Proper 25
Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Mark 10:46-52
You can also subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.
By God’s grace the members of the First Church and Ecclesiastical Society of Woodbury, Connecticut have unanimously called me to be their pastor. Below is my candidate sermon.
I.
The First Congregational Church of Woodbury, Connecticut knows, as the Psalmist says, what it means to have “sown in tears” (Psalm 126:5).
I know this from spending the past month talking to your Council, which is also the Pastor Search Committee.
I believe the phrase I heard repeatedly was “tired and worn out.”
The three texts for today, from Jeremiah 31, Psalm 126, and Mark 10 speak to sowing in tears, to weeping and crying out to God, but they also speak to the reversal of a desperate and evil fortune that has befallen God’s people.
Jeremiah 31:9 says, “With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back.”
Psalm 126:5 says, “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!”
Mark 10:47-48 tells us of a blind man who cried out and then cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Now, I did not choose these texts for my candidate sermon. These are the texts the Revised Common Lectionary appoints for today to be read in churches the world over.
But I found them to be entirely appropriate for a candidate’s sermon to a church that of late, has “sown in tears,” whether those be tears of exhaustion, tears of lament for what has been, or tears for a future that may never come.
II.
Today’s texts are talking about gathering the remnant congregation of Israel.
Let me stress that word, congregation. I am speaking to a congregation right now, a congregation that is considering the call of a pastor candidate.
The basic unit of God’s people is not the individual person, but the congregation.
The readings make two key points.
The first, from Jeremiah, is that God grants all the remnant sons of Israel a first-born son’s share in the messianic kingdom that is to come.
In Jeremiah 31:9, God says, “for I am a father to Israel, and E′phraim is my first-born.”
Who was Ephraim?
Genesis 46:20 tells us that he was Joseph’s second son, Jacob’s last grandson, yet adopted by Jacob and made one of the twelve tribes of the congregation of Israel.
Jeremiah tells us when this promised gathering of the remnant congregation occurs, that even the descendants of the last-born Ephraim will be treated like first-born sons, with all the privileges that go with being the first.
In Jeremiah 31:8 we read that God “will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth….”
The second point is that the call to join this gathering of first-born sons and daughters must not be ignored. It may not come again.
The urgency of this call to gather drives blind Bartimaeus to interrupt the cortege that Jesus has gathered and is leading to Jerusalem.
Mark 10:46 tells us, “Bartimae′us, a blind beggar, the son of Timae′us, was sitting by the roadside.”
Mark is characteristically brief, but in this case is downright wordy, redundant.
Bartimaeus literally means son of Timaeus, which Mark then emphasizes. “The son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.”
The name Timaeus means “highly prized” in Greek. In other words, Bartimaeus means the son of one who is highly prized. The Greek root in both names is τιμη which means time.
Time is highly prized because it cannot be stored up or saved, it must be used, or it is gone.
Mark uses this wordplay to tell us that the call of Christ must also be accepted before it is too late.
Mark 10:47 tells us that when Bartimaeus hears who is passing by, he cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Bartimaeus uses a messianic title for Jesus. He calls Jesus the “Son of David.”
Somehow, Bartimaeus is fully aware of the situation, of this gathering of the remnant congregation of Israel that is threatening to pass him by and leave him unchanged, blind and by the side of the road.
Bartimaeus is rebuked for calling out to Jesus.
Mark 10:48, “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”
The crowd is treating this blind man like someone who is a last-born son, entitled to almost none of the inheritance.
But God says in Jeremiah 31:9, “I am a father to [all] Israel, and E′phraim is my first-born.”
Blind Bartimaeus has been given a gift — not (yet) the gift of his eyesight restored — but the gift of perseverance.
I read in your by-laws that the First Ecclesiastical Society of Woodbury was founded in “about 1659,” which predates the church itself by about eleven years.
One year before, in 1658, Congregationalist laymen and clergy in England gathered in London to draft The Savoy Declaration of Faith.
In 1680, at the behest of Increase Mather, the Massachusetts General Court adopted the Savoy Declaration, and, in 1705, the trustees of Yale College wrote to the clergy of the colony urging them to adhere to this declaration.1
Here is what that declaration has to say about perseverance and the Fatherhood of God:
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father….2
In other words, the perseverance of blind Bartimaeus — no less than the perseverance for over 350 years of this First Church and Ecclesiastical Society of Woodbury — is evidence of God’s unchangeable love.
