A little more than five hundred years before Jesus ministered to the people of Israel, the Chosen People were deported to all parts of the Babylonian Empire. Forced to live in different and unfamiliar cultures, they had to give up their many traditions developed since their movement into the Promised Land. They lost hope, they no longer had joy in their lives. The prophet Jeremiah spoke the Word of God to them telling them that the LORD had a plan for them. The remnant of Israel would be brought back from the land of the north. They would be gathered from the ends of the world together with the blind and the lame, with mothers and their children. Even though they departed their beloved homeland in tears, they would return with much laughter and rejoicing. Once again, they would sing with joy in their hearts.
The experience of ancient Israel was very much the same for the Jews living during the time Jesus visited Israel. They were losing hope as the Roman occupation began to slowly reform their culture. So, the poor suffered a lot. Jesus came to give them hope. Today you and I live in the post-Christian period. Now we are experiencing problems both in our culture and in the church. Millions of refugees bring their own cultures that seem not to mix so well with ours. We struggle to resolve some very difficult issues in learning how to live together. As a result, there is much unrest.
The Christian Church has been experiencing decline in membership for decades, not growth. As a result, many have lost both faith and hope. There is very little joy to be found among us. There is a story as far back as third century about a man who was anticipating death, not a peaceful death, a violent death. He wrote to a friend: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians – and I am one of them.” We have so much to learn from our ancestors. They found without hope there is no joy.
Today many struggle to pay their bills, to feed their families. Some have no hope of buying a house to shelter their loved ones. Many have become homeless. Unfortunately, some are disillusioned thinking that drugs and sex, with no desire to build a family, will lead to happiness. Sadly, in our newly structured culture, which is quickly becoming lawless, some think that hope and joy can be found in finding ways to prove they are better than their neighbors by using their strength to overcome their neighbors with violence. Many want something that they do not and cannot have. How can the use of violence against one’s neighbors bring peace?
Once there was a blind man who lived a miserable life, begging for everything and anything that would enable him to live a tolerable existence. It happened that Jesus was on the road going from village to village preaching a different kind of life. Bart had heard about the marvelous things Jesus was doing to help the poor and those who were in any way disabled. On this particular day as the crowd approached, Bart thought that he had nothing to lose and called out to Jesus. He had hope that Jesus would do for him what he had been doing for so many others. So, he called out: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” Those in the crowd told him to be quiet, don’t interrupt Jesus. Hearing the beggar yelling for attention, Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” Those in the crowd told Bart: “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” In midst of your sad life, do you have the courage to call out to Jesus, hoping for divine help?
Jesus asked Bart, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Master, I want to see.” He didn’t ask for money and wealth. He didn’t ask for worldly pleasures. He just wanted to be able to see everything that you and I take for granted. He wanted to see. With hope, he believed that Jesus would help him. Jesus understood as he looked at Bart and calmly said, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately Bart received sight. What joy flooded the soul of Bartimaeus. Immediately he got up; but he did not go home. Instead, he followed Jesus. Surely, many in the crowd were also blind; for they failed to hear God’s call in their lives. What about you?
As we worship together, Jesus asks “What can I do for you?” God has a plan for you, just as he had a plan for the ancient Jews who had been deported to all parts of the Babylonian Empire, forced to abandon the promised land given to them. Yet, they maintained hope that someday they would return to their beloved homeland. God also had a plan for the chosen people who suffered under the Roman occupation. Jesus’s mission was to give them hope for a better life.
Today, God’s plan continues to be carried out though Jesus who gives us hope for a better life. Joy is not in prosperity founded on money, or in all the sensual pleasures offered by our secular society. Joy is not to be found in overcoming your neighbor with violence and destruction. What is it that you want Jesus to do for you? If you listen closely, Jesus invites you to join him on the cross. Not what you expected to hear, is it? Who wants more suffering? Yet God has a plan for you. Jesus offers a new way. Ask him to let you see what it is that will bring you peace and joy. You are not going to find freedom without the cross. With the cross comes the new life, the resurrected life. Once you realize this, do what Bartimaeus did. Get up and follow Jesus. Do what Jesus did. Reach out to your new neighbors who have strange ways that differ from what is most familiar to you. Learn to love one another as Jesus taught. Then you will see clearly as did Bartimaeus. In faith you will find hope and joy will follow!