I want to see

i October 25, 2015 Mark 10:46-52 I want to see Year B 22nd Sunday after Pentecost If you could ask Jesus for one thing that would make all the difference in your life, what would it be? There are so many different things going on in my life, it would be hard to ask for just one thing. The gospel lesson for today tells the story of just one wish granted. This is the story of Bartimaeus. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, this will be the last miracle that he performs along the way. Every one was supposed to make it to Jerusalem for Passover. But in reality not everyone made it. those who could not afford the trip themselves, would line up along the main roads and cheer the pilgrims along the way. So as Jesus passed threw Jericho, the last major city before Jerusalem, there were crowds who has heard of his reputation gathered to cheer him along. In that crowd was a blind begger man, waiting for Jesus. He calls out Lord have mercy on me. Jesus responds what do you want, He says that I want to see. Jesus heals him, and in gratitude he joins with the followers of Jesus and continues the journey to Jerusalem. That is actually my sermon for today – he asks for mercy, Jesus asks what he wants, he gets it and lives a life of gratitude. Now there are actually 3 stories of Jesus healing a blind man in the bible. So I preach about the blind being able to see a lot. If you read the book of Mark – two of those stories happen in Jericho, in chapter 8 of Mark Jesus heals a blind man, and now again in chapter 9. Making the blind to see is a sign of the coming messiah. There are many ways to be blind. But this time I noticed something else about this scripture. Not so much that Jesus healed him. But he knew exactly what to ask for. Son of David, have mercy on me - to ask for mercy is to ask someone to pay your debts –I could use a lot of mercy. When Jesus asks him what that means- he says Jesus I want to see. How many of us are willing to say that we want to see. How many of us are willing to really see the world as it is. I think that we spend most of our lives - not wanting to see. Not wanting to deal with the hurts and pains of life. Painting our own pictures. When we do see the world as it really is, it is an accident. And yet here this man is saying I want to see. John 9 tells of Jesus healing the son of Timaeus of blindness. And the question is asked –who sinned this man or his relatives. In this story- Bar means son of - so Bartimaeus is Timaues’s son. As a blind man, all that he can do is sit on the streets and beg. When he hears that Jesus is coming to town –he knows that he has hit the jackpot. In a lot of ways when we pray – we too are beggers. Asking the master to have mercy on us. As a matter of fact, the church is a community of beggers, when we reach out to others, we are beggers reaching out to other beggers, telling them where to get some bread –Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus gives us life, Jesus gives us salvation. If there was one thing in your life that would make all of the difference in the world – what would it be? Do you have the courage to ask Jesus to see? See life as God sees your life, not as you want it to be? To be healed –to be made whole. Salvation comes from the same root as salve. A solution to make you whole and complete. Text Illustration: Illus.: “When Blind Eyes Were Opened” D.L. Moody, the famed evangelist, told this story at one of his meetings: One evening just before Christmas, a man was walking through the streets of an Eastern city. The store windows were all beautifully decorated, and he observed three little girls intensely interested in one of them. He discovered that the girl in the center was blind, and the others were trying to describe the beautiful things in the window. “Why,” they said, “can’t you see that Teddy bear and that doll? Just look at that pretty pink bow!” But the poor little girl stood with a blank expression on her face and could not appreciate the beautiful things before her. “Now,” said Moody, “this is an illustration of the effort we Christians are making to arouse the unconverted to an interest and delight in spiritual things. The reason we can’t do so is because the sinner is spiritually blind.” Moody had scarcely concluded when a reporter was on the platform asking him where he had heard that story. “Oh,” said Moody, “I read it in one of those daily papers. I have forgotten which one.” Then the reporter said, “I’m the one who wrote the story because I was there and saw the whole thing. I see now that I’m just like that little girl, spiritually blind.” That man was converted then and there. 836 Correct Use Of The Eyes A bishop of the early church, who was a remarkable example of the virtue of contentment, was asked his secret. The venerable old man replied: “It consists in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes. In whatever state I am, I first of all look up to heaven and remember that my principal business here is to get there. Then I look down upon the earth, and call to mind how small a place I shall occupy in it when I die and am buried. I then look around in the world, and observe what multitudes there are who are in many respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed, where all our cares must end, and what little reason I have to complain.” —Foster There is a significant variant reading of this text in an old Gospel translation called the Sinaitic Syriac. When Jesus asked the man what he wished. Our common version says, “Master, let me receive my sight.” That is the answer we might expect. It would certainly be our answer, for I can imagine that of all the terrible afflictions of humankind, blindness must surely be one of the worst. But the Sinaitic Syriac version has it: “That I might see Thee!” Religiously, that is by far the most significant statement. Either way, recovery of sight for this man was seeing Jesus! An old Black preacher was once asked what he intended to do when he got to heaven. He bowed his head for a moment, then raised his dark face, wrinkled with the years, and replied, “I’m gonna sit down for a thousand years and LOOK AT JESUS!” If there is anything that our troubled old world needs more than this, I do not know what it is. “Lord, that we