What Do You Want Me To Do For You?

Scripture: Mark 10: 46-52
October 14, 2007

Keith Miller, in his book, The Scent of Love, shared a story about a man named Jack whose life and family were changed at a church week-end retreat that Keith Miller was leading.
Jack owned his own company after having been in the military for a number of years, and he stood like a tough marine sergeant. Keith Miller confessed that when he first saw Jack he thought to himself, "I hope this man doesn't want to see me after hours on this retreat. He seems hostile.”
Jack's wife was also at the retreat, and she told Keith Miller that when Jack came home from work that he was usually so angry that she was afraid that one of their four children was likely to get smacked, so she would send the kids out into the backyard whenever he came home.
Sometime during that week-end retreat Jack heard what was being said about how God can change the direction of a person's life, and at the end of the conference he said he wanted to see if he could make that change. He talked with someone who suggested a few things he might do, to begin learning to live with love and not judgment.
The person suggested that Jack not tell anybody about his decision, that he just be quiet and kind of ease into his new way of living. He was asked to start by praying, reading the Bible, and trying to show his family how much he loved them.
A month later Jack came back to the retreat leaders and shared what had happened. After the first week his 12 year old son knocked on Jack's study door one night and said, "Can I come in and talk to you?" His son had been in real trouble. He was always by himself at school. He never played with other kids, he had almost no friends, and he had been caught stealing. Jack could not remember his son ever having knocked on his study door before that night so he said, "Sure son come in."
His son came in and said, "Uh, Dad, uh, what's happened to you?"
Jack was very embarrassed. He was a tough guy, and he didn't know how to talk about what had been going on with him since the retreat.

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Jack said, "Well, son, I just... well, I don't know how to live my life very well, and I....heard some people say that if I prayed, and read the Bible, and tried to give you guys love instead of grief, somehow, Jesus or God, would help me learn what was making me so angry all the time. Somehow by doing these things, well things might go better for all of us."
After a long silence his son said, "Dad...do you suppose I could try this too?"
Jack stood up from his chair, they looked at each other and then hugged each other, which they hadn't done in years. And that night, Jack said his boy started being happy.

A week later Jack had to leave their small town and go to New York City on a business trip. His son had never liked to meet him at the plane when he got home from his trips. When Jack appeared from the boarding gate area his son ran up and said breathlessly, "Dad!" and hugged him and buried his face in his Dad's chest. Then he looked up said, "I'm so glad to see you." And then he said, "Daddy, do you know what God's done?"
Jack said, "No, what son?"
And his son said with a look of amazement on his face, "Dad, God's changed every kid in my class."
Pause
Over the next 4 Sundays I will be looking at the healing stories of Jesus as told in the Gospels. We actually began last week with the feeding of the five thousand story. Though not often thought of as a healing story, for me, the feeding of the five thousand does indicate a healing among the community of people gathered on that hillside, as well as a healing for the disciples who were looking for a way to care for to care for the crowd.
The reason that I began with the wonderful story of Jack and his son is that I want us to have a broad notion of what healing means. Sometimes we limit ourselves to thinking of healing in terms of physical healing. I want us to think of healing in such a way that includes the healing our spirits, our souls, so that besides for praying for broken bones we are also praying for broken relationships, praying for people to have a high sense of self-esteem, praying not just for an end to sickness but also a increase in health and well-being.
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The healing that took place in the feeding of the five thousand was that Jesus was able to cure the people of only thinking of themselves and instead offering what they had so that everyone had what they needed.
So over the next four weeks we will be looking at the healings that occurred in the presence of Jesus. We will find more than just a list of miracles. We will find what it means to go through a change in our life that also changes our family, our class, our church, and our community.
Jack's son said, “God's changed the whole class." Of course, it was Jack's son who had changed. That inner change, that healing caused him to see his classmates differently, and that change in one individual may in fact have led to a healthier classroom.
Jack himself had changed because at the retreat he had seen people freely giving love and he wanted some of that for himself. He felt safe to call out for help and he felt some confidence that there would be a response.
As we look at the healing stories in the Gospels, one of the interesting things to think about is the relationship between community and healing. How does our community help or hinder our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health?
There are certain traps that churches can easily fall into that make them unhealthy communities.
There is the danger of falling into a way of thinking that says: if a person has doubts or fears then they have no faith. There is the danger that sometimes sets in and says: don't let anyone know how you are really feeling. There is the danger of worrying about what others think we should be doing. There is the danger of keeping your thoughts to yourself.
Health depends on being in a community that enables you to feel safe enough to speak your mind, your soul, your heart in a way that is loving and respectful.
How did the community in passage from the Gospel of Mark do in creating a safe place for healing?
A blind man was sitting by the side of the road and he heard a big crowd. He asked what it was and he was told that Jesus was passing by. He immediately cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."
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And what did the crowd do? Maybe they said, “Why should he stop for you? We don't expect him to stop for us. You don't see any of us trying to get his attention. We are content to just watch him go by so, be quiet"
So the blind man by the side of the road has a choice, does he listen to these people who are telling him to shut up, or does he listen to his inner voice that tells him that the possibility for healing is walking by.
He shouts even more loudly, "Son of David have mercy on me."
You can just imagine the cold stares from the people in the front row.
What happened to those cold stares when Jesus stopped? What did those people think when Jesus called .... for the blind man.
It says in the scriptures that they all gave praise to God.
All the silent ones are now praising the one who spoke up.

