(Jackson)Face-to-face with our needs-Final2

Communion:

Good Morning, we are going to move into a time of Communion and it is an opportunity to for us to

reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross for us.

Celebrate the life that he gives to us,

and receive grace from him for this life.

and then we also get to celebrate that we are now the body of christ together. So let me read this passage for us and then over the next song feel free to come up to one of the tables in the front or in the back.

1 corinthians 11:23-25 “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

Join me in taking communion.

Sermon:

Good Morning, Happy July 4th weekend. My name is Jackson, one of the pastors here at the Vineyard and We’ve been going through the book of Mark for a few months, but if you are like me, it’s probably felt like decades! And I am here to tell you today, that this is the last one! Next week we will be starting a new series and I don’t wanna spoil it for you, but I bring that up to let you know, they saved the best for last. Thats right. We are in Mark 10 today at the very end of the chapter, the last of the healing stories in Mark, and if you thought I was talking about me when I was saying they saved the best for last, I was definitely talking about this section of Mark. Promise.

And if you are wondering why we are ending our series on Mark in chapter 10, it is because we had done the beginning of Mark a while back, then ramped up and did the end of Mark leading into Easter and now we are back in the middle and rounding up the last section Today!

And I say it really is the best section because if you are like me, you have a lot of needs in your life. Big needs, small needs, needs on the surface, needs under the surface, needs of every shape and color. I need Tacos, I need exercise, a couple times a year I need a hair cut, thanks Lindsey! My wonderful wife, and like all of us, I need affirmation, I need love, sometimes I need challenge, sometimes I even need correction.

We all have needs. Even if you are unaware of them, they are there. Infact a good friend of mine says God created us with infinite need so that we might know that nothing small or temporary can fill us up. Only God can do that. And here’s the deal, I believe God actually can do that. He can meet our needs, I’ve personally experienced God meeting my real needs. In wildly big ways and even tiny ways. And so there is a blind man sitting on the side of the road and if we want to experience Jesus meeting our real needs we need to follow his example. His name is Bartimaeus.

Let me pray and then we will get started.

Holy Spirt come… Thank you for today, Thank you loving us and being with us. Father I ask that today you would help us get in touch with our needs and then have the courage to ask you for help. You are a good good father, and we love you… Amen.

So, to set the stage as we begin today.

This is what bible scholars call a triple synoptic tradition, This means you can find the same story in Matthew, Mark and Luke. This story left a mark on these three writers, they all remembered to include it because it was so impactful and My prayer for you today is that it leaves a mark on your life as well.

Let’s read Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:46–52 (NIV)

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. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

This is so good, So how do we begin to follow Bartimaeus’ example?

we start by…

Coming face-to-face with our real needs

Bartimaeus was in touch with his real needs. For him it was Blindness. It was his biggest need right on the surface and there was nothing he could do to fix it.

His blindness affected every single area of his life.

His independence, his mobility, his ability to contribute to society, His ability to hold down a job, or get an education. Brail hadn’t even been invited yet. His quality of life was diminished.

and In Bartimaeus’ day, People who were blind were considered social and spiritual outcasts. Because, A lot of times, physical ailments were considered God’s Judgment on that person, or on their family.

and this effected so many areas of his life that he had been reduced to being on the side of a busy and dangerous road begging for scraps.

See, Bartimaeus was stuck on the fringes of society in what felt like a hopeless situation.

Let’s put ourselves in Bartimaeus’ position for a second.

Lot’s of us have needs that are right on the surface.

We come face to face with them everyday like a chronic health problem, for me its sleep apnea. Every night when I go to bed, if I don’t wear that mask then I cannot sleep.

For some of us its back pain, or a broken bone, or cancer.

Or you are here today and you feel loneliness and isolation. I know so many of us have over the last couple years.

We feel that deep longing in our heart for community. We want to be seen, to be noticed, to be loved.

Everywhere we look other people seem to have someone they can turn too or count on. But we don’t.

and no matter how many friends we try to surround ourselves with we still can’t stop that ache in our heart from showing up.

We come up against these things on the surface every day. They are always in our face.

For some of us our needs are hidden under the surface.

Maybe for us, It’s the grief from the death of a loved one. A father, or mother, a child, a grand parent, a best friend. Lot’s of us have felt that sting over these last few years.

Or maybe it’s because of an addiction. Drugs, alcohol, porn, or what about insecurities, anxiety.

We believe the lie that we will never be free from it. That our struggle has no cure. That this is just the way it will always be.

Or maybe it’s in our relationships

I will always fight with my mom or dad, we just can’t get along. Or my kid will always be a failure or not be able to live up to my expectations.

Or Perhaps we feel like we aren’t bringing value to the places we are.