Because of this perseverance, Jesus ignores the crowd’s rebuke and calls Bartimaeus.
The calling of Bartimaeus elevates the man in the eyes of the crowd, changing their rebuke into a word of consolation.
Mark 10:49, “Take heart; rise, he is calling you.”
Jesus’ call is a harbinger of the miracle that is about to take place, the restoration of the blind man’s eyesight.
The call of Jesus to all of us sin-sick sinners to “take heart” is the harbinger of good things to come.
To a “tired and worn out” church, to a church that has sown in tears, Jesus says, “take heart” and this is the harbinger of good things to come.
When the crowd rebukes Bartimaeus they are ignoring God’s will.
God has willed in love that the blind man should persevere, and that in calling out to Jesus, the Son of David, he should have his eyesight restored.
This is what it looks like to be a father to Israel and to love Ephraim as your first-born.
Likewise, Jesus calls His remnant church today, even here in Woodbury. That remnant is inclusive of anyone who is lost and who heeds His call.
Moreover, as Jeremiah makes clear, the remnant is a group, the remaining congregation of Israel. To them is the promised mercy, healing, and restoration.
Jeremiah 31:7:
For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘The Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.’”
When the prophets use a word like “remnant” they are referring to those who have survived catastrophe and to those who have remained faithful.
In getting to know you I see that you have survived the catastrophe of dwindling membership and of voting to suspend your worship.
Then came a pandemic.
This was a near-death experience, or perhaps an actual death.
I tend to think it was your actual death as a church, because you have to die in order to be resurrected.
But you have also remained faithful.
And lately, in this time of waiting, you have met regularly for Holy Communion, because, as your deacon, Matt Minor, told me, it became a way to increase your “personal relationship with Jesus.”
You have not forgotten Jesus and Jesus has not forgotten you.
And so, both as individuals and as a congregation, you need to take heart, believe that Christ is calling you once again, and that He will show you mercy by healing and restoring you.
III.
But a lack of faith could thwart this promised mercy, healing, and restoration.
Bartimaeus was blind, and while he does not have eyes to see, he has ears to hear, and when he hears it is Jesus of Nazareth who is passing by, he cries out in faith.
Still, Jesus sees fit to test his faith. He asks in Mark 10:51, “What do you want me to do for you?”
That’s a good question for a church on the brink of what could be its own resurrection. What do you want Jesus to do for you?
Because the risk in calling out to “Jesus, Son of David” for mercy is that you will be rebuked by many, and, in that rebuke, there will be the denial of the faith that can heal you, restore you, and by which you can receive mercy.
The rebukers will also tell you that you can safely ignore the call, because there will always be another opportunity.
But the truth is it may not come again.
Jesus would only pass by once on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.
Jesus knows what the blind man wants, but Jesus wants the rebuking crowd to hear the man say it.
It is for the crowd’s sake that the miracle will be performed as much as it is for blind Bartimaeus to be healed.
The crowd needs to see and understand that the blind and lame, the pregnant women and the women in childbirth, the weeping, the exiles, and the last-born sons like Ephraim, will all be treated as equals, as first-born sons.
The entire remnant congregation will be restored, healed, and shown mercy.
Mark 10:52, “And Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.”
We must answer the rebuking crowd with faith, and this faith, as shown in the blind man’s perseverance, comes not of his own choice, but from the love of God.
In other words, it is not so much that we gather here today to decide whether or not to attempt the restoration and renewal of First Church — as if it were up to us — but that God has willed to gather us here this day in love.
Whatever restoration and renewal that may come, will come by faith, which is also a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).
Faith is a gift from God, and God gathers us here so that we may give back to Him what He has already given us.
Now, there will be those who say that what we purpose here today is folly, that First Church should close, that the age of the Christian Church is passing, that Congregationalism has run its course, that God has forsaken New England.
There will be those who say that we need to follow the world in order to appeal to the world.
But like blind Bartimaeus we know this opportunity may not come again.
So, in front of the whole rebuking world (and loud enough for them to hear over the noise they make), we say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us!” and “Master, let us again receive our sight!”
Yes, First Church Woodbury, you have kept the Faith, but has your eyesight grown dim over the long centuries?
