Sermon Archive
Where Do We Start

"Where Do We Start?" 

I’ve said it to my kids & some of you have said it to yours: Life is not fair.
 
-When I hear how an innocent person was driving along & a guilty person,
   who was drunk, crossed the center line of the road & kills the innocent
   driver; I want to say: Life is not fair!
-When a loving Christian couple now in their thirties, has tried & tried &
   tried to conceive a child & can’t while the wife’s unmarried 17 year old
   sister gets pregnant & her other sister has three children from three
   different men; I want to say: Life is not fair!
-When someone you love is suffering either physically or psychologically
   or both: I want to say – Life is not fair!
- When an innocent child is sexually abused, by an authority figure,
   especially a religious authority figure; I want to scream – Life is not fair!
 
Today we are going to acknowledge that “life is not fair”, but at the same time hold on to one of the foundational truths in the Bible – although, Life is not fair, God is Good! Say it: Life is not fair, but God is good!
 
"Where Do We Start, when Life is not fair & you or a loved one is suffering? Where do we start to find God? What should be our first step?
   
One a answer to this question comes from the Gospel of Mark, in a passage that describes Jesus’ meeting with a blind man named Bartimaeus. The whole story is found in the book of Mark 10:46-52.
    
The Desperation of Bartimaeus: “As Jesus & his disciples & a large crowd were leaving Jericho,….. Bartimaeus a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside begging.” (v46) Jesus & this large crowd of people were making their way up to Jerusalem from Jericho. By this time in Jesus ministry, many had heard of him & wanted to see him.
 
The day had begun like any other day for the blind man, Bartimaeus. Waking up, he got ready & was either taken or found his own way to the main gate of Jericho by tapping his way along the street. With no hope of ever seeing again he was forced into a life of begging. As he sat there, just like so many days before, he listened to the different sounds of people & animals passing by.
 
But then blind Bartimaeus heard the sounds of a large crowd coming his way. He asked what was happening & was told that Jesus of Nazareth was coming. How much Bartimaeus knew about Jesus, we don’t know. What we do know is that Bartimaeus some how believed that Jesus could help him.  So when he heard that Jesus was nearby, Bartimaeus began to call out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
 
I remember last year, at the Turtle Fest Parade, calling out to those who were on our Church float, “Hi! The float looks good!” It was hard for those on the float to hear because of all the crowd noise.
 
I’m guessing that my calling out was nothing compared to Bartimaeus. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The people standing around tried to shut him up. But no way was he going to shut up. Bartimaeus kept on, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" After all, what did he have to lose? So he went for it with all he had.
 
Spiritual blessings belong to those who “go for it.” In the OT the people were told by God: “You will seek me & find me when you seek me with all your heart.”(Jer. 29:13) In the NT Jesus taught: “Keep on asking, & you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, & you will find. Keep on knocking, & the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8 NLT) Spiritual blessings do not go to the halfhearted. The blind man “went for it” & because he did, Jesus heard him. What happens next is interesting.
 
The Message paraphrase says: “Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him (Bartimaeus) over.”  They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come! Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once & came to Jesus.” Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?"  Note what Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do?” Jesus wants the man to clearly sate what he wanted of Jesus. When you pray do you tell God what you want him to do? “The blind man said to Jesus, "My teacher, let me see again." He told Jesus exactly what he wanted. Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight & followed him on the way.” (Mk 10:49-52)
 
Imagine how it was for the blind beggar. Just a moment ago he was blind & now he could see! And the first person he saw was the face of Jesus. Is that awesome or what? Now I want you to remember the first part of his prayer: It was a cry for mercy!
 
A Cry for Mercy: Bartimaeus cried out “have mercy on me.”  I want you to think about mercy for a moment. We often think of mercy as not getting something negative that we deserve.
Let me illustrate: If a cop pulls you over for speeding 20 miles an hour over the speed limit, what do you want from him? You want mercy. You’re hoping you don’t get a ticket you deserve. Getting a ticket for doing something wrong is what we call justice. But mercy is different from justice. Justice means getting what you deserve; mercy is getting better. It’s getting what we don’t deserve.
 
