28 October 2018 / 30th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B
• Jeremiah 31:7-9 • Psalm 126 •Hebrews 5:1-6 • + Mark
10:46-52 •
•• Title: Where
Are You ? (Faith)
[__01_] In the
Gospel, Jesus said to the disciples – regarding Bartmaeus, the blind man, “Call
him” which means, “Call him over…”
And, by calling Bartimaeus, they –
Jesus and Bartimaeus are connected. The call is a connection, a personal and
also specific geographic connection in a particular place.
By calling Bartimaeus, Jesus knew
where he was. By Bartimaeus calling out – vocally – to Jesus, Bartimaeus knew where Jesus was.
It used to be that way for us.
[__02_] At one time, when you or I called
973.325.0110, that is the number of the parish rectory-office, and someone
answered, you knew that you were connected to someone at One Eagle Rock Avenue,
West Orange, New Jersey 07052.
Now, with call forwarding, mobile –
cellular phones, it’s not so simple. It’s different.
Someone observed to me recently that
now we ask something on the phone that we never used to ask. We ask, “Where are
you?”
You called your sister, your mother–
in 1985 – you knew where she was.
“Where are you?” meant ‘what room are you in?’ or ‘are you in the kitchen
or upstairs?’
Now, ‘where are you’ could mean: are you in New York or Colorado?
[__02_] It used
to be scientifically verifiable where a person was – where you or I were –
based on the phone number.
Now,
‘where-are-you’ is an act of faith. You are trusting the other person is
really going to tell you where he is, where she is.
It’s like the VERIZON telephone
advertisement in which the young college student is foolish enough to take a
picture of himself (a.k.a.,selfie)
on the beach, a picture that has a date and time stamp and send it to his
mother and father, but he’s supposed to be at his final exams.
“Where are you?” The response is an
act of faith.
[__04_] It’s a
question we might say to begin our prayers. “Where are you, Lord? Where are you, Jesus … Where are you,
God …” in my life?
Where are you in the difficulty or
distress I have?
On the other hand, in moments of
great joy and celebration, we might also ask the same thing, giving thanks not
for my own – your own – achievement and talent, but where were you, God – in
helping me to reach this point?
[__05_] Where are you? Where R U ?
The disciples know exactly where Jesus
is. They have been following him. They have been on this route. They know
exactly where Jesus is and they are trying to protect him, like the Secret
Service or like State Troopers.
They are staying in lockstep with him
and trying to keep people away from him.
Jesus is given permission by his
“handlers” to talk to some and not others. In the Gospel of next Sunday –
notably – there is no objection because Jesus is being approached by a learned,
distinguished scribe. The disciples – it seems do not usually – intervene when
Jesus is approached by someone of importance or reputation. The disciples are OK with the reputable
folks.
But, Bartimaues – he’s much simpler,
less important.
Ironically – the paradox – is that the
disciples – who can see – are not really recognizing who Jesus is. Bartimaeus –
who is blind – recognizes Jesus.
[__06_] Bartimaeus is crying out in prayer, in
petition, “where are you?”
Or,
“where have you been?”
Bartimaeus has positioned himself
strategically on this Jerusalem-Jericho marathon route. It’s not quite a marathon,
only 16.7 miles, but he is on that route and by his location, he finds Jesus
because of where he is.
[__07_] “Where are you?” is a way to begin our prayer, to be in Jesus’
presence.
The same question is asked by God to
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden – “where are you?” After the eat from the
Tree of Knowledge, God does not come after them with a threatening statement,
but just the question “where are you”.
He knows where they are, but asks
anyway.
And, this is a way for us to begin or
continue our relationships, to ask the question – where are you?
[__08_] ”Where
are you?” is an act of faith, not simply if you are wondering where a family
member or friend has gone …
But it’s an act of faith to ask “where
are you, God” … before I admit that I am wrong. In other words, I ask where is
God, where is God’s mercy.
It is an act of faith to admit that I
am wrong, that I have a fault or sin to be forgiven, and an act of faith to
admit that God is someplace nearby and will forgive me.
[__08.01_] To
admit that I am right…that is not an act of faith, that is scientifically
verifiable. That’s my attempt at humor.
[__09_] To admit I am wrong, is an act of faith.
To give myself away, to give away some
of my time, to surrender my talent or ability for the good of someone else,
this is also an act of faith.
And, this invites to ask – Where you,
God ..in this talent or ability that I am called to use, to serve, to help
someone else? Where are you leading me?
[__10_] Or, if someone tells us the truth or tells us
something we do not want to hear, we might also ask – where are you?
We might ask the other person – where are
you coming from?
But,
we might also ask in the silence of our own hearts, when we hear
something we do not want to hear, “where are you?”
And, if we are not sure if it is true,
or if we think some it might be true or an invitation for us to change, we ask –
where are you God – in this?
So, I can draw closer to you each day, as Bartimaeus does on the road from
Jericho to Jerusalem.
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