What Do You Want Jesus to Do for You?
Mwemba Mwemba
Midland SDA Church
September 1, 2018
SCRIPTURE: MARK 10:46-52
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
This part of scripture we just read has been so meaningful to me lately that I thought I’d share what I learned...….lets read it again together [Read Scripture & pray].
A story is told that a number of years back, a young and very successful executive was travelling down a suburban street in his expensive brand new Cadillac. Suddenly a brick was thrown from the sidewalk, thumping into the side of the car.
Brakes slammed! Gear into reverse, and tires madly spun the Cadillac back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. The driver jumped out, grabbed the kid who had thrown the brick and pushed him up against a parked car. “What was that all about?!” he screamed. “That’s my new Cadillac - that brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money!”
“Please, mister, please …. I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!” pleaded the youngster. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car. “It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
In a moment, the mood was transformed as the young executive realized what had occurred. He lifted the young man into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts. He then watched as the younger brother pushed him down the sidewalk toward their home.
The young executive never did fix the dented side door of his Cadillac. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life, so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.
Question for you dear friends: This young lad threw a brick to get the help he needed. Bartimaeus needed to shout at Jesus to get His help, but I wonder what it would take for Jesus to get your attention. Most of us want Jesus to help us with something, but we are not doing anything about it…..may I suggest that if you need Jesus to do something for you, you ought to do something about it?
Notice the title of our sermon today…What do you want Jesus to do for you……..is a question most of us want to be asked and for some of us, it gets our attention and makes us start thinking of a list of things we want. What I am asking is what you REALLY want to ask Him to do for you? What is your deepest desire that is so urgent, what is it that is so critical for you, that you need Jesus to stop and help you with? Bartimaeus shouted, but what do you need to do to stop Jesus, so He can help you. [ Pause]
The scene we just read in our scripture reading takes place in Jericho, a popular resort city and like any other city, beggars were a common sight and that’s where Bartimaeus (or the son of Timaeus) comes into the picture. [We all have to understand that because most occupations of that day required physical labor, anyone with a crippling disease or disability was at severer disadvantage and was usually forced to beg. Blindness meant no work and therefore no source of income – as a beggar he was at the bottom of social privileges]. On this day, this blind brother was minding his own business…like he did every day, sitting by the road side begging. I imagine that some days people gave him nothing, other days he received a few coins, but this day was going to be different – Jesus was coming this way. He had clearly heard of Jesus, that’s why when he heard it was Jesus of Nazareth….….he began to shout. Bartimaeus was desperate [getting his sight back was his deepest desire, it was critical, it was urgent] - he needed help and the savior was passing by, so he shouted…“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”. As I read this part of scripture I wondered to myself how often in our desperation we forget about our ever present savior . Instead we choose to seek help from so called experts, or friends. Other times we rely on ourselves, our abilities, our achievements, our standing in church, our standing in society, or we call on our so called social connections, but Bartimaeus reminds us to shout at Jesus and tell him what we want Him to do for us. Notice what happened…..no conversation took place about how Bartimaeus got there, how difficult life was or how down trodden he felt by those passing by. He just shouted …“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”. That my dear friends is faith. You know I’d argue that by saying “…“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”. Bartimaeus recognized his own weakness….he recognized his own limitations, that he could not give himself what he needed…his sight. No one else could give Bartimaeus this specific need, but Jesus. [I think there is something that you(here this morning my dear friends) also want that only Jesus can give you]. Did you know, that it is only when we recognize our weaknesses that we are earnestly ready to call on Jesus so he may have mercy on us? For as long as we do not recognize and accept our weaknesses or limitations, it is difficult to seek God’s mercy. [As an illustration….A few years ago I had trouble with my knee and the Dr. prescribed medication…….…he also prescribed crutches to help me get around. At first I thought it would be easy to get around….the way I was used to, but I quickly found out that with the swelling and pain in my knee, my mobility was very limited. I couldn’t get around fast enough, and getting up a staircase took me several minutes, but I kept telling my wife Hope, to leave me alone…..that I could do it by myself but it soon became very frustrating for me….you know Pride got in the way. I needed help, but I had made a lot of statements about how able I was to get around on my own. How could I now ask for help? One evening however, my wife pulled me aside and told me to swallow my pride and ask for help. With tears in my eyes, I asked for forgiveness which made it easier for me to get the support I so desperately needed to allow my knee to heal. It’s the same when we call on Jesus for his mercy –we must first recognize and accept our weaknesses or limitations to allow him to do what he only can do in our lives]
