Sermon Title: What do you want Jesus to do for you?

Sermon Text: Mark 10:46-52

Sermon Date: August 19, 2007

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus"), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." 52 "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

In the book “The Glass Castle,” writer Jeanette Walls tells her own story of growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family. Mom and dad were brilliant and creative but didn’t have a lot of common sense. There was little discipline in the household because they believed children should be free to find their own way. However that often came across as parents who cared more about their own lives and a lot less about the lives of their children.

There wasn’t always food because dad used it to buy alcohol and mom bought art supplies. It wasn’t uncommon for the kids to sleep in cardboard boxes for they moved a lot. Moving furniture wasn’t easy when they were usually a step ahead of whichever agency or police department was coming after them.

The story begins with Jeanette as a three year old who is burned on her stomach while cooking hot dogs. It ends as she has found her way to a whole life. My book club has just finished reading this so it came to mind when I read Jesus’ words “What do you want me to do for you?”

Jeanette’s mom thought their life was mostly okay, even though none of us here would have agreed. Dad wanted a fancy house, a glass castle, but not enough to actually work to make the money to build it. Jeanette and her siblings however had different ideas. And fortunately they had different people around them, teachers who encouraged them to, not just reach for the stars, but to follow through with the opportunities they had available to them.

I said the story began with Jeanette being burned but the book actually begins with her living in New York City and heading in a cab toward a cocktail party. Along the way she saw her mother in a dumpster. She was ashamed and went home instead. Later when she saw her mother she tried to talk to her about helping her and her dad to get their lives together. But mom didn’t see what was wrong with the life they had.

Had Jesus asked her, “What do you want me to do for you?” her answer would have been “more art supplies so I can paint and be discovered.”

The people of Jericho would have understood Jeanette’s embarrassment. They too were embarrassed by the one we know as Blind Bartimaeus. Beggers weren’t welcome then, anymore than those who ask us for change at street corners are today.

This is the second blind-man healing story in Mark. We run into first blind man in Mark 8 at Bethsaida. “Some people” brought him to Jesus to be healed. And Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and his vision improved but it wasn’t great. We near-sighted folks understand; he couldn’t see people clearly. So Jesus placed his hands on his eyes and scripture says, “his sight was completely restored.”

Can’t you imagine how that news spread around the region? Can you imagine how the people lined up to be healed?

• People who hadn’t walked in their entire lives could now walk.
• People who had been tormented by demons.
• Women who had been bleeding for twelve years.
• Men whose arms or legs were deformed.
• Children who were unable to talk.
• Blind people could now see.

It’s no wonder the physician in Leah’s story last week worried about job security with Jesus around. Jesus was making a difference, not only in people’s hearts but in their actual bodies. And what a difference he made. Not only did he heal but he condemned those who had been taking advantage of the same people -- like the tax collectors who took more than the fair amount of taxes.

He challenged the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day when they brought him the woman “caught in the act of adultery” but didn’t bring the man involved. Last time I looked up the definition of adultery, it took two people.

And he healed those who came to him. Sometimes he asked them what they wanted him to do for them, and other times he saw the need and took care of it. He knew their hearts and yet also knew that sometimes healing begins when we can articulate what we need.

Sometimes the healing begins when we can just spit it out and say, “Lord, I want to be healed from this cancer, this arthritis, this depression, this pain in my heart. Lord, I need a job that allows me to wake up every morning filled with joy about going to work. Lord, I need to make a decision about my living arrangements. I’m too frail to stay by myself yet I don’t want to enter a nursing home. Lord, I need to decide about the right treatment for my illness. Lord, I want to get out of debt or get married or find a friend.”

The power of naming is often the beginning to getting whatever it is that we believe we need in our lives.

One of the things Jesus wants for us is for us to know what we can do for ourselves.

I had been fired at the Mayflower Corporation in 1986. My self-esteem was in ruins and I took a job at IUPUI as a clerk. There was a $3,000 pay cut and since I was making $17,000 at the time that was a huge amount. I hated the job as clerk and I detested the man I worked for. But, as I said, my self esteem was nil so I didn’t feel I could go to Human Resources and ask to look for another job. And I couldn’t face more rejection so I began to pray. “Lord, could you send someone to get me out of this awful job?” I asked God to send someone who would want me for the gifts and skills that I had. My lack of self-esteem wouldn’t allow me to believe I had any so I needed God to send someone to me who would recognize them.

Then not all that long afterward I was at the copy machine when the office manger came to me and said that she was leaving her job and had recommended me to take her place “because I was wasting away as a clerk.” By noon I had a new job, one I loved and thrived in. That job gave me a boss who pushed and prodded me to what more for myself, even encouraged me to go to seminary. Dr. Louis Holtzclaw was the one who helped me to articulate what I needed.

Did you know that you can ask for help to figure out what you need? You may already know what you need but there are time when we think we know, but we are either afraid to ask for it OR we don’t know what is right.

Sure, Jesus can help, but there are many times in our lives WE CAN BRING ABOUT THE CHANGES WE NEED WITH HIS HELP.

If you need a new job, sitting home waiting for the phone to ring won’t do much good if you haven’t been putting in applications.

You won’t get out of debt if you don’t make changes in your spending habits or bring in more income.

I’ve learned the hard way that you won’t lose weight if you don’t count calories and change your life.

If you are lonely and looking for friends, you won’t find them by staying at home and never going out or never calling anyone.

If you are dealing with an addiction, you most likely won’t control it unless you come face to face with it and seek help.

If you are going through the motions of life, angry about your circumstances, finding more things to be frustrated about than happy, your situation is important to Jesus.

Maybe the question today is not “What do you want Jesus to do for you?”

Maybe it is “What does Jesus want you to want him to do for you? What does Jesus want you to want him to do for you?”

This I can say with absolute assurance: Jesus wants you to live a life that is vital and alive. Jesus wants you to live lives where people see you and ask where your happiness comes from. Jesus wants you to wake up each morning and wonder what wonderful new thing is going to present itself for you.

Don’t be afraid to ask for Jesus’ help.

The day after Bartimeaus was healed, imagine how he felt when he saw that first sunrise. You too can have that joy. Just ask Jesus for help. He is there, waiting to be asked.