When In the Course of Human Events
I have always loved the story of Bartimaeus, for it is a story of a man who could easily have been overlooked… or ignored. Jesus was in the center of a crowd of pilgrims headed toward Jerusalem. He was in his element… surrounded by those who wanted to learn more about their faith… and going to the Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. They had to pass through Jericho, but it was not a place where Jesus planned to stop on his journey. After all, they were only fifteen miles from their destination and could make it before sunset… if they were not delayed. But Jesus had not met Bartimaeus yet.
Bartimaeus was a beggar. He was seated by the side of the road to Jerusalem in the hopes of wheedling a few coins from those who passed by. Bartimaeus had been begging on this road for years and he knew that he could… and would… be ignored by those who passed. He was blind and, according to his Jewish faith, his blindness was a punishment leveled on him by God for sins that either he or his parents had committed. For that reason, no faithful Jew would touch him… or choose to associate with him… particularly if they were on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Any contact with Bartimaeus would defile them… making it impossible for them to participate in the Passover rituals. Because of this, Bartimaeus was used to being treated as a third-class citizen… ignored… abused… and even threatened with violence, if he got in the way.
Batimaeus knew that Jesus… the great preacher and healer… was passing by. He had heard the stories of how Jesus had healed others. Yet, there was no reason for Jesus to seek him out… and many reasons why he might pass by on the other side of the road… avoiding any contact with Bartimaeus… or any other disabled beggar in the street. But Bartimaeus was tired of being ignored… frustrated by world that condemned him to the fringe of society because of his disability… and, perhaps, angered by a teacher who spoke of God’s love while seeming to perpetuate the oppression of those who did not fit the mold of the “perfect Jew.” For some reason, that day, he decided that it was time to speak out… to speak the truth… and to speak it loud enough to be heard by all. So, despite the efforts of those who tried to keep him in his place, he raised his voice and shouted for Jesus … until he finally caught his attention and was invited to present his case. Not intimidated by the crowd, he asked for only one thing… not riches… fame… position… or power… but the one thing that would level the playing field… make him acceptable to his peers… and restore his place in society… the one thing that would free him of the oppression imposed by the rule of law... the requirements of his religion. And Jesus granted his request.
On the thirty-first of October, 1517, a Roman Catholic priest named Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg. When he did so, those who had struggled under the weight of the demands of their religion caught a glimpse of hope… and the smoldering pile of oppression heaped upon the poor by the Roman Catholic Church burst into flame… and the Reformation suddenly took center stage. Did this obscure priest teaching theology at the university know that the ideas he captured on paper would resonate with a majority of those who read them? Oh, yes. His long discussions of the inequities within the Roman Catholic Church with his students… his peers… and others in the town had given him an understanding of the thoughts and feelings held by his companions. Did he know that the powers that be would be offended and angered by what he wrote? Oh, yes. He had exchanged words with those were trying to advance their own careers and their positions within the church by promising the instant release of relatives from the pain of purgatory through the purchase of indulgences. He knew that, under an agreement with the Pope, half of the income from the sale of indulgences was earmarked to finance the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome… and that his debunking of the saving grace attributed to the purchase of indulgences threatened the completion of that project. Did he know that his actions on that day would be identified as the single act that most exemplified the thoughts, feelings, beliefs and purpose of the entire period now known as the Reformation? No. Martin Luther did not do this for riches… fame… position… or power. He was just a man who believed deeply and passionately that it was time… time for the truth to be told… time for silent voices to be heard… time for the oppressed to be freed.
It is not possible to read the story of the Reformation in the Church that we celebrate today without also thinking about other times in history when ordinary people stepped forward to speak the truth to power. “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary…” How many of us remember the words that Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776 that introduce the Declaration of Independence? Did the men who signed that document believe that the concepts contained in its words reflected the thoughts, opinions and sentiments of the majority of the population of our country at that time? Oh, yes. Did they know that their signatures on that document might cost them the very lives and fortunes they pledged to this cause? Oh, yes. Did they know that their lives would be studied by students of history for generations to come and held up as examples of the best in ideals and courage for our nation and its people? No. These men did not do this for riches… fame… position… or power. They were just men who believed deeply and passionately that it was time… time for the truth to be told… time for silent voices to be heard… time for the oppressed to be freed.
