30th Sunday: Listening as God

Ever have this experience...with a spouse, with a friend, on a date, arranging dinner with seminarians...whoever. We ask “What do you want? Where do you want to go?” and the answer is “I don’t care, whatever you want.”  I usually do not like the answer, mainly because I am the type that if I have an agenda it will happen, you won’t get to choose. I am asking, so that means I really want to know and I care to know. “I don’t care” frustrates me.  Then again, when people ask me that question, to be honest, many times I don’t know.

A Patronal system is one in which those with power, money and influence tell others what they are presumed to want.  A Patronal system is one in which others give, not really based on the want or need, but on a presumption of the other.  So at its core, it tends to disrespect, not treat with dignity, other people. The people meant to be helped.

Freedom, true freedom, is the capacity to listen to others, and truly hear them.  Freedom means to place aside our own presumptions, our own interpretations, our own prejudices, our egos, and see the person or persons in front of us as persons, as worthy of having a need.  In this supposed land of the free, I wonder how free we are?

The art of listening, the art of hearing and discernment can be difficult. It takes effort to quiet the mind, the heart and soul. It takes energy to silence the ego, and choose to truly hear what others are saying, to intuit what others truly need.

I believe something is happening in our world. It can seem scary, but I think it is exciting. Those who have been silenced for millenia; those who have been told to be quiet, no longer will remain so.  Something is happening in our church. It can seem scary, even threatening to those who think they have power, but it is about freedom: We are being called, in the way of Christ, to listen, to hear and to discern.  

Israel’s mission was universal, meaning it was meant for all people. The people of Israel discerned this universal calling over its history with God; they were God’s chosen people, called to live in right-relationship with God, so that the whole world would witness this and come to desire the same relationship.  This mission was never lost and still is in place to this today. But even in Israel’s darkest moments, when in Exile in Babylon, God spoke through the prophets such as Jeremiah telling them they will all be called home; all, not just the proud and strong, the rich and powerful, but those who have been hurt. They will be renewed and truly live as God’s chosen people, examples of faith for all the world to see.

Jesus incarnated that mission. He lived this mission. He remained faithful to God, in God’s love, mercy and freedom. He listened and cared; he inspired.

This Gospel of today, so striking. Bartimaeus on the periphery, told to be quiet because he is blind and not worthy; he will not be silenced. Jesus hears and calls out to him to approach. Jesus does not presume to know what he would want, but he asks and he listens. And asks Bartimaeus does, becomes healed and joins the mission.

Our mission is exactly that. Our parish, centered on Christ and celebrated as such through the Eucharist, is to live as examples of people of faith, and to go out to the peripheries, to those who are in need, to those who hurt, and we too ask “What do you want?” Then we need to listen.

We are not to be a patronal model in which we tell people what they want; rather, we live our faith, and we provide an example, and we offer to all the healing of Christ.  We create community in which people can feel safe to express their own desires, their true and good desires, and walk together to find them.

We have been subtly, and not so subtly, doing this for a year now. Already there have been concrete signs we walk the right path. People have intentionally searched out this parish to join and be a part of. Others have come with friends to see; and they have found welcome, they have found a place to be at home.

Young persons in our youth ministry have found a safe place to express their fears, their pain, and their joys. They have begun to find a safe place and joined in the mission.  Families expressed a desire to have a welcome with their kids, even when noisy. This was heard and we have worked to provide that place so that families can worship together and come to know Christ at a deeper level. We create a place in which Children can hear God speaking to them, and they can grow into a good and healthy relationship with God.

Listening to each other strengthens us. It builds us up as a community, and as persons. It can be disconcerting to hear people who have different views; who have different ideas. To hear does not mean we agree, it means we seek to know and understand.  One of God’s great commands to Israel was “Listen”. And Israel trusted that God also listened to their needs. We trust and have faith God listens to ours.

So much acrimony, rumors, divisions take place because we react based on our fears, based on our egos.  Jesus calls us to be better. Listen.