Today’s Gospel introduces Bartimaeus, a blind beggar who is praiseworthy because he didn’t let the opinions of others dissuade him from calling out to Jesus. Many from the large crowd tried to silence him. The shouting from the beggar may have annoyed those who didn’t especially care about him. So, they told him to be quiet. However, the blind man found healing by surrendering control, by not letting concern for the opinions of others hold him back.



We’ve been reflecting a couple weeks now on the challenges of surrendering control. We all have something or several things we clutch to, things we feel we depend on and can’t let go of. Most of the time, the control we strive for isn’t a problem. But it can get in the way of a relationship with God. When a rich and faithful young man approached Jesus asking, “…what must I do to inherit eternal life?”[i], Jesus invited him to take a step beyond following commandments, to surrender control and instead follow the Saviour, trusting that eternal life, the treasure of heaven, is a gift to accept, not to earn and possess.



Last week we considered surrendering control of our idea of success or greatness. We all have our own ways of measuring greatness and while God did make us for greatness, success and greatness as any of us or the world might measure, is very different than the greatness God calls us to. True greatness is rooted in service because service makes us like the Saviour who came to serve. Disciples become great when they follow Jesus, build up others and the world and share the Good News.



Our image, how we project ourselves to the world, is something we like to control too. We all care about what others think of us. Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with wishing to be well thought of and every good reason to dress well for the job interview, shower before the date or keep the hair cut. But when vanity urges the projection of an image that isn’t real or derails efforts to follow the Saviour, faith is put at risk and extra stress burdens.



Maybe there’s some parents here who embellish on their child’s grades or extra-curricular achievements. Maybe some here would never post a picture of themselves on social media without first applying the right filter or doctoring the picture in some way. I’ve heard there are some wives who would never let their husbands go shopping for clothes on their own. If you’re like me, you want others to think you have it all together, so requesting help is a challenge. Maybe you’ve adopted an impressive but financially burdensome lifestyle or you’re forcing smiles today so no one could guess that you fought with your family on the way here all because you want to control how others see you; you want the world to believe you’re successful, have built the perfect family and life all while looking beautiful while doing it and that’s a lot of stress.



Blind Bartimaeus seemed to know a different way. As he called out for Jesus, many in the crowd told him to be quiet. As a beggar, attracting negative attention, becoming an annoyance, risked losing any pity the crowd might have had for him along with their generosity. If Bartimaeus had cared what others thought, if he was worried about his image or reputation, how he was perceived, he would have kept quiet. But that would have meant losing out on the greatest opportunity of his life. The blind man recognized this; he saw what many could not: that following Jesus and receiving his healing mattered most of all.



Bartimaeus disregarded the opinions of the crowd, kept calling for the Saviour and we witness a few changes. First, when Jesus finally acknowledged him, the opinion of the crowd instantly changed; instead of silencing him, they encouraged Bartimaeus. The latest trends and styles, opinions on the best way to spend time or raise kids, who or what’s popular or useful or a good measure for success: these things rapidly change; keeping up with the ever-changing opinion of the crowd is stressful and often impossible.



But God’s love never changes and this leads to another change in Bartimaeus. When he heard the call of the Saviour, the blind beggar threw off his cloak. The cloak is what kept him warm; it’s what he would have used to collect the offerings of others. According to Jewish law, the cloak was the one possession others were forbidden to take to take from him as payment. So, a beggar’s cloak was very much connected to the identity of a beggar and it held him back. Bartimaeus threw all that off, he tossed away any self-assumed or imposed identities and accepted a new, God given identity that set him free: he no longer worried about what others thought; he was a follower of Jesus. Finally, and most obviously, through Jesus, his physical sight was made to match his spiritual sight; By surrendering control of how others saw him, Bartimaeus was given sight.



For most of us, it’s not physical eyesight that needs healing, but spiritual eyesight. We wish to see what Bartimaeus saw before he was healed: that toiling to win the opinion of a fickle crowd just isn’t necessary when we’re following the Saviour.



Here’s the first step: fast from things that feed your desire to control your image or how others see you. For some, this might mean taking a break from social media or any media that fuel insecurities about image. For others, this might mean stepping back from those who pressure us to look, behave, live or be certain ways. Next, recognize that Jesus is passing by, be sure to call out for him. Build a habit of prayer, space to listen for him above the noise of the crowd. Come here to encounter him especially in the Confessional and in Communion. Know where you need healing and be ready to ask. Finally, throw off any identities you or others have created or impose. Our identity through God surpasses any other identity or label; from the moment of Baptism he’s called us to surrender control, ignore the crowd and follow the Saviour.



Open our hearts, O Lord, so we would recognize your presence as you pass by and, through your Spirit, strengthen our resolve to surrender control of how we wish others to perceive us so we’re free to call out to the Saviour who offers the healing needed to truly follow him. In Jesus’ name we offer all our prayers. Amen.







[i] Mark 10: 17 NRSVCE

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