...and Jesus Asked, 'What Do You Want?'...

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Tim, Tim Sparrow.

I am another elder and uh here at West Village.

And I don't know, I have uh this is uh a return to preaching.

I think I last preached in April.

I have notes and I have a computer.

Uh last time my computer died, so um hopefully I don't need both of them.

Um just wanted to welcome you all to our family gathering here at West Village.

Uh, wanted to call out and uh name a couple of uh participants and um just to acknowledge that family gathering was a pattern, but you know what killed it?

COVID.

COVID-19, 2019.

So it's been six, seven years since we've since we've done the family gathering.

I want to raise a hand from the kiddos, from the kiddos, from the kiddos.

Stand up or yell or jump up and down if you're under the age of seven.

How many no, you're not you're not one of them.

How many seven-year-olds do we have here?

At least there's one, Aaron, young Aaron.

Yes, we've got a couple.

We've got a number of kids that are under seven years old.

So this is a returning um practice, and we just want to uh acknowledge you kiddos.

And the first thing that I'd like to do is I'd like to address the parents, and uh I'd like to just thank you uh from the bottom of our hearts for the mornings that you get up and you have to motivate your kids to get out the door uh to be here at 10 o'clock.

The fact that you have turned your children over to the care of our little villager team.

Uh, I have been a member of that team.

I have enjoyed the presence of your children.

Uh, and we just want to welcome you and thank you for your kids.

And so the other thing that I'd like to do is I'd like to address the other adults in the room, uh, from grandparents to singles, um, to uh visitors, people that are from out of town.

I heard there was a couple of visitors from out of town, but just to acknowledge that I mean it's a quaint saying and it's uh maybe a little bit outside of our realm, but it does take a family to raise kids.

And so we're inviting you, we say it all the time, that uh we want to we want you to move, if you're a guest, to move from guest to family.

And so this morning is an opportunity to see, to see the family around you.

And so I just wanted to uh thank you, um, the parents and adults.

And for the kiddos, I'd like to um just call out a couple of things that uh you're gonna be you're gonna be experiencing what your parents experience every Sunday.

It's gonna include getting to know Jesus, it's gonna include learning about Jesus, it's gonna include less running around, less games, maybe less fun.

But it is what we do on a Sunday basis.

Your parents come here every week, and part of that is that they are learning about Jesus, and they are wanting to introduce you to Jesus.

Jesus is one of the most important things in my life, one of the most important people in my life, and I want to introduce my kids to them.

So um, thank you, kiddos.

And the other thing that I wanted to call out is that um you have heard from your parents, you have heard from your grandparents, from your friends that you're special.

It's true.

It's 100% true.

You are amazingly special.

And you are special in not just your parents' eyes, not just your friends' eyes, you are special in Jesus' eyes.

The passage that we're looking at in the Gospel of Mark earlier on commends and asks for the children to come to him.

Jesus wants you to sit on his lap.

He wants to hear your prayers, he wants to hear your voice.

He wants to share with you, he wants to draw you in as a loving father.

And so, in that sense, you are amazingly special.

So, kiddos, thanks for coming.

I'd like to address the middles and the teens.

I have, it's been my privilege to be a part of the middle school teaching team.

Uh, I have watched a lot of you grow up, uh, get older.

My own son has uh aged out of the middle school room.

Uh, he is this morning uh playing his first game of uh football.

Um, and I wanted to kind of just mourn the passing of a friend within that context.

And I think the middles kind of know this, but uh, this is the fifth Sunday, and so we're gonna continue to do family Sundays on the fifth Sunday.

But what did we do on the fifth Sunday if we were in the middle school?

Tim Hortons Sunday.

So we would last week, uh, myself and Carrie Braunberger piled 20.

I think the count was 20 or 22 people into our local Tim Hortons.

It was congested.

I think we broke the system, um, but we had good time.

It was uh cards and games and stuff like that.

So that that is unfortunately gonna go, it's gonna pass away.

So we're gonna embrace the new.

Um, I also wanted to call out a couple of different things for the youngers amongst us.

Uh, Ken, when he was reading scripture, asked for us to stand up.

And if you you you have been here, young ones, you have been here during worship.

And we stand up and we sing and we clap.

