Sunday October 28th,
2018 30th Sunday Ordinary
Time (Cycle B)
Marco…Polo
The tie in between today’s readings: There’s always hope with God.
Today’s gospel
gives us an insight into a man. His name is Bartimaeus. They call him Blind
Bartimaeus so that nobody confuses him with regular Bartimaeus, the productive
person in their town. Every morning, he would feel his way along the buildings
in town until he reached his spot and sat down with the other beggars along the
Jericho road. Maybe someone would have pity on him today and throw him a
shekel. Maybe someone could help him get to the market and not rob him so that
he could buy some bread and eat tonight. That would be grand. There have been
so many hungry nights…too many. Sitting
in the dark, he can hear hush tones around him saying how useless he is.
Helpless. Worthless. Pathetic. He has prayed many times that God would put him
out of his misery. Each morning he debates whether today he should sit down
with the others or… just keep going down the Jericho road out into the desert
to die. “But not today,” he argues with himself, “maybe hold on for one more
day.” When you’re a blind guy begging on the side of a busy street, you hear a
lot of gossip, the same old griping about Roman taxes, and every once in a
while, something new. This man named Jesus, who can heal the sick and raise the
dead. “I wonder,” he thought many times, “What if Jesus came here?” That became his thread of hope.
Today was like
any other, no one had given him anything, so far. He swiped away the insects
and despaired when he thought of another …then the background drone of the
crowd grew louder. What was that? G? Gees. Jesus! An adrenaline bolt shot
through him. This is it!
Blind Bartimaeus shouted out of his darkness
into the Judean afternoon, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd shouted him down, “Shut up!”
“Shut up?” he
thought, “Why would they want to shut me up? Jesus is coming. He can heal me.
He must heal me! If not, I’ve got
nothing left but death in the desert!”
He cried out
again. The crowd rebuked him even louder. It was becoming a desperate game of
Marco-Polo. He could feel the intensity of the throng growing around him. Jesus
was getting closer! His last chance:
“JESUS, SON OF
DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”… (Marco!).
“Who called to
Me?”… (Polo!). The crowd quieted. “Bring him to Me.”
Feeling ashamed,
the crowd encouraged Bartimaeus to come to Jesus.
“What shall I do
for you?” He asked.
“Rabboni, that I
may see.” Bartimaeus replied.
“Go. Your faith
has made you well.” Jesus said and it was so. The crowd was amazed and gave
glory to God.
Once Blind
Bartimaeus followed Jesus out of town shouting praises to God on the Jericho
road. It was a different road now.
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They say that in
life a man cannot last a minute without hope. That is why God always offers it.
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, is our Old Testament reading today. He
proclaimed to wicked Judah that there was hope to escape the coming destruction
from God if they repented. They refused.
God’s judgment came by Nebuchadnezzar
and exile in Babylon. Yet, even now, in
our passage God promises to restore Israel after their time of punishment. We can take this principle to heart. Our
disobedience has consequences. We will reap what we sow. Sin leaves scars. But, God promises a way of renewal and reconciliation
back to Him, if you want it. You are never beyond hope with the Almighty.
The title of
Psalm 126 should be “Pinch Me I Must Be Dreaming” as it picks up on the return
of the exiles back to Jerusalem. Now, in their exhilaration, the great task of rebuilding
lies ahead of them. There is a new hope that with God’s help, their efforts in
faith will be rewarded. I get this from verses 5 and 6, which are used in the
hymn, Bringing in the Sheaves. God
has things for us to do. It is our adventure with Him in this life. Faith calls
us to action. Hope anticipates the outcome. We shall indeed rejoice.
We hope in God.
He meets us where we are. He gives: hope in struggling, hope in trials, hope in
repentance and, hope in the future. In all of it, God is there to help us
through. As it says in our reading in Hebrews today, we have a great high
priest in the Lord Jesus Christ who is infinitely acquainted with our
circumstances. No matter what situation you find yourself in, He promised never
to leave you or forsake you. The Good Shepherd is seeking the despairing, the
desolate, and the hopeless. If that’s you then…Marco!…Polo!
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