God created us to be an active contributor to our families and our communities. To be people who engage and bless those around us. We don’t get a sense of fulfillment in being a couch potato. It might feel good in the moment because nothing is expected from us, but at the end of the day it leaves us feeling empty.

I’ve never gotten done with a full day of bingeing the bachelor and feel like I’ve done a good thing with my life. (but every new season, ooof!)

And then for some of us, We just aren’t really aware of what our need is.

If we were to be asked what do you need? What do you desire? You think.. Hmm.. That is a good question. Maybe a Pizza?

REALLY?!? There is nothing you’d like to see Almighty God do in your life? If you asked your kids, or your spouse, or a best friend what needs to change in your life… do you think they’d say, “Oh, they are perfect! Don’t change a thing!”

When I want to get in touch with my real needs, I’ve learn to ask God this question, You can try it too: “God is there anything in me that you’d like to change/adjust/heal to make me more like Christ? Any fruits of the spirit that I need more of in my current situation? Any habitual disobedience you want to address?” When I ask those questions, I always get something I can work on.

and the thing we learn as we become more aware of our needs is that most of the time no one on earth seems to be able to meet all our deepest needs.

Everyone in our lives has fallen short at some point.

We lack that affirmation we needed growing up from our father, or the love we needed from our mother. We are needy blackholes of affirmation and NO ONE on earth can ever give us enough.

Perhaps our friends have let us down and hurt, or betrayed us. And no matter who we turn to we end up feeling hurt again.

So we try and try to make ourself happy by changing every exterior thing we can think of!

This new diet will make me like myself more.

This new car, house, job, pet will bring me happiness.

But non of it brings real change or makes us happy long term.

And realizing this, feeling that rejection or that let down over and over, can lead us to a place of hopelessness.

Man… Many of us feel hopeless about a ton of different things in our lives, don’t we? Like Bartimaeus we feel stuck. Like we’ve been left on the sideline and forgotten.

Transition:

And at this point you might be saying to yourself, “Sheesh Jackson! This story is about healing, when are we gonna get to that?!?”

Well, Coming face to face with our real needs is so important if we want to experience real hope and real change. It’s only once I get honest about where I’m really at, that I can receive healing. Jesus can’t heal the person that I want others to think I am. Jesus wants to meet with me, the person I really am, thats when I get to see real change in my life. and that brings us to the second thing that we learn from Bartimaeus. and that is that…

Hope gets ignited as we realize Jesus can make a difference

Verse 46 says, “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.”

I love the fact that we know Bartimaeus’ name.

Earlier in Mark, we don’t learn the name of the rich young ruler, who comes to talk to Jesus. But here, we learn the name of a poor blind beggar.

Do you ever wonder why all these names and places are mentioned in the bible?

Mark wanted us to know that this really happened, that Jesus was a real person.

Jesus was from Nazareth, a real place!

That’s also why he uses the name Bartimaeus.

The people Mark was writing too, knew Bartimaeus. It’s an eye witness account. And it also means that the son of Timaeus was most likely known in the later church, after all this happened.

The point I’m making is this: That our Hope is grounded in real history. Real truth. Not - long, long ago in a galaxy far far away. It’s real people at a real moment in history doing real things—and that’s why we trust it. That’s why we can base our Hope in Jesus. This isn’t just my truth, this is real truth, and the cool part is, it can become my truth, become personal because…

Jesus knows MY/YOUR name. If he could remember Bartimaeus’ name, he knows your name as well.

Matthew 10:30 says, “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Your hairs are numbered! My hairs probably take a bit longer to count then my dads. But you are valuable to God and he knows who you are.

So think about this for a second, verse 47.

Bartimaeus is sitting by the side of the road at an intersection and he’s heard a ton of people talking as they pass by about this Jesus guy going around and healing people, performing miracles, and noticing people like him those who everyone else seems to just pass by.

And suddenly he hears people talking around him that Jesus is here Right now! And something happens in him. Hope bubbles over into action and he thinks what if?? What if all of this is true and this guy really could make a difference in my life? and he begins to shout, JESUS! SON OF DAVID! HAVE MERCY ON ME!

Before we unpack what Bartimaeus said. I want to ask us this question. What if… ? What if Christ. What if God could actually make a difference in your life? What would it take for hope to be ignited in your soul?

and then… What are the things that keep hope at a distance for you? We’ve been studying through the Gospel of Mark, and we’ve heard all these stories of Jesus healing people, performing miracles just like Bartimaeus did and so… Let me ask it one more time…

What is it that keeps hope from igniting in your soul?

For some of us, we often times ask the question, am I worthy of God’s help?

and sometimes it’s sub conscious, but the enemy often lies to us and says, “Oh, thats good for so an so but not me.”

look, Bartimaeus did nothing to deserve healing, God’s healing wasn’t about how good Bartimaeus is, the healing that god is offering you and I doesn’t depend on how good you and I are, It depends on how good God is! We just have to come to him.

or we say, “Is my problem big enough to bother him with?”

we often think the problem has to be really big before we get the big guy upstairs involved.

