23rd Sunday after Pentecost

We continue in our theme of prayer today as we finish out the church year and begin Advent in a few weeks. Last week Pastor Shearier spoke of the confidence we can have to “approach the throne of grace” in prayer because of Christ. This morning we see in our text how we can approach the throne of grace in humility – not humility of groveling but humility to know who we are and who God is and to come in humble awe in prayer.

A father and son were out running errands one morning and as it approached lunchtime they decided to go to a local restaurant. There at the restaurant they ordered their food and when the waitress delivered it the father said, “Why don’t we have a silent prayer together.” So the father and son bow their heads and prayed in silence. After a few moments the father raised is head and was ready to eat but he noticed that his son was still praying. Not wanting to be rude the father waited for his son to finish praying. He waited and waited until finally after a long time the boy raised his head and picked up his fork to begin eating. The father astonished at his son’s long prayer asked, “What were you praying about for so long.” The son looked quizzically at the father and said, “How should I know? It was a silent prayer.”

In our text today we see a man who was not silent about his prayer. But often in our lives, in the difficulties we face, we are silent in praying to God. God hears our prayers whether spoken out loud or in silence. What we look at today is not how the prayer is spoken but what is said.

“Lord have mercy,” is probably the simplest but yet most profound prayers we can pray. Bartimeaus was a blind man who had to beg for a living. It was customary for people who could not provide for themselves to sit at the city gate or just outside the city and beg for money. It was also customary for a Jewish person to give a beggar money. So this was not unusual for Jesus to see this as he entered or left a city. But it was the words with which Bartimeaus cried that are important here. And we can even learn from the crowd how sin affects our confidence in prayer.

“Lord have mercy,” was this blind man’s cry. In it we find a profound understanding of our relationship with God and what He does for us. First, this is a prayer of confession. Bartimeaus and all others who pray this prayer are recognizing that they are in a low condition, a sinful state. You don’t cry for mercy unless you need it. In this prayer we are confessing to God that we are sinners in need of mercy and grace. Just as we confessed our sin at the beginning of this service, in this prayer, every time we pray it, we are saying we are in need – in need of God’s help.

King David knew of his sinful condition very well and often spoke of it in the psalms he wrote. David wrote psalm 51, one of my favorite psalms, after a particularly public sin – his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. After being confronted by Nathan the prophet, David confessed his sin and penned this Psalm. And you know what the first line of Psalm 51 is? “Have mercy on me, O Lord…” David was confessing his sin but also proclaiming that the Lord is the one who can show him mercy.

Which leads to the next thought we can take from this simple prayer. Not only are we confessing our sinful condition but we are also stating where our help can be found. This prayer is requesting God’s mercy and is confident that God will show mercy according to His good and gracious will. Recognizing that we are like Bartimeaus, beggars, we also know that we have a God who is gracious and merciful to us. We can request God’s mercy because He freely gives it and it is the only way our of our “beggar nature.”

How do we know of God’s mercy freely given? Just look at Philippians chapter 2. Here is God’s mercy wonderfully pictured for us in the humility of Christ. Paul says here that Jesus Christ put aside His divine nature, humbled Himself and became a man. As a man He suffered and went to the cross and died in our place. He then arose again to bring to us forgiveness and new life. That is the mercy of God. We are undeserving of God’s love and grace but in His mercy He sent His Son for us. Wow! What wonderful love!

But sometimes we let our sinful pride get in the way of this prayer – “Lord have mercy.” That is what happened with the crowd who was with Jesus. What was their first reaction to Bartimeaus? They wanted him to be quiet. They rebuked him. Maybe it was because they thought Bartimeaus was an outcast and didn’t deserve to ask for mercy from Jesus. Maybe it was because they didn’t understand that Jesus would show mercy to him. Maybe it was because they thought that Bartimeaus was doing it all wrong; he should go to the Temple or to a priest and ask for mercy. Whatever was going through their minds they were limiting God.

We do that too in our own lives. We think we can’t come to God because we have sinned to greatly. Or maybe we think our daily problems are too small. Or maybe we think we got ourselves into this mess so we need to get out of it ourselves. Or maybe we think we have to tell God in just the right way in just the right mood before He will hear us. Whatever our thoughts may be what we are doing is letting our pride take over and not giving it all to God. We limit God when we think that we shouldn’t take it to Him. We limit God when we think He doesn’t care about our “small” problems. We limit God when we withhold our prayer – “Lord have mercy on us.” God is bigger than we imagine and His love is greater than we could even wish for. We have a God who sent His Son for us who are so dirty from our sin.

You see the power of God is in His mercy, not in His perfect law. Too often we think of God as only the “All-powerful, All-holy, Ever-present” God who is perfect and beyond us. Which is true, but it is only part of His nature. He is merciful to and intimately involved in our lives. That is what Luther struggled with and why his Reformation was so powerful. Luther, early in his life, struggled with how to please God. What could he ever do to win God’s favor and mercy? He only saw the Holy, All-powerful, Just God. But as Luther studied his Bible he learned of a God who was more powerful in His mercy. We have a God who loves us even in our weakness. In fact it is at the point of our weakness that God’s grace truly becomes amazing. In our “strength” (which really isn’t strength but our sinful pride) we push God away. But it is in our recognition that we cannot do anything ourselves, that we are sinful, broken people, that God’s grace truly shines through. Who were the people Christ seemed to impact the most when he was on earth? The tax collectors, outcast and sinners! They were the ones who cried out – “Lord have mercy on us.”

Each one of us is broken by sin. Each one of us is separated from God and can do nothing to make amends. But Christ did for us. The Lord has had mercy on us and continues to shower His mercy on us. Our prayer is “Lord have mercy,” because God does. We can pray this prayer confidently because we know from the Word of God that God’s mercy is our only hope.

And this mercy transforms us, because it is truly the power of God. You each know what your struggles are in life. We may not cry out with a loud voice but our hearts are crying, “Lord have mercy.” We may not even know what to pray for (like the son’s silent prayer) but God knows and answers us out of His divine mercy and grace. And He transforms and heals our lives.

He healed Bartimeaus. What makes you think He won’t heal you? But we are not a patient people. We want results now. Again our sinfulness demand of God for answers to our prayer in our way. Take heart. God will heal but maybe not on this side of heaven. Bartimeaus saw Jesus face to face. We will see Jesus face to face too – in heaven. That is why heaven is described as a place with no more tears, no more pain, no more fighting – it is a place of healing and restoration. Sometimes God heals us while we are here on earth but often we do have to wait until heaven – our true home. What we rest on is God’s mercy – not our plans. God’s mercy is where His greatest power shines forth. God’s mercy is our only hope in a sin filled world. And so we can pray with Bartimeaus – “Lord have mercy” and He will.

Amen.