Pentecost 21B
October 25, 2009
Rev. Ken Wratten at St Stephen’s
Job
42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm
34:108
Hebrews
7:23-28 Christ lives for=
ever
to make intercession for those who approach God.
Mark
10:46-52 Jesus heals Bartimaeus, a blind beggar; ‘My teacher, let me =
see
again.’
This was one=
of
those Sundays that after preparing during the week what I would preach, it =
all
got changed over the last two days. I have had this swirl of images working=
in
me about the lessons, about Welcoming Sunday at what that REALLY means, and
about talks and themes at diocesan convention. There is a thread that conne=
cts
these events, and I want to share with you the path I see.
The author o=
f our Hebrews
lesson describes a system where the priest or Jesus intercedes for us. In M=
ark,
we are shown the invitation we all have to come and stand before God. So ho=
w do
you look at your role as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ? How do you
see my role as your priest?
My intention=
in the design
and leadership of worship is to help connect us to God in worship.
My intention=
is to
remind you that through your baptismal covenant, you are a fully adopted ch=
ild
of God, a sibling in the family of God.
My intention=
is to
encourage you to pay at least as much attention to your life journey and yo=
ur
faith journey, as to the destination.
Our life isn=
’t
just about marking time here until we get to heaven. It is about intentiona=
lly developing
our spiritual vision. The great example of that work is the story of the bl=
ind
man Bartimaeus. This story is about a man who was physically blind but had
great spiritual vision; versus the crowd who had great eye sight, but they =
were
spiritually blind. They were keeping Bartimaeus away from Jesus, instead of
doing everything in their power to get him to Jesus.
Remember the=
story
of the men who wanted their paralyzed friend to see Jesus so badly that they
carried him onto the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching, and they d=
ug a
hole in the roof, and they lowered their friend down right in front of Jesu=
s?
Now that is what a community should be like. When I’m hurting, or sca=
red,
or depressed, or lonely, or in any other way feeling disconnected from God,=
I
need to be in a community that helps prod me along until I’m right in
front of Jesus; and then my community prods me some more, to find the boldn=
ess
to ask my Lord and my God to help me see Him again.
At the dioce=
san
convention yesterday, Bp Mary defined a theme she would like all of us to
reflect on during the next year. The theme is Citizenship. During the
convention we also heard some thoughts to guide the path for reflection. I
would like to share a few of those thoughts with you today.
“In th=
e world
of Christian citizenship, my identity depends on your identity.” If y=
ou
don’t have full access to God’s love and blessing and healing, =
then
neither do I. And so I need to be ready to help you see God, and I need you=
to
help me to see God, when our moments of spiritual blindness happen in life.=
Quoting Bp M=
ichael
from Gloucester, “Sometimes God is untidy”, but the message of
Christianity is that you just keep at it. That is what Bartimaeus did. He k=
ept
asking Jesus to see him, to bless him, to have mercy on him.
“Jesus=
saw the
world differently than the world sees itself.” The crowd saw Bartimae=
us
as a waste of time for Jesus to spend time with. Maybe they saw him as a
distraction, who might take Jesus away from paying attention to them. Our g=
uest
preacher on Friday presented the vision that in this life of Christian
citizenship you and I are challenged to “give up our personal identity
for our community identity.”
Today we wil=
l be
welcoming new members into this faith family. This is glorious, jumping up =
and
down, waving arms kind of celebration. What we celebrate today is the healt=
h of
our faith community; a community that reminds each other that we have been
given authority to come and stand in front of our God, into His holy courts,
into the most Holy Place. We are a community that is committed to always
sharpening our spiritual vision.
When we stan=
d in
front of God, Scripture promises that Jesus will be standing right beside u=
s,
ready to intercede for us in case we are at a loss for words. And then the
encouragement we get from Mark’s Gospel today is to be bold in faith.
Jesus is here, and he deeply cares that we are here with him, and he is ask=
ing
you, “What do you want me to do for you?”
May every on=
e of us
place the highest value on seeking to clearly see God, and helping others to
see Him too. Amen.
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