WHAT FAITH CAN DO
 

(A sermon preached October 29, 2006 at University United Methodist Church, East Lansing MI by John Ross Thompson)

Scripture Texts: Mark 10:46-52, Hebrews 7:23-28

Today, we commissioned two new leaders, Barb and Mark Doyal, for our Stephen Ministry of caring laypersons in this congregation. These Stephen ministers are the persons who day after day minister to those in our midst who have needs. This type of caring ministry fits well with our Gospel text from Mark.

The scripture account is about Jesus healing a blind man, Bartimaeus. He was a nobody in that society. People considered him an outcast, due to their mistaken theory that blindness was caused by sin. He could not work, and was reduced to being a beggar.

Friday night, we took seven grandchildren to a Civic Theatre production of “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nobody”. They also all stayed overnight at our house, but that’s another story. Perhaps you remember fourth grade as a stage in life when a child realizes that the world no longer revolves around him or her. Others, especially younger siblings, are important and loved, too, and that’s a shocking realization that can make a child feel like a nobody. It’s time for a child like that to find his or her place in the real world.

Bartimaeus called out “Son of David”, knowing who Jesus was. It was a political statement in those days, but also a statement of belief.

Jesus’ question to him was, “What do you want me to do for you?” just as he might ask us today. Jesus is open to what we really need. The Hebrews text recounts this, describing Jesus as one who does for us what a priest does for his people.

Bartimaeus was not an opportunist. He wanted to see physically, but it is obvious that he wanted to have more than physical sight. The proof is that he followed Jesus from then on. He did not leave just because he was healed.

What would happen today if you were asked to pray for a person physically blind, or afflicted with some other problem that defied an easy solution? Not many of us would expect such a healing. We believe we live in a more sophisticated day, relying less on prayer and more on science and medicine and our ability to solve situations through God-given knowledge.

When it comes to miracles and prayer, it’s best to “never say never.” Miracles do happen through prayer. Prayer is a mystery that is beyond our understanding, but it something that we know works. My favorite scripture, which is in more than one place in the Bible, is “With God nothing shall be impossible.”

My wife Ellen recalls a woman in her church who prayed fervently for a white sofa, and finally found one in the last room of the last furniture store. I remember well a woman who spoke about her prayer requests for dining room curtains. We can label some prayers as not appropriate, but the bottom line is that God asks us to share our needs, big and small. We can pray for whatever we need and God, who knows best, will know
what to do with the request, just like a parent knows how to handle an immature request from a child. For example, if this Tuesday you have a child who comes home from trick-or-treating and asks you if she can eat all of her candy at once, would you say yes? No good parent would let that happen. However, a wise parent might ask the child to choose a favorite piece of candy, and to save the other pieces for later.

How would you pray if someone came to you with a seemingly hopeless situation? Would you pray that someone’s physical blindness would be healed?

I believe that God always answers our prayers and also answers with a “Yes.” That “yes” means that God either grants our request or gives us something even better, just as a loving parent would do.

The common ground we all have when it comes to prayer is simple. It is faith. That faith is varied in its expression, but very present in our lives.

I’ve carefully considered what I know faith can do for us, just as it did for Bartimaeus.

Faith can:

1. Make us into people of hope, seeing the abundance not the scarcity of our situation.

2. Change the underlying situation (perhaps changing us), resulting in a miraculous result.

3. Open us to a broader vision.

4. Take us out of ourselves, relying on a greater power, which is a sign of spiritual strength.

5. Give us more resiliency, such as standing by our teams through thick and thin. Stick-to-it-tiveness is a sign that we know faith is real, more real than the things that we can prove by scientific method.

6. Make us givers – generous people who pour out rather than take in.

When all of this happens, it is a miracle!

There are many, including no doubt some here today, who do not believe this. Mostly, it’s because they have not yet experienced what faith can do. It’s up to us to share with them. Go, and share with others what faith has done for you, and what it can do for them.