We know from the story that the blind man was changed, he recovered his sight. I wonder if the people standing on the side of the road were also changed? Just a moment earlier they called this man's screaming, noise, but Jesus called it faith.
Just a moment earlier this man was stuck on the side of the road having to ask people who was passing by, but now he is a part of the procession.
What about those people who wanted to keep him quiet and are now said to be praising God. What thoughts do they go home with?
I like to think that they were changed as well. I like to think that they also had their sight restored. I like to think that they were able to translate their praise of God into compassion and mercy for each other. That they might think twice about shutting down someone who is expressing their need or their pain.
I even hope that they would be able to understand when someone cries out not only for personal needs but also when a person cries out against injustice. A person who is sharing something that is wrong needs to feel heard, trusted. If that is lost and the person shuts themselves down then even greater harm can take place.

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What about calling out for a change in one’s local community, in one’s family, in one’s own church? Do we feel safe to call out that it is time for a change? That something is not right? Or has there been a lot of roadside silence?
If so, is it time to learn from this blind beggar that if is healing is passing by, if wisdom is passing by, if insight and intuition is passing by, then call out to it. Trust it. Be healed in the crying out and come forward.
Story of President John Thomas and Linda Jaramillo and the Peace Pledges
Where is healing to be found for this world? When someone has the courage to cry out. Son of humanity, have mercy on me.
This simple little story of a blind man sitting by the side of the road reveals to us so much about healing if we put ourselves and our situation into the story.
The blind man is isolated from the rest of the community. But he has heard that there is this man Jesus who is a healer. He hears that he is passing by. He can’t see him so he is compelled to call out. He has to risk embarrassment. He has to risk standing out in the crowd. Then the crowd tells him to be quiet. Why do you think your special? We all have our problems, you don’t see us calling out do you? What stops us from crying out for healing or calling out for justice?
But this blind beggar thinks he is worth something. He believes that Jesus has something, And he calls out even louder. Son of David, have mercy on me.
Jesus stops. And tells the crowd to call him.
And now the crowd says, “Take heart, stand up; he is calling you.”
What a wonderful sequence of words.
Take heart. This thing that has surrounded you with fear and darkness, there is some hope, that it might come to an end.
Stand up. No longer sitting by the side of the road, a nobody, a victim, you are now the center of attention and people are rooting for you. Not judging you.
He is calling you. He is calling you.
Can you believe that? Sometimes risking making a fool of yourself pays off.

