Most of us are labelled according to the company we keep. If we associate with worthy individuals, we'll probably be accepted as solid citizens ourselves. And when police go searching for the accomplices of a criminal, they tend to look for people of a similar kind. Sometimes that leads to unfortunate and unfair outcomes. Sometimes the innocent are suspected, simply because they are associates of the criminal. Perhaps they are unemployed. Perhaps they belong to certain racial groups. In any case, they're regarded as guilty by association.
In first century Jewish society guilt by association was a strongly held belief. Jesus himself was regarded with contempt because he associated with people seen as sinners. The man in today's gospel story is a victim of that kind of belief, as we'll see.
On one occasion two of Jesus' followers came to Jesus asking a favour. His reply was, "What is it you want me to do for you?" They were asking for the wrong thing. Their request was denied as inappropriate.
In today's story Mark has Jesus asking a man called Bartimaeus the same question - "What do you want me to do for you?"
This time, the request is regarded as the right sort. The man receives the outcome he desires. In fact, he wished to be delivered from two things: first, from his physical affliction; second, from the 'guilt by association' that his affliction imposed.
The action takes place in Jericho, in the Jordan valley. Mark says there is a big crowd following Jesus around. As he leaves Jericho, they follow him. Sitting by the roadside as they pass by is a blind beggar called Bartimaeus. We can imagine him wondering who is causing all the noise and fuss. Why are all these people gathered? Someone tells him it's the rabbi from Nazareth called Jesus. Obviously Jesus is well known among the ordinary people. His reputation as a healer and teacher precedes him. When Bartimaeus hears who it is, he does the only thing he can do, to attract attention. He begins to shout as loudly as he can: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."
By calling Jesus 'Son of David', Bartimaeus is putting into words Mark the gospel writer's belief about Jesus. The 'Son of David' is understood as the Messiah. Significantly, Bartimaeus does not shout, "Please, come and restore my sight." Instead, he asks for "mercy".
Behind this plea for mercy is the ancient understanding that a physical affliction such as blindness is the result of sin - of association with evil. Through his affliction, Bartimaeus is plainly guilty by association. In the original Aramaic, the name Mark calls him probably means 'Son of uncleanness'. So Bartimaeus asks forgiveness for the sin he believes brought on his blindness. Perhaps he understands it as his parents' sin. Given that he asks to "see again", perhaps he thinks the blindness is caused by his own sin.
In any case, he believes that God's forgiveness is mediated through Jesus the Messiah. And Jesus responds very positively to his request. "Go. Your faith has saved you", he says. Saved him from what? From blindness, certainly, but also from association with negative or evil thoughts. Bartimaeus is not just saved from blindness. He is saved from disablement of mind, body and spirit. He now can see himself as clean in the eyes of the community. He now can see himself as 'clean' in body. He now can see himself as clean in God's eyes.
What can we do with a story like this? How can it offer enlightenment to us in our scientifically sophisticated age? Could it be that in an age of enlightened medical science guilt by association with evil continues to prevent healing of mind, body and spirit? What exactly did Jesus mean when he told Bartimaeus that his 'faith' had saved him? Let's ask that question in relation to mind, body and spirit.
First, what is the association between FAITH, THE MIND, AND HEALING? By 'mind' I mean the capacity to reason, to ask questions, to make choices, to explore new possibilities. Surely these are the activities that lead to scientific 'truth', where knowledge is tightly defined in equations and mathematical surety. Surely those things are antithetical to faith. Surely faith is about belief in things unseen, in things that are uncertain.
I've sometimes said that faith and certainty do not belong together. By that I mean that uncertainty is what gives rise to faith. An attempt to combine certainty and faith is a barrier to the mystery that is God. People whose faith can be stated in theological propositions and dogma are less well equipped to find God in new and different ways - through their own faith journey.
So how is it possible to explore and think and reason about the world, and still be a person of faith?
The conversation between scientists and theologians indicates that faith can actually encourage scientific exploration. Christian scientists have found that faith brings an openness of mind to the outcome of investigations. Faith does not have preconceived ideas about end results. A basic belief in the creation of the universe by a good God can help physicists cope with the ultimate mystery that they find in their explorations.
The Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, Professor Keith Ward, is also a well respected partner in conversations between theologians and scientists. He describes God as the 'cosmic mind'. In his book, God, Chance and Necessity (P60), he writes this:
The cosmic mind is beyond speech and utterance, beyond duality and description, beyond being as we can understand it, without beginning or end, without limitation or boundary. There is nothing that can be compared with it, and whatever is spoken of it fails to describe it as it is. It is wrapped in light so bright and blinding that we cannot penetrate it. The ultimately unknown and the ultimately powerful, it is the source of all beings.
