{"id":32,"date":"2014-05-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/10\/sunday-28th-october-2012\/"},"modified":"2014-05-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-10T00:00:00","slug":"sunday-28th-october-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/10\/sunday-28th-october-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday 28th October 2012 &#8211; Jesus is calling us"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><font size=\"4\"><strong>The Word This Week:<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n<ul style=\"\">\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=225#hebrew_reading\">Job 42:1-6, 10-17<\/a> and <a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=225#psalm_reading\">Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0<\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=225#hebrew_oth_reading\">Jeremiah 31:7-9<\/a> and <a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=225#psalm_oth_reading\">Psalm 126<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0<\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=225#epistle_reading\">Hebrews 7:23-28<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0<\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=225#gospel_reading\">Mark 10:46-52<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"4\"><strong><span>Thoughts on the Word:<\/span><\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n<p><span>Firstly I apologise that this is late! Due to the technical difficulties we have encountered I post for you a sermon by a Lutheran pastor and scholar for this past Sunday.\u00a0 The technical difficulties should be all sorted to enable me to annoy you with my own ramblings again this coming week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>Sermon on Mark 10:46-52 (RCL), by David ZersenMOVING ON FROM YOUR JERICHO<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>The  Christian life is a journey to an exciting new frontier. As we travel,  we follow a leader and we leave old worlds behind. The texts that we  consider in our Sunday sermons are often travel narratives, giving clear  indications about the road less traveled. As Jesus leads his disciples  on, we too respond to his summons. Today we are leaving Jericho with  him. We need to pay attention to the stops along the way. Little by  little we will discover that an old world is collapsing behind us and a  new one, filled with joy and possibility, is summoning us. Let&#8217;s join in  the journey.<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">&#8220;Jericho, Jericho, Jericho&#8221;<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>Many of us  are used to jiving rhythmically to the words &#8220;J\u00e9..ri..cho&#8221; in the Negro  Spiritual, &#8220;Joshua fit de battle of Jericho.&#8221; The story of the battle  when the walls of Jericho fall as told in the Book of Joshua is meant to  demonstrate the power of God to destroy human barriers. Although the  New Testament has references to Jericho in the story of the Good  Samaritan as well as that of Zacchaeus, it is the Old Testament drama  that is called to mind when the city name is mentioned, and it is that  drama that forms the basis for the story in today&#8217;s Gospel lesson.<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">An outcast with a name<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>Most  cultures have outcasts, people who live on the margins of a society and  seem to belong to no one. We know of the Dalits of India who are born  into their caste and cannot leave it. Outcasts sometimes had diseases  that were assumed to be infectious, requiring such people to live  outside the city. In Jesus&#8217; day, outcasts were those who didn&#8217;t measure  up to the expectations of purity laws set by the religiously righteous.  Extremes among the outcasts are well known to us from the Essene  writings. They make it clear that people with imperfections held by the  blind, deaf, mute, lame, disabled, and ill were not allowed in the  community of the righteous. Normally, these people were excluded from  families and society in general. They lived outside the city, begged for  donations and generally had no names. The man in our story is unusual.  We even know his father&#8217;s name, Timaeus. Bar-timaeus, the son of Timaeus  was blind. Jesus and his disciples are heading out of town and  Bartimaeus is sitting at the roadside. One wonders, as we try to imagine  this situation, how often we encounter unfortunates whose names we  know. Who are the Bartimaeuses in your world? Where to you typically see  them?<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">Blind who need to see<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>This is an interesting  story because along with another story about a blind man in Mark 8 it  frames a section in which Jesus is teaching his disciples, but they  don&#8217;t seem to get the point. They don&#8217;t seem to see what he is showing  them. They don&#8217;t see what the Transfiguration is about; they don&#8217;t see  why they couldn&#8217;t drive out evil spirits as Jesus did; they don&#8217;t see  what he means about his betrayal and they&#8217;re afraid to ask about it;  they don&#8217;t see why children should be brought to Jesus; they don&#8217;t see  why a rich man can&#8217;t enter the Kingdom; James and John don&#8217;t see why  they can&#8217;t be first in the Kingdom. There are all too many things that  his disciples don&#8217;t see because they are spiritually blind. It seems to  make good sense to the author of Mark to put the two stories of the  healing of the blind men as bookmarks around the section on spiritual  blindness. We should be willing to ask ourselves as well what those  things are that seeing, we do not see. When do we fail to see what is  truly important in our relationships and in our priorities? When do we  fail to see someone when it is perfectly obvious that he or she has been  there all along?