might see Jesus!” The good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to see Jesus. We can see him right here on earth. When we see those who are less fortunate then ourselves, when we forgive those who have wronged us, when we show love and kindness to all of God’s children - we see Jesus. To gaze upon Jesus is the way to be saved. Life is beautiful when we open our eyes to the sight of Jesus. The Blessings of Sight I read an impressive story about a blind man who lives on the streets of New York City. On a beautiful day in the month of May people were enjoying a spring morning. Their emotions were stirred when they came upon this blind beggar who carried a sign reading: "It is spring and I am blind." The blind man knew there was beauty all around him: spring flowers, blossoming shrubs and trees, newly-sprouted leaves, but he could only imagine how wonderful all that beauty was. It must be vexing to smell spring in the air but not be able to witness it or during this wonderful time of year to hear the rustling of Fall’s leaves but never see their brilliant colors. Do we fully appreciate the blessings of sight which God has given us? Are we moved to express gratitude for so wonderful a physical sense? Do we see the gift so graciously given. Harold H. Lentz, Preaching the Miracles, CSS Publishing. Adapted The miracles of life are all around us. We have to pray for God to expand our sight – to see all that God has in store for us. To see the opportunity in the bad news, to see the joy in the pain, to see the success in the struggle, to see the peace, in the adversity. No matter whether our blindness is physical or spiritual – there is always more for us to see in God’s light. The story of Bartimaues has a lesson for us all. The last sentence of chapter ten sums up all that has gone before. It says, simply, “And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.” (10:52) When the shepherds heard the Christmas message, they rose up and went to Bethlehem. When Peter, James, and John heard Jesus’ call at the Sea of Galilee, they left their nets and went off to follow Him. When Bartimaeus heard Jesus’ call, he rose up to to follow Him “on the way.” When we hear Jesus’ call... Amen. Other illustrations……. The Power of Observation Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, told a story on himself. He was waiting for a taxi outside the railway station in Paris. When the taxi pulled up, he put his suitcase in it and then got in the taxi. As he was about to tell the taxi-driver where he wanted to go, the driver asked him: "Where can I take you, Mr. Doyle?" Doyle was astounded. He asked the driver if he knew him by sight. The driver said: "No Sir, I have never seen you before." Doyle was puzzled and asked him how he knew he was Arthur Conan Doyle. The driver replied: "This morning's paper had a story that you were on vacation in Marseilles. This is the taxi-stand where people who return from Marseilles always wait. Your skin color tells me you have been on vacation. The ink-spot on your right index finger suggests to me that you are a writer. Your clothing is very English, and not French. Adding up all those pieces of information, I deduce that you are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." Doyle exclaimed, "This is truly amazing. You are a real-life counter-part to my fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes." "There is one other thing," the driver said. "What is that?" Doyle asked. "Your name is on the front of your suitcase." It wasn't the powers of deduction. It was the power of observation. That taxi driver's lenses were clean enough to observe what was going on around him. Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Let Me See When my wife and I were in Tanzania, we felt like socio-economic minorities for the first time in our lives. At worship, we were the only white faces in a sea of black. In the market, we weren't merely the only Caucasians; we were among the few wearing shoes! Everywhere we went, we were the wealthy, healthy ones. When we were approached by a roving gang of small children rushing toward us in Mlafu, we assumed they would beg for money. My wife clutched her purse, and I felt for my billfold. Here came the poorest of the poor! And when the children finally reached us, do you know what they asked for? They asked, "Will you take my picture? Will you take my picture?" And when we had snapped several photos of these beautiful children, they began to squeal with delight "Now let me see it! Let me see what you see!" Ultimately, that was the request of the blind man that Jesus met on the road outside of Jericho that day. The man simply wanted to see what everyone else saw. But the real miracle that day is that, when the man gained his sight, he chose to follow Jesus. He was not satisfied to merely see the sights, to find familiar faces and places in his hometown. He wanted to see the world from Jesus' point of view ... to see the people and the places and the problems and the possibilities that Jesus saw. Steven Molin, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (Last Third):The Final Exam, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Treat Life as a Miracle Wendell Berry has suggested that "to treat life as less than a miracle is to give up on it." Well, today, eagerly, painfully, obediently, Bartimaeus refuses to give up on the miracle called life, the miracle called faith, the miracle called Jesus. He jumps up and grabs the guts and the grace of the Christian life. And he calls us to do the same. Susan Andrews, How Eager Are You? The year 1983 marked the five-hundredth anniversary of the great reformer, Martin Luther, whose stature increases with time. Found by his deathbed, scrawled in German and Latin, was this declaration: “We are beggars: That is true.” This statement may have inspired D. T. Niles to say, “Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where he can find a piece of bread.” Not a sweet roll and a cup of coffee, but a bite of the staff of life—bread! The church is a fellowship of beggars, receiving and offering love, support, and hope. Committed Christians acknowledge their dependence upon God and their interdependence on one another. They are always in the bread line, if not receiving, then giving.