But when we're reading God's word, we stand up, Gavin, because my favorite word is Gavin Parker.

What is my favorite word?

Respect.

That's it.

So, what we're actually doing in that moment when we stand up as God's word is being read is that we're acknowledging God's presence.

So God is here right now, God is in the midst.

And so, as a family this morning, I want to draw our attention to this amazing reality: that as the people of God, as the adopted children of God the Father, we are all family.

And we are all coming together to enjoy, to pursue, to acknowledge the very presence of God within this room this morning.

So I want to welcome you in that spirit.

I want to welcome you um with a reminder of the answer to this question.

And maybe you can throw, I'm a little bit of a an old school, I don't know if you noticed, gray beard.

Uh, can gray hair, right?

What does the Bible say about gray hair?

It's a it's a crown of glory, but it also um means that I like older things.

And so I'm gonna throw up the uh the Westminster catechism.

Catechism is a big word.

It's just simply like, do you know your Bible?

Do you know what it means to be a Christian?

And it's the answer to this question: what is the chief end of man?

This is what we're doing this morning.

This is what we do on Sundays, this is what we do on a hopefully on a regular basis in our own personal time.

But I want to call that out today is that what is the chief end of man?

Man's chief end is to glorify God.

So when we stand up and we sing, we acknowledge his presence, we show respect to him and to enjoy him forever.

Chris Sinasall a couple of weeks ago talked about, and he said that this was a mind-blowing, um, very, very deep and philosophical point.

But Jesus is a person.

It was it went over the same way when he said it too.

It's pretty obvious, pretty obvious.

Jesus is a person.

Jesus is a person, and we can know him.

And in this particular passage that we're going to turn to, um, that is what the disciples are doing.

That is what is happening as they are journeying with Jesus.

And so I want to acknowledge that that is our pursuit, that is our end, that is our aim, that's what we're doing this morning.

And I want to just say a quick prayer to draw us into that space of acknowledging his presence.

So, Father God, we just come before you here as a family, together, united, um, seeking your face.

As the early disciples in these passages journeyed and walked with you, Lord, we just want to follow in their footsteps and in yours.

And so this morning I would just ask that, Lord, that you fill us with uh your presence.

Fill us and get let us get to know you better.

So I thank you for each one in this room, from kiddos, from newborns to teens to grandparents, Lord, we are your people.

Thank you in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, Amen.

So we're gonna turn ourselves to uh to this passage.

Uh, we're looking at the Gospel of Mark, we're looking at uh the very end of the 10th chapter in Mark.

We've been doing this since January.

We like to pride ourselves here at West Village of doing the Bible line by line.

One of the results of that is that we spend a lot of time.

So, the young people, we've been doing this since January.

This particular book.

I know for a fact, kind of like tying them together, there are kids.

There are young babies that were not here when we started this sermon series.

I think a couple of Haws have entered into our family.

Uh, I think Stakowski has entered into our family.

Yes.

I think um Warrings, the Warrings is, yeah, that's about that time, right?

So way to go, way to go, West Village.

That is amazing.

Um, and uh the last time that I preached this was in April, and I reported that one of the blessings that God gave me um and has been showing me is a joy.

A joy in standing up here, where before there was kind of like at times an insane fear.

Um, did we know that speaking in public is actually one of the most dreaded activities of most people.

Uh, I just want to uh report that he continues to show his grace in my own life.

I I'm uh the preparation is good, that the standing in front of you is good.

Um, and I just wanted to also bring up some of my own um uh inclinations.

We have a team of teachers, we have two uh full-time teaching elders, um, and then we have a bunch of us that fill in the gaps.

And for me, I think that I've shared this before that I love history.

History is one of my jams.

I love learning about history.

And so when I was doing my research and study on this particular passage, I did uh uh a little bit of a deep dive.

I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna bog down the sermon because I'm gonna try to get out of here relatively quickly.

Uh, but I maybe you can show that uh that slide of that picture.

So this is a picture, and I love the internet, and I love the fact that there are people that are dedicated to figure out where the where the events of Mark took place on the map.

These are all the events and the chapters and the passages and little dots to show what and where they actually happened.

