The poet Wendell Berry has suggested that "to treat life as less than a miracle is to give up on it."  In today’s Gospel lesson, a man named Bartimaeus refuses to give up on the miracle called life, the miracle called faith, and the miracle called Jesus.

    Bartimaeus is a blind beggar who repeatedly calls out to Jesus, saying: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  At first the crowd hushes him, “sternly warning him to be quiet.”  But then, when Jesus calls out to Bartimaeus, the people quickly change their tune, saying:  “Take heart, he is calling you.”  Jesus asks him specifically what he wants and Bartimaeus does not mince words:  “My teacher, let me see again.”  Then Jesus, without so much as a prayer, a touch, or even a sidelong glance addresses Bartimaeus, saying:  “Go, your faith has made you well,” And the story concludes:  “Immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.” 

    It is, obviously, a miracle.  And yet, this story is meant to be understood on multiple levels.  Think of the Gospel of Mark as a sermon.  Mark is writing for the early Christian community, and this is what scholars call a “sign story,” because it points us toward a truth that we have to see for ourselves.  Bartimaeus is the only recipient of a miraculous healing in Mark who is named, because he is Mark’s quintessential example of discipleship. When Mark tells the story of Bartimaeus’ healing and faithful response, he’s challenging his own community to see.  He’s also challenging us to catch the vision.   Do we see what he sees?  Can we also receive the miracle of sight, to see as Bartimaeus sees, to see as Jesus sees?

    Consider the symbolism in the name itself.  Bartimaeus is literally - “Bar” meaning son - of “Timaeus” which means “worthy” or “precious.”  So, despite the fact that he is a blind beggar, his very name indicates that Bartimaeus is a worthy son.  The reason that’s important is that the theology of the day equated physical adversity with sin.  When someone was crippled, sick or blind people naturally asked, “who sinned?” because such persons were believed to be cursed.  They were thought to deserve their fate for the sins that either they or their parents had committed.  Scripture taught that the sins of the parents were visited upon their children. [Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 5:9, Jeremiah 32]  But, that’s not the way Jesus sees.  Jesus sees Bartimaeus – Jesus sees you and me - as a child of God, as a worthy son or daughter who is precious in the eyes of the Lord.  All of us are precious in the eyes of the Lord, regardless of our status, our health, our wealth or emotional well being.  So the story is a challenge to see both others and ourselves as Jesus sees us.  We are all precious.  Everyone is worthy.  The point is that simply accepting God’s love and believing that it is true is, in itself, a healing that changes our whole perspective on life.  Mark tells about this healing of Bartimaeus’ as a “sign story,” a challenge for us to see as Jesus sees, to accept our healed vision and be transformed by it. That’s the first level of meaning.

    But there’s also another meaning.  Everyone knows that Helen Keller was blind, but some things have to be believed to be seen, and Helen Keller had a vision.  She saw with the eyes of faith.  “I believe that life is given us so we may grow in love,” she once wrote. “And I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of a flower – the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence. I believe that only in broken gleams has the Sun of Truth yet shone upon humanity.  I believe that love will finally establish the Kingdom of God on earth.” 

    There’s more than one way to be healed, and please consider that Bartimaeus could have remained physically blind, and still have been healed!  As important as physical sight is, the kind of spiritual vision that Helen Keller had is even more important.  This “call story” of the healing of Bartimaeus challenges us to see with the eyes of Jesus and to experience a spiritual healing that transcends the limits of the flesh. 

    Do you see with the eyes of faith?  Do I?  When Jesus looks upon us, when he looks upon anyone, he sees through the eyes of love.  He sees with the eyes of compassion and forgiveness.  He sees, and his very vision heals us.  It is a high holy calling to see with the eyes of Jesus, to accept the vision of Christ, to be healed, and to likewise be a healer.  How do you see yourself?  How do you see others?  Do you look with love, with compassion, with forgiveness and with healing?  That’s the challenge of discipleship.

    Bartimaeus was blind, but aren’t we all lacking in vision?  Mark tells this story as a challenge to discipleship, as a call to examine our vision and to see in a new way, with the eyes of Christ.  Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus, and asked that he might see, and the story says that Jesus responded, “'Go, your faith has made you well.’  And immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus.”  

    To receive our sight, to see with the eyes of Christ, is to be healed.  And to follow Jesus is to receive the joyful affirmation that we are beloved children of God.  The response to that healing is that we have a song of praise and thanksgiving in our hearts. 

    The Psalm in today’s lectionary reading that goes with the healing story of Bartimaeus is one of my favorites, Psalm 34.  Long ago I learned a song with lyrics that are the exact words of the first 8 verses of Psalm 34:  “I will bless the Lord at all time; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.  O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.  I sought the Lord and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

    It’s a wonderful psalm, a song of praise for deliverance from adversity.  It’s the kind of Psalm that Bartimaeus must have sung when the Lord put a new song of praise and gratitude in his heart.  It’s a song of love and healing, a song of the soul’s awakening to new life in the fullness of the spirit as a disciple of God’s incarnate love.

    Imagine the joy that Bartimaeus felt upon receiving his sight.  It’s the same miraculous joy that is offered to you and to me when we recognize that, as Wendell Berry says, "to treat life as less than a miracle is to give up on it."  It’s the same miraculous joy, the same song of praise we join in singing with Helen Keller when we affirm: “I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of a flower – the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence.”   Life is truly a miracle, when we see both others and ourselves through the eyes of Christ.

    So, I’ll close with another song of celebration, this time from the Persian poet, Hafiz:  “What is this precious love and laughter budding in our hearts?” Hafiz asks, and then answers,  “It is the glorious sound of a soul waking up.”  Thanks be to God for the gift of new life, for the miraculous vision of seeing with the compassionate, healing eyes of Christ, in whose name we gather and pray.  Amen.