What prayer is.. and is not
Mark 10: 35-38 (recap) and 46-52.
It’s amazing that we have got to October 27th – and this is the first time I’ve mentioned Strictly Come Dancing – it’s week 6 !
One of the highlights this year is undoubtedly the dancing of comedian Chris McCausland – who is blind. The confidence he has to have in his dance partner, Diane, to put his all into each routine when he literally can’t see where he is, is astonishing.
I couldn’t help thinking of Chris McCausland when I read today’s story of blind Bartimaeus.
In the time of Jesus, someone like Bartimaeus would have had no real options in life. He can’t see to fish, or farm, or make things. So as Jesus leaves Jericho, the blind man is sitting by the roadside doing the only thing he can do to scratch a living – he is begging.
He hears a crowd approaching – we’re told it’s a large crowd – and someone tells him that among that crowd is Jesus of Nazareth. So Bartimaeus shouts out “have mercy on me”.
That could have been his regular shout for begging from the people walking past – perhaps a bit more effective than “can you spare any change”.. the passers-by responding to “have mercy on me” by giving a few coins might have earned him enough to scrape a living. He wants Jesus to hear his cry – he refuses to be silenced ‘have mercy on me’. He doesn’t demand anything from Jesus: but he wants to be seen and heard and he longs for merciful treatment.
How different this is from the way James & John have earlier approached Jesus (a story we heard in full in last week’s lectionary reading) ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ . Sounds a bit grabby, doesn’t it.
But Bartimaeus throws himself on the mercy of Jesus – and Jesus responds ‘Call him here’ – and he throws off his cloak and springs up to rush to Jesus.
Here’s another blind man, like Chris McCausland, showing complete trust in his teacher.
Then comes the question ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ – and instead of asking for small change to see him through the day, Bartimaeus asks for the thing he really wants, but has probably never dared to ask for before ‘My teacher, let me see again’.
In response to Jesus’ straightforward question ‘what do you want?’ Bartimaeus is equally straightforward ‘to see again’.
Jesus says ‘go, your faith has made you well’, but Bartimaeus, now healed, joins the disciples, and becomes a follower on the way with Jesus.
Comparing these two encounters with Jesus – of James & John and of Bartimaeus – made me think about some of the ways we might pray.
Does praying ever feel a bit like a shopping list?
Dear God,
Please bring world peace
Healing to everyone who is sick
Comfort to everyone who is grieving
Calm for all those who are in difficulty…
And so on.
We can approach prayer like James and John ‘we want you to give us whatever we ask for’.
The danger is that we start to think we have some power over God’s mercy. Or we might think that if we forget to pray for someone or some place, God will not act to help them.
We are giving ourselves far too much responsibility.
Our approach should be more like blind Bartimaeus. ‘Lord, have mercy’.
We might want to mention people and places we are particularly conscious of, or whose needs we are burdened by, and at times we all need to come to God in prayer and say ‘help me!’. But mostly our prayer is reminding ourselves of the mercy of God which is always there – or the grace of God which is already pouring into each situation of need. And sometimes in our prayer we might ask God to show us if there is anything we can do to be part of the answer to someone else’s prayer.
The prayer of Bartimaeus is simple, because he cannot do many of the things that the people around him do. He would need someone to take him to the synagogue or temple, he cannot read scripture, he even finds it hard to interact with people around him, because he is begging for a living – and many of them would choose to avoid him.
But, blind as he is, Bartimaeus simply lives by grace.
He starts by recognising that he is in the presence of the Son of God; then simply asking for mercy. When he gets the chance to come closer to Jesus he grabs the chance – and then when he hears the question ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ he can answer open-heartedly and honestly with his deepest need. And he is heard, affirmed and healed.
Prayer is not listing needs, it is opening ourselves to the presence of God.
Rowan Williams, previous Archbishop of Canterbury is much quoted for what he said about prayer, comparing it to sunbathing:
"When you're lying on the beach something is happening, something that has nothing to do with how you feel or how hard you're trying. You're not going to get a better tan by screwing up your eyes and concentrating. You give the time, and that's it. All you have to do is turn up. And then things change, at their own pace. You simply have to be there where the light can get at you."
Prayer, at its heart, is not so much about talking to God, or asking God for things, but is about opening ourselves up to the reality of God’s presence and then allowing our view of the world and our place in it to be changed by God’s loving presence. It’s like lying in the sun and feeling warmed and even tanned by its power.
There are things that might help us – words we can say, our hear said; music to sing or listen to; bread and wine to share; special places like chapels and churches; people whom we find it good to have with us; beautiful things to look at, whether paintings or sunsets., beaches or sculptures. But in the end, prayer is us being before our merciful God, as Bartimaeus stood before Jesus, and hearing the words ‘what do you want me to do for you?’… and responding with an honest, open heart.
Today we can respond to that invitation to simply be in God’s presence and feel the merciful healing and wonderful grace God offers us. We are invited not because we are in chapel, or because it is Sunday, or because we are feeling particularly holy. We are invited because we are always invited, God’s presence is always there, prayer is always available to us.
May we be touched by God’s love, and find ourselves able to respond – in the healing name of Jesus who said to Bartimaeus “your faith has made you well”. Amen.
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