What Do You Want?

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good. They don't need God's grace and no one so bad.

They can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.

We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark and you'll remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus in his life and his death and his resurrection.

And as we were going through the beginning, chapters 1 through 8, we asked this question, who is Jesus?

We saw in the middle of chapter 8, Peter answers it definitively for us, that Jesus is the Christ.

He's the one who's come to be the ultimate prophet, priest, and king for God's people.

And so now we've been on a journey with a slightly different question heading out from that, which is what does it look like to follow after Jesus?

And over the last few weeks, we have seen, as Jesus literally heads to Jerusalem, that the kingdom operates in a way that is upside down.

It operates in a way that is different from the world.

We've seen that when it came to marriage and sex.

We've seen that when it comes to children, when it comes to money, and then last week when it comes to power and glory and success and fame.

Now this week, it might appear on the surface that we've turned away from that, that we're simply looking at another healing story.

In fact, this is the last healing that Jesus will perform before Holy Week begins in chapter 11.

But it is actually not just another blind man who's given sight.

Jesus is using this, Mark is using this, as a conclusion to the upside down nature of the kingdom.

In fact, it in some ways connects all the stories that come before what we've seen over the last month or so,

as Jesus gets right at the issue of desire.

Because all the things that we've looked at, marriage, children, money, power, get at what it is that our hearts most long for.

What we dream of, what we want, the results that we look for.

And so it's with that I invite you to turn with me to God's word.

We're in Mark chapter 10, starting at verse 46.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

You can turn in your worship guide, you can turn on your phone, you can turn in your Bible.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

In Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5 tells us that every word of God proves true.

Proverbs 30:5

He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 46.

And they came to Jericho.

And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd,

Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say,

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Verse 48.

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.

And Jesus stopped and said, call him.

And they called the blind man, saying to him, take heart, get up.

He is calling you.

Verse 50.

And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.

And Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you?

And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight.

And Jesus said to him, go your way.

Your faith has made you well.

And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we come again to your word.

And we thank you that you promise that it won't return to you empty.

But it will accomplish all of your purposes.

And so we ask that you would honor that promise this morning,

that you would use it to accomplish your purposes in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives.

That you would do for us what we can't do for ourselves.

That you'd change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

That you'd show us our need for you and your salvation.

And you'd also show us your grace.

Most of all, we ask that you would show us Jesus,

that we would see exactly how beautiful he is.

And we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

When I was in seminary,

the seminary that I went to also offered a counseling program.

And there were a variety of men that I came in with

who came in thinking that they were going to be pastors.

And they left instead being counselors.

Some of my best friends, in fact.

And there was an exercise that some of those counselors had to do

in their very last year of the program together when they were doing their internship.

Meaning they were practicing with actual clients in real life situations.

And then they would meet together to be coached and mentored and to discuss these things.

And some of them in their coaching groups were required to do an exercise

that they referred to as goaling.

Goaling, going along with the word goal.

Something that you want or desire.

And that was, in fact, the purpose of the exercise.

It was for them to answer this question.

What is it that you really want?

What is it deep down that your heart longs for

that maybe you've not been willing to say out loud before,

but now you need to say something you've not been willing to admit to anyone?

And it turned out to be a much harder exercise than it sounds like on the surface

because it involves grappling with what it is we want most of all.

The person who presents a public image of having this carefree existence that they love,

full of trips and experiences,

has to wrestle with whether they actually are deeply lonely

and want to find someone to settle down with.

The person who presents as a family man has to ask himself

if deep down he wants professional success more than anything else.

Maybe someone works for a company nine to five

and what they're afraid to say out loud

is that they wish that they could work for themselves.

Maybe it's something as simple as being comfortable financially.

Maybe you just want to have friends who you can trust,

who enjoy you, and whom you enjoy.

Desire is a funny thing,

and often we haven't slowed down enough to know what it is we actually want.

We can be caught off guard by them when they appear.

Now, when these counselors were given this exercise,

the story that I heard they were told at the very beginning,

a sobering one was of a man who did the goaling,

and he decided at the end of it

that what he wanted more than anything else,

his desire, what he was going to head for,

was he had a number in his head of his annual salary.

This man wanted to make $500,000 a year.

And at the end of the year,

after he had completed his goaling exercise,

he had accomplished what he set out to do.

He was making $500,000 a year,

except that there was a catch.

In that year, he had also lost his family.

Desire is a dangerous thing.

The heart is a risky thing.

And as they say,

we have to be careful what we wish for

because we might have the misfortune of actually getting it.

I told you on the surface,

this might look like just another healing story for Jesus,

but actually it's deeply connected to our passage from last week.

It's so connected, in fact,

that I almost preached last week's passage

and this week's passage as one sermon rather than two,

and it's because there's this phrase that appears in both stories.

There's this connection that ties them intimately together.

It's Jesus' question that he asked last week in verse 36.

Remember, James and John come to him and they say,

we want you to give us whatever it is that we ask for.

And Jesus responds by saying this,

what do you want me to do for you?