Keith Ward's acceptance of the mystery of God through faith does not stop him from exploring the limits of scientific knowledge and engaging in conversation with scientists. In fact it works in his favour. Science is much less arrogant now than the days when it fiercely defended its 'own turf' against the theologians. Albert Einstein once described science as "tapping into the thoughts of God".
Faith is a very personal thing, it is in the end an intensely personal thing. Faith has to be won.
I think that is why Jesus was so relenting and said “If you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed”, now mustard seeds are very tiny. He was saying that if you can only get a tiny smidgin of real faith, marvellous things can happen.
It is what you inwardly deeply believe that matters. And I’m suggesting to have something like that is normally pretty costly for the reasons I’ve already mentioned.
If you are a thoughtful person, you will be asking as all sorts of questions about the universe and life. And you will be battling all kinds of things you can’t understand, and even if you get very academic and read all the philosophers and all the theological gurus, you will still find millions of unanswered questions. If your mind is alive, you can’t pour the pacific ocean into a pint cup and you can’t pour this universe into a little finite mind either.
And if you are a sensitive person, when things happen to you, you will question providence. You will ask God Why? Because you feel intensely that these things are cruel, some things do seem unfair and so unless you give you mind a narcotic - of course you are going to feel doubt. You wouldn’t be alive if you didn’t.
But as you work your way through those things and question your faith you will arrive at in time at a greater understanding of the mysterious reality we call God.
Bartimaeus did not understand physical and psychological healing the way we do. But he instinctively knew that he would find healing of mind through faith in the goodwill of God. That faith enabled him to overcome the power of negative thinking within his own mind, and in the minds of people around him.
Second, what is the association between FAITH, THE BODY AND HEALING? Bartimaeus reminds us that this association can be both positive and negative. Dr Jerome Groopman is a cancer specialist at Harvard Medical School. In an address to 200 religious practitioners and social workers on the influence of religious belief in the treatment of cancer he told some stories of the positive effects of religious faith in his patients.
One story was about a woman who refused treatment for breast cancer. She was sure it was her rightful retribution from God for engaging in an extramarital affair. Because of those negative thoughts about God, Dr Groopman could do nothing to help her physical illness.
We don't know what Bartimaeus did, that he believed caused his blindness. We do know that when he encountered Jesus the link between his misguided view of God and his bodily affliction was broken. When he asked for, and received, "mercy", the result was healing.
I remember a woman in a previous Parish and her dedication to visiting the sick. Once or twice a week she would load a little cane basket with freshly made scones and slices, or lemons, or little bunches of daphne. She would then spend the afternoon dropping in on the frail elderly or terminally ill. But there was one old lady who bothered my her greatly. This woman suffered badly from ulcers, but refused to take pain killers, or sleeping pills, or any medication that would have made things easier. The problem was, she believed she had been a bad mother to her two children, both of whom had taken to the 'drink'. She therefore believed that her ulcers were punishment from God. Negative thoughts about God can be a barrier to the healing of the body.
On the other hand, there is a strong correlation between the feeling of being loved by God, and healing of the body. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry recently published results of a study of patients hospitalized with mental illness. Dr Marilyn Baetz reported that:
"A notable finding in our group of inpatients was that the length of stay in the psychiatric ward was significantly shorter for those patients with more frequent worship attendance and for those who used religious thoughts or activities as the most important strategy to cope with their illness."
In all studies regarding the link between healing and faith, the factor that seemed to facilitate healing was not so much the frequency of prayers. The essential ingredient was putting into practice the love, compassion, empathy and deep caring that was asked for in the prayers. These things produced strongly positive responses in the patients, whose rate of recovery increased greatly. In one study carried out in the Netherlands, intrinsic faith in a good God was shown to have a strong link with recovery from depression. Whether loving care was given by family members or friends, or by health professionals or hospital chaplains, it was identified with far greater and faster rates of healing.
But what of those for whom healing doesn’t come. Well, we have to learn to accept that sometimes healing does not take place, even when we have prayed for healing. And that wasn’t due to a deficiency in faith, Paul the Apostle is a classic illustration, the thorn in the flesh about which he writes The fact is that Paul did not get this illness taken away from him, no way. Paul was not healed and not everyone who was taken to Jesus was healed, he healed some but not all and that remains true today - some are healed and some are not.
To me one of the most poignant stories I have ever come across from real life was the final year or two of the life of Dr William Sangster, the great preacher.
Some of you may know his story. On his mid fifties Sangster was a tremendous man, great mind, great personality, he held huge congregations spell pound with a marvellous presentation of the gospel.
