sermon by Torin Eikler
Jeremiah 31:7-9 Mark 10:35-52
The story of old blind Bart has become one of my favorites over the past several years, and though I didn’t really know where to find it until just a few years ago (I thought it was in Matthew), I first learned it ‘round about age seven when we sang the song “Blind Man” around the fire at camp. And, I think what clenched its place near the top of my list is a different song called “Old Blind Bart” that I first heard sung by a duet from eastern Tennessee during a talent show at the national Young Adult Conference of the Church of the Brethren.
It may seem strange to you that a song can have such a powerful effect, but then again, I suspect we have all had some “aha!” moment when listening to a song that may seem absolutely forgettable to others. What’s strange to me about the whole experience is that I can’t, for the life of me, remember any of the words! All I really remember is watching Chanda and Gwen – two very confident and outgoing women – step out of the crowd, walk to the front of the room, and stand there side by side, holding hands.
Now, you need to know that both of these sisters stood all of 4’2” tall, and their height – if you want to call it that – prompted many people in the back to stand up in order to see better. And, there they stood utterly still and quiet with their eyes closed. Then, with a small sure movement, Chanda shook a shaker egg one time, they opened their mouths (though not their eyes), and out came a huge sound that rolled across the room to several gasps. As the diminutive duo sang with such surprising power, nothing in the room moved except for their mouths and the hand with that shaker marking a steady beat.
I know it’s impossible for you to get the full effect, but it was a moment that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Even as the details of the tableau continue to fade from my mind, the sound of their voices cutting through the last bits of quiet chatter that are always going on during talent shows still echoes in my head. And, one of the reasons that the story of Bar-timaeus sitting by the side of the road sticks with me is that I hear his voice echoing across the years as well.
Here was a man sitting in the dust by the gate to Jericho with nothing more than a bowl, a staff, and a cloak to his name. (And, since he is the only person to be healed in the Gospel of Mark who is given a name, he must have been important at some time in his life and, therefore, able to see.) Day after day, I imagine, he sat there in the dark, remembering life as it had been and begging for a few coins or some food from anyone who would share with him. Hundreds of people would have passed in and out of that gate - traveling on the way to Jerusalem and the Temple, going out to farms, or coming in to the markets, and I imagine he only heard a few coins fall in his bowl all day, only received a few scraps of bread or fruits and vegetables on the edge of spoilage.
It would have been a hard place to be, fallen from grace into the gutter – humiliating and hard for most of us to imagine (though, sadly, there are more and more people each day who find themselves in the same place in this country). With nothing else to do – and because his livelihood depended on it, he would have listened to everything that went on around him … would have recognized with bitterness the voices of friends and acquaintances who now shunned him … hearing bits and pieces of the same boring stories and complaints from different people as they came and went.
Then, out of nowhere, a new story comes floating to him on the breeze, the story of a traveling teacher who healed the sick and cast out demons, a teacher who was upsetting the authorities and the status quo they supported, the status quo that left him behind … eating dust. The more he hears, the more interested he becomes. Not only is this Jesus challenging the powers that be, he is getting away with it. He even seems to know the law better than they do. AND, he is proclaiming a new kind of kingdom where the outcasts are welcome at the banquet table and the proud are turned away. It all sounds so promising….
And one day, Bartimaeus here’s the whisper of excitement flutter around him. A crowd begins to gather along the road, and though they ignore him even more than usual, he doesn’t mind this time because Jesus is coming. And he waits … he waits in silence with his unseeing eyes open … until the moment he hears that Jesus is near. Then he closes his eyes, opens his mouth, and a prayer escapes: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd around him jumps in surprise. They turn with hearts racing and shush him – this beggar, this man they had known and forgotten all about. But Bart will not be silenced. “He cries out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!” And, his voice cuts through the chatter, ringing silence out of the crowd as Jesus stops and calls him over.
To the sound of encouragement he hasn’t heard for years, Bart comes forward, leaving behind his cloak so that it won’t get in his way. And, Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Now, I like to imagine that at this point Jesus slides a slow and meaningful glance at James and John. Maybe he even held their gaze as he asked his question and raised a questioning eyebrow when he got the response. This was, after all, not just a time for healing, it was a teachable moment. Those two brothers – disciples who had traveled with Jesus from the beginning … who had gone along with Peter to the mountain and witnessed the transfiguration … who would be called forward to witness Jesus’ prayer in the garden – they had heard it all. They had seen it all. They had been a part of it all. Yet, they didn’t see nearly as much as this blind man by the side of the road.
When Jesus asked them “What is it you want me to do for you?” on the road to Jericho, they asked for power though they needed vision and understanding. They still wanted to Jesus to be the Messiah they envisioned. They wanted him to sit on the earthly throne so that they could sit on his right and left hand in seats of influence and respect. They couldn’t understand the truth and power of the upside down vision that Jesus was proclaiming, but old blind Bart did. And, when Jesus asked him – this man of low stature, of little account, and certainly not leadership material – when Jesus asked him, he gave voice to exactly what he needed … what they all needed ... to see. The blind man leading the Blind toward the Kingdom.
Our world is full of noise – the shout of advertising, the one-way burble of cell phone conversations, the drone of everyday work and conversation, the wheedling whine of rumor and shifted blame, the whisper of fear and embarrassment. Crowds of people are everywhere, and every day we are likely to find ourselves in a crowded gateway, waiting for something or someone to happen or happen by. Some of us are on the edges, calling out for mercy. Some of us are silencing those voices, straining as we are for a chance to see and hear for ourselves. There are times when we are the voices of encouragement, and sometimes we are the quiet ones standing by and taking it all in. We are, all of us, there somewhere in this story, and whatever part we take as it plays out day after day, my hope is that when we find ourselves in the silence and Jesus asks us, “What do you want me to do for you?” we will see our way clear to follow the blind man’s lead and ask for what we all need, saying, “My teacher, let me see again.”
May it be so.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Perfect Family
sermon by Torin Eikler
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16
In the past week, there has been another chapter written in the seemingly endless debate between creationism and evolution. Kirk Cameron, who many of us know and love from his role in “Growing Pains,” is making his voice heard on the issue in an unusual way. On November 22nd – the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species – Cameron plans to distribute 50,000 copies of that book on university campuses around the country.
As remarkable as that notion is, in and of itself, it gets even more interesting when you discover that he has altered the book as part of his effort not to support evolution but to debunk it. Well, alter is, perhaps, too strong a word. None of the original text has been changed, but there will be a 50 page introduction included in this very special edition. And, that introduction presents a “balanced view of creationism” while seeking to discredit evolution by pointing out: the racism inherent in The Origin of the Species, the undeniable link between Hitler and Darwin’s work, Darwin’s “disdain for women,” and many of the “hoaxes” that support the theory – at least in the opinion of the evangelical Christian community that Cameron supports.
(If you want to hear about in Cameron’s words, you can find an introductory video he posted on UTube. You can find a response from a young woman who takes the other side in a brutal critique there as well.)
Whichever side of the debate you happen to be on – or not on – there is no denying that this is still a hot-button issue for many people in the United States 84 years after the “Scopes Monkey Trial” opened the way for non-creationist theories of the origin of life to be taught in public schools. It’s a discussion (or sometimes a fight) that has given birth to some pretty deep divisions in our society and among Christians, and I think it will continue to do so for quite some time. But, the truth is that there is nothing in the Bible that says God did not use of evolution as a tool in creation and there is nothing in the theory of evolution that precludes the existence of a divine being who set it all in motion. And, while the debate is not exactly a waste of time, there are many other things tied to the natural world of which we are a part that we should probably be more concerned about. After all, the bible does say that God created humanity and gave them dominion over the earth.
The thing is, the sense of the Hebrew that gets translated as dominion is little different than what we usually think of. What it really means is that we have the responsibility of stewards over the earth. It’s our job to care for the creation in which we live, and we have been given the power to do that – a power that lives in our hearts’ compassion and our minds’ creativity. In one sense, all of the created order – land, sky, sea, animals, plants, and humanity – all of it is one large family meant to live together as one. And, we … we are not unlike the oldest children or guardians who are designated to care for the younger ones with less understanding.
“What God has joined together, let no one break asunder.”
Families are interesting things.
In seminary, I took a class in family systems, and some of the things that I learned were surprising. Perhaps the thing that caught me the most off guard was the psychological surety that every family has attachment issues to deal with. Overly distant or enmeshed – tangled up like steel wool – we, none of us, actually find that happy medium where parents and children are self-differentiated yet still in close, loving relationship. It should be possible, but like some many of the other ideals we hold at the center of our striving, it seems to be just out of reach.
In fact, it’s almost as if we are destined to fail, and maybe we even prefer it this way. It’s what we are used to after all. And, if we were all so well adjusted as all that, where would the excitement and the challenge in relationships be? No fights…. No making up…. No rush of adrenaline…. No posturing or competition. Just millions of people living together, understanding and accepting one another – helping each other reach the greatest possible fulfillment of each one’s potential. One big happy family. Hmmm……
Now, I know that it sounds a little idyllic. I even had to practice it a couple of times to make it come out convincing (and I’m not entirely sure I succeeded). Still, there’s a part of me that holds onto that dream – that just won’t (maybe can’t) ever let it go. It has the feel of Thanksgiving dinner on a good year. You know, one of those times when everyone is at the family home or at least together somewhere. We all pitched in to get that great big wonderful feast ready. And when the time came, we sat down together around the table, passed the food without spilling anything, ate so much that we nearly burst, and then sat there for an hour talking. The room was full of wonderful smells. In our hands were warm cups of coffee or tea. And, the ring of laughter punctuated the good natured kidding about things over and done with – OR – smiles and warm excitement spiced the sharing of dreams for the future.
I think, I dream, that that is what the church could be … should be like. The same caring. The same sharing. The same glow of warmth, love, and “at home-ness” that shields us for a time – for an eternal moment – from the hard, cold, indifference that can be the calling card of the world outside.
And why not…? Why can’t we be like that? It’s what Jesus called us to. It’s what God created us to be. It’s the Kingdom vision of the great banquet table surrounded by smiling people who see before them every need fulfilled and see around them everything that they could ever want in the presence of brothers and sisters. Couldn’t we find that eternal moment here … with each other… with those who have become our brothers and sisters in Christ? I know this is one of those ideals that always seem out of reach, but we are people of faith and we say that all things are possible through Christ who saves us. Do we believe it? Are we willing to reach for it in the faith that our Father will lift us up that last, impossible inch so that we can grasp the promise?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word spoke, and all things that were to be flowed forth as the divine breath moved over the face of the waters bringing life into being out of chaos and darkness. And, it was good. The human family came into being and learned of its own power and began to tear itself apart. People learned to kill – at first one at a time … then on a grand scale as warfare became popular and the thirst for power took hold, consuming all things in its path. Whole nations were destroyed or made slaves, and division was sown where God would have unity.
And the Word became flesh and taught by word and deed as he lived among us: shining light on the path to the Realm of God, opening the door, and inviting us into the banquet table where all can sit down together. Some, there were, who heard and saw and truly followed. Others came along for the promise and hope set before them, and it was good.
And here we stand now, in the midst of a time and a world where the vision of the Realm of God shines faintly and the promise of unity among the nations is far from reality. But, the Word still speaks, saying, “Behold, I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it” among you? I set a table before you that you may eat of the bread of life and drink the cup of salvation. Come and eat. Come and drink, and remember the promise. Be re-membered. Become once again one family, one body perfect in love and unity though you be imperfect in your living and understanding. “Do this in remembrance of me,” and “what God has joined together, let no one of you put asunder.”
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16
In the past week, there has been another chapter written in the seemingly endless debate between creationism and evolution. Kirk Cameron, who many of us know and love from his role in “Growing Pains,” is making his voice heard on the issue in an unusual way. On November 22nd – the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s Origin of the Species – Cameron plans to distribute 50,000 copies of that book on university campuses around the country.
As remarkable as that notion is, in and of itself, it gets even more interesting when you discover that he has altered the book as part of his effort not to support evolution but to debunk it. Well, alter is, perhaps, too strong a word. None of the original text has been changed, but there will be a 50 page introduction included in this very special edition. And, that introduction presents a “balanced view of creationism” while seeking to discredit evolution by pointing out: the racism inherent in The Origin of the Species, the undeniable link between Hitler and Darwin’s work, Darwin’s “disdain for women,” and many of the “hoaxes” that support the theory – at least in the opinion of the evangelical Christian community that Cameron supports.
(If you want to hear about in Cameron’s words, you can find an introductory video he posted on UTube. You can find a response from a young woman who takes the other side in a brutal critique there as well.)
Whichever side of the debate you happen to be on – or not on – there is no denying that this is still a hot-button issue for many people in the United States 84 years after the “Scopes Monkey Trial” opened the way for non-creationist theories of the origin of life to be taught in public schools. It’s a discussion (or sometimes a fight) that has given birth to some pretty deep divisions in our society and among Christians, and I think it will continue to do so for quite some time. But, the truth is that there is nothing in the Bible that says God did not use of evolution as a tool in creation and there is nothing in the theory of evolution that precludes the existence of a divine being who set it all in motion. And, while the debate is not exactly a waste of time, there are many other things tied to the natural world of which we are a part that we should probably be more concerned about. After all, the bible does say that God created humanity and gave them dominion over the earth.
The thing is, the sense of the Hebrew that gets translated as dominion is little different than what we usually think of. What it really means is that we have the responsibility of stewards over the earth. It’s our job to care for the creation in which we live, and we have been given the power to do that – a power that lives in our hearts’ compassion and our minds’ creativity. In one sense, all of the created order – land, sky, sea, animals, plants, and humanity – all of it is one large family meant to live together as one. And, we … we are not unlike the oldest children or guardians who are designated to care for the younger ones with less understanding.
“What God has joined together, let no one break asunder.”
Families are interesting things.
In seminary, I took a class in family systems, and some of the things that I learned were surprising. Perhaps the thing that caught me the most off guard was the psychological surety that every family has attachment issues to deal with. Overly distant or enmeshed – tangled up like steel wool – we, none of us, actually find that happy medium where parents and children are self-differentiated yet still in close, loving relationship. It should be possible, but like some many of the other ideals we hold at the center of our striving, it seems to be just out of reach.
In fact, it’s almost as if we are destined to fail, and maybe we even prefer it this way. It’s what we are used to after all. And, if we were all so well adjusted as all that, where would the excitement and the challenge in relationships be? No fights…. No making up…. No rush of adrenaline…. No posturing or competition. Just millions of people living together, understanding and accepting one another – helping each other reach the greatest possible fulfillment of each one’s potential. One big happy family. Hmmm……
Now, I know that it sounds a little idyllic. I even had to practice it a couple of times to make it come out convincing (and I’m not entirely sure I succeeded). Still, there’s a part of me that holds onto that dream – that just won’t (maybe can’t) ever let it go. It has the feel of Thanksgiving dinner on a good year. You know, one of those times when everyone is at the family home or at least together somewhere. We all pitched in to get that great big wonderful feast ready. And when the time came, we sat down together around the table, passed the food without spilling anything, ate so much that we nearly burst, and then sat there for an hour talking. The room was full of wonderful smells. In our hands were warm cups of coffee or tea. And, the ring of laughter punctuated the good natured kidding about things over and done with – OR – smiles and warm excitement spiced the sharing of dreams for the future.
I think, I dream, that that is what the church could be … should be like. The same caring. The same sharing. The same glow of warmth, love, and “at home-ness” that shields us for a time – for an eternal moment – from the hard, cold, indifference that can be the calling card of the world outside.
And why not…? Why can’t we be like that? It’s what Jesus called us to. It’s what God created us to be. It’s the Kingdom vision of the great banquet table surrounded by smiling people who see before them every need fulfilled and see around them everything that they could ever want in the presence of brothers and sisters. Couldn’t we find that eternal moment here … with each other… with those who have become our brothers and sisters in Christ? I know this is one of those ideals that always seem out of reach, but we are people of faith and we say that all things are possible through Christ who saves us. Do we believe it? Are we willing to reach for it in the faith that our Father will lift us up that last, impossible inch so that we can grasp the promise?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word spoke, and all things that were to be flowed forth as the divine breath moved over the face of the waters bringing life into being out of chaos and darkness. And, it was good. The human family came into being and learned of its own power and began to tear itself apart. People learned to kill – at first one at a time … then on a grand scale as warfare became popular and the thirst for power took hold, consuming all things in its path. Whole nations were destroyed or made slaves, and division was sown where God would have unity.
And the Word became flesh and taught by word and deed as he lived among us: shining light on the path to the Realm of God, opening the door, and inviting us into the banquet table where all can sit down together. Some, there were, who heard and saw and truly followed. Others came along for the promise and hope set before them, and it was good.
And here we stand now, in the midst of a time and a world where the vision of the Realm of God shines faintly and the promise of unity among the nations is far from reality. But, the Word still speaks, saying, “Behold, I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it” among you? I set a table before you that you may eat of the bread of life and drink the cup of salvation. Come and eat. Come and drink, and remember the promise. Be re-membered. Become once again one family, one body perfect in love and unity though you be imperfect in your living and understanding. “Do this in remembrance of me,” and “what God has joined together, let no one of you put asunder.”
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