<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">Seeking to be first along the way<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>It&#8217;s  interesting that crowds were following Jesus, listening, but not  hearing; watching, but not seeing, speaking but saying nothing. They  pressed all around him as he left the city, leaving Bartimaeus in the  weeds in a ditch by the side of the road. But he shouts, &#8220;Jesus, have  mercy on me.&#8221; Those who want to, at first tell him to shut up. After  all, they want to be first in line, ahead of this beggar. At dinner with  our grandchildren this week, I asked, &#8220;Who would like the first dish of  ice cream?&#8221; &#8220;I would,&#8221; shouted the four-year-old, because she is just a  child. She hasn&#8217;t yet learned how to let others go ahead. Yet, those on  the roadside with Jesus were not children. They were pushy,  self-centered adults who made their way aggressively into the first  spot. <br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>Those of us who have discovered the joy in serving others  understand what&#8217;s happening here. Once you know that it&#8217;s possible to be  fulfilled by allowing others to be first in line know that those we  seek to push to the front are not acting out of arrogance or  self-righteousness. Bartimaeus was asking for mercy. Like all those  heralded by Jesus for their humility, the publican, the prodigal and the  widow at the mite box, Bartimaeus had nothing to present. When along  with such we recognize that we have nothing to present either, then we  hear and see that Jesus is calling us as well.<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">Jesus is calling us<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>Bartimaeus  discovered that Jesus was summoning him. He was calling him to come  through the crowd and share his need. I heard this week about a woman  whose marriage and family life were collapsing and she didn&#8217;t know which  way to turn. She felt that God had abandoned her. Not so. Jesus is  calling her. He knows her by name, just as he knew Bartimaeus. In the  presidential debates in the U.S., candidates love to say, &#8220;This week I  met a man in New Jersey, Bill Simmons, who has been out of work for 12  months. I told him that I&#8217;m working on getting a job for him.&#8221; Audiences  love to hear that candidates know people by name. Long before  politicians called citizens by name, God had claimed us. In baptism, he  called us by name and said &#8220;You are mine.&#8221; When we feel abandoned and  alone, God knows our name. When we struggle to make ends meet for our  family and try to reclaim a family from troubled dead-ends, we can know  that our names are written in heaven. We belong to God for time and  eternity. When is it most important for you to hear God calling your  name? How would you like him to assure you that you are his own?<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">Throwing your cloak aside<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>When  you really hear him calling, when the cross and the empty tomb shout  that you are loved and that you belong to God, then you can do what  Bartimaeus did. He threw his cloak aside and ran to Jesus. His cloak was  his sole possession. It kept him warm. It was his blanket. It was his  protection against the heat and cold. But when a new assurance, a  greater protection approached, there was no longer a need for it. With  what joy and confidence he ran when he knew that Jesus was calling! What  is the cloak you would be willing to throw aside when you hear Jesus  calling your name? What dependencies can you relinquish when you know  that God has your best interests at heart, your future in the palm of  his hand? <br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><u style=\"\">Letting a new world begin<\/u><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>As we leave  Jericho with Jesus and his disciples, it&#8217;s powerful to reflect on what  the author of Mark&#8217;s Gospel is telling us. Bartimaeus &#8220;shouts&#8221; as the  entourage leaves the city. Do we remember when this last happened? When  the shouting brought about the collapse of an old way of life at Jericho  and a new beginning led to a land of promise? When the walls came  tumbling down? And did not that old Joshua at Jericho pre-figure a new  Yeshua, who would give sight to the blind and hope to the despondent?  This was an important moment in salvation history, this stop at the  ditch outside of Jericho. For Bartimaeus, his blindness ended, the walls  of a restrictive and isolated world came to an end. More than that,  however, he entered an emancipating and open-ended community led by the  Son of David. <br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>And you may as well. Jesus is calling you at this  crossroads in life to move on from your Jericho&#8212; to throw your  encumbering baggage aside and to let the walls of a world that restricts  and confines you collapse behind you. He points you to the future he  has secured for you by dying to dead-end living and rising to a life  that finds itself fulfilled in service to others. Jesus is calling you  by name. The road before you is open and he&#8217;s way up ahead.<br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span>The above sermon was sourced <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de\/predigt.php?id=3831&#038;kennung=20121028en\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Word This Week: Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Jeremiah 31:7-9 and Psalm 126\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Hebrews 7:23-28\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Mark 10:46-52 Thoughts on the Word: Firstly I apologise that this is late! Due to the technical difficulties we have encountered I post for you a sermon by a Lutheran pastor and scholar for this past Sunday.\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/10\/sunday-28th-october-2012\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Sunday 28th October 2012 &#8211; Jesus is calling us&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}