Nicely, nicely Bartimaeus.

Mark 10:46-52
Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!"

I love Musical Theater. I love the dopey, silly, random way characters often burst out into song at the least appropriate moment: they sing, they dance, they wax poetic about some very mundane things. I have several favorite musicals: “Hello, Dolly!”, “My Fair Lady”, “Showboat”, “Wildcat”, “A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum”, “La Cage aux Folles”, “The Producers”, “Chicago”, “Gigi”, “West Side Story”, “Camelot”, “Annie, Get your Gun”…the list could go on and on.  On a recent trip to Ireland my younger sister and I knocked the socks off the competition in the musical theater quiz during the bus trivia contest. We know our musicals! Our parents collected cast albums from all the shows they saw, and they saw them all. We listened time again and again and again to the songs and overtures of the musicals in Nicelytheir collection as we grew up in Brooklyn.

And today’s Gospel brought one to mind as I read about Bartimaeus earlier this week; he reminds me of the character Nicely-Nicely Johnson in “Guys and Dolls”. Nicely is a compulsive gambler who, while attending a compulsory prayer meeting, relates the story of a dream in which he is saved by the people with him on a boat to heaven.  The other inhabitants of this small craft repeatedly implore Nicely to “…sit down” because he is “…rocking the boat.”

In today’s Gospel the apostles and people around Jesus tried, unsuccessfully, to silence Bartimaeus, the blind man, who , when he heard it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by him began to shout out:,” Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”. He was just practicing what my grandmother often noted: “The squeaky wheel gets the most oil” or “earl” as Grandma Conkling would say. Bartimaeus was one determined guy, and his persistence got him noticed by Jesus, who had the blind beggar brought to him. Jesus inquired of him what he wanted and, God bless him, Bartimaeus was pretty direct,”…let me see again.” And that is just what Jesus did.

Now that was a modus operandi of Jesus’s; he often healed those who were willing to speak up for themselves. Think about his miracles as they are recorded in the Gospels: turning water into wine ( mother’s request); raising of Lazarus (Martha’s rebuke that if Jesus was there her brother would not have dies); the healing of the Roman official’s son ( the father makes the request); healing a leper ( who asked for healing in Matt, Mk and Lk); healing the woman with hemorrhaging( she touches his clothing, gets healed); the raising of Jarius’ daughter( father requested it)…they asked; Jesus provided.

This does not mean that Jesus is the “go-to” sugar daddy, that he will provide whatever one asks from world peace to a new pet puppy. He is not the source for that.

What this suggests is that our faith can overcome obstacles that at times may seem insurmountable, impossible, or insuperable. Our faith needs to mature and lead us through prayer to hope.

One thing that we are all hoping to accomplish is for the renewal and growth of the community of Christians here on our island. In order for this to happen we need to embrace the idea that we, the people of God, are the humanization of the dream of God, the dream that God has for how the kingdom should look, work and continue on Earth.  We need to work toward becoming the dream that God has for us as his beloved people. In doing so, we also need to acknowledge that we are not perfect, never were and never will be. We are imperfect and we are sinners. Bartimaeus acknowledged this and has given us a wonder phrase to use when we attempt to communicate our needs and desires to our Lord and Savior:, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” God’s mercy is wide and broad and deep; it can encompass all of us, just as we are all in God’s dream of what we can be.

Now, how do we proceed in becoming a part of what our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, calls the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement?  I think the first thing we do is inscribe the words of Bartimaeus in our hearts, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us”, and then open ourselves up to the possibilities that the dream of God has waiting for each one of us.



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