The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus: Trinity Coleman

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “my teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well”. Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. - Mark 10:46-52 NRSV

I would like us all to relive a childhood memory. One that we may all know too well. It's a trip to the grocery store, and you’re about 6 years old, on the cusp of becoming a 7-year-old (old enough to get around by yourself and talk). Your mom or dad stops to get a shopping cart, but this time they don’t put you in the cart. You’re brave and smart enough to stay close to the cart without running around too much. But you just happen to see out of the corner of your eye a small toy, and with that all of your attention is on this small toy and your parents seem like a distant memory. You walk over to the toy and you pick it up. You begin to fling the toy all around the store, and your brain runs wild. You envision enemies that your toy has to take down, and there’s no way you’ll finish playing until the battle is won. SO, after like two minutes you come back from the battle in your mind to realize that your mother or father has accidentally continued to shop without noticing you were gone. Then sets in that fear like no other. You turn around, looking to the left and right, hoping just maybe they were waiting for you at the end of the aisle, but you still cannot seem to find them. So, you’re a kid, you do what you do best. You begin to scream like there’s no tomorrow. Some people walk by you and just kind of look without speaking a word; others are hoping that you’ll quiet down and stop disturbing the shoppers. Then, eventually, a Walmart employee finds you in the center of the toy aisle and takes you to the front so everyone in the store can know that your mother or father needs to come retrieve you from the front. There’s no way to explain that feeling once you see your parents again. All your worries and cares are stripped away just by the sight of them.

I know that seemed like a really convoluted story, but I tell you this story because I am hoping that it stirred up that almost fearful feeling inside you. I can only imagine how Bartimeaus must have felt as a beggar on the side of the road with no sight. I can never truly understand how it must have felt to hear that Jesus was coming and that all he could do was shout out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” I can never imagine how it must have felt to hear the people around you tell you to be quiet after crying out in desperation. But Bartimaeus encourages us when he did not allow the others around him to silence him. He cried out to Jesus because he knew, If he could just hear me, he may take pity on me. If what they say about him is true, he just may heal me. That is exactly what Jesus did. He took pity and heard Bartimaeus. God hears us ALL, even the faintest cry. Sometimes, all God is waiting for is for us to cry out to him. He isn’t stressing over the situations you are going through because He’s already taken care of them. BUT I pose this to you, God’s People: Are you willing to give your all to him, when that’s all you have to give?

This is a transcription of a homily Trinity delivered during our Sunday Evening Eucharist. We have it every week at 5, so if you would like to hear homilies from Trinity and other great speakers please come celebrate with us!

Trinity is a graduating senior here at Tech. She is in the pre-vet program and plans to go on to be a zookeeper in Texas, and her favorite animals are snakes. Though only recently beginning to attend the Wesley Trinity has already shown herself to be a faithful and essential minister of the Gospel, and we are excited to see how she continues to serve the Lord!