And I know that last week that uh uh Andrew Johnson brought a message um and rightly so kind of rebuked the disciples in their answer to a question that I'd like to consider and ask today as well, which is when Jesus asked them, What it is, what is it that you would have me do for you?

And they were um political.

They wanted to be, they wanted to have power, I think was was one of the words that was used.

Um, but I just want to I want to cut them a little bit of slack because I'm looking at the history here, and also there's a little bit of uh the up to Jerusalem or down to Jerusalem conversation.

I was actually in Timmy's.

Um, but I think I think the other way to look at it is down the Jordan River.

Because basically the beginning of Mark is all around Galilee, and as Jesus is traveling with his disciples, he's at Jericho, which is down near the Dead Sea.

And so they followed the Jordan River downstream, and they're now in Jericho.

In that time, Jesus has gone 400.

There's a couple of statistics, he's about 450 miles.

Which, kids, um, I don't know if you uh have, I know that my youngest has a step counter.

I have a step counter.

How many steps is in 450 miles?

There's approximately a million steps.

There's a million steps.

That's like walking from here to Calgary.

Now, of course, that took what took place over three years, right?

He also visited 16 cities, four synagogues, nine homes, and we'll get to it, but one temple.

So a long journey, long journey, long journey.

And cut them, cut them a little bit of a slack because they're going through political and geographical locations that have kings, that have different kings, that have historical kings.

And so when they answer the question, uh, I want to sit on your right side and I want to sit on your left side, it's a political question, but recognize that in their living memory, as of AD 30, BC 37, they had a king.

It's called the Hasmonean dynasty, but they had a king.

So it cut them a little bit of slack in the fact that they are drenched in their own context.

They are they are walking through the land with Jesus and are face to face with the rulers of the land and the kings of the world.

And so they're simply responding from that context.

And so I want to cut them a little bit of slack in that sense.

And I also want to um bring us to the text now.

That's a little bit of an intro, a little bit of a um drawing you into that space of worship.

Um, but we're we're turning now to Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus is uh Bar, which is the son of.

So that's Aramaic for the son of, and Timo.

Timo is honor.

And so in this particular passage, we see uh Mark render the introduction of this character.

Uh there was a blind man named Bartimaeus, son of honor, um, son of son of Timaeus.

And then the translation of the Greek would be Timol as honor.

So it's kind of weird.

I actually asked uh Andrew Johnson, because he's the he's the educated one amongst us.

Why would they, why would Mark, why would they call this guy Bar Timaeus?

Aramaic first part of his name and Greek second part of his name.

He didn't answer, I don't know, and maybe I'll follow up with him.

But I have a Bartimaeus in this room because I am named Tim.

Tim.

Timo, honor, Timotheus, Timo, Timo Theos.

Uh, Theos, Greek for God, uh literally honor honoring God.

Um, my Bartimaeus put up his hand.

His name is Judah.

I have another Bartimaeus, he's not here.

He's like I said, he's at he's at football today.

But Bartimaeus is the character.

What's that?

Was our question?

What is a Bartimaeus?

A Bartimaeus is the son of Timaeus.

Timaeus means honor.

So son of honor or son of the honored one.

It's it's a different language, it's not English, right?

It's Aramaic, it's Greek.

I didn't study either one of them.

Johnson did, so that's why I'm asking him.

So I just want to uh um step into the passage as it's presented uh here in Mark, and we're introduced to um, I think that it's important, it's a significant, it's it's a small little section, right?

Um, it's outside of Jericho.

It this this particular story is rendered in different places within um the Gospels.

It's it's mentioned in um in Matthew.

Uh, it's also mentioned in um Luke.

And in that, there's a little bit of differences, right?

So it's either near Jericho or um by Jericho.

These either two blind men or no uh one blind man, none of them, like only here do is he named as Bartimaeus.

And I just wanted to take a little bit out.

One of the other things, uh as well as history that I love is actually what's called apologetics.

Um it's a big word, but it just means the defense of the faith.

Um, some people in the world, like they challenge the Christian faith.

They're like, oh no, how do you how can you believe that?

That's not real.

Look at all these contradictions in the Bible.

And here is some of that, right?

Where in one rendering it's Bartimaeus and they're um going to Jericho.

Another one, it's we're leaving Jericho, and there's two blind men, and then there's one in which it's just an unnamed blind man.

