Monday Morning Music Ministry

5-24-21

One of my favorite passages in the Bible… Wait, I always feel funny when I start a conversation or a lesson that way. Every passage in the Bible ought to be as important, meaningful, and “favorite” as every other. Right? It’s all God’s word! I remember once thinking about those “red letter” Bibles, that every verse, every chapter, every book, should be in red, since it’s all the word of God.

Well, tangents aren’t in red, so I’ll go on. A Bible passage that speaks to me in many special ways is one that has many aspects and nuances and applications, but has become a favorite scene that attracts my attention.

It is the story of Blind Man Bartimaeus, the last (recorded) miracle of healing performed by Jesus, as He passed through Jericho on the way to Jerusalem where He would be arrested, tortured, and crucified. There was a crowd with Him and the Disciples. Luke 18:35-42:

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying,“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him,saying,“What do you want Me to do for you?”

He said,“Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

Then Jesus said to him,“Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”

When I read commentaries on this wonderful account, I am always impressed at the various messages or meanings that people take from it.

Some people relate physical blindness with spiritual blindness, and how Bartimaeus reached out and saw the Truth in his soul as well as his eyes.

Some people note that the term by which Bartimaeus addressed Jesus – “Son of David” – was a significant awareness of Biblical prophecy, and attracted Jesus’s notice.

Some people contrast the helplessness of a blind beggar outside the gate, his status in Jewish society, and the majesty of a King passing by.

Some people bless the modesty of a beggar, who might have pleaded for anything, like raiment of money or food or shelter, but was content to beg for open eyes.

Some people wonder if there is significance that this is the second account of blind eyes being healed by Jesus; or His last miracle recorded; or that Jesus, knowing the need of Bartimaeus, yet asked him to speak it; or how it was that a blind man would know the powers of this miracle-worker who passed by in the midst of a crowd; or…

… or many other lessons. I do not disagree with any meaning one can glean. Like a faceted gem, God’s truths have many messages in them; many applications.

But the meaning that has always seemed specially important to me is one that is seldom discussed. And I think it has special application today, in our lives, our churches, in our culture.

As I picture the scene described in Luke (also in Mark’s gospel) beyond the healing power of Jesus that still can be pleaded, and all the lessons others see, is this detail:

This was a crowd scene before a city gate. Jesus, Disciples, followers, the normal public about their business. Bartimaeus, however, inquired, and knew that Jesus was near. He called out – he acted. He yelled, by necessity, loudly. The Disciples and others tried to shut him up! They “warned” him to be quiet.

I can imagine them saying – even amid the hubbub – “Silence!” Maybe, “Don’t bother the rabbi!” Maybe, “You, down there — be dignified!” Maybe, “Jesus has an agenda. Mind your own business!” (Remember, the Disciples recently had argued about who between them would be “first” and “last” in the coming kingdom.)

Today, would they say, “We’re holding church here! Don’t raise your voice!” Or, “You should have checked with us for permission to call on Jesus!” Or, God forbid, would some say, “Be quiet! Jesus has more important things to do!”

The point is – or the points include – that the persistence of Bartimaeus was honored by Jesus. The “dignity” of the moment, an artifice anyway, was obviously meaningless to the Lord. And the “rules” of the followers – hangers-on, bureaucrats, managerial types – were nothing in the eyes of the Savior. Nor in the “eyes” of the blind man.

Applications today? “All of the above.”

But chief among them – yes, my favorites – are these:

In your personal life, never let tradition nor insecurity nor ignorance prevent you from crying out to the Lord when you need Him.

In your family and church-community life, never let rules and customs keep you from crying out, singing out, laughing, challenging, asking, pleading, confessing, and seeking God’s face. Let no one hush you up! That’s Jesus – and He’s listening for you!

And in your country, what’s left of it – remember Blind Man Bartimaeus as your role model. Speak up. Speak out. Don’t let “officials” tell you to keep quiet. Don’t be quiet!!!

If Bartimaeus had kept quiet, obeyed arbitrary rules, avoided speaking out and speaking up for himself, and missed the opportunity of making contact with holiness in his presence… he would have stayed as one more forgotten blind beggar in the dust. Dignified. Quiet. Polite. And lost.

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This is an old and rough video from a few decades ago, but a great example of worship services when Jesus passes by.

Click: Hymn Medley

(For readers with hand-held devices, copy and paste the following link in your browser: )

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SIIrwtST8QM

1-23-12

Being in the cartoon business for most of my life, I am familiar with one of the standard clichés: someone arrives in Heaven and, bing, there are the Pearly Gates; a bearded St Peter; a giant guest register.

Easy to draw, hard to see. That is, to see in the way the Bible describes our first day in Heaven. There is no check-in procedure. No nervous waiting to hear whether the pencil we swiped in fifth grade will keep us out. And St Peter – oh, he will be there, among the multitudes we will want to meet. I burn with curiosity to, possibly, ask questions of Abraham and Moses and St Paul and Luther. And Job! Augustine! And countless martyrs who served the poor and the oppressed.

But the first thing that we will see will be Jesus, from my reading. The Bible says He is seated at the right hand of God’s throne, which might be so blinding white with glory as to obscure other things; yet we will not be able to take our eyes from it.

So, I think visually. But we all must, at least in this case. We imagine Heaven “through our minds’ eyes.”

There are some people for whom this is easier than for the rest of us. Many believers who are blind have testified that they can “see” a silver lining, so to speak, in their sightlessness. For instance, there is the factor of other senses being heightened. And there are the plausible cases for increased sensitivity to other peoples’ challenges. And a practical understanding of dependence. These things, the rest of us can imagine.

But many blind people have shared a unique and tender – but passionate – thrill of expectation that when their sight is restored, when they have their perfect bodies in Heaven, the first thing that they see will NOT be the “Pearly Gates.” That was the testimony of the blind hymn-writer (9000 hymns) Fanny Crosby; it is in the title of a song by the blind gospel singer Terri Gibbs: “The First Thing That I See Will Be Jesus.”

My good friend Anna Marie Spencer sent me a video this week of the latest such person to manifest that powerful faith. Ten-year-old Christopher Duffley was born blind and with severe autism. His mother had been on drugs; he was up for adoption. Pretty tough odds. But at the age of four he started to sing for Jesus, and has touched many people since then. Some day, in Glory, he and Fanny Crosby and Terri Gibbs will look at each other and share stories. I’d like to sketch that get-together.

In the meantime little Christopher sings. Amazingly. He teaches the rest of us onlookers how to overcome, how to triumph, how to… see. “Seeing,” after all, is most special in relation to what we look at. Those of us who sometimes are handicapped by taking good vision for granted, need to see that truth clearly.

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This brief video is of little Christopher Duffley singing “Open the Eyes of My Heart” in Manchester, New Hampshire. My guess is that most of the eyes that were upon him that evening not just saw, but wept, at this awesome performance.

Click: Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord