“What do you want me to do?”
Notes
Transcript
Pray with me.
Friends if you’re able, please stand for the reading of God’s word. Today we read in Mark 10:46-52
Mark 10:46–52 (CSB)
They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.” He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Rabboni,” the blind man said to him, “I want to see.” Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
Please have a seat.
This story in scripture is one of my favorites. The audacity of the blind man Bartimaeus is so inspiring to me. I love the shameless audacity.
This section has inspired some of my favorite worship music, and i find it instructive.
Though there is a question that Jesus asks that honestly is really startling and i don’t think many of us take time to honestly consider
“What do you want me to do for you?”
What do you want? What a striking question that Jesus Christ, Son of God, Second Person of the trinity, by whom and for whom all things that have been made were made - to ask!
But It’s an important question!
In our lives as humans we can do an awful lot of floating and coasting. We get into ruts, into the current of life, and just go. We go to school, we graduate get a job, maybe get married, then we go to work, come home be with the kids, put on the TV, and go to bed. If we’re good we try and do a vacation once a year, spend less then we make, and try to make it to church.
But life can be really routine. Kind of like a lazy river as a water park. You can get on your tube, lean back, and the current just takes you around and around and around. Well I get sunburnt - even in indoor water parks - but we chill out and relax. Let the current take us.
When we show up to certain places and certain events and if someone were to ask: “why are you doing this? Why are you here?” our gut answer may just be: “This is what we do!” We go around and around, and then when i graduate I get a job, and get married, and maybe drink too much, and maybe we coast a bit, and maybe we are a bit lazy - but this is what we do. I go here, this happens. I go to work, I do an acceptable job, and they pay me.
Asking the why, digging deeper, getting curious isn’t usually part of the equation.
for many of us in our christian midwestern culture need to wrestle with the question of Jesus - what do you want me to do for you? - as It’s going to reveal a great deal about the state of our hearts.
Let’s look through this passage again.
They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.
The They in this passage is Jesus and his entourage, his followers. They came to Jericho on his journey to Jerusalem for the final events of his life. As he walks through Jericho, his disciples and now a large crowd are following him.
And this was about to be a long road a long journey up from the Jordan river valley where Jericho is, about a 20 mile winding road, up the mountains to Jerusalem. This was for the passover celebration, and so many other pilgrims would be journeying up this same road too.
On the road coming out of town was a blind beggar, Bartimaeus. Perhaps strategically placed to beg from those religious Jews who are journeying to Jerusalem and the temple.
But he hears this isn’t just a group of pilgrims walking past. It’s Jesus of Nazareth. Bartimaeus has heard stories of Jesus. How he heals. And preaches with authority. He perhaps hears the rumors that Jesus is a prophet, and perhaps even the messiah. And so he calls out.
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
This blind beggar cries out: “Jesus Son of David! Have Mercy on me! Bartimaeus, meaning son of timaeus, calls out to Jesus, son of David for mercy. The title Son of David is a messianic title - make no mistake - Bartimaeus is making a truth claim here about Jesus being the anointed one. The one prophesied through the old testament who would come and reign on davids throne forevermore. Jesus! MEssiah! Son of David!
And the crowd can’t handle the ruckus. We get uncomfortable when people make a scene, don’t we?
Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!”
Even though people told him not to rock the boat, don’t cause a scene, he screamed all the louder.
Jesus however, takes note - 49-50
Mark 10:49–50 (CSB)
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.” He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
So the blind man scrambles to JEsus - comes to him, now with the encouragement of at least some of the crowd, strips of his coat, his protection, and comes to JEsus.
And now we get to the question: verse 51a
Mark 10:51a (CSB)
Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
There is the question. What do you want me to do for you?
How do you hear the tone in JEsus voice when you read this? I think some grow up with a view of God and of Jesus as a begrudging savior, who can’t get away from the stupid beggar so just to shut him up eventually calls him over and sighs: “What do YOU want ME to do for you?”
Friend, I don’t think it’s that way.
Nor is it a santa claus, “What do you want for Christmas Bartimaeus?”
No this is the penetrating compassionate and deep questioning of the Savior of the World:
“what do you want me to do for you?”
And remember - Bartimaeus has already called out in faith that JEsus is the messiah. “Son of David!”
And so we get the response from Bartimaeus: Last part of verse 51
Mark 10:51b (CSB)
“Rabboni,” the blind man said to him, “I want to see.”
Rabboni - teacher, lord, master. I want to see. Ofcourse he wants to see, he’s blind. In a messianic sense, healing of the blind was a sign. It was not a common miracle. So again, Bartimaeus is in faith acknowledging that Jesus is the messiah, that he can heal even his blindness. And he submits to Jesus calling him Rabbi.
Look at the response of Jesus, and of Bartimaeus, verse 52
Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
Jesus heals and saves him, by grace through faith. And immediately he could see. And then what does Bartimaeus do? joins the followers of JEsus towards jerusalem.
What an incredible end to this story. There are so many different facets of this section we can look at and glean from.
For us - right now we are in a series on Revelation, but as many of you have perhaps picked up on, is that once a month we take a step back from our regular study to talk about what God is doing in our current context.
We look at what God has called us to - to partner with God to raise the spiritual temperature of south eastern south dakota by being fully focused on God and his Word. By being fully formed by The spirit in community. And by being fully engaged with Christ on mission.
But I sense a probing question as it pertains to us and our mission as i read this passage.
As we come to church, as we participate, as we come into worship, I think JEsus is asking the same question of us:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Why are are we here? Perhaps more probing - Why are you here. What do YOU want from JEsus? What do you want him to do for you? What are your expectations of Christ?
Let’s get out of the lazy river and the currents of life for a minute, come to the shore and sit next to the Lord here through the Spirit and slow down.
