Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Why end here?

A. Mark wants you to see the heart of Jesus.

Illus: Imagine a scenario with me.

This evening you were given the job of handing out bulletins for our church.

As a greeter you do your best to welcome every person who comes in, greeting them making them feel comfortable in coming to first baptist church.

As yo are greeting one of your friends who does not come to church pulls into the church parking lot.

As they walk up you yell, JOE! I’m glad you are here.

You go out of your way to make Joe feel comfortable with the hope that your greeting will help him hear the gospel and follow Jesus.

In fact you look at Joe and say, come sit with me.

A little bit later you see your doctor walk into the doors of the church.

Recognizing them you welcome them in gladly as a respectable member of our community.

Then a street person toked up on weed comes walking in the door.

Their hair looks matted and they smell like they haven't showered in a day or two.

Would you give them the same greeting you gave the doctor?

Would you ask them to sit with you like you would your friend.

Truthfully you probably would make a bee line for me or our security personnel trying to figure out the quickest and most non confrontational way we can escort that person out of the building.

Let’s be honest.

There are times where we act like the crowd in this story telling the very people Jesus came for that Jesus is too busy for them.

B. Mark wants you to see the tenacity of faith.

Illus: Do we have a tenacity to come to Jesus?

Do you have an urge to do whatever it takes to get to Jesus.

Bartimaeus has being told to be quiet and he yelled louder and louder till he got Jesus’ attention.

Imagine if we longed for God at that level.

Let’s be honest.

We are ok with God if he fills the leftover places of our lives.

When it comes to church, we gladly go as long as it does not interfere with what we already have on the schedule.

If a conflict comes up, the conflict with church always wins.

When I see the picture of the faith of Bartimaeus I see a willingness to do whatever you can to get to Jesus.

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

II.

The root of faith is humility.

A. Bartimaeus did not see himself as worthy of Jesus’ attention.

Illus: Humility is not thinking less of ones self, it is thinking rightly of oneself.

If you were to go to the White House, walked up to the secret service and say, I’m the president, it would not make it true.

If you were to go down to New Orleans and tell Shawn Peyton, I’m your starting Quarterback, it wouldn’t make it true.

If you walked into Joey Merrill’s office and said, I’m batman, it would not make it true.

In each of these situations you would be delusional.

We are delusional in the way we approach God.

We come believing we are more important that we actually are.

We come thinking that we are more righteous than we actually are.

Humility before God is understanding you standing as creation before the creating God.

It is understanding your sinfulness compared to God’s holiness.

It is understanding your weakness in comparison to God’s awe.

When you come before God understanding who you really are, you are at a place to genuinely follow Him.

B. Bartimaeus stands in contrast to the his predecessors in chapter 10.

Illus: The question of why Mark would end the first half of this book with the story of Bartimaeus is an interesting question.

I believe the story is placed here because Mark wants you to contrast his story with the rest of the chapters.

Follow me here.

Just look at what precedes Blind Bartimaeus.

III.

What’s next?

A. Bartimaeus gained far more than sight.

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Illus: Where the rich young ruler came asking what he should do and left wanting, Bartimaeus came understanding his helplessness and left changed.

He had to trust Jesus with everything.

He could not do it on his own.

There is a question here about how we approach God.

Do we approach as the Rich Young Ruler, do we approach like James and John, or do we approach like Bartimaeus?