Loading...Sermon October 25, 2015
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Pentecost XXII Proper 25, Track 2
Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Mark 10:48
Please be seated.
In 1989, when I was in my early 30s, I became part of a group called People Against Racism or PAR. I’d been serving as an elected school board member on the Harrisburg City School Board for two years. My children had attended the City schools since first and second grade and were then in middle school and high school. I was the Executive Director of a youth-serving agency, Girls Incorporated. I was often in situations where I was the only White person in the room.
I felt comfortable. I thought I knew a lot about racial justice. I’m a good person and my parents taught me that all people are equal. They worked for racial justice in a variety of ways. Yet, there were things I just did not understand at all. I knew I was missing some of the pieces.
When Dody Matthias, the wife of the pastor at my church started pulling people together to take a deeper look at racism, I wanted to be part of it. We started working with the church down the street from us, Second Baptist Church. In the 1960s and 70s when I was a child and teenager, we’d worked on a number of projects together. My church, Messiah Lutheran, was predominantly White and Second Baptist was predominantly African-American.
The two churches shared a history of neighborhood that was taken over by State Office Buildings and the Urban Redevelopment Program, as well as the fact that Messiah had once occupied the building where Second Baptist was located and had sold the building to them when Messiah moved up the street to the corner.
One night we were having a discussion. Bertha, a retired teacher from the Harrisburg City Schools, and African-American, was talking about things she believed needed to happen in the school district. I felt defensive and spoke up to argue with her. Me, in my early 30s, arguing with a woman in her late 50s at least, one who’d lived in the City much longer than I; one who’d taught in the school district for many years. I felt defensive, so I spoke up loudly against her.
I really don’t like recalling that incident, because later when I looked at things, I realized she was right and had much wisdom to give me and much to teach me. I thank God that she did not turn away from me and become silent to me. Even though I’d been harsh with her, she continued to be willing to engage with me and to teach me.
In our Gospel today, Jesus has started on his road to Jerusalem. He knows what is ahead of him, although his followers appear to be unaware or blind to it. His followers are traveling with him and we read they were a large crowd. They’ve been so captivated by Jesus’ teaching and actions that they’ve left everything and gone on the road with him.
Alongside the road sits a man named Bartimaeus. Notice, he’s not in the town. Bartimaeus was blind and during that time, people with disabilities were often cast off from the community. Their families were also looked down upon, because it was thought that the family had sinned, so that’s why the child had a disability. To survive, Bartimaeus had to take his cloak, sit upon it and beg for assistance outside of the city. Living away from a community was dangerous.
Somehow Bartimaeus learns that the large crowd passing by is following Jesus. And think of this… Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus. Bartimaeus believes Jesus can help him. So Bartimaeus begins calling out to Jesus, trying to get Jesus’ attention.
And what does the crowd do? What do Jesus’ followers do? What is their response? They sternly order Bartimaeus to be quiet.
This crowd that’s been with Jesus, including his disciples who’ve been with him – walked with him – all over Israel and seen the miracles he’s performed and seen him violate so many social conventions of the time as he spoke to the woman at the well, had dinner with the tax collectors, healed so many outcasts… what do they do? They order Bartimaeus to be quiet.
They have been and are following Jesus to Jerusalem. Jesus has changed their lives. Jesus has helped them think in new ways. Jesus has given them hope for their own lives. But do they want to share that? No. It’s almost as if they haven’t seen Jesus at all; haven’t learned anything from him at all.
Jesus hears the cries of Bartimaeus and Jesus stops walking. He calls Bartimaeus to him. Bartimaeus “throws off his cloak and springs up.” He is excited and eager to meet Jesus. Jesus hears that Bartimaeus would like to have his sight restored and tells Bartimaeus that his faith has restored his sight. And unlike many of the other healings we read about in Mark, in this instance, Bartimaeus joins the followers. He becomes a follower!
Today in Parlor People, we conclude our series on Radical Welcome. The book we’ve been using encourages us to think about who is The Other in our midst or right outside our doors. Who are the ones we don’t fully let in to our parish. We’re happy to let them in if they’re just like us, but otherwise, we create an environment that silences their voice and their God-given gifts, just like I did with Bertha.
Radical Welcome is asking us to look at how we are just like this crowd of followers traveling with Jesus on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. We’ve been following Jesus a long time, many of us. We’ve heard the teachings over and over again. Yet, how often have we not even seen the person like Bartimaeus, sitting right along our path, just outside our door? And if we’ve seen Bartimaeus, how often have we silenced him? Bartimaeus wants to be a follower, too. Just as we’ve been captivated by Jesus and found solace in Jesus’ teachings and view of the world, so have those like Bartimaeus. Yet, we find it so difficult to embrace them and see them as companions in our faith. We are the crowd….
It’s not easy to look at ourselves in this way; yet, I’ve learned that when I can accept the truth about myself, I’m more able to work to change things and grow and learn.
We at The Episcopal Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen are so blessed. We are blessed by our community of faith, by our time together, by our sharing of this meal, available each and every week. Let’s rewrite this story. Let’s not be the crowd that ignored Bartimaeus. Instead, let us be the followers and crowd who runs to get Bartimaeus and with open arms brings him to Jesus, and welcomes him fully into our community of believers.
Amen
