Sermon for the 5th Sunday before Advent

Sunday 25th October 2009

Preached by Rev Paul Hewitt

You should have been at Glencraig Church on the afternoon of Saturday 24^th October. Some of you might have had apoplexy; others might have quite enjoyed it. That day, we hosted a Pentecostal Wedding here in this Church. When I came down to put the heat on , rehersals obviously had taken up most of the morning. There was a keyboard here; a drum kit there; at least one electric guitar and two huge speakers blasting out incredibly loud sounds. From the body of the Church, you couldn’t see the Sanctuary at all. The Chancel was a stage and Ray, I know for one, would have been appalled. Ann was good enough to be here throughout the duration which started at 1.00pm, and she didn’t leave till 3.45! The bride was sick, but she managed to dance down the aisle – ask Ann!

I’m sure, if we had had a power point screen, they would have used it as well, which made me think of a famous quote by a member of our Church, who once said to me (in the nicest way possible) ‘The day you get in one of those screens is the day I leave!’

We’re such complicated beings. Even in Church there is such diversity in the way our God is worshipped. What is acceptable to some is a discredit to another; dare I say it, even a dishonour to the same God we all claim to worship.

I wonder what someone like Jonathan Miller would have made of it. I know there was a group of you who went to see Dr. Jonathan Miller at the beginning of last week; he’s here as part of the Belfast Festival.

I would’ve loved it myself; Jonathan Miller was a part of a rebellious comedy which we all loved as young adults; bad language and intellect was a powerful combination, and to think it was all very cool, made you think, also, that you may be funny and intellectual – which wasn’t the case at all. In the 60’s he co-wrote ‘Beyond the Fringe’ with such greats as Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. He had been a member of the famous Cambridge Footlights which has produced the likes of John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Eric Idle, Hugh Laurie, and Rory McGrath. Maybe you might not agree, but some of the funniest and cleverest people ever born.

I’m not sure how many, but I think nearly all of them confirmed atheists; some ‘born again atheists’ as Gore Vidal once coined the phrase. I believe during his polemic, Jonathan Miller referred to his visit to Jerusalem, and while there he looked at the Jews praying and moving at the Western Wall and then he saw the Muslims circling the Dome of the Rock, the Christians parading down the Via Delarosa and he turned to his wife and said, ‘We’re in a lunatic asylum’! Perhaps he’s not far from the truth.

I can’t help thinking that these guys would make great Christians. They would really sort us out; there would be none of this nonsense that we bicker about in our Churches, whether it would be a question of a guitar or two or an issue like human sexuality.

Is it any wonder that there’s rampant born again atheism all over the place? Perhaps I’m stating an extreme, but I think you know what I am saying.

The healing of Blind Bartimaeus is one of my favourite passages in the New Testament. (You know, I just wish that born again atheists would just read the New Testament and stop listening to Christians bickering and debating, and they would have a much healthier view of what we are meant to be about! It is Bible Sunday, after all.

Jesus and his disciples are just leaving the ancient ancient city of Jericho, famous in the Book of Joshua, and for the Parable of the Good Samaritan and, and of course Zacchaeus. There, Bartimaeus hears the commotion which surrounds this Jesus of Nazareth. He shouts as loud as he can, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” But his pleas and his cries (as he throws off his tunic, as one translation has it) are rebuked...by whom? Well, in the Luke version (although he isn’t actually named in Luke, it is definitely the same story) it says, “Those who lead the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet”. But, as it says in both Mark and Luke, “he shouted all the more”. Those who lead the way - Jesus’ own disciples actually rebuked Bartimaeus and told him to be quiet. Here is the point: If Jesus’ disciples had been successful and the cries of Bartimaeus had not been heard, Bartimaeus would’ve remained blind! If Bartimaeus hadn’t shouted ‘all the more’, Bartimaeus would’ve remained blind.

I have a couple of issues to ask. Have we truly shouted out our woes to our loving Heavenly Father over all the noise and tumult of disgruntled Christians who are trying to ‘shush’ us?

Have we really asked, “Rabbi, I want to see”? Or, are we one of those disgruntled Christians who do not want to hear the cries of a desperately hurting and broken world?

It is very difficult to be a true atheist. It takes a concentrated effort to eliminate from one’s life any reference to the divine. (Like the quote, ‘I’m an atheist, thank God!’)

The story of Bartimaeus illustrates the classic stages of discipleship: Firstly there is a recognition of need; either for oneself or for a tortured world. No one person can be so self-sufficient that he or she has no need for another person, or, indeed for God himself. Secondly, Bartimaeus went on to gratitude. The London born poet and artist, Rossetti, said that “The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank”. It’s not unlike the healing of the ten lepers; the one who came back to give thanks was what made him truly “well”. He was made complete because he not only saw his physical healing, but he recognised the healer. And thirdly, Bartimaeus ended with loyalty. It’s interesting that Jesus actually tells him to “Go”, but Bartimaeus ends up following Jesus.

We are, often, such complicated beings. However clever or smart (or amusing) it might seem, atheism can’t really work; and that’s why we’re here. We’re here, not because we understand it all, but because we know, somehow, that the Gospel of Jesus is true, because it makes all truly ‘well’.