There is a movement that calls for
people to live with fewer material possessions in order to find freedom. It is a call to live with less stuff that
ties a person down from experiencing life more fully. Two of the leading “gurus” of this minimalist
movement, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, describe minimalism as “a
tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s
important—so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom.” Basically, their argument is to get rid of those
things that keep one from fully being free to live life . . . to free one’s
self from all the weight, baggage, and strings that tie one down from what one
owns . . . to find more time to pursue what matters over what one owns or
possesses . . . freedom.
“Freedom” is a big word that we like to
throw around—especially as Americans.
What does “freedom” really mean?
Probably my favorite definition of “freedom” comes from an old Kris
Kristofferson song, Me and Bobby McGee. In the chorus the singer (Janis Joplin if
you’re a purist) sings: “Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to
lose.” That makes sense to me.
If you have nothing left to lose . . .
what’s to stop you?
When I think of Bartimaeus, I picture a
person with nothing left to lose. He was
blind. Certainly, a disability. Within the Jewish culture of that time those
with disabilities were seen as sinners.
Either they or someone in their family had committed a sin to cause
their disability . . . a punishment from God.
To have a disability threw you out of the social circle of society.
Bartimaeus was probably poor. When we encounter him, he is sitting by the
roadside begging. Being disabled he had
no other way to earn a living. He would
have to rely upon the goodness of others in order to survive. Also, the poor were not looked upon favorably
within the Jewish society, thus throwing Bartimaeus even further out of the
circle.
Bartimaeus was definitely a person with
nothing left to lose. When he heard all
the commotion being made and who it was for—after all, he was blind, not
deaf—he decided to take a chance. He had
heard about Jesus, thus he cried out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Over and over he yelled.
Of course, this upset those around him .
. . who was he to call out to Jesus? So,
they rebuked him . . . told him to be quiet.
I imagine that Bartimaeus paused for a nano-second, thought about it,
and decided there was nothing else they could do to him . . . so, he shouted
even louder: “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Nothing left to lose.
Bartimaeus had nothing left to lose . .
. no money . . . no power . . . no status . . . nothing! Having nothing to lose he went full-throttle
for what he wanted. He wanted to be
healed of his blindness. That is exactly
what he told Jesus when he went up to him . . . which Jesus granted him,
telling Bartimaeus: “Go, your faith has healed you.”
I don’t believe that Bartimaeus chose to
be a minimalist. His minimalism was
probably circumstantial. Yet, he
understood that there was nothing left to keep him from approaching Jesus to
get what he wanted. He had no
possessions to lose. He had no power to
lose. He had no status. Even the berating and ridicule of the crowd
attempting to shut him up was no big deal . . . they always treated that way,
after all, he was an outsider—he wasn’t one of them. He was blind.
We remember the story of the man who
approached Jesus asking what he must do in order to follow. Jesus gave him the usual answer, to which the
man stated that he had been doing that since he was a child. Then Jesus told him to sell everything and to
give it to the poor. The man was
heart-broken . . . he couldn’t do it. He
was bound to his possessions. I imagine,
in his mind, the price was too high . . . he had too much to lose . . . he was
not free.
It was Bartimaeus’ faith that restored
his sight, but it was his freedom that allowed him the courage to pursue
it. There was nothing stopping him . . .
nothing to lose. That is the way that we
are to pursue our relationship with God and others . . . as if there is nothing
to lose . . . just like Jesus showed us.
One of the fallacies of our faith has to
do with eternal life. For some reason
there is this idea that eternal life begins once we have died . . . that we
enter into eternal life. But, that is
not the way that it works. No, it begins
the moment that we dedicate our lives to following Jesus . . . begins that
minute we are saved. It begins right
then and there, and we are living it right now in the present moment. Through Jesus we have found life . . .
eternal life. Thus, the question
becomes, what is keeping us from fully living and experiencing life right now?
Could it be because we are not truly
free from that in life . . . our lives . . . that is keeping us from completely
focusing on what is really important . . . having a loving relationship with
God and others . . . allowing ourselves to discover the joy, happiness,
fulfilment, and freedom that comes from such a relationship?
Jesus challenges us to constantly be
aware of those things in our lives that block our relationship with God and
others. To consider our
possessions—material, psychological, and spiritual—that keep us from fully embracing
intimacy with God and others. Jesus
tells us to rid ourselves of those things to the point that we free ourselves
to experience the deep grace and love of God.
When there is nothing left to lose, we are free to discover all there is
to God’s love and grace.
In the end, Bartimaeus received his
sight because he had nothing left to lose.
If Jesus granted his desire . . . wonderful; but, if Jesus didn’t . . .
he lost nothing. With nothing to lose,
he put all his being in the hands and heart of Jesus. He won it all. May we find such faith. Amen.
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