And then he got progressive muscular atrophy and of all places it firstly affected his throat. This eloquent preacher found that he couldn't speak. And then it attacked his legs and he became bed ridden, finally he could only use two fingers to write articles in books.
And in his biography we are told that he was visited by many faith healers and they said now come on Doctor Sangster you should know that if you pray to God, God will heal you. And Sangster wouldn't buy it, even while he was there increasingly crippled he would not buy that.
He had no right to demand that God heal him at all. "I will pray that God's will, will be done" said Sangster. “And if I am to suffer I will meet that suffering with what ever courage and grace I can". That was Sangster's approach and what a remarkable achievement it was.
His son tells us that his Father preached his best sermon when he could neither speak nor write, but by the way he lived in his last few months. Following his death they found little notes in the chest of draws beside his bed, notes that Sangster had written to himself while he could still write "I must be cheerful, I must be sensitive to my wife's tiredness, I must not be depressing, I must keep praying”
When he died at the age of 57 and a half, it was very peacefully. This eloquent proclaimer of the gospel with a very robust faith was not healed, but he believed that God was there.
And that to me is the critical thing. If we do not find healing that doesn't mean to say that God is not with us, God will give us the courage and the power to endure. And sometimes we will be able to use our very weakness as a blessing for other people - that's grace
And that leads to my final point.
Thirdly, what is the association between FAITH, SPIRIT AND HEALING? In another story told by Dr Groopman, a terminally ill patient told him that his final role in her life would be to administer "the medicine of friendship". "Ultimately," he said, "we're mortal. There will come a time when the body cannot be healed. But you can always ask for healing of the spirit. Because until the very last breath, the soul can be reconciled, and the soul can be healed."
When Bartimaeus was told that his faith had saved him, he experienced healing of his spirit. We know this because Mark says he followed Jesus on "the way". 'Followers of The Way' was the name given to Jesus' disciples in the early years of the church. 'The Way' entailed caring for others by observing the teachings of Jesus. His followers discovered that through this came their own bodily healing and spiritual wholeness.
I want to conclude by telling you an old Chinese story about a woman whose only son died. In her grieving, she went to the holy man and said, 'What prayers or magic do you have to bring my son back to life?' Instead of sending her away or trying to reason with her, he said, 'Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We'll use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.'
The woman set off at once in search of that magical mustard seed. First she went to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, 'I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It's very important to me.' They told her, 'You've certainly come to the wrong place,' and began to describe all the tragic things that had recently happened to them. The woman said to herself, 'Who is better able to help these poor unfortunate people than I am? After all, I've had misfortune of my own.'
She stayed on there to comfort them. Ultimately, she became very much involved in ministering to other people's grief. So much so that she forgot about her quest for the magical mustard seed. She never realized that it had in fact driven the sorrow from her life.
The most consistent message in Jesus' teachings is a positive focus on the needs of others. People who follow this advice have found that it overcomes negative thoughts about themselves, and about God. Caring for others brings about their own healing. Faith in the goodness of God brings healing of mind, body and spirit.
Thanks be to God!
Eternal and loving Spirit,
When you seem to be hidden from our eyes and hearts,
We ask not that you will shield us from difficult times,
But that you will give us strength to face them.
Not that you will protect us from making mistakes,
But that we may learn from them.
Not that life will be made easy,
But that we will deal with its challenges courageously
Help us to grow in understanding of what matters most in life -
Becoming generous, strong and thoughtful people,
Reflecting in word and deed your wisdom and compassion.
May we always seek you and find you,
in those who have need of us.
In the Spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen
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A sermon presented by the Rev Dr Lorraine Parkinson at St Aidan's Uniting Church North Balwyn, on 26th October, 2003.
IT MAY BE REPRODUCED WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
Loving Spirit,
You have walked with us through all our wanderings,
And loved us through our rebelliousness,
Anxiously watching until we come home.
We praise you, and thank you.
You have given us untold riches:
Friends to love,
Beauty to enjoy,
Quiet spaces.
For life on this beautiful planet,
For reconciliation between people,
And the unimaginable gift of the Gospel,
We praise you and thank you.
But along with our praise we also acknowledge
our failure to trust one another:
our aloofness, our loneliness,
our disappointments, our despair.
Heal us, reconcile us, make us whole in mind, body and spirit.
In the name of Jesus the Christ, we pray,
AMEN.
Loving God,
We name in silence people we know who are in need of healing in mind, or body or spirit. In particular we pray for people recovering from surgery or illness, and receiving ongoing treatment. We ask that you will bring strength and comfort to all who are going through times of anxiety and grieving.
Help us to bring to them the love and care they need.
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