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“The word made flesh…”<=
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Psalm 34: 1-8
Mark 10: 46-52
Some
of you may have noticed my absence these past few Sundays. I was in Connect=
icut
using my study leave to be present for a week of lectures, sacred music and
worship at a “Convocation” held annually at Yale’s Divini=
ty
School. Because of the timing of my overnight train from Chicago, I stayed =
in
New York City my first night in the East, and early the next morning I walk=
ed
up 8th Avenue near Madison Square Garden looking for someplace to have
breakfast for less than $25. I found a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ place=
that
would make me an omelet for not much more than what McNally’s would
charge here in town, and so I went in, placed my order, and sat down. I had
managed only a sip or two of coffee before a young man in his twenties walk=
ed
in, ordered something and sat down at the table next to me.
He
immediately engaged me in conversation, commenting on the Nobel Peace Prize
that had just been awarded to President Obama. The news was sufficiently fr=
esh
and I had been so totally engrossed in the Yankee game the night before tha=
t I
hadn’t yet heard about the award and wondered what the young man had
ingested prior to the coffee he was drinking! My initial reaction was
incredulity that someone about to send tens of thousands of soldiers half w=
ay
around the world to expand his nation’s involvement in a military
quagmire could even be considered for such an award! The young man agreed, =
and
I’m sure we could have spent the morning talking about it, but we
didn’t. The event simply prompted our mutual reflection on issues tro=
ubling
our world and what might be done to heal the wounds of the human community.=
Early
on, he identified himself as a Christian --- which sometimes scares me in s=
uch
circumstances --- and many biblical references and theological perspectives
entered our discussion. He was not a literalist in his understanding of
scripture, thank God, which meant I still needed my morning caffeine! We
probably talked for 45 minutes, and when he left, I was left with an
appreciation of God’s sense of humor in getting me warmed up for the
lectures I was about to attend.
It
was Sunday and before taking a train to New Haven I went uptown to worship =
at
Riverside Church, a gothic cathedral more than several times the size of ou=
rs,
--- that was arguably built originally to the glory, not of God, but of Joh=
n D.
Rockefeller. Interestingly enough, it was their interim head-of-staff who
preached that morning, and I know their Pastor Nominating Committee is faci=
ng
an even more daunting task than our own!
Eugene
Lowry, who has taught the art of preaching at several notable universities =
and
was featured a few years back in the Hallmark television series “Great
Preachers” was the guest
lecturer at Yale on that topic. He’s also an accomplished jazz
pianist, we discovered, and at various times during the course of his lectu=
res
he went to the keyboard to illustrate a point. “Narrative
preaching” was his theme. Writing something on the preacher’s
favorite topic and then looking for a passage of scripture that goes with i=
t is
not being faithful to the preacher’s task, he opined. A sermon begins
with the biblical narrative and builds upon a faith story from ‘the G=
ood
Book.’
Lowry
went to the keyboard saying he’d illustrate with a well-known hymn. T=
his
is what we heard: (2 A notes; 4 B notes, 4 D notes; 1 E note; and 5 G notes
played linearly with a brief pause between, hence creating no melody). Did
anyone recognize the hymn? We didn’t either. Then he unraveled the
mystery, putting those notes together into a recognizable tune (“Amaz=
ing
Grace” was then played).
Prior
to any interpretation, biblical narratives just ‘are’ --- like =
the
evening news with the sound turned off. Words can be arranged to tell faith
stories by means of history, poetry, prophecy, mythology and parable --- am=
ong
other things --- which suggests that their meaning cannot always be discern=
ed
--- or exhausted --- by forcing them into the confines of literalism.
It’s
important for those in the faith community to especially remember that right
now. As the city ordinance guaranteeing that gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and
transgendered people have the same civil liberties as other people gets
discussed in preparation for a referendum on November third, we hear histri=
onic
voices claiming “the bible says . . . .” No, the bible reads. .=
. .
If we could be so certain about what it “says,” there would not=
be
two thousand years of commentary from biblical and theological scholars who
often disagree. Indeed, the Presbyterian Church, in its 1967 Confession of
Faith, states clearly that we have the responsibility to approach bible con=
tent
in its literary and historical context, meaning the words of scripture are =
not
an end in themselves.
Mark’s
words about “the Word made flesh” in today’s Gospel tell a
story which appears in his narrative just prior to Jesus’ triumphant
entry into Jerusalem where his journey in that flesh will be brought to an =
end.
It’s a story told by Matthew and Luke, as well, with minor variations.
The setting is Jericho, a city well known to generations of church school k=
ids
because of a battle there, recorded in Hebrew scripture, where the walls are
said to have come tumbling down --- an image memorialized in song. What the
Hebrews did to the people of Jericho in their pursuit of a ‘promised
land’ once the walls had fallen would not be considered morally
defensible or ‘politically correct’ these days, and yet there a=
re
descendents who continue to pursue that same goal in the same way even toda=
y.