What we have here isn't isn't a contradiction that should bring about any um anxieties or fear, but because we're bringing our modern kind of lens to it, right?

What this represents is what I think is the way to understand these passages, and the way to understand the gospel and the way to understand Jesus himself.

I said that Jesus was a person.

Tell me, the the the telephone game is kind of like this, right?

Where you're telling a story about your friend.

Does everybody have exactly the same words, the exact same things?

No, they don't.

What we have here is we have eyewitness testimony that's flexible.

That some person is going to say, Well, I thought it was this way, I'd think it's this way, right?

But that what we can definitely agree upon is that the Holy Spirit wrote it, the Holy Spirit captured the exact information that we need, and that it is him that authors it.

And so Bartimaeus is this particular passage, I think, is important.

There's a number of things that we could draw out of it, but I want to focus on something that's um significant in the story, and I think also significant in our story.

The um, our story as West Village.

You're gonna hear uh from Andrew Johnson, and we're gonna be entering into a sermon series in which we're going to be exploring what's next for West Village.

There's a pivot point, there's a turning point in our lives, and there's a turning point, a pivot point in this story as Mark is emphasizing it.

Up until this point, the disciples, God bless their hearts, um, well, we don't want to call them stupid, but that they don't get it.

They didn't get like who Jesus was.

So what I'd like to propose is that this particular passage um answers two questions.

It asks two questions, and it presents to us an opportunity to pray.

And the two answers, the first one is who is Jesus really?

Right?

What we do on Sunday matters.

What we do by listening to God's word, what we do matters in that it gives us a clear picture of who Jesus is.

The disciples at the time, like we discovered last week, had a different Jesus in mind.

They figured that he was going to be a king, an actual king.

They have a they have a history of a king of Israel.

And they were thinking that he was, but that's not who Jesus actually says he is and says what he's about.

And so they, in discipling, in following him, in walking with him those 450 miles and visiting all of those homes, are discovering who Jesus is.

And in this particular section, there's a pivot point.

There's a Markian pivot point in which what was hidden or de-emphasized is made plain and crystal clear.

That when Bartimaeus cries out and he says, Son of David, son of David, who's a son of David?

Good question.

Son of David, son of David is David, the last king, not the last king, but the king of Israel, Judea, of the line of David.

So just like son of Timaeus, Judah is of the line of Tim and Michelle.

Um Son of David was a clearly um expressed messianic title.

And what's interesting is that Mark kind of uh dovetails this or contrasts the two responses between the disciples who were supposed to know him, who had traveled with him for a long time, and Timaeus.

And some would say that that's why Mark says son of honor, right?

That that that that he got it, that he saw it clearly.

And that's what Mark wants to say in this moment that there's a pivot.

There's a pivot from Jesus.

His ministry in the Galilean region, of miracles, of presenting himself to the people to the journey that he's going on.

So the qu the next question that's that's that's answered here is where is he going and why?

So we go from who is Jesus?

He's the Messiah.

Where is he going?

He's going to Jerusalem, and why is he going?

And both of these things are made clearer and are a pivot point within this section of Mark's gospel.

Not only does Bartimaeus label him as the son of David, the Messiah, Peter did that, if you remember back in the gospel.

But every time that we hear that, there's like a uh like a shh, don't say anything.

Like he, he, the demons, don't say anything, right?

Like he casts out demons and says, Don't say anything, right?

He heals people and says, Don't tell them who did it.

But here, Mark is making a pivot and saying, it's clear.

This is the clarity of this message.

There's a pivot point, there's a change of trajectory and a change of openness.

So not only is he the son of David, but he is going to Jerusalem.

And the passage before last week's passage is Jesus declaring what's going to happen in Jerusalem.

And it's interesting that in Luke, in Luke's rendering of that story, same thing.

I'm going to Jerusalem, I'm going to be persecuted, I'm going to be handed over, I'm going to die.

This is not really good.

You don't want to come with me, right?

Luke says that God himself blinded the disciples in that moment, that he made it so that they didn't understand that completely.

But here, Mark is saying it's clear, and he's doing it through the voice of Bartimaeus.

Just simply in his childlike faith.

Son of David, I am blind.

Forgive me, and he was healed.

And then he goes on the way.