Are there other examples? Of course, there are: The barons who stood up to King John I of England and forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Members of the Third Estate in France who formed the National Assembly, attacked the Bastille, and laid the foundation for the French Revolution in 1789. Mohandas Gandhi and those who broke the back of the colonialism of the British in India in 1947. Nelson Mandela and members of the African National Congress who stood with him to abolish apartheid in South Africa in 1994. Lech Walesa and the men in the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk who began the Polish Solidarity Movement that led to the Revolutions of 1989. They did not do this for riches… fame… position… or power. These were ordinary men in extraordinary times who believed deeply and passionately that it was time… time for the truth to be told… time for silent voices to be heard… time for the oppressed to be freed. Did these individuals plan for these events to take place at these particular times and catapult them onto the world stage? No. But, as Albert Schweitzer once said, “Truth has not special time of its own. Its hour is now… always and indeed then most truly when it seems unsuitable to actual circumstances.”
While Bartimaeus did not speak for all of the blind beggars on the road to Jericho that day, he still defied tradition to raise his voice above the crowd and demand his place at the table. In doing so, he was willing to take on his oppressors… in this case, the powers that be within his religion… to speak and be heard. His actions… and the result of his actions… probably inspired others to step forward to claim their places, as well. Confronted by Bartimaeus, Jesus invited him to present his demands. Accepted and healed by Jesus, Bartimaeus followed him to Jerusalem. I have often wondered what happened to Bartimaeus after that. Did he stay in Jerusalem through the Passover? Did he hang out with the disciples during Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion? Was he with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection? Did he become a leader in the fledgling community of Christians in first century Palestine? We never hear of Bartemaeus again, but it is hard to believe that he returned to his old life in Jericho… since his old life was based upon his former disability and the laws and traditions surrounding it. How was his life transformed by this miracle? How was he transformed by this experience?
When Jesus announced his messiahship, he said: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has sent me to restore sight to the blind." Was he just talking about the physical healing of those who had lost their sight? While we tend to focus on the blind man and his actions in this story, there are those who would say that he was not the only one who was blind. How blind were those in the crowd who could not see that by blocking Bartimaeus’ access to Jesus, they made themselves obstacles to his faith? How blind were those in the religious establishment who supported their religion’s interpretation of illness and disability as God’s punishment for sins that had been committed? Are there ways in which we act as if we are blind… not seeing opportunities for ministry that God places in front of us every day? How does the way in which we practice our religion today discriminate against those whom Jesus would accept and invite to join him? Do we need to open our eyes… change our thinking… our assumptions… our actions… or do we simply continue to do what we have always done? Are we ripe for reformation… just as the church was ripe for reformation in the Middle Ages?
Tomorrow, our Steering Committee for our Long Range Plan will begin examining the results of the Congregational Life Survey we took last year to see how the information provided in that survey might reshape the direction of our church’s worship and ministry as we move into the future. May God grant that our eyes might be open to see the possibilities for worship and ministry that we may have missed until now.
In the meantime, what do you and I do with this story of Bartimaeus… and this celebration of our church’s heritage of reformation that we have highlighted today? Even a cursory examination of history reveals that, as human beings, we often become complacent… accepting things at face value and blindly moving through life without even seeing many of the inequities that surround us. My challenge for all of us today and this week is for us to question everything we do… particularly those things that are so routine that we do them without being fully aware of why or how we do them. May we look at all these things… these actions… and the people whose lives we touch through them… with new eyes. May we find a new sense of purpose in doing these things… be awed by the wonder of what happens when we do them… celebrate the joy they bring… and to be open to new possibilities for ministry in them. May we experience a small reformation in our own lives. Who knows? That small reformation within us may sow the seeds of a larger reformation yet to come. We claim ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda - “the church reformed, always to be reformed.” With eyes opened by of Christ, we may be the reformation of the church in our time. Amen.
Mark 10:46-52