Audio Track
Where are those white gloves? I know I hid them last week so the altar guild wouldn’t get a hold of them. I can’t go on without them, what if I don’t find them before the service? There’s no point in acolyting without those white gloves.
Thankfully those are not the current thoughts of your seminarian, but as embarrassed as I am to admit it, those were my thoughts as 12 year old acolyte. I loved acolyting, and still do, but I was fixated on ensuring everything was perfect. I was so obsessed with using those white gloves that I ignored everything else around me, so much so that I treated the altar guild like second class citizens.
A little scary right, but that was how I served the church that was my focus. And this sort of behavior is totally natural. Whenever we have an interest in something, we want to read, experience, and learn everything about it. We become so consumed by it that we begin to lose sight of the bigger picture.
Unfortunately this isn’t a new phenomenon, we witness the same sort of behavior in our gospel story today. There’s Jesus surrounded by a huge crowd; some disciples and others simply interested in figuring out who this Jesus fellow is. Regardless, everyone is straining to catch a glimpse and to hear his words.
And then there’s Bartimaeus; the blind beggar calling out to Jesus, “son of David, have mercy on me”, which made the crowd angry. So angry that they sternly ordered him to stop making such noise. Essentially conveying the message that he is ruining their experience, and that they don’t care what Bartimaeus has to say.
And we can’t blame them, right? They are fixated, obsessed with trying to listen and learn about Jesus. The catch is Bartimaeus already knows Jesus is the Messiah, and because the crowd has become so focused on themselves they write off the individual who truly reflects the faith in Christ.
Just like focusing on those white gloves, I missed the bigger picture of acolyting, which is to lead worship; not whether I use white gloves or not.
But the story’s not over. We continue on and hear of the miracle of restoring Bartimaeus’ sight, but right before that moment another miracle occurs.
Jesus yells out to the crowd to call Bartimaeus forward, and suddenly the hearts of the crowd were turned. From cold and discouraging; treating Bartimaeus like dirt to encouraging and lifting him towards Jesus.
Right there, that’s the hidden miracle.
The crowds’ hearts were shaken and reoriented to thinking outside of themselves. They are no longer fixating on them alone, but how Jesus truly calls us to act towards one another with compassion. And this isn’t simply a miracle because Jesus snaps his fingers, but because the crowd is listening, looking, and yearning to learn how to follow Jesus. Their hearts are open and they want to change. So when they were given the opportunity to follow Jesus they took it.
In the depths of the details it’s easy to get lost, but white gloves or no white gloves the service went on. Christ will offer the opportunity to see the bigger picture.
The question is are we looking for it?