Let us ask God to give us eyes to see Jesus and ears to hear His Gospel like the ever-new Word that it is.
IV.
In saving His own first-born Son, Jesus, God shows how He will save all of us.
Jeremiah 31:7 says, “The Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.”
This is how God saves each one of us, by raising us to first-born son status.
God did not allow Jesus, His first-born Son, to see corruption (Ps. 16:10), but raised Him to eternal life.
This is the inheritance of the first-born Son: eternal life.
This inheritance is ours as saints. Paul writes in Colossians 1:12 that we are to give thanks to the Father “who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
The resurrection of God’s first-born Son is the promise that we will be resurrected as well, but remember, the promise of Christ in Jeremiah is made to the remnant congregation.
It does you no good to go on standing outside while the remnant is gathering inside.
Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus.
It would have done Him no good to remain silent.
After he is healed does he remain alone and aloof?
No.
Mark tells us that Bartimaeus “followed [Jesus] on the way.”
Those of you who are lost, those of you who need mercy, healing, or restoration — and which among you does not? — do you hear Jesus’ call?
Has anyone told you that He is passing by?
Will you cry out to Him?
Will this congregation here in Woodbury cry out to Him once more?
V.
Now we can take heart and cry out to Jesus knowing that the time is short.
I don’t know anything more about the days and weeks ahead than you do.
I read the same headlines that you do. The world is descending into madness, our country is in a precarious situation.
But the recognition of the urgency, of the need to do something here at First Church, is something that resonated with me and my wife.
In speaking with many of you, it’s become clear to us that you understand this moment may not come again.
So, in spite of the odds, and frankly, in spite of having the deck stacked against us, there is still something we can do.
Jesus shows us that the rebuke of the world is not something we need to fear.
In fact, the rebuke can turn to words of comfort if Jesus calls us.
After all, it is the rebuking crowd that tells blind Bartimaeus to “take heart, rise, he is calling you.”
I think that crowd is all around us now.
The crowd rebukes the church because it hates the Gospel, but one word from Jesus will change the crowd’s taunts and jeers to an invitation.
Jesus gives that word and the crowd obeys.
“Call him,” Jesus says in Mark 10:49.
Remember, it is for the crowd’s sake as much as it is for Bartimaeus’ that Jesus performs this miracle.
It can be that way here in Woodbury.
But, if we ask Jesus to heal and restore this church for our sake alone, He surely will not do it.
But if we ask for the sake of our lost and unbelieving neighbors — if we cry out to Jesus, Son of David, for those who are so steeped in their sins that they don’t even know they need mercy, who are so sick they don’t know what health is, who are so alienated that they don’t know what restoration means — then I think He surely will.
Let us pray:
Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Preached on October 27, 2024 at the First Congregational Church, Woodbury, Connecticut.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
1. Today’s texts speak to the ____________ of evil fortune that has befallen God’s people.
2. Today’s texts talk about gathering the ____________ congregation of Israel.
3. The basic unit of God’s people is the ____________.
4. The name Timaeus means “highly ____________” in Greek.
5. Bartimaeus’ ____________ is evidence of God’s unchangeable love.
6. The remnant includes anyone who heeds the ____________ of Jesus.
7. It is for the sake of the ____________ that the miracle will be performed as much as it is for blind Bartimaeus to be healed.
8. The ____________ remnant congregation will be restored, healed, and shown mercy.
9. God did not allow His first-born Son, Jesus, to see ____________.
10. What is the inheritance promised to the saints?
11. It does you no good to go on standing outside while the remnant is ____________ inside.
12. The world’s rebuke is not something we need to ____________.
Parents and Grandparents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents or the minister after church. Older Children – Discuss with your parents one or both of the following: 1) Have you ever been left out? How did it make you feel? 2) Describe a time when you wanted to say something but felt like you couldn’t. What kept you from speaking?
(1) reversal; (2) remnant; (3) congregation; (4) prized; (5) perseverance; (6) call; (7) crowd; (8) entire; (9) corruption; (10) eternal life; (11) gathering; (12) fear
Robert E. Davis and David F. Wells, Historic Documents of Congregationalism (Millers Falls, Mass: Puritan Press, 2005), 16-17.
Ibid., 58. Savoy, 17.2.
Share this post