In last week’s sermon, I talked about being in the parade, leading the parade, being at the front of the parade: being the drum major. Being a parade of justice, a parade of peace, a parade of unconditional, steadfast love, I suppose that this image of a parade could be seen as representing the kingdom of heaven. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven is like a parade of justice, peace, and love.
Jesus and his followers seemed to form sort of their own parade, didn’t they, as they journeyed from town to town. All these stories that we’ve heard in worship over the past several weeks are stories that have taken place as Jesus and his followers journeyed to Jerusalem. In today’s story, they had just passed through Jericho. Instead of a million man march on Washington, it could be called the dozen man march on Jerusalem, except that the word “dozen” obviously refers to the twelve disciples, and clearly there were more than just them following Jesus: a large crowd of both men and women following Jesus, following him on this kingdom parade.
Anyone could see this parade and join it as it went on its way; anyone except for Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus couldn’t see the parade, which meant that he couldn’t see the kingdom. He couldn’t see the parade, and he certainly couldn’t join it as it went on its way, because Bartimaeus was blind.
Few concessions were made to people with disabilities in ancient times. No emperor ever signed the “Ancient Romans with Disabilities Act.” As a result, people with disabilities—like blindness—were left broken individuals. They were cast aside. They had few options in life; which is why Bartimaeus was a beggar. For Bartimaeus, all of life was a search for wholeness in a very fragmented world.
When the parade came by, Bartimaeus did not jump up and join the parade. He couldn’t. He just sat, as the scripture says, “by the roadside;” or, more accurately translated, by the way. He sat by the way, as the kingdom parade passed him by.
Well, that is not how things are supposed to be in the kingdom.
Hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by, Bartimaeus called out to him; and he called out to him using not only his name—Jesus—but also the messianic title that identified Jesus as the harbinger of that new kingdom, the title that identified Jesus as the king. He called out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Many of the people who were there ordered Bartimaeus to be quiet. One could get into a lot of trouble using kingdom language for any kingdom but Rome. One could get into a lot of trouble using kingdom language for any person but Caesar. They all could easily be found guilty just by association. “Keep it down, man!”
But Bartimaeus called out again: “Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
All of a sudden, the parade stopped. The whole Kingdom Parade came to a standstill.
Now, I’ve seen a lot of parades in my time. I’ve seen small-town parades, Fourth of July parades, Christmas parades, Veteran’s Day parades, and Labor Day parades. I’ve seen parades at Disneyland, California Adventure, and Six Flags. I saw a lighted boat parade once, and I’ve even seen the Rose Parade.
But I have never seen a parade come to a complete standstill just because someone sitting on the side called out to someone in the parade. A smile and a wave is about all they’d get, and maybe a “Hi, how ya doin’?” if they were lucky.
And of all the parades I’ve seen, I think it’s safe to say that none of them were as important as this Kingdom Parade; and yet, this Kingdom Parade came to a complete stop because someone called out from the side. Not only that; it came to a stop because some blind beggar called out. He wasn’t even someone important. He had absolutely no authority. He was a worthless nobody, someone whose name is not even worth knowing.
Strangely, though, the gospel writer Mark does mention his name. Strangely, Mark mentions his name twice. No other individual in all the healing stories in Mark’s gospel is identified by name at all, but for some reason, Mark wanted to make sure we knew the name Bartimaeus.
“Bartimaeus, son of Timeus,” it says in verse 26, which, in Aramaic, is basically saying the name twice. Why is Bartimaeus so important to Mark?
At the beginning of Mark’s gospel, when Jesus was about to begin his ministry, he announced that “the time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is at hand.” This is Jesus’ core message, and all of Mark’s gospel is an expansion of this. It’s all about the kingdom.
Bartimaeus interrupts the kingdom parade in a gospel that is all about the coming of that kingdom. Out of all the individuals in the healing stories, he alone is mentioned by name.
Clearly, something about Bartimaeus is key to understanding the kingdom of heaven.
So what is the kingdom of heaven? That’s difficult to answer, in part because the kingdom is so radically different from the world as we know it. The kingdom is often thought of as a “place” where we go after we die, but I don’t think it can really, accurately be described as a “place,” and it’s not limited to after death. Indeed, Jesus once said to some followers that the kingdom is not far from them, that it is, in fact, among them and within them.