The Reward of Righteousness

Job 1:1, 2:1-16 October 4, 2015 The Reward of Righteousness? 19th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Wow, can you believe that it is October 4th already. There is a lot going on in our world today. Once again, we are dealing with another mass killing, this is starting to be a common occurence. Even right here in Chicago, Just this week, there were 4 killed and 53 others wounded by guns. Every time there is a shooting in Englewood, I get an email from the 7th district police department, Just in case it happens near the church. Just last night I heard that in Cleveland, there was a 5month baby who was shot while sitting in her car seat in her mothers car. When does it all end? What are the answers to finally bring peace to our land? Even the President expressed his frustration about the situation. And we can’t help but to ask Where is God in the midst of all of this? What does God have to say about all of this? This is a day that we cant help but to turn to our faith. October 4th is St.Francis day – st francis of assisi was a priest who taught many about the way of peace. He wrote the poem-make me an instrument of you peace. Today is also world communion Sunday –where we are reminded that Christians all over the world our in communion with Christ and with one another. I thought it was interesting that president Obama said that the united states is the only nation in the world with this level of violence against ordinary citizens. Why is there this level of hatred on our streets. For those of you who are my facebook friends, you know that in my own life, I am going through a pretty dark tunnel in life myself. I spend a lot of time asking God-why, how and when. The last time I just wanted my mommy to just come and rescue me and make it better was when I was in labor with my son. But I am calling for her everyday. So in this sermon, I am looking for my own answers. That is partly why thought we should look at the old testament today. All summer we have been looking at the wisdom lessons in the bible. Today we start the book of Job, and we will look at it for 4 weeks. I know that we all have heard about Job, but I don’t know how many of you have actually read the story in the bible. Job was a foreigner, who had everything. He had a wife and ten kids- the number of perfection. Most of them were sons. He had a big farm, many animals, he was doing really well. More importantly, he had his faith. He truly believed that he was blessed. And I am not going to make this sermon about the devil, but it was the devil who questioned his faith. Saying he is only blessed because things are going well. If you take his life away –will he still say that he is blessed. Now scholars say that Job is not a real person – that he is just a folk hero. I would not say that Job is nobody, I think he is everybody. How many of you would say that you are blessed? How many of you would say that your faith has been tested at some point in your life? All of us are grateful for what we have, but if we were to lose it all tomorrow, would we still say that we are blessed? Corrie Ten Bloom said that I have held a lot of things in my hands, and lost them all. It is only the things that I put in God’s hands that I can still hold onto. That is a message that I needed to hear- put it in God’s hands. The president says that he doesn’t have any answers to how to stop all of this violence. If you look at the story of Job, he was anything but patient. He was struggling and looking for answers. And he got a lot of answers. It must have been something that you did, why don’t you just admit that you are wrong and go on. But Job knew that he didn’t do anything wrong. And Job struggled because he knew that would not solve the problem. He was still not willing to give up his faith, and his integrity. There is one thing that all of the people who use guns to solve their problems have in common –they are convinced that they are the victim. They are hurt, and they feel that they have no choice but to hurt others. They are out of any other options. Job is an example for us, in the darkest of situations, he did not want to be victim. He turned to God so that he could be victor. We didn’t read the psalm for today, because it was not in the hymnal and I could not find a responsive reading. But many of the psalms are of hard times in a person’s life when they are standing on their faith. Psalm71 says that I am an enigma to many – an enigma is a puzzle. Many people don’t understand Job’s response to suffering. Why be faithful, when you are getting the short end of the stick. When faced with a problem –most people want answers. And sometimes in life there are no answers. There is an Asian proverb that when you are shot, you don’t need to find our the make of the bullet, or thehistory of the gun in order to heal. Anwers don’t always solve the problem. Sometimes you don’t get an answer, all you get is to respond. You can respond with hurt or you can respond with love. You can be a victim or you can be a victor. I have always had appreciation for Leslie Wheatherhead's insightful statement suggesting that after we have had a painful human experience we ought to get from that experience