It's not a coincidence that that same exact question appears in this passage.

This blind man is crying out to Jesus.

Those around him are trying to silence him.

Jesus calls him to come.

And what is it that Jesus says to him?

The exact same words.

What do you want me to do for you?

Mark has placed these two stories together

because he wants us to put them side by side.

He wants us to see this same question asked of two different people

and for us to realize how radically different the answers are.

One answers that they want power, honor, and glory.

The other one answers that he just wants to be able to see.

Verse 51,

Rabbi, let me recover my sight.

I've told you before that repetition in the Bible matters.

And this repetition here is not just meant to tie these two stories together.

It is to turn the barrel of the story straight at us, the readers,

because the question that Jesus asks of James and John,

the question that he asks of this blind man,

is the same question Mark means for his readers to answer.

What is it that you want Jesus to do for you?

When we come into this story, verse 46,

they're crossing the Jordan River,

which means that they're heading from the west towards the east.

This is to remind us that Jesus is getting closer and closer to Jerusalem.

And so as he's nearing the cross,

things are coming into greater and greater focus.

Next week, chapter 11 is going to start out with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem

when he rides a donkey as a conquering king.

I've told you before that as the gospel of Mark continues,

we're going to see three groups of people merge into two.

It's been pointed out that as we begin in the gospel,

there are folks who love Jesus,

folks who are opposed to Jesus,

and folks who are ambivalent to Jesus.

As we continue in the gospel,

that middle category disappears,

and we only have two.

Either we love Jesus and want to follow him,

or we're opposed to him and reject him.

It's in that that we see this man,

verse 47,

he's crying out.

Maybe he's ashamed,

maybe he's embarrassed,

but he is too desperate to care.

He does something else that's interesting.

In verse 47,

he hears that it's Jesus of Nazareth,

but he doesn't cry that out.

What does he say instead?

Did you notice it?

He says,

Jesus,

son of David.

That son of David is language that refers to Jesus as the king,

because remember that David was the quintessential king of Israel,

and it was from David's line that the greater king was meant to come.

And so this blind man,

at least at some level,

understands Jesus' identity.

He knows something about the fact that Jesus is the king.

But unlike the disciples,

unlike James and John,

he also understands something about himself.

Verses 47 and 48,

we hear twice,

have mercy on me.

Verse 48,

they try to silence him,

but it doesn't matter because his need is too great.

Brothers and sisters,

the point is this.

Jesus is not going to be beautiful to us

unless we know,

until we know,

that we need his mercy.

Jesus is not going to be beautiful to us.

Until we know,

unless we know,

how much we need him.

If Jesus is boring and unattractive,

if he seems irrelevant,

if you are wondering why it is that you're plotting along in the Christian life,

I can tell you there's at least one reason,

and it's this.

You don't think your situation is that bad.

Maybe you need some tweaks,

some life hacks,

but you don't need something as radical

as going from death to life,

from a heart of stone

into a heart of flesh.

This man, though,

this blind man,

has a physical problem

meant to teach us a spiritual lesson.

His need is so great.

He is so desperate

that he doesn't care

who tells him to shut up.

He doesn't care

how awkward or embarrassing

the situation is.

He needs the son of David

to heal him.

And glory and power

and honor

which are at the front

of James and John's mind

are irrelevant to him.

Because there is something

much, much more important.

I warned you at the beginning

of the Gospel of Mark

when we preached chapter 1,

verses 1 through 8,

that it was not going to be

an intellectual.

We're not here

to have just profound insights

into God's word,

but we are instead here

to be saved.

I told you over and over

that we have to admit

real need,

that that's the price

of admission

when it comes to Jesus

and his kingdom.

And the Gospel of Mark

does just that.

If you're reading carefully,

if you're listening,

if you're feeling it,

the Gospel pushes on you.

Mark is demanding

a response.

Brothers and sisters,

Jesus himself

demands a response.

Either we are for him

or we are against him.

We were meant to answer

at the beginning

who we believe he is.

And now Jesus

presses us to answer

what it is

our hearts most long for.

The reader is meant

to connect the dots here

and answer this question

for herself.

And so I ask you again,

what is it that you want

Jesus to do for you?

Have you slowed down enough

to know what it is

your heart craves

and longs for?

Maybe like James and John,

you're hoping Jesus

will finally provide

the approval of others.

That if you can say

the right things

at the right time

in church,

that you'll be significant

and powerful,

that your life will matter.

Maybe you're hoping

that Jesus is going

to provide you

with a simple

and easy family

where things

always go smoothly.

Maybe you're hoping

he's going to provide you

with a spouse.

Maybe what you want

from Jesus

is simply to give

those you love

the worldly success

that you want for them.

maybe you just want

to be left alone,

comfortable

and at ease.

And it doesn't feel

like you're asking

for too much.

It probably didn't feel

like too much

to James and John.

And we know that it didn't

because they did.

And Jesus is actually

offering something

far better.

Jesus says here,

I will give you sight

if you're willing

to admit you're blind.

