attention. Darn right he was rude; he had faith that if he kept at it he could get the Teacher’s attention and could ask for what he wanted.

It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to believe in Jesus or trying to believe in the stock market or trying to believe in your parents: there will be obstacles. Some of those obstacles will simply be circumstance: lots of people on the road today; lots of other concerns clamoring for attention; disease is no respecter of virtue. Some of those obstacles will come from other people: be quiet, you’re disturbing others; you have no right asking for that; you’re offending somebody; you’re an idiot; no one cares what you think. There will be obstacles in your way if you have faith in Jesus, if you have faith in your hometown, if you have faith in your family, if you have faith in American politics.

My favorite line in my favorite TV show3 is two words: “Faith manages.” There will be obstacles when you live by faith, but faith manages. Bartimaeus faced the obstacles and shouted them down; you can call him rude but I call him persistent.

Last point: look what his faith led him to do. Jesus told him he was well and told him to go his way. Did you notice which way he went? He followed Jesus. He jumped up and left his cloak behind; I’m inclined to think that is not an incidental detail. The rich man could not sell his goods and give them to the poor, but the blind beggar gave up everything he had and followed Jesus. He followed Jesus to Jerusalem, to the shouts of “Hosanna” and the agony of “Crucify him!” It’s a beautiful pairing of verbs: Jesus said, “Go,” and the way the beggar chose to go was to follow Jesus.

There are the four lessons that Bartimaeus has for us about faith: his faith was focused on Jesus, it led him to ask for what he wanted, it was persistent, and it moved him to follow Jesus. That is not too complicated, and it can lead to all sorts of questions that you and I can ask ourselves. Rather than suggest any, I will wait a few moments during the time of silence while we think about the questions we each need to ponder this week.

Thank you, God of grace, for the witness of Bartimaeus. Give us the gift of faith in Jesus, that we may persistently ask for what we want of you, and follow Jesus on the road. Amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa

[1] In Matthew’s telling of the same story (20:29-34) there are two beggars crying out. Perhaps Matthew confused the phrase “Bartimaeus son of Timaeus” with two people, or perhaps Mark and Luke conflated two into one person. There is certainly confusion about the details; Luke’s version (18:35-43) has the healing of a blind man happening as Jesus entered Jericho, but it is manifestly the same event.

2 Don’t worry about it.

3 Babylon 5