Our Sunday Message

A Children's Bible Lesson: Mark 10:46-52
Rev. Dr. Kenneth A. Corr
October 29, 2006
Twenty-first Sunday of Kingdomtide

  Today is Children’s Day at First Baptist Church and we have given our 1st grade children Bibles. I want to talk to all the children today. Boys and girls, what will you do with the Bibles that we have given to you? I hope that you will read it. I hope that you will understand it. I hope that you will try to live it. But I need to warn you that reading this book can change your life in ways that you might not expect.
  I know a young adult who grew up reading the Bible and chose to live in the midst of a civil war in Africa. Her parents never intended that. I know a father who read the Bible and moved his family into a declining neighborhood that was known for drug deals and gang activity in order to work for social justice. I know a young medical student who read the Bible and after medical school, chose to work in an inner city clinic, barely making enough money to survive.
  I know a young woman who read the Bible and was arrested in a non-violent political protest. I just feel like I need to warn you that reading this book can change your life in ways that you might not expect.
  Every once in a while, there is an Adoniram Judson, who read the Bible and became the first Baptist foreign missionary and spent the rest of his life in an Asian country; and a Martin Luther King, Jr., who read the Bible and became the Baptist preacher who challenged the laws that kept black and white children separate; and a Clarence Jordan, who read the Bible and called Southern Baptists to examine their commitment to war and violence; and a Sarah Jobe, who read the Bible in this church, and believed that women could be called by God to pastor a Baptist church. So, I think that I need to warn you that reading this Bible can change you life.
  For example, this story of Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, asks us to change the way that we think about some of the people that we see every day. Bartimaeus was a beggar who begged money from people on the side of the road. Do you ever see people who beg for money, maybe when you are going in to Walgreen’s or the Piggly Wiggly?
  There was something about Bartimaeus that made him look different. He was blind. Often the people that we see who are begging look a little different. They may have a physical handicap like Bartimaeus or they may have a mental handicap.
  Bartimaeus was probably a little dirty sitting there beside the road. He did not have a job and he was poor. Often the people that we see who are begging are dirty and poor. Sometimes they even smell bad.
What do you think about these people?
  Let me tell you a story. I was invited to a luncheon last week in honor of my friend Billy Newton. Billy Newton is the chaplain at Rhodes College and he is leaving Memphis soon to go to Maryville College. And so, there was a luncheon at Evergreen Presbyterian Church to honor Billy and to say goodbye.
  I drove over to the church and when I drove into the parking lot, I immediately saw two men sitting on a bench near the door. I did not know the men, but they looked homeless. They looked probably like Bartimaeus looked, sitting by the roadside.
  When I saw them, I noticed a young adult woman getting out of her car and walking towards the door, near these men. Do you know what I thought? I thought that I needed to hurry and get out of my car and go help the young woman into the building because these men looked scary to me.
  Before I got there, the young woman had stopped to talk to the two men and now they were going into the building with her. Do you know what I thought? I wished that she had not invited them in.
That is probably how the people of Jericho thought about Bartimaeus. As Jesus was passing by, the Bible says that Bartimaeus wanted to talk to Jesus, but, “Many sternly ordered him to be quiet.” They did not want Bartimaeus to be seen or heard. They did not want him to be invited in.
  Why do you think they did that? Why did I not want the two homeless men at the party for Billy Newton? We do that because we make judgments about people. We just assume that because they are homeless or dirty or handicapped or different that we will not like them, or that they won’t belong, or that they are dangerous and scary and we try to keep them out.
  The Bible says that “many” ordered him to be quiet. It was the majority opinion. Do you know what that means, “the majority opinion”? It means that if they had voted that day, Bartimaeus would have been silenced. If you are going to follow Jesus, the majority opinion is not always the right answer. Just because we vote does not make it right.
  Jesus did not listen to the majority. In spite of their best efforts to keep Bartimaeus out of the picture, Jesus heard him and called to him. Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” That is a good Bible question. It can be a good way to think about what Christian ministry is to do. All we have to do is ask what people want.
Sometimes we assume that we already know what people want before we ask. I thought I knew what these two men wanted. There was a big banquet and lots of food and I thought, “They just want to get something to eat.” Well there was a lot of food, but I was a little resentful that they were here for Billy’s party. I didn’t ask what they wanted or needed. I just assumed.
  But Jesus asked. “What do you want me to do for you?” It seems like such an easy thing. Bartimaeus answered, “I want you to see again.” The Bible says, “Jesus said to him, ‘Go; you faith has made you well.’ Immediately, he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”
Bartimaeus became a follower of Jesus. And we know him as Bartimaeus, not just a label, “blind beggar.” We know him as a man with a name and a father and family history.
  The people that we see at Walgreen’s or the Piggly Wiggly are not just homeless, or bums, or beggars, or street people. They are not just the labels that we give them. They have a name.
  We had a very nice lunch at Billy’s party and then someone stood up and said, “Does anyone want to say a word about what Billy Newton has meant to them?” One of the homeless men stood up and told his name. He explained that he was here because of what Billy had meant to him. He told a story about how Billy had helped him when he was drunk. He told how Billy had helped him to get sober. He told where he was now living. He gave a wonderful testimony and when he was finished, Billy stood up and they hugged. And I was shocked. This was not a homeless man at all. He was invited to the party. He had a name. And I had been all wrong. I wish that I had not been so prejudiced about this young man. I wish that I could be more Christian in my attitude like Billy Newton.
  You are going to see a lot of people this week. Some of them will be like Bartimaeus. Some of them will have a physical or mental handicap. Some of them will be different from you. But don’t judge them before you know them.
  Memphis is going to miss Billy Newton. Where are the Christians like Billy Newton going to come from? Well, boys and girls, maybe some of you will become Christians like Billy Newton because you will read the Bible, understand it, you will try to live it, and it will change you. At least, that is what I hope.