I will give you sight

if you're willing

to admit

that you're blind.

What is it

that you actually want?

What is it

that you want me

to do

for you?

And so really

Jesus here

is pulling together

everything we've seen

over the last

four weeks

and beyond

because this is

the upside down

nature of the gospel

all over again.

It is not

for the strong

but for the weak.

It's not for those

who are well

but for those

who are sick.

Remember John the Baptist

at the very beginning

came to prepare

the way for Jesus

and he prepared

the way for Jesus

in this sense

specifically

that people had

to come to him

and repent

of their sins.

That they were

naming what was wrong

so that the doctor

the great physician

could come

and heal them.

And that's exactly

what Jesus does here.

Verse 52

Go your way

your faith

has made you well.

And what is this man's fate?

That he knows

how great his need is

and he doesn't give up

until Jesus answers.

That is what we are meant

to want Jesus

to do for us.

We are meant to see

our great need of him.

Jesus offers

to heal you too.

if you will let him.

If you will admit

your need.

If you can say

with the blind man

son of David

have mercy on me.

as we think

and look

at our desires

it may be

sobering

and convicting

it may be hard

and challenging

you may be filled

with a certain sense

of conviction

and need

to change

and duty

and guilt

and shame

will not help you.

In fact

that is what we just sang

in our new song

this morning.

I invite you to look there

with me on page 6.

What we sang

right before the sermon

is a song

about what it takes

for Jesus

to be beautiful to us

for our desires

to be pointed

in the right direction

and we are told this

in the second verse

at the end

it is not a sense

of right

or duty.

Duty will not change

what our hearts

long for.

Knowing what is right

will not change

what it is

we love

but instead

we are told here

the sight

of peerless worth.

In other words

the sight

of knowing

and seeing

that Jesus

is more beautiful

and more precious

and greater

than anything else.

And what is it

that is going

to lead us

to look at Jesus

and see his beauty

as more

than any other beauty.

It is going

to happen

when that diamond

is set

against the black backdrop.

It is going

to happen

when we see

God's grace

and we know

our need.

Food is beautiful

to a hungry man.

Hospitals

are welcome

to those

who need

healing.

Guilt

won't

get you

there.

Duty

won't

get you

there.

It is

Jesus

and his

beauty

that

changes

our

hearts

and

our

desires.

And so

this passage

is calling

us to ask

this question

that we've

seen

already.

I've mentioned

many times

what is it

that you

want me

to do

for you?

What is

the desire

of your

heart?

What is it

that you

long for

more than

anything

else?

Is it

leading you

to life

or to

death?

The blind

man here

gives us

the model

and the

answer.

What we

need more

than anything

else is to

be healed.

When we

know that,

what we

will long

for more

than anything

else is

for Jesus.

that is

the sight

of

peerless

worth.

In the

Lord of the

Rings

trilogy,

the very

beginning,

we meet

this character

named

Gollum.

And while

he might

not appear

or act

like it,

Gollum was

a hobbit

at one

point who

has been

twisted by

the years

that he

spent with

the ring.

The thing

that he

loves and

desires more

than anything

else, he's

been with

it for

500 years

and it

still hasn't

been enough

to satisfy

him.

And Yegala

keeps running

after it as

we get to

the end of

the third

book, the

return of

the king.

Frodo and

Sam have

made it near

the end of

their journey.

They just

need to get

into Mount

Doom so

that they

can drop

the ring

into the

lake of

fire and

destroy it

forever.

But as

they journey,

Sam notices

that someone

is following

them,

and he

realizes that

Gollum is

still after

the ring.

When they

sleep at

night, then

he and

Frodo take

turns staying

up, afraid

Gollum will

come to

steal and

kill.

As the

journey

continues,

Frodo is

so warned

that Sam

has to

carry him

at points

to get

to the

top of

Mount

Doom.

And near

the end,

it's so

hard that

they crawl

on hands

and knees

to enter

in so

that they

can get

to this

place to

destroy the

ring once

and for

all.

Sam thinks

that they're

done with

Gollum until

the very

last moment

when he

comes,

knocks Sam

aside and

begins a

wrestling match

with Frodo.

He wants

the ring so

much that he

bites off

Frodo's

finger and

then cries

out in joy

that he

finally has

it.

gollum

and then

gollum

falls off

the ledge

and he

dies because

he's burned

in the

fires of

Mount

Doom.

Gollum

gets

what he

desires

and it

kills him.

he burns

in the

lake

of fire.

What do

you want

Jesus to

do for

you?

This

passage tells

us it's a

matter of

life and

death.

Let's pray.

our

father in

heaven we

thank you

this morning

that you

know that

we're feeble

and fragile

people and

that you

meet us at

that place

with your

grace.

We ask

that you

would show

us what

it is that

we long

for and

love.

That you

turn us

to want

you and

your grace

more than

anything else.

You'd show

us our need

for your

mercy and

that we

would run

to you

with joy.

We ask

these things

in the

mighty name

of Jesus

Christ.

Amen.

I invite

you to

stand for

our closing

hymn.