Thirtieth Sunday of the Year

If we are to love our neighbours, before doing anything else we must see our neighbours.

With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists,

we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces.

Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.

Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

Last week Jesus asked James and John, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ when they wanted to have a seat either side of Jesus. Today, Jesus encounters a blind beggar and again asks the same question, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ Bartimaeus tries to survive within a marginalising system because of his blindness. Jesus is on his way to overturn tables in the Temple to protest a system that impoverishes and marginalises. Jesus is heading for Jerusalem to protest a system that leaves so many impoverished and marginalised and is going to flip the tables of an economic, social, political and religious system that privileges a few at the expense of many. It is not just a healing story. Just removing everyone’s blindness cannot fix this patriarchal system that would have women be men, people of colour, Indigenous people and immigrants conforming with the dominant culture, LGBTIQ+ becoming straight and gender-conforming. The solution is to challenge the system so that anyone who is disabled is not excluded or marginalised. Though Bartimaeus gets his sight back, Jesus continued to challenge a system that causes a blind or disabled person to be a beggar in the first place. And we must do the same.

In stories like the one in the gospel, blindness was associated with being sinful. It was something that one needed to be saved from. However, we cannot just see that removing one’s blindness is a solution. The solution is to challenge and change the system so that ‘blind’ people are not marginalised or excluded. This story offers a repeated theme within the gospels: the crowd blocks people trying to get at Jesus but find increased efforts to respond to that exclusion. But exclusion and gatekeeping also existed and exists amongst Jesus’ followers. Those closest to Jesus often present the biggest obstacles to those on the margins of society who wish to encounter Jesus. Woman pastors within traditions opposing their ordination have to work hard to follow their calling. People of colour must work hard to be recognised, heard, and acknowledged in workplaces, churches and communities. In much of Christianity homophobia and transphobia continue. LGBTIQ+ people who love and follow Jesus remain on the edges within their faith traditions. These people express courage where they, like Bartimaeus, claim and reassert their dignity despite discouragement from others. Bartimaeus just wants to see, and experience all that his sight would enable him to have in his society.

We can find and see Bartimaeus of today in the faces and struggles of people who are poor, First Nations people, Palestinian people, victims/survivors of sexual violence, migrants and refugees, journalists, health workers, and human rights defenders, among others. A genuine love of life is expressed in the sustained determination to survive each day. As we view our TV screens and other media devices, Bartimaeus represents the many people who are begging and shouting for mercy, justice and healing through their unified voices and collective actions for a dignified life for all. These calls become all the louder and persistent amidst the climate of violence, injustice, and inequality. This is the faith we see in Bartimaeus that can bring the power of healing, justice, and liberation. Through the healing encounter with Jesus, Bartimaeus receives his sight and liberation from the people’s unjust treatment towards him.

The disciples are trapped within inherited and narrow expectations of Jesus and his mission and do not see the increased possibilities before them. Our lives need to revolve around seeing what others do not. The rich young man a few weeks ago, was obsessed with personal salvation by being good. He was invited to a change of focus from both his possessions and his beliefs, privileges, habits, and prejudices to see how these disconnected him from people. It makes it possible for us to ask the liberating question, ‘What do you want be to do for you?’ Bartimaeus only wanted to be on the same level as others in a society that saw him as ‘last.’ Many disenfranchised and underprivileged people only want to live on the same level as those privileged by our system – whether they are women, Indigenous people, LGBTIQA+ people or people of colour. When they go out on the streets in protest and or celebration it is to celebrate their equal worth as well as challenge systems that create less-thans and greater-thans. They do not ask to be treated greater than others but to be on the same level as others in a society that economically, socially, religiously, and politically evaluates him as “last.” So many disenfranchised and underprivileged people just want to be able to live and thrive on the same level ground as those who are privileged in our present system. Pope Francis has called on us to embrace the ‘art of encounter’ or ‘culture of encounter.’ He said, ‘Let us not soundproof our hearts; let us not remain barricaded in our certainties’ (because) So often our certainties can make us closed. Let us listen to one another. God is not found in neat orderly places, distant from reality, but…he meets us where we are, on the often rocky roads of life.’ For Jesus, the cry of those pleading for help is a challenge – a challenge to the system.

Though the last shall be first in Jesus’ way of doing things, those closest to him push ‘the other’ to the edges of the road or the end of the line. Our churches, neighbourhoods, communities and families are filled with people living with endless challenges and suffering: grief, addictions, life-threatening illness, anxiety about loved ones, extreme poverty, unemployment and violence. Bartimaeus represents everyone who is unwilling to remain on the margins and unwilling to accept the fact that things cannot be different.

We are challenged today about what we see. Whom do we shun, rebuke or quieten? What games do we employ to avoid the perennial question: ‘where is your brother or sister’? Who is crying out for understanding and compassion? We need to examine where we might put barriers to our empathy, compassion, kindness, generosity or forgiveness. Jesus comes to heal the blindness that immobilises us or causes us to be passive bystanders. Jesus insists on connection. Jesus prioritises relationship, human dignity, and intimacy. The God Jesus makes present models and demands inclusion, access, and respect through the other’s consent. ‘What do you want me to do for you.?’ People with disabilities know what they want and what is best for them and can make decisions about their bodies, minds, and spirits. The specific disability or ability of an individual is not revealed to reflect on their worth, but rather to show the bias of society that frequently has us more willing to offer support to those we deem worthy and to remind us this "ranking" is not of Jesus.

Though we might give notional assent to the inherent sacredness of every human being and every living thing, our action does not all rise up that. The concerns of daily life can dull our vision. Arundhati Roy in Listening to the Grasshoppers writing about our engagement with others, says, “It means keeping an eagle eye on public institutions and demanding accountability. It means putting your ear to the ground and listening to the whispering of the truly powerless. It means giving a forum to myriad voices from the hundreds of resistance movements across the country which are speaking about real things.... such as bonded labour, marital rape, sexual preferences, women’s wages, uranium dumping, unsustainable mining, weavers’ woes, farmers’ suicides.” [p.17]

It is difficult to learn to look differently - to see the world as God does with empathy and compassion for all creation. Asking to see could call into question many things we have believed. Following Jesus involves seeing things as they really are which mean dismantling our beliefs, our theology and worldview. When we see things with Jesus’ eyes we will see suffering, betray, death, many broken places in our world. When we look at what is ugliest, hardest, and fragile in our world we also see (eventually) resurrection.

A final quote from Arundhati Roy: ‘The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence; either way you are accountable.’

We see that the politics of Jesus includes transforming systems and lives through love, the radical embrace of others and compassion that leads to action. He invites us to follow him in working for a more just and merciful world.

Holy One,

in the midst of suffering,

help us to resist the depression and marginalization

that suffering can bring.

In difficult times help us to remember

who and whose we are in You

and to live with hope

because of your unfailing love.

Amen.