Sermon - 10-24-21

<p>The trajectory of Mark’s gospel is so very interesting. The central section of Mark’s gospel focuses on Jesus’ teaching about discipleship, and it is book-ended by two stories of Jesus healing persons who are blind. Today’s story of blind Bartimaeus, is the second of the bookend stories and it marks the <strong>end</strong> of the discipleship section. It also presents one of the key points in Mark's gospel. This story unlocks the gates to Jerusalem and what is to come as Mark continues the Jesus story.  This book end story of Mark’s discipleship section is <strong>the</strong> gateway into the last week of Jesus’ life and, the question we are being asked is, “Do you really want to see?”</p> <p> Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Some commentators say this is a rhetorical question because Bartimaeus is blind and what he wants is obvious. However, it’s <strong>not</strong> that simple. Jesus is essentially asking Bartimaeus and each one of us, “Do you really want to see?” This passage needs to be read on two levels:  yes, it’s about physical blindness, but it’s also about <strong>spiritual</strong> blindness.  And when it comes to spiritual blindness, I’m not so sure that we really want to see because, once we do see, we cannot <strong>unsee,</strong> and our lives become forever changed.</p> <p>In his book, <em>The Naked Now</em>, Richard Rohr describes three ways of seeing and viewing reality.  He tells of three different men who stood by the ocean, all looking at the same sunset. One man saw the immense physical beauty and enjoyed the event in and of itself. This man was the "sensate" type who, like 80 percent of the world, deals with what he can see, feel, touch, move, and fix. This was enough reality for him, for he had little if any interest in larger ideas, intuitions, or the grand scheme of things. He saw with his first eye, which was ok, and it was good.</p> <p>A second man saw the sunset and he enjoyed all the beauty that the first man did. However, like all lovers of coheren