October 28 2018 Marriage Is Music, Knowledge Is Limited

October 28, 2018 *Mark 10.46-52, Job 42.1-6, 10-17 “Marriage is Music, Knowledge is Limited” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

Jesus and the disciples came to Jericho, [slide # 1 Jericho map] one of the oldest cities in the world. [slide #  2 ancient Jericho] It was a well-known city because, like Spring City, Pennsylvania, it was an area blessed by God to have lots of water, and we all know what a blessing it is to have lots of water. [slide #  3 aqueducts] Jericho was also known for its honey, [slide #  4 honey] roses, [slide # 5 rose bush] and Cyprus trees. [slide # 6 cypress trees] There were other cities named Jericho, but this Jericho was located between Jerusalem and the Jordan River. Like many densely populated areas, there were enough people coming and going that that there was a great incentive to sell and buy anything, good or not-so-good. [slide #  7 marketplace]

There was enough slimy and grimy stuff for any God-fearing family to be on alert and protect their children from negative influences. Joshua and his God-driven soldiers fought the battle of Jericho in order to reclaim the territory for the clean life. [slide # 8 marching around Jericho] They were marching around the walls until “the walls, the walls, the walls,” as that children’s song says, “came tumbling down.” [slide # 9 walls falling]

Now some are quick to say that Joshua should have been ashamed of himself for leading an army to conquer Jericho for no good reason. But, if you read the bible over and over enough, in whatever version, you can see that God does not ask soldiers to fight the innocent and powerless. God sends soldiers to fight in order to deliver people from evil. Joshua may have been fighting the evils of terrorism, pornography, prejudice, prostitution, kidnapping, slavery, drug cartels or pirates. The bible does not say what battle Joshua was fighting. We only know that it was in Jericho.

There was no detailed description of the evil that was going on. That is true of a few places in the bible. As Paul reminded the church in Ephesus, chapter 5.12, “It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.” God does not always share the gory and disgusting details of the world’s wickedness. Even today’s evening news journalists refuse to say certain words and show certain pictures without a warning. Some things are so slimy as to be better left unsaid.

After Joshua destroyed and dismantled Jericho, he cursed the city and warned anyone who would try to rebuild the evils that they would suffer death and destruction. It was, unfortunately rebuilt 500 years later by the wicked, unruly King Ahab with the help of his overbearing, sacrilegious, blood-thirsty Queen Jezebel. Rebuilding something wicked is no real surprise, for the default of humanity is the reproduction of greed and hatred. We work to pull up a satanic root here and find seeds being nurtured over there. We simply have to do whatever Jesus asks us to do, the rest is in God’s hands.

So, over a thousand years after Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, cursed it and dared anyone to rebuild that evil, there it was as a stench in God’s nostrils again. Jesus and his disciples were in it, and as they were leaving, according to the gospel of Mark, they heard a man calling them from the side of the road of this sin-city, “Jesus, son of David. Have mercy on me.”

Hearing someone call him must have been music to Jesus’ ears. He was the savior of the world, but not everyone wanted to be saved. He was the lover of human souls, but not everyone was looking for love in all the right places. He gave his life to seal a new covenant for the forgiveness of all of our sins, but the human inclination was for the chaos of cacophony rather than for melody and harmony.

Humans make a lot of noise here on earth, but it is music to God’s ears when we cry out earnestly and lift our hearts and hands toward heaven expecting to receive the blessings and mercies that Jesus is ready to pour out for us.

Though Jericho was about 75 miles from Nazareth where Jesus was from, the man on the side of the road knew who Jesus was. He knew he was the son of the great King David, by 28 generations. On the other hand, Mark tells us some important things about this man on the side of the road. We know he is in a situation that anyone could find themselves in at one point in life. He is side-lined in society, he is a beggar, economically disadvantaged, he is visually impaired – like probably 95% of us in this room, but Mark thought it super important that we know who his daddy was. We do not know the name of the man himself. Mark simply called him BarTimaeus. “Bar” means “son of,” so we know he was the son of Timaeus, and in the Greek, Timaeus is translated “highly prized.” [ slide #  10 Timaeus means “highly prized”]

I find it particularly interesting that there is a man in the bible whose name means “highly prized” because that is the name the Holy Spirit gave me to call my son in the faith, the only male on this earth who calls me “mom.” He is a man who served a prison term and whose value the world can easily overlook, but whom God calls a “prize.”  [slide # 11 prized possession]

What we see is not always all that God is showing us. When our spiritual eyes are impaired, we may be blind to what is most precious to God. [slide #  12 you…special] Mark tells us that BarTimaeus was blind and blindness has two meanings in scripture. One meaning is to be unable to see physically, the other is to be unable to look up. Bartimaeus was not only able to look up toward the heavens, but his looking caused him to see Jesus and he cried out so loudly that he was disturbing the peace. When they tried to shut him up, he cried out even louder. He knew he was important to Jesus, that Jesus prized him, and that the desire of Jesus’ heart was that he be blessed. [slide # 13 God delights in you]

What we see is not always all that God is showing us. In the 90’s there emerged a trend for blind auditions for orchestras. As a result of musicians playing behind a curtain, of course, conductors could not see what they looked like that is why the number of female musicians has increased in orchestras as much as 30%.

We do not know much in this world, but there is one thing we know for sure. If we can see Jesus, our eyes will be open, and our lives will be changed forever. Amen. [slide # 14 we are God’s prized…]