Last week, I talked about living life in 3-D. I think that the kingdom of heaven actually has more dimensions than that. Some scientists talk about a world with as many as ten dimensions, and they use quantum mechanics and string theory to help them describe such a world, but my wife tells me that I’ll start losing people if I try to talk about such things, especially since I don’t really understand them myself.
Fortunately, scripture provides us with glimpses of the kingdom of heaven that don’t require an understanding of quantum physics to appreciate. In scripture, you can see the kingdom through “biblical peepholes,” just like you can watch the San Francisco Giants play baseball by watching through the peepholes in the right field fence of their home field.
One of these peepholes appears in the 65th chapter of Isaiah. Peer into the peephole of Isaiah 65, and this is what you’ll see:
You’ll see “a new heaven and a new earth;” not two separate places, but rather, one whole new creation. And in that new heaven and new earth, there will be no crying, and no sounds of distress.
There, in that new kingdom, people will build houses and inhabit them, living in peace. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build a house that some outsider takes over and inhabits. They will not plant fields that some enemy confiscates. They won’t work and have nothing come of their own work. They won’t bear children, and then worry about the kind of world they brought those children into.
In that new kingdom, people and God will attain a new level of intimacy. Before the people even call out, God will answer them. While they are still speaking, God will hear.
And in that new kingdom, the wolf and the lamb will graze together, peacefully, in the same meadow. Neither animal nor human will hurt or destroy.
That’s Isaiah’s vision of the kingdom of heaven.
Another vision appears in the writings of Amos. Peering through Amos’ peephole, we see justice rolling down like water; we see righteousness rolling down like an ever-flowing stream.
That’s Amos’ vision of the kingdom of heaven.
There are many peepholes into the kingdom of heaven, scattered throughout the Bible. Many of these peepholes, of course, were drilled by Jesus himself. Jesus said that the kingdom “is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air make nests in its shade.”
Jesus said that the kingdom is like a great banquet; people will come from east and west, from north and south, and all will eat in the kingdom.
Jesus said that the kingdom will be a great blessing to many people, including those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. It will be a blessing to peacemakers and mercy-givers. It will be a blessing to those who not only love their friends, but also their enemies as well.
The kingdom of heaven is clearly a kingdom of wholeness. The fragmentation of this world does not exist in that new kingdom. In the new kingdom, brokenness is replaced by healing.
So. If the new kingdom is a kingdom of healing and wholeness… how can the Kingdom Parade possibly pass by an individual who is as broken and in need of healing as the blind beggar Bartimaeus?
At Bartimaeus, the parade stopped. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Jesus, “my teacher, let me see again.”
Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well. Your faith has made you whole. Your faith has saved you.”
No longer relegated to sitting “by the way” as the parade passed, Bartimaeus joined the parade, following Jesus—as the scripture says—on the way.
And so Bartimaeus himself was a peephole into the kingdom, the kingdom where eyes are opened; the kingdom where healing takes place; the kingdom of wholeness that breaks in to a fragmented world.
What was true then is true now. The kingdom continues to break into our broken and fragmented world. The vision of that kingdom presented in scripture—the vision of the prophets, the vision of Jesus—exists today. As the body of Christ in the world, that vision is now our vision. It exists where the body exists. To us has been given the task of presenting that vision to the world.
It is our calling to share this vision with the world. It is our calling to live out this vision. It is our calling to follow Jesus on the way, to join that great Kingdom Parade.
But the parade cannot proceed as long as brokenness keeps people sitting by the side, unable to join the parade. And the forces that keep them sitting by the side are many: Poverty. Hunger. War. Racism. Homophobia. Lack of health care. Classism. Sexism. Domestic violence. Environmental deterioration. Materialism. The threat of nuclear destruction.
As part of the body of Christ, we have our work cut out for us. Fortunately, through this ministry that we share, we are doing so much already to confront and overcome these challenges. By the power of God at work in us, and through our partnerships and relationships with the wider church and other faith-based organizations, we are already presenting the vision of the kingdom to the world.
Today, through Week of Compassion, we are providing relief to typhoon victims in Cambodia. Today, through Christian Outreach in Action, we are feeding the homeless. Today, through our Christian education department, we are sharing the love of Christ with the children of our community. Today, and every Sunday, we are letting the world know that there are no barriers—none at all—to communing with God at the Lord’s Table.
In these and so many other ways, we are a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. We are, ourselves, a peephole into the kingdom of heaven. We are followers on the way, doing what we can to invite everyone to be a part of the Kingdom Parade.
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