There are a few more lessons from this part of scripture that I thought I’d share:
1. Notice verse 48…Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, [essentially saying don’t make a fool of yourself, or don’t embarrass us] but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Question for you here my dear friends - what do you want Jesus to do for you and what’s keeping you from shouting “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. [There is something about calling on the name Jesus]. Are there people in your life that are rebuking you and are telling you to be quite so you don’t embarrass them, or you don’t embarrass yourself, or that you should do it quietly, or even seek help elsewhere from an expert? If so, may I encourage you to shut your ears from discouraging words from others and focus on calling on Jesus. I am sure those who rebuked Bartimaeus did not know what it felt like to be blind, only Bartinaeus did, and that’s why he shouted for Jesus. The lesson here is that don’t be silenced by those who have money and don’t know how it feels not to have enough money…..where you have to choose between paying rent or buying food for the family or even between buying food or paying for medicines. Don’t be silenced by those with jobs and don’t know what it means to be constantly looking for a job and being told each time, that your application for employment has been rejected, call on Jesus. I encourage you not to be silenced by those who have obedient children and don’t know how it feels to have rebellious children or grandchildren, who have walked away from God, call on Jesus. Yet still don’t be silenced by those who have good healthy marriages and don’t know how it feels like never to have a meaningful conversation with your spouse. How about being silenced by those with spouses, who don't know what it feels like to be single. Those who are healthy may try to silence you, because they don’t know what it feels like to have thousands of dollars in medical bills, yet be told by many doctors, that they can’t figure out what’s wrong with you. May I encourage you my dear friend - the answer lies in you having faith and calling on Jesus. Indeed, difficulties may start when you call on Jesus and sadly….allow me to say, when we call on Jesus, sometimes the people whom we thought to be our spiritual brother & sisters will be the ones who rebuke us – may I suggest you not listen to them.
2. Another lesson in this part of scripture is in verse 50….Lets start from verse 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. We are also reminded to cheer up and to get on our feet because, Jesus is still constantly calling each of us,[softly and tenderly] yet some of us choose to ignore his calling, or we choose to listen to other things. Also, I don’t know what time of the year this was, but even if it was cold, Bartinaeus was willing to throw his cloak aside. It may have been the only thing that kept him warm at night, but at this point it seems he didn’t care, he needed to get to Jesus quickly and the cloak may have been holding him back. Have you realize that sometimes our faith in Jesus (and our ability to get to Him) is held back by certain things we choose to hold on to in our lives? Allow me to break it down…..For some of us, it could be anger towards someone, for others it could be envy or jealousy, yet still for most…it is worry…..worry about an illness that has gone on for so long and all hope of healing seems to have been lost. Worry about a child, a grandchild, an ailing parent, or we may be worried because we are not sure if we will make it to the next pay check, or how long our finances will last in retirement. To be honest sometimes it could be disappointments in our lives that are holding us back….to be frank, sometimes it could be disappointment about prayers in the past that God did not answer the way we desired. Question I leave you with is, as Jesus calls you, take an inventory of your life and assess what you need to throw aside in your life so you can build your faith to allow you to get to him? He is still the same Jesus who called and healed Batimaeus.
3. In verse 51…. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. In Verse 52 we see Jesus giving Bartimaeus his sight…..that’s what most us see….Bartimaeus getting back his sight….and we miss the last part. We overlook the fact that Bartimaeus decided to follow Jesus immediately. Sometimes we may shout for Jesus and ask or expect his help but only for a specific need, yet desire that afterwards we will get back to our ‘normal’ self-centered life, but the lesson here is that Jesus wants us to follow him immediately and to do so faithfully. What Jesus wants is for us to take our deepest desires to Him, He wants us on His side…in his footsteps. Put another way, He wants us to have solid relationship with him. Bartimaeus is a great example of how to exercise faith. May I encourage you to have faith for as you know “Without faith it is impossible to please God; for anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?
Did you know that if asked……What do you want Jesus to do for you….…most of us will not have a response.......or it will take a while to come up with a response…...in part because we are spiritually blind. ‘I think part of the point Mark is communicating in this part of scripture, is that we need to ask God to open our eyes, that we may see. Indeed we need to have our eyes opened, that we may see what is important, really important to God - Because what is important to God ought to be important to us.
My prayer this morning is that each of us may shout individually “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ask Him to open our eyes that we may see what we want Him to do for us and that - what we want Him to do for us, is His desire for us. I pray that our eyes may be open and that we will see His desire for each one of us and that we will follow Him.……….AMEN