October 26, 2006
Reach
Pentecost 21/25B [Mk 10.46-52]
God is not established in our lives with the help of a dictionary or even by a course in systematic theology, but through a relationship. Whether it is a relationship of hostility or of hospitality, it is yet a relationship, for that is what matters.
It takes faith to do that in any creative way — God’s faith in us, our faith in God, ourselves, and our neighbor. Such faith can open in us an imaginative consciousness and a willingness to risk laying our lives on the line. We simply cannot assume that God is any more accessible to us than we make ourselves accessible to God. Isaiah said it: “Seek the Lord while he wills to be found… ” [Is 55.6]. God’s creatively imagining us is built on that kind of freedom.
The story of old Blind Bartimaeus that Mark tells about in today’s gospel is a case in point [Mk 10.46-52]. Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus for mercy. We cannot be absolutely sure how he wanted that mercy to take form and shape, but simply that it was overdue and he knew that this Jesus was a prime source. Heaven knew he could use some simple mercy in his life in very much the same way as can we in our times of crisis.
But mercy turned out to be more. It was not a laying on of hands or even a handout or even a handshake. It was simply Jesus stopping to listen. It was Jesus paying attention. Jesus said, “Call him.” Jesus told his disciples to put aside their sense of urgency, to stop and to listen, to enable the beggar’s cause, to encourage and to respect him as a fellow human being in need. Then and there is the miracle, that kind of listening is a reaching out that’s within reach for every one of us.
Jesus never even touched Bartimaeus. Healing moved between them in the vital and palpable conduit of the faith that connected them, that enabled them to share in the willful meeting of anguish and drouth with a willful nourishment of compassion and concern. It was this that made them whole in relationship.
We have a similar exchange whenever we celebrate together a baptism in our churches. Obviously, we must never discount our faith as sponsors (whatever happened to that lovely word “godparents”?) and as parents, but also as the community surrounding the sacrament as we are asked for our support and commitment and, indeed, for our faith.
We can take with us that exchange in that moment of grace along our own Jericho roadsides when we pray for others and even in those challenging moments when others are not all that enthusiastic about our praying for them.
“‘Go your way,’ Jesus said to Bartimaeus, — and to us — ‘your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way” [Mk 10.52].
With that renewed sight — and with our renewed insight — we can also remember that Bartimaeus, even though offered the option to go once again on his own, chose Jesus’ way, instead. That kind of miracle is readily within reach to us with the same prayer — “Jesus, have mercy.”