God Waits for Your Prayers
a sermon based on Mark 10.46-52
by Rev. Kermit Krueger

The word tore through the community of poor, disabled and needy people of Jericho: Jesus of Nazareth, a famous teacher, preacher and healer was coming to town. No one knew when he was coming, or by what road; but everyone would be ready. Each was assigned a place, and a phrase to shout, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me." "Listen for that word, and you they hear it, go to the cry."

A blind man was assigned a distant spot on the Jordan River Road. It was not a very likely way for Jesus to take; there were other more important roads. But each had to have his or her spot. This beggar's name, Mark says was Bartimaeus. More properly we should say Mr. Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is a surname, it means "son of Timaeus'. In the Gospels, with one or two exceptions, we do not find names of the people who came to Jesus for help. Sometimes intercessions are made on behalf of relatives, a parent for a child, Peter for his mother-in-law. Generally, the needy are faceless, nameless people. Not unlike the way society today treats its poorest and most need-filled people.

Mr. Bartimaeus was sitting by the road at his assigned place. He heard a murmuring, the noise of a crowd, coming from the direction of the Jordan River. Something told him this might be Jesus or Nazareth, but he could not be sure. He waited long enough to hear some of the conversations of the people. They say when you lose one sense, the others become more acute. Bartimaeus was soon convinced that in the crowd was Jesus of Nazareth. He began shouting at the top of his lungs, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me."

I suppose that in the company around Jesus people were talking about religious matters, reciting or singing psalms. Their conversation was respectful. After all, Jesus was the most famous person to come to Jericho in many a year, maybe since Joshua tore down its walls. The last thing they wanted or needed was some beggar by the side of the road shouting at them. Some of the crowd tried to silence Mr. Bartimaeus. The more they urged him to be quiet, the louder he cried. Some even offered a few small coins, anything to shut him up. Nothing worked. Mr. Bartimaeus kept on shouting, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me."

Jesus was in the middle of the crowd, surrounded first by disciples and friends, and then by the growing throng itself. On the edge of the crowd you could easily hear Mr. Bartimaeus' cries, but in its middle? Somehow even Jesus heard the cries. He stopped where he was and asked that the crier be brought to him. When Mr. Bartimaeus was brought to Jesus, Jesus asked either what is the wisest or the dumbest question of the ages, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Imagine that you were blind. You are an outcast of society. You beg at the roadside in order to survive. Aren't your needs evident? Couldn't anyone see what you need in life?...I did some checking and remembering of the other miracles stories in the gospels. In them, the person who sought something from Jesus came right up and asked for it: "I want to hear." ..."I want to walk." ..."I am beset with demons." ..."I have leprosy." ..."My mother in law is sick." ..."My child is dying." Bartimaeus kept on shouting, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me."

In real life, my experience is that the people who come to the church door are quite willing to tell me exactly what they want. They tell their stories in more detail than you want to know or than you ought to know. Many believe the longer and more intricate their tale of woe, the more likely it is to produce the reward they want: "I have a new job and I need bus-fare until I get paid." ..."I lost my job and need bus-fare to get to the public aid office." ..."I haven't eaten in three days." ..."Look at my child, I have no money for diapers or for milk. She has to drink soda." [Never mind that soda is more expensive than milk.]...The list of needs is endless.

Jesus believed that before he or God could act, the need has to be defined by the person seeking help. Jesus, it seems, never presupposed what the real needs of another were. He would never make it as a social worker in our world. Consider how we help others. We do not want to hear their needs. We want to see rent and utility receipts. We examine their wealth, sort them into categories, and then decide exactly what we are willing to give them. So much a month for general assistance. If you have dependant children, so much for each of them. Food stamps based on your income. A green card for medical care. We have laws to define exactly what each person needs even before they tell us. We do not want to hear a poor, single mother say , "This is what I need to escape my miserable life." Before she can speak, one, two, three, we know the answer. Given our system, is it any wonder that one generation of impoverished begets another? Our politicians blame the poor, and we let them do so. We ought to blame them, and ourselves who put them in power, for creating a system that knows the answer before the plea is heard. Never mind what you think you will need to build a decent life, our system knows your needs before you can speak.

I do not know how long it would take our society to deal with the problem of its impoverished if we allowed all who come for help to define what it is that they want, what it is that they think will remove them from poverty. I do not know what that would cost. I suspect it might be far less than the enormous welfare bureaucracy we have built, less than the crowded free health clinics where you wait a day to see a surly, overworked doctor, less than low income housing we build that become instant slums for the poor; less than the cost of building and operating our prisons, necessary because we truly help the poor so little that in desperation... There would be chaos at first, and a lot of greed.

Think about it. If God acted to respond to your needs before you spoke them, why would anybody bother to pray to God at all. It is true, as Paul says, that God hears our prayers before we offer them, and that God sees our true needs more accurately than we do ourselves.[1] Still, God waits for our prayers and God answers our prayers. God respects us so profoundly that God allows us to speak on our own behalf. How many foolish prayers has God waited for? How many times has God responded to a prayer that God knows does not really solve our problems, or only solves a little of our problems? Billions, perhaps hundred of billions of times. One reason we love God so much is that we know, from our heart, how much God respects us. You may be, as far as people go, a pretty miserable creature; God still respects you enough to allow you to define your need before God responds to your prayer.

Jesus waited for Mr. Bartimaeus. I do not know how long it took the beggar to say what it was that he wanted. He was prepared to be a sentinel, not to have his deepest wish come true. Finally, he stammered out, "I want to see." No sooner was it spoken than it was granted. The healing was routine, after all the noise and confusion that had preceded it. Mr. Bartimaeus' faith, Jesus said, had done it all. Faith empowers the blind to see, the lame to walk, the broken-hearted to hope. "If you have enough faith in God," an early morning television evangelist says, "that you send me lots of money to run my television show, before you know it God will send you even more money."[2] That preacher has forgotten that Jesus said, not, "if you believe you will see," but, "because you believe you do see." You do not believe in order to get what you want out of life. But when you have faith your needs are fulfilled. Sight for the blind is not the reason for faith, but a consequence.

When John told this story in his Gospel, he followed it with some pious people who grilled Jesus on his methods and intentions. To them Jesus observed, "I came to this world...that the blind should see and those who see should become blind." And the people asked him, "Surely, teacher, you do not mean to say that we are blind too?" Jesus said, "If you were able to tell me your need, you would be filled with faith; but because you claim you can see and have no need, you are blind."[3]

Do you pray to God to see, or do you thank God how clearly you already see? Amen.

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1 . Romans 8
2 . Robert Tilton of Dallas, Texas
3 . John 9