Don’t think about what’s happening at 11:15 when your done with church. be present for a moment. What if Jesus came by. What if he were here.
I mean, Imagine yourself in this scene.
How it plays out and how we respond to jesus reveals quite a bit about our view of JESus and our hearts.
For Bartimaeus, even though his eyes are blind, he in faith recognizes Jesus as the Savior and calls out to him for Mercy.
What about for you? Our eyes may be open, but do we actually recognize Jesus as the messiah, as the Lord? Or perhaps just an idealized person to try and emulate? Do we view him as Lord, or just a genie, or a distant hippy?
I think of Matthew 7 where JEsus says in verse 21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
How do we see JEsus? Better for our eyes to blind if we can truly see JEsus as he is, then for us to go around thinking we are wise, when our hearts don’t know the truth.
Because Bartimaeus knows Jesus is the messiah - he asks for mercy. He recognizes that he doesn’t deserve healing. There is no entitlement, no pride - just a shout for mercy. He has a correct view of Jesus.
Would our eyes be open to JEsus as LORD. What is our view of JEsus? What is YOUR view of JEsus? Have you even slowed down enough to consider?
Kids, students - you’ve heard your parents talk about JEsus, they bring you to church - have you considered Who is JEsus? Do I believe that he is who he claims to be? That he is God, that he is Lord?
And notice - when Bartimaeus calls out that JEsus is messiah and asks for mercy, very quickly people tell him to be quiet.
“That’s not how we talk around here.” Bartimaeus goes full on Jesus Freak - and people get uncomfortable.
Friend - an appropriate view of JEsus is gonna make waves in the lazy river, and people may get upset with you.
But that begs the question - does our view of JEsus, does our response to Jesus have any significant impact on our lives? Or does following JEsus just feel super comfortable. Can I humbly suggest, that if following JEsus feels super convenient - perhaps we are not following JEsus, or perhaps not Jesus as revealed in the Bible. And people, “good people” quote unquote “christian people” are going to be upset at us for following him into strange places and for doing things that upset the flow.
Does your life go against the stream? Do people notice your dependence on Jesus?
And when we come to Jesus and hear his question - how do we respond?
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Bartimaeus says, I want to see.
For us - what is it. When we slow down and allow our mind to slow down, and the aches of our hearts to surface a bit - when we have an accurate view of God and of JEsus as the savior - what is it that we want for Him to do for us?
Have you slowed down enough to consider it?
Throughout my life I think I’ve answered this different ways.
When I was young, really young. I think what I wanted from JEsus is just to go to heaven and avoid hell.
My sister, who shared the gospel with me when I was still in kindergarten shared it very much in a way that: “Mom and Dad and I all believe in JESus and will go to heaven when we die - but if you don’t follow JEsus you will go to hell and you wont be will us, so believe in JEsus.”
Welll for a 5 or 6 year old, that was an easy sell. I think my request of JEsus was jsut that: “JEsus I want to be with my family in heaven. so let me go to heaven.”
As I grew older, i remember coming face to face with my own sin as a young man - and I really wanted JEsus to forgive my sin, to defeat it, and to remove my guilt. I just wanted forgiveness.
Then I remember asking JEsus to help my live for him. I wanted to do things for him, and bring him Glory.
But as I’ve continued to grow - what I want more than anything is JEsus himself. Yes I want heaven, and forgivness - but instead of doing things for Jesus, I want to do things with him. I want to see him. I want to discern him. I want to come face to face with him. I want to behold his loving gaze. I want to be with him.
And because of that, my life has started to move indifferent ways. Doing devotions and reading the bible is less about earning affection, or chores, and more about spending time with a friend. Prayer is less about a guilt trip if i forget, and more like an ongoing conversation with a friend. Going to church is less about going because “that’s what a good christian does” and more becuase that’s where JEsus’s people are and where we can meet with him togehter. Ofcourse I want to go there.
How would you answer the question?
What do you want me to do for you?
Have you taken time to slow down and answer that question?
Why do I bring up this passage, and this concept on a church vision sunday?
I think this question gets to some of the things that can really derail a church. There are lots of ways that churches can get derailed. Because a lot of times people decide that they would rather be comfortable then be effective.
But if we as a church hear this question, and we answer: “We want to be effective. We want to be with you, and we want to be used by you. We want to submit to one another, and we want to be dangerous to the enemy. We want to stand with the poor. And we want to preach the gospel. Lord make it so.”
Well that helps us stay on the rails! That helps us be focused.
But so often we get so caught up in the currents, we don’t even realize what we are wanting, what we are getting after, and what our motives may be.
The reality is we need to slow down, and sit with JEsus, and make sure our eyes are on him.
Churches don’t split over carpet color randomly. ITs because as a church they’ve decided that the carpet color supcedes vision and mission.
Pastors and Christians don’t fall into sin randomly. it happens when we take our eyes off of jesus and chase results rather than Christ himself.
Friends - what do we want JEsus to do amongst us?
I want to see him glorifed. I want to see his kingdom come here in our area as it is in heaven. I want to see the lost saved. I Want to see him. I want my children to be given faith and hope. And I want a tribe that can love each other so well that when the world presses in and life is hard we can show up tangibly and prove the reality of Christ by our love for one another.
But we got to get quiet and confess the ways our motives are mixed. And we need to be still long enough to make sure our eyes are fixed on JEsus.
So what?
Friends - JEsus asks What do you want to do for you?
So what? can we just sit in that question,
Who do you say that JEsus is? And what are you wanting him to do for you?
The insane reality of the church and Christ - is that we are the temple of the holy spirit. And we are then going to move to a time where we celebrate communion, but before we do - we need to recognize the body. Yes the body of christ - but also each other.
*move into communion.
