To See or Not to See…
Mark 10:46-52

Jericho must have been a beautiful place.  It was called the City of Palms.  Only fifteen miles from Jerusalem, it was an ancient oasis city located around a major spring. It was the place where “Joshua fit the battle.”  It was the place where Jesus called Zacchaeus down from the tree.  It was the place where the Good Samaritan crossed the road to help the stranger.

And, it was the place where the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, was healed.

Now Bartimaeus doesn't sound to me like your run-of-the-mill beggar.  First of all he had a family; he was the son of Timaeus.  And I guess no one told him that beggars are supposed to be quiet and humble—that they are supposed to keep their heads down and whisper, “Alms for the poor—alms for the poor.”   He also didn't seem to know that you don't throw your only cloak down on the ground where another beggar will steal it.   And you certainly don't cry out in a loud voice to Jesus of Nazareth.  Even when those around him corrected him and told him to be quiet, he insisted on crying out even more loudly.  What was wrong with him!!  Didn't he know his place!!  What gave him the audacity to bother Jesus?  The citizens of Jericho were mortified at his inappropriate behavior.  Bartimaeus had gone too far this time!

But wait—just as they were about to whisk Bartimaeus off to the closest palm grove, Jesus stood very still and said, “Call him here.”

And the crowd did an about face. “Take heart,” someone said as they encouraged Bartimaeus.  He didn't need any encouragement!  He leaped up, threw off his cloak and made a beeline toward Jesus’ voice.  I know he was dancing with abandon as he bumped into the people.  He had no doubt about what would happen next. 

Isn't it interesting that Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Wasn't it obvious?  Bartimaeus didn't hesitate. “My teacher, let me see again.”  And with just his words Jesus healed him.  Without dust and spittle- not twice, not even once—And without touching him—And without Bartimaeus touching Jesus, Bartimaeus was healed!  He regained his sight immediately and he followed Jesus.  Even though Jesus said, “Go, your faith has made you well,”  Bartimaeus didn't “go” he followed Jesus.  He used his voice. He shed his cloak and he gained his sight. He followed Jesus wherever that would lead.

When I was a child there was an old woman, Mrs. Coyle, who belonged to our church.  I hadn't thought about her for years—until this week as I prepared this sermon, in fact.  She frightened me and fascinated me at the same time.  She wore glasses that had very thick lenses fastened to them.  She looked like a giant insect to me.  She moved around the church with a big cane that she used to make sure she wouldn't stumble over unseen objects like little girls.  I know now that she must have had cataracts.

Today cataract removal is quite a simple operation.  It wasn't always that way. Until fairly recently those afflicted with cataracts could only look forward to a life of near or total blindness.  For those blind from birth or from a very early age, the sighted world is impossible to imagine—especially anything involving spatial concepts. Blind-from-birth people can tell much about an object by using their hands or tongues but they usually have no concept of how that object relates to any other object and no concept of depth perception.  As technical medical knowledge advanced, it became possible to remove cataracts much more easily and successfully and to provide vision for both adults and children.  When Western surgeons learned how to perform safe cataract operations, they traveled across the U.S. and Europe performing dozens of operations on adults and children who had been blind since birth.  They are still performing those operations around the world.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to have vision after a life of blindness! When a doctor asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”, what parent wouldn't answer, “Let my child see.” And what adult wouldn't respond, “Let me see.”

Annie Dillard in her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, mentions a book written by Marius Von Senden that contained case studies of many newly sighted people who had been blind since birth.  It was titled Space and Sight.

Von Senden wrote “In general the newly sighted see the world as a dazzle of color-patches.  They are pleased by the sensation of color, and learn quickly to name the colors, but the rest of seeing is tormentingly difficult.  The mental effort involved in these reasonings proves overwhelming for many patients.”

Von Senden noted that those newly-sighted people often made discoveries that terrified them.  Before their vision was restored, the world had been what they could touch and hear.   Now it was overwhelming in its tremendous size and complexity.  Before their vision was restored, they did not really know that people could see them.   Now this discovery often made them feel very vulnerable.  People could see them without their consent or even their knowledge.  Their world had lost all its cocoon-like familiar comfort.  Many fell into deep depression.

One doctor reported that those who were blind from birth and then regained their sight experienced the rapid and complete loss of serenity which is so characteristic of those who have never seen.

One father wrote that his twenty-one year old daughter, blind from birth and then sighted, was never happier than when she closed her eyes and functioned as if she were still blind.

Another young man desperately wanted to return to the blind school to live.  He did not want to function in a sighted world.  He threatened, in his frustration, to tear his eyes out.  A disheartening number refused to use their new vision.  They continued to use their hands and their tongues to “see” objects.  Some eventually adjusted to their new world. Many didn't.

Maybe it isn't so surprising then that Jesus asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus knew that sighted or unsighted, Bartimaeus would face challenges in his life—especially when he decided not to “go” but rather to follow Jesus wherever that would lead. Restoration of his sight wouldn't magically remove his problems. It was his faith that allowed him to undertake the road to Jerusalem with his Lord. It was his faith that allowed him to consider transformation into a whole new way of life. It was his faith that allowed him to take the risk of seeing.

I believe Jesus asks us that same question, “What do you want me to do for you?”  When we answer, “My teacher, let me see again”, he knows that we may not know what we are asking.  When he asks “What do you want me to do for you?”, I think he is also asking, “Do you really want to see?”  “Are you really willing to give up your safe little world?”  “Are you really ready to throw off your cloak and your armor and step forward in faith, no matter where it leads?”  “Will your faith support your new vision or will you be overwhelmed and blinded all over again?”  “Is this really what you want?”  “Do you really want to be transformed?  To live in the Kingdom of God that doesn't operate by human rules?”  “Are you really ready to take that risk?”

In a few minutes we will pray to God asking: “Open our eyes to your hand at work in the world about us.”  It is not a prayer to be said lightly.  For when our eyes are truly open to God's hand at work in the world about us, we will also see the suffering and the injustice in our world.  When our eyes are truly open, we can no longer hide under our cloaks.  We can no longer pretend that we don't see.  But we will also be blessed to see God's hand at work in our world in the people around us.  It's impossible to see when our cloak is pulled over our eyes and wrapped tightly around us. Are we willing to throw it off and step forward in faith with our eyes wide open?

When we, like Bartimaeus, refuse to be run-of-the-mill beggars and when we hold our heads high and speak out for true vision in our world—when we are really ready to give up our protective coats of self-interest and risk living in the unknown—when we are ready to see—when we are really ready, even when it is painful and scary, to step forward in faith, Jesus will say to us, too, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

The Rev. Betsy Porter
October 29, 2006

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