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Sometimes knowing your need and expressing it is the beginning of healing, freedom.
The man stands up, and Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?”
And Jesus says, what do you want me to do for you.?
Puzzling question.
Everybody could see the man was blind. Jesus knew he was blind.
Why did Jesus ask, “What do you want me to do for you?”
One possibility is that we have to name the illness in order for healing to happen. In order for healing to take place we need to be able to identify the source of the affliction. Sometimes it’s not so easy to name what is going on in ourselves, or in others.
Sometimes we just see the symptoms. We see a person who is blinded by anger, blinded by fear, blinded by prejudice. How to name what is really going on? We have to ask, “What do you want me to do for you?” How can I help?...rather than judge or assume we know what is going on with ourselves or with others.
When Jesus asks the man, what do you want me to do for you? the man responds, “I want my sight back. I want to see where I am going. I want to be able to join the procession.
What would you say, if Jesus asked you, “What do you want me to do for you?”
What would say if this man of wisdom, compassion, and unending affection asked you. “What do you want me to do for you?”
Take heart, stand up, he is calling you, asking you, inviting you, comforting you, supporting you in your courageous work of healing yourself, your community.
Jack, the man in the story I told earlier had an answer. How would you answer that question from Jesus? What do you want me to do for you?
I want my sight. I want my trust. I want acceptance for what is next for me. I want to know how to respond with honesty and without violence when I am hurt, or when I see injustice. I want to stop having to be in control all the time. I want to be able to follow.
Jesus has a puzzling response. He says to the blind man, “Go your faith has made you well.” Did Jesus cure the man’s blindness, or did the man’s faith cure his blindness?


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And what the sign of the man’s faith? The crying out? The stepping forward? One of the reasons why we are taking several weeks for the healing stories is because that is not an easy question to answer.
In fact it may be easier to answer with our feet, with our bodies, rather than with heads. The answer may simply be in the willingness to dive into the divine, to be immersed, to move from the side of the road to being on the path.
Tell the story of the Prayer group and the bell ringing and the couple from Seattle passing by our church for prayer vigil, and the monthly prayer vigil.
Take heart, stand up, he is calling you.
I spoke earlier of traps that churches sometimes fall into. According to Scott Peck, who has written many books on community building, one of those traps is the desire to heal, to fix, to convert others. We are more likely to create a safe place for healing if instead of trying to fix others, we confess our own brokenness or blindness. Because we soon find out that we are all wounded. That we all suffer from some sort of blindness. That we are all in need of healing. That we are all perfectly imperfect. That we are all in need of being embraced by God’s love. That we all need immersion in the healing waters. Can we create a safe place for people to be who they are, with different beliefs, different struggles, different gifts?
Can we give each other the freedom to say, I can't see, I am lost, I am angry.
Can we give each other a safe place to share when someone has hurt us?
It’s not easy. It’s not the way of the crowd. But we have to do something first.
Something in Jesus gave the blind man the courage to call out through the crowd.
Jesus, the one whom God annointed with the Holy spirit, at his baptism in the Jordan River, provided the sense of safety, of affirmation, of love, that enabled the blind beggar to expect a healing. To not listen to the voices saying shut up, but instead hearing the voice that said go on.
And we also are annointed to be a church, a sacred shelter, to provide a sense of safety, of openness and affirmation, dedicating ourselves to the highest in human values.


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We are this: when we seek first the kingdom of God. Quietly, through prayer, reading the sacred texts, and loving one another.
Take heart, stand up, he is calling you.
May this call give us the courage to speak up for the healing that we need; remind us that healing is not something we can do alone; make it a little easier for us to drop our defenses so that we can receive the love God has for us and shows through us.
How would you respond if you heard Jesus say, “What do you want me to do for you? Jack’s son answered that question and the whole class changed.
May it be so with us.