Having
just been in several large cities, the sight of beggars along the side of t=
he
road is fresh in my mind --- and some of them were blind. Mark’s
narrative contains the only version bestowing upon the blind beggar the dig=
nity
of a name: he is Bartimaeus son of Timaeus. Reading that made me think of
several current ministries of our congregation --- especially
“Martha’s Table” and “Celebrate the Vision” a=
nd
tutoring at Edison School --- through which we get to know names and build
relationships with those who often sit at the sides of our roads.
Bartimaeus
may have been blind physically, but spiritually he had an insight uncommon =
to
many who encountered Jesus. He understood who Jesus was and what that ident=
ity
meant: the Son of David, the promised messiah. However he had become graced
with such insight, Bartimaeus, when he heard that this chosen one of God was
near, he had faith that Jesus not only had the power --- but the mercy --- =
to
heal him. Perhaps the blind man’s first act of faith was overcoming t=
he
opposition of the crowd and trusting that somehow he might find access to J=
esus.
Access to Jesus usually does put us in opposition to the crowd. . . .
The
writer of Ecclesiastes tells us “there is a time to speak and a time =
to
be silent,” and Bartimaeus had no doubt which option was appropriate =
to
this situation. If at first you don’t think you are heard, yell even
louder seems the guideline for what passes as discussion of differences in =
our
world today, but however inappropriate that may be, it worked for Bartimaeus
and the blind beggar was not only heard but invited into the presence of Je=
sus.
“What
do you want?” is the same question Jesus asked James and John in the
story preceding this in Mark’s narrative. Those disciples wanted seat=
s of
honor in God’s kingdom. The blind man’s request reflects his
greater insight as to the nature of Jesus’ kingly power: it is manife=
st
wherever love stoops to serve others.
Different
from the healing miracle recorded earlier in Mark’s gospel wherein a =
man
received his sight after Jesus used saliva and twice placed his hands upon =
the
man’s eyes, in today’s account there is no physical contact by
healing hands. The man’s faith is sufficient to do the job. (And I
suppose if Jesus can heal without touching, the peace of our Lord can be pa=
ssed
to one another in the same manner if necessary!)
Faith
in Jesus, experiencing his healing presence, and gratefully following him in
response seem more the focus in Mark’s version of this story than the
cure itself. In many “miracle stories,” Jesus sends the recipie=
nts
on their way and tells them to say nothing about the matter. In this story,
however, a lead-in to the Palm Sunday account, it is time for Jesus’
messianic identity to be proclaimed through the insight and the shouting vo=
ice
of a sightless man, who is then said to have “followed [Jesus] on the
way” and was presumably in the crowd that shouted their hosannas to t=
he
Son of David shortly thereafter.
The
phrase “followed him along the road” can also be translated
“followed him on the way of discipleship.” As is often the case
with biblical narrative, there is more than one level of meaning to the sto=
ry.
As
new members join our congregation this morning, may we not only welcome them
but use this day to reflect on the meaning of the same commitment most of y=
ou
made at some point in the past to follow Jesus along the way, the way of
discipleship. During this season of the stewardship campaign we may think of
that commitment primarily in financial terms. Obviously, that’s impor=
tant
because without money programs shrink, staff gets reduced, and pledges to
world-wide, national and local missions get cut back.
But
the “way of discipleship” also means involvement with your hands
and feet as well as your wallet and heart. There are exciting things going =
on
in this church and in its ministries of outreach to the city, and we could =
be
doing a lot more if more of you volunteered your time and energy to help at
Martha’s Table on Sunday afternoons, Friday evening “BINGO̶=
1;
at the Rickman House, tutoring students at Edison School during the week,
helping to staff the food pantry and serving lunches at Ministry With Commu=
nity
to name a few.
Last
Saturday evening I joined several others at a table in the dining car for
dinner shortly after my train left New York to bring me home. Social/politi=
cal
issues came up somehow --- and I swear I didn’t start it! Unique to t=
hese
kind of discussions, however, in which three or four people usually
“solve” all of the world’s problems in the space of an ho=
ur,
one of the participants --- a professor at the University of Wisconsin̵=
7;s
School of Medicine and Public Health --- started challenging the rest of us=
to
do more than talk. On any issue we discussed, he’d raise the question:
“So what’s one thing you’re going to do about that this
week?” We all exchanged business cards so that we could keep in touch=
and
continue to challenge each other with that question.
We
do do a lot of talking about what needs to be done, and more is always said
than done. Perhaps my table companion last weekend issued a challenge fit f=
or
all of us who seek to follow the way of discipleship in this church and this
community: “What is one thing you’re going to do about it this
week?