I’ve heard people say, “Oh, I don’t wanna waste my prayers on that.” Almost like we only have 3 phone a friends. But that’s not how God works. He cares about the small things just as much as the big things, and he’s always listening.

Or what about a fear of disappointment?

like I just hate to get my hopes up and then see him not answer my prayer

Listen, fam, the writer of hebrews said even Jesus learned obedience in his suffering, so what if when jesus doesn’t alleviate your suffering, its not a sign of him not paying attention but its a sign of his love. Just a thought for us today.

What ignites hope in us is seeing who Jesus really is And I want to take a moment to notice how bart calls out to Jesus because I think it is so beautiful.

The first thing he says is “Jesus”

He’s calling out the guys name. Do you ever think of the fact that god has a name? See, Jesus shows us what god is like,

in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

or John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

or John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

John is echoing genesis here and as Eugene Peterson puts it, God moved into the neighborhood. Jesus is God.

The second thing Bartimaeus said is, “Son of David”

Jesus is the Messiah. This is where we get the word Christ from.

Bartimaeus uses the words “Son of David” because it shows that he knew who Jesus said he was. And on top of that, Bartimaeus believed it. See, Bartimaeus recognized that Jesus is God’s Long awaited, long ago promised deliverer. The one the entire old testament is pointing towards… the messiah, the Christ is walking down the very street Bartimaeus is on. To call Jesus, Son of David, is an expression of faith.

And the 3rd thing Bartimaeus says is “have mercy on me”.

The greek word for mercy is pronounced, Eleeo, it means too have pity. That’s a picture of total desperation.

Think about that for a second, we see the word mercy and think, I’m asking for help but my dignity is still intact. But when we think of needing pity from someone. That makes us uncomfortable doesn’t it? To pity someone in our modern day language means to feel sorry for someone, we think of it as demeaning. So we ask for mercy, or to put it in modern language: “just give me a break”.

But in Luke 17:12 when the lepers come to jesus they say “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”, and get this, it’s the same word. Listen, when we are asking for mercy we are actually asking for pity.

What is it that keeps us from asking God for Pity? until we can come to that place, we are just saying, “hey god, can you help me on my terms? and can you give me a break?” God is not a kit kat bar and We need to be able to get to the place where Bartimaeus was… to allow our selves to look foolish, and ask God for Pity.

and this is embarrassing for us! isn’t it? Thats why in verse 48, when Bartimaeus is acting foolish in the eyes of everyone around him, they try to shut him up. It says “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet”

see we don’t like giving up our dignity, we don’t like embracing humility, and we get embarrassed when those around us are acting foolish. What if there is something better here then holding onto your dignity. Jesus is the pearl of great price. He is worth giving up everything else for.

Do you cry out for pity? or do you hold onto your pride? Do you settle for your few scraps of dignity or do you cry out for the best prize of all.

Bartimaeus had the grace to persevere through all of that. He made a choice to shout for God to have pity on him.

…and that’s where we get to the next step of following Bartimaeus’ example. And that’s…

Choosing to turn to Christ for help

See, Bartimaeus made a choice here. He kept choosing to press into meeting Christ. Over and Over again, through all the obstacles.

See, It would have been really easy for him to stay stuck. Because of where we was, he most likely recieved adequate support. The south part of the city, built by Harod, to house his winter palace was renowned for its beauty and agriculture, and old testament law directed people to help the poor and needy.

So, It would have been easy to allow self-pity and apathy to kill the hope that was beginning to grow. But he didn’t let it. As he saw Jesus walk by he was able to throw his hands up in the air and say, “What the heck, I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m gonna take my shot. I need God’s pity.”

And now we get to Jesus’ response, in verse 49. It says, Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” And this is the part that gets me. The part of this story that has wrecked me as I have been studying it.

Jesus makes himself available to us.

Jesus is on his way to be crucified. The conflict is heating up. He knows whats coming cause he’s explained it to his disciples several times. He has been preparing for this journey to Jerusalem and He knows how hard it’s going to be for him over the coming days. He is on his way to die. Yet he stopped. I think it’s also important to note that Jesus didn’t go to Bartimaeus. There was intentionality about Jesus letting the blind man make the choice to go to Jesus. The Greek word for “Stopped” means to stand still, or stand there.

Jesus is Patient with us.

He did not say “Hurry bring that beggar to me so we can keep moving.” He didn’t passive aggressively sigh and say “ugh, yea I can help but hurry it up” No, he patiently and, I can imagine, eyes filled with compassion said “call him”.