everything it has to teach us, because we have paid such a high price for the wisdom it seeks to impart. Being blessed is not about what you have, it is about who you are. Do you love God? Are you willing to put it in the hands of God or do you need to hold on? 1509 One Year To Live The Baltimore Sun conducted a contest, and the following poem received a prize for the best answer to the question, “What would you do if you had one more year to live?” “If I had but one year to live; One year to help; one year to give; One year to love; one year to bless; One year of better things to stress; One year to sing; one year to smile; To brighten earth a little while; One year to sing my Maker’s praise; One year to fill with work my days; One year to strive for a reward When I should stand before my Lord, I think that I would spend each day, In just the very self-same way That I do now. For from afar The call may come across the bar At any time, and I must be Prepared to meet eternity. So if I have a year to live, Or just one day in which to give A pleasant smile, a helping hand, A mind that tries to understand A fellow-creature when in need; ’Tis one with me—I take no heed. But try to live each day He sends To serve my gracious Master’s ends.” —Mary Davis Reed We don’t know what our circumstances will be next year. Wedont know about next month, or even tomorrow. We haveto take life moment by moment. Turn it over to God. and be willing to claim that you are a blessed child of God, no matter what the circumstance. Amen. Children’s Sermon Materials: A large suitcase, a purse, and a backpack. Message: Can you believe all the things we have to help us carry around supplies with us every day? It seems that we can hardly go anywhere these days without bringing something to help us carry things! How many of you ladies here today brought a purse with you? How many of you men carried a wallet? What about you children, do you carry a backpack or some type of bag with you to school every day? Even when we go on vacation to get away from it all, we certainly take a lot of things with us. Just look at the size of this suitcase. In our family we take several of these! There is no doubt about it! Wherever we go, we usually end up taking a lot of supplies with us. Even before we are old enough to carry them ourselves, our parents carry those bags of supplies! That is very different from what the Bible says our lives were like when they began and what they will be like when they are nearing an end. God says that when we came into the world we had nothing - just the bodies He had given us. When we leave the world, we will take nothing - even leaving those bodies behind to go into Jesus' presence. That reminds us that we need to be aware of what is really important in life. The most important things are not the possessions we have, or the things we can accumulate, or the house we live in, or the cars we drive. The most important things in life are inside of us: our faith in Jesus, the love we hold for our family and others, our willingness to help people who need our support. When we get to heaven, those are things that will count the most, not the things that we can see and hold onto in life but the things that are unseen - inside our hearts. FROM A MUSTARD SEED by Mark A. Hultquist Additional illustrations…… Text: Job 1:21 Job declared: Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; May the Name of the Lord be praised! Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my little apple tree and pay my debts. —Martin Luther • St. Francis of Assisi, hoeing his garden, was asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he was to die at sunset that day. He said: “I would finish hoeing my garden.” It is said of Henry of Bavaria that at one time, becoming weary of court life, he determined to enter a monastery. When he presented himself to Prior Richard, the faithful monk gave him the strict rules of the order. The king listened eagerly and enthusiastically expressed pleasure at the prospect of such complete consecration. Then the prior insisted that obedience, implicit and expressed was the first requisite of sainthood. The monarch promised to follow his will in every detail. “Then go back to your throne and do your duty in the station God assigned you,” was the prior’s word to him. The king took up his scepter again, and from then until he died, his people said of him, “King Henry has learned to govern by learning to obey.” —The Treasury It is said of Henry of Bavaria that at one time, becoming weary of court life, he determined to enter a monastery. When he presented himself to Prior Richard, the faithful monk gave him the strict rules of the order. The king listened eagerly and enthusiastically expressed pleasure at the prospect of such complete consecration. Then the prior insisted that obedience, implicit and expressed was the first requisite of sainthood. The monarch promised to follow his will in every detail. “Then go back to your throne and do your duty in the station God assigned you,” was the prior’s word to him. The king took up his scepter again, and from then until he died, his people said of him, “King Henry has learned to govern by learning to obey.” —The Treasury