Bartimaeus cries out from his place of desperation, asking Jesus to have “mercy” on him: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Bartimaeus has no moral or legal claim upon Jesus. Jesus isn't obligated to care about Bartimaeus. Thus the beggar doesn't ask for justice. He doesn't seek what he deserves. He seeks for mercy! "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  
 
As I was working on this message this “cry for mercy” made me wonder. Is this the only time a person calls out for help in this manner?
I found this cry for mercy is common in the NT. Matthew & Luke record a number of people with different kinds of needs calling out for mercy: a woman calls out for her suffering daughter (Matt 15:22), a father for his suffering son (Matt. 17:15), ten lepers call out for healing (Lk 17:13), & a number of other people in difficult situations (Lk 16:24; 10:37;).  So this call for mercy happened a number of times. These people started out by asking for mercy.
 
Where Do We Start? When it comes to finding God when life is hard, when you are suffering, hurting, desperate, I'd suggest that we start by joining Bartimaeus & many others in the Bible by crying out: "Jesus, have mercy on me!" 
    
We might at first be inclined to pray for justice: "God, I'm not such a bad person. I don't deserve what's happening to me. Give me what I'm due." But the more we reflect on the brokenness of our world & our own participation in this brokenness, the more we take seriously the holiness & righteousness of God, combined with our unholiness & unrighteousness, the more we realize that we don't need justice, but mercy. We want mercy, not justice. 
 
No matter what is making your life difficult – an addiction or cancer, a family conflict or financial adversity, the death of a loved one or the unrelenting heaviness of depression & anxiety - whatever is making your life hard today, I'd urge you to join Bartimaeus by crying out to God: "Have mercy on me!"
    
God is merciful. The Bible states it a number of times:
-Psalm 145: 8-9 “The LORD is gracious & merciful, slow to anger & abounding in steadfast love.
    The LORD is good to all, & his compassion is over all that he has made.”
-2 Corinthians 1:3 - "the Father of mercies & the God of all consolation"  
- Ephesians 2:4 - God is "rich in mercy"
-1 Peter 1:3 - "Blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has
   given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead". 
-Hebrews 4:16 - "Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may
     receive mercy & find grace to help in time of need".
God is merciful. God is merciful.
 
I've told the following story before, but it deserves another round.
   Forty-one years ago I was in Vietnam sleeping in my bunk. Then I was awakened by the sound of incoming rockets. I hadn’t been a faithful follower of Jesus at the time & was a lousy example of a Christian. I was pretty much ignoring God & hoped that he ignored me.
 
But that night I became very aware of my mortality. While sitting in the a very dark bunker I became really, really scared. And I cried out to God.
I don’t know what all I prayed but part of the prayer was like the prayer of Bartimaeus, "Have mercy on me!" If you get me out of here alive I will change. I will be faithful in serving you. I didn’t ask for justice, I asked for mercy.
 
That night I had a Bartimaeus experience, as I received mercy & I began to faithfully follow Jesus. And as you know I have perfectly followed Jesus ever since. NOT! I stand before you today as your pastor, because God had mercy on me that night. And God has been merciful to me ever since.
 
For some of you here today have or are going through difficult things: physical pain, family crisis, the suffering or death of loved ones. In these times, you've cried out to God, again, & again, & again, & again. Yet it has seemed as if God isn’t hearing. Sometimes you may even think, it would be easier if you could believe that God was deaf, because at least then God would have a good excuse for appearing to be so insensitive, even so harsh.
 
I confess to you that I find God's inaction in the midst of His people's suffering to be the one of the hardest things about God. Yet I can trust in the merciful God who exceeds my understanding, while He doesn't always satisfy my heart.
 
Where should we start to find God when life is hard? We start like Bartimaeus & many others, aware of our neediness, calling out to God for “mercy”. And God, who is rich in mercy, will in His time & in His way, tenderly, & lovingly answer our cry for mercy.