Give Me Your Eyes
Mark 10: 46-52
A young songwriter writes a song that is a prayer and plea to God asking for eyes that see as God sees. In the song Give Me Your Eyes, Brandon Heath asks God to help him see what is going on below the surface of his life. He prays for sight and insight, the ability to see the things that he keeps missing and for a love for those often forgotten and unnoticed.
Give me your eyes for just one second.
Give me your arms for the brokenhearted.
Give me your eyes so that I can see.
Give Me Your Eyes
Brandon Heath | Jason Ingram, CCLI License No. 977785
Verse 1
Look down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touch down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
CCLI Song No. 5359222
© 2007 Peertunes, Ltd. | Unknown (Admin. by peermusic) |
Brandon Heath | Jason Ingram
For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License No. 977785
There is always more to life than meets the eye.
There is sight and there is insight.
There is what is visible and what is going on below the surface.
There is the story and then there is the rest of the story.
M. Craig Barnes also calls this seeing the text (what is said and done) and the subtext (what is really going on beneath the obvious). [1]
Jesus had the ability to see what was visible and what was going on below the surface.
Jesus had the capacity to look deeply into people’s souls and get to the heart of the matter. We have seen that countless times from the stories of his life. In the story today Jesus sees through the busyness, activity and noise of the crowd, yet zeroes in on Baritmaeus, whose heart was crying out loud in a way that Jesus could hear and identify his longