Out Our Way:

Mark 10:46-52  

 Out our way, round up is an exciting time and usually folks from all over come and help out. Charlie and I rode round up one fall for “Big Mike.” Mike had a number of folks out on the quads to drive in the herd, and he hired a number of Hutterites to stand in the corral and help load the critters into the trucks. Charlie and I rode the arroyos and hawthorn bushes looking for the strays the mechanized cowboys missed. We brought in about 50 head, including a few calves that had gotten lost and were bawling for their mamas. Once we got everybody rounded up and reunited, we moved the whole bunch fairly easily across the fields and pastures to the corral.

There are stages of the round up. First the strays have to be found. Second, they have to be rounded up into the main herd, and third, they have to be guided home. It is no wonder many cowboys see the Gospel messsage in the round up, for they recognize that they too are strays found by Christ, rounded up into the community of faith where they can grow and mature with others, and finally guided in the ways of the Lord that will bring them home to God.

You can see this in today’s text as we consider the example of Bartimaeus. Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, and ultimately, to the cross. Yet he was ready and willing to go because it was at the cross that the price for humanity’s redemption would be paid in full and it was for this reason that he had been born.

Now as he went through Jericho, some 15 miles from his final destination, he passed a blind beggar who was known as Bar-Timaeus, the son of Timaues in Aramaic. Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging. It was the time of the Passover when many pilgrims would be passing by on their way to Jerusalem for this holy time. Being blind, it was only through the alms of such people who took pity on his condition that he could survive. He had no idea Jesus was coming by, but when he heard the shouts of the crowd and asked what was going on, they told him, “It is Jesus.”

Consider now the stages of Bartimeaus’ pilgrimage from beggar to disciple:

STAGE 1: The blind man hears the news about Jesus.

STAGE 2: The blind man does not want to be blind, so he begins to call out to Jesus. Though others tell him to be quiet, he refuses to be. For he is not content to remain blind if there is any chance he can be healed. And so he calls out.

STAGE 3: Jesus hears him and calls to him, and the man responds. Bartimaeus hears the call to come and throws aside his cloak lest it slow him down and eagerly rushes, blind though he is, to the Voice. By faith he cries out for mercy and healing, and by faith it is given. The man was blind but now he sees.

STAGE 4: Bartimaeus follows. At this moment, Bartimaeus becomes not merely a believer in the power of Christ, but a disciple. For as Jesus continues on his way, Bartimaeus follows. From this day he will follow his King, serving others as Christ serves, sharing his love, life and joy with any and all who wish to come along as well.

Like Bartimaeus, many of us feel blind and empty, and we sit by the roadside with no greater hope than to survive another day. Then, especially at this time of year, we hear the tumult of many who tell us Christ has come. We can remain silent and let him pass us by, content to remain in eternal darkness, or we can call out to him, “Jesus! Son of David! — i.e. the Messiah, Christ — Have mercy on me!”

Jesus will hear us and call us to himself. Like Bartimaeus, we may not hear his voice at first, but only the voices of those near us who say, “He is calling for you!” And if we will come, soon it will be not only our neighbors and friends whose voices we hear, but Christ himself. And he will ask why we seek him. If we have the smallest grain of hope, we will answer, “Lord, help me! I am blind but want to see! I am crippled but want to be whole. I am lost but want to be found!” And he will hear us and respond.

We will begin to see at last. The darkness will begin to give way to the light and we will begin to see for the first time the world as it really is. Light — color and beauty — is all around us instead of the dark and empty void we had thought was all there was.

The fire that will touch us will not be a branding iron, it will be the Holy Spirit, and we will wear his brand on our heart and soul from that time on. We will belong to him and to each other.  

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John Bruington and Goliath serve the community of Havre, Montana, and welcome pards from all over the country who want ride the High Country of the Kingdom with us. The book, “Out Our Way: Theology Under Saddle,” is available at Amazon.com.