The destiny of the world hung in the balance, yet Jesus, stopped for a blind beggar. Oftentimes we think of sacrificing the one for the many. That if we could save the world but one would be sacrificed, then it would be #worthit. However, in the Kingdom of God, we see that even the 1, that everyone else would pass by is #worthit.

Let me say this again. This is the King of the world, the Messiah, the one who has performed all these miracles, the one who created the universe, the one who created you. Is stopping for you. Let that sink in.

Do you realize right now, he is patient with you? Like right now. Just like you are being patient with me, he is patient waiting for you and I. and you are #worthit.

He loves us and respects us enough to let us decide if we want to run to him.

Take a second with me and Imagine you are sitting on the side of the road, your eye sight is at everyones knee height, that is if you could see, but you can’t. it helps me to close my eyes as i do this. Imagine you are in your spot of hopelessness. Be it, addiction, insecurities, anxiety, anger, pain, whatever it is that has you feeling stuck. Imagine being in that place, and then you hear that it doesn’t have to be this way. That you could be set free. That someone could save you from this thing that you have been stuck with for so long. Then he walks by and you have a choice to make. Do you beg for pity. or do you try and keep your dignity in tact and let this moment pass you by. Think about how you might respond in this moment.

Bartimaeus calls out for pity and in verse 50, we get to see the rest of his response.

It says, “Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.” Bartimaeus responds with wild abandon.

The garment mentioned here was a cloak or some kind of outer garment. It would have been used to keep him warm when it was chilly or even as a bed at night and it most likely would have been laid out in front of him to collect anything that someone passing by might give to him. He didn’t even take the time to pick it all up! Instead he leaves everything he owns, tosses it all aside, jumps to his feet and goes to Jesus.

Again! This is in stark contrast to the rich young ruler who could not cast away anything he owned to gain what he wanted.

Bartimaeus on the other hand was able to give up everything he had for the best prize of all. Jesus. There is a joyous extravagance in Bartimaeus response. Similar to how the disciples responded to Jesus when he first called them earlier in the gospel of mark. Simon and Andrew leave their nets (Mark 1:18), James and John leave their boat (Mark 1:20), Levi leaves his tax office (Mark 2:14).

I wonder how many times we are more like the rich young ruler instead of Bartimaeus and the disciples? How many times are we unwilling to let go of the stuff that we think gives us security for the person who gives us real life. We are invited to connect to the person who gives us real life. We just have to let go of the stuff that we think is keeping us safe…

and when we go to God we aren’t really sure whats going to happen? are we? Bartimaeus had no idea what to expect or what Jesus was going to do. He had to step into the unknown. We have to step into the unknown.

Alright, in verse 51 We see Bartimaeus finally gets face to face with Jesus. It says, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

and Bartimaeus is asked the question that Jesus is always asking? This is the big Question that we see over and over again through scripture.

John 1:38, John sees Jesus and tells his disciples that Jesus is the Lamb of God, so they start following him and Jesus turns and asks them, what do you want?

Listen, If you want to follow Bartimaeus’ example, picture Jesus turning to you right now and asking you what do you want? How would you answer?

Bartimaeus was in touch with his need and said “I want to see” and then Verse 52, Jesus tells him, that his faith has healed him. when you place your faith in the reality of who god is, that’s when this stuff gets really good. And we don’t need a ton of faith. We just need enough to get to the feet of jesus. How much faith did Bartimaeus need?

Enough to shout, enough to get up, and enough to ask to see?

Alright, back to the question. I think this is the question Jesus asks you and me right now. Its the question that gets to the heart of all the stuff thats going on inside of us.

and instantly we list the things on the surface but what about the underlying needs? Can we go there with God today?

If we can answer the question “what do you want?” “What do I want?” It changes our whole life. It doesn’t just heal our owie, or our hurt. It does do that! But it also reorientates our entire lives towards Jesus.

Ministry Time

So let’s do that right now. Please stand with me,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, would you come right now.

And that thing in side of us that doesn’t want to have to cry out for pity? God, I ask that you would give us the courage to follow bartimaeus example.

I want to invite the worship team to make their way up front, and if you are on the ministry team could come up as well?

and as Jesus is asking you that question… “What do you want?” You have an opportunity to respond just like Bartimaeus did. You don’t need to toss your seat to the side like he did, you can just walk away from it. But you have a chance to receive healing from God.

and some of us here have physical pain or other things right on the surface that we want healing for, so I invite you to make your way up right now to receive prayer for that.

And some of us have things more hidden under the surface. Wants and needs that only Jesus can meet. Jesus wants to heal those things too. So please, come up and get some prayer. We are going to continue to worship for a bit, God is asking you, What do you want? Don’t let this moment slip away.

Other then that, Thanks for coming to the vineyard, have a great day, let’s worship together for a bit.

(everything that humans go through has happened to someone in this room this week)