He follows Jesus.

Doesn't question it, doesn't, I'm going to Jerusalem.

I know that, I'm going.

So those two questions of who is Jesus really, where is he going and why, this is that pivot point.

And I want to kind of frame that in our story and in this moment as a family pursuing Jesus, getting to know him as a person.

Because I think that the next um question that is asked of us and is asked of this the disciples and of Bartimaeus, do I want to go with him?

Do I want to go with him?

Even though he's laid out the journey, even though he said that there's going to be pain and suffering, um, even though this might not be what you think it is, do they want to go with him?

And the answer for Bartimaeus is just simply yes, yes, and amen.

He doesn't think about it, he doesn't, he doesn't wonder, he just simply says, What?

Okay, we're going this way, I'm going this way.

Now the disciples go, the disciples get their whole world rearranged as they get to know Jesus in his fullness as both Messiah, messianic king, and as savior.

And so the rest of the rest of Mark's gospel, we're going to be stepping into what happens in Jerusalem, why is it important?

Why is it significant?

How does that relate to Jesus as a person?

Who we follow?

Who do we know?

Who is Jesus?

And so in that, I want to kind of connect a uh a line back to our moment as a church in terms of who we are and who we want to be, where are we going?

We're following Jesus, but what does that look like?

What is that gonna look like?

And I want to put forward, I remember um one of the aspects of preaching is to is to tie the gospel in.

And I want to do this in a in a in a in a personal way because I think that what I want to really focus on, and I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you guys to enter into a couple of minutes of prayer and praying into this question.

Because what the Jesus that we see here in both instances of the disciples in their ignorance or in their desire to, I love what uh uh Andrew Johnson said is that that they didn't want to, they didn't want him, they wanted what he could give them.

I want to ask us to step into a moment of quiet contemplation with children here, because the Bible definitely says, children, that your prayers are powerful because they're given in a childlike faith.

And so what I'd like to ask you to do is we're gonna take a few minutes to consider that question.

What when Jesus asks it, he asks it of disciples, he says, What is it that you would have me do for you?

And then he asks it of Bartimaeus, and there's two very different responses.

And over the weekend, the over the last weekend, the elders and staff got together and we were praying.

I was sleep deprived, uh, so that's my only answer for the tears, the copious tears that I shed when I considered this question.

What is it that you would have me do for you?

It's the question of Jesus.

Jesus is asking his audience, he's asking you, he's asking us today, he's asking it personally, what is it that you would have me do for you?

Just simply as a loving savior, what do you want me to do for you?

And when I considered that question and how Jesus has answered that in my life, I was broken.

It brought me to my knees because quite simply I could not have imagined what it is that he has done for me and the goodness that that represents.

And that represents a big part of this room.

I have a family.

I have children, I have a hope, I have a future.

And I can tell you that as I considered that question, it blew my doors off.

Because what it does show in this scripture preceding it and in Bartimaeus's, Jesus' response to Bartimaeus is his heart, his heart as savior.

So I'd like to take two minutes, three minutes, four minutes.

We'll see as the Spirit leads.

And I'd like us to just bow our heads and just simply ask that question, answer that question, ask that question of him.

What can Jesus do for you?

Are you blind?

Are you broken?

Are you joyful?

Are you blessed?

We're going to take a couple of minutes, consider that, and ask, because he is good, he is amazingly and perfectly good, and he will answer your prayers.

So let's bow our heads and just simply ask.

So, Father God, the Jesus that we are shown in this passage is kind and is gracious and is concerned and wants to know.

And as children, in the spirit of a childlike faith, Lord, I just thank you that we can come to you, that we can rest with you, that we can know you, that we can hear from you, and that you are concerned for our welfare and actively working for our good.

Thank you for today's reminder of the blessedness of being part of your family, the blessedness that comes by being a disciple and walking after you.

But Lord, let us always consider and have faith and trust in your completed work, that you went to Jerusalem, that you went to the temple, that you have paid for our transgressions, that as we stumble after you, making mistakes, falling on our faces, that Jesus, you pick us up as if we were little children, and you hear us, and you listen to our needs, and you respond.

So we just thank you for that amazing and beautiful truth.

In the name of Jesus, we give you thanks.

Amen.