SERMON, MARK 10:46-52, PROPER 25B

I got home from Chicago yesterday. It was a good trip, but I am glad to be back home. It was a very good week. We laughed, we cried, we learned some stuff, and we occassionally drifted in and out of a lecture. It was good to see old friends, to renew and catch up, to be back in the chapel on a daily basis and it was good to meet the acquaintance of new people, one of whom I have only known through the internet.

Diana Butler Bass was our keynote speaker, and Jay Sidebotham, the guy who does the illustrations for the Church Pension Calendar, was also present. The overall topic of the week was church growth. Being on the Commission on Mission Planning, this was right up my alley. I was eager to hear what other people thought of that particular subject. To be quite honest, I was happy to find out that they had similar things to say as what Mrs. Ref and I talk about when we visit parishes. But there's always more to learn.

Our keynote speaker used Tinker Toys as a visual aid. Some of what she talked about had to do with "The Church." But what we can glean from the larger church can also be used in our own congregations.

As I said, church growth was sort of the overall theme of the week. But like Mrs. Ref and I tell people, church growth isn't just about how many people are in the pews on Sunday. That's part of it, yes, but it also has to do with depth.

One of the problems that hinders church growth is conflict. In our world, we have been conditioned to see conflict along political lines; liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, progressives and traditionalists, reasserters and revisionists, etc. etc. But this may not always be the case.

There's also another line of conflict between what Diana calls the established church and the intentional church. In our church, the established side says, "We've always done it that way." Or maybe something like, "All the Episcopalians in town know where we are."

Opposite that there is the intentional side. The side that sees tradition as a dynamic and lived reality. It becomes a critical examination of our practices. "Why have we always done it that way? Can we find something else to do that lives into that tradition and yet draws people closer to God?"

Something like this: Maybe coming to church every Sunday, participating in the liturgy and letting God wash over you isn't enough. Maybe we need to think about ways to actively engage God during the week. In other words, we need to become intentional about our Christian practices.

And then there was a third axis that she referred to as modernity and post-modernity. Modernity as in part of the establishment, or when you could simply build a church and people would come. There's also some form of one, all-encompassing Truth.

Post-modernity is the time when the established way of doing things begins to crack. The emergence of house churches or intentional Christian groups that aren't tied to a denomination. And instead of looking for one, all-encompassing Truth, we see it as a journey of truthfulness.

When I was younger, I used to wonder at what age I would become an adult. Twenty-three? Twenty-five? Twenty-seven? And when I got there, nothing happened. Modernity says, "At this age you will be an adult and everything will be clear."

Post-modernity says, "Adulthood is a journey and you live it as best as you can."

We are on that journey of truthfulness. We are, as the speaker said, in the transit time between what was and what will be. The short answer is this: We can continue to see the world through political divisions, the church as an established institution and act as we always have; or we can see the world in a new and dynamic way, the church as intentionally living out the gospel, and work through the questions.

So, what does all this have to do with the gospel today? Day after day, Blind Bartimaeus went about his life in darkness. He would rise and make his way to the roadside hoping and begging for enough to live on. Day after day he would sit by that roadside and listen to people come and go. Nobody took him in because no one had ever done that for a poor beggar. And nobody did anything any differently because that was the way it always had been.

And then he heard that Jesus was coming. Jesus -- the way, the truth and the life. Blind Bartimaeus decided that life wasn't going to pass him by. He wasn't simply going to sit down and nod his head. He was going to intentionally reach out and be part of that living and dynamic life. He was tired of doing things the same way and wanted to now fully participate in the life of Jesus.

"Son of David, have mercy on me! I want to see."

Are we ready to be Bartimaeus? Are we ready to see the world in more than a two-dimensional political line? Are we ready to be a Christian community that takes risks, looks for new ways to value old traditions and lives intentionally in the life of Christ?

Are we willing to have our eyes opened and see that there is more to this Christianity thing than simply how many people we put in the pews?

My challenge to you is to be like Bartimaeus. Take a risk. Find your vision. Tell people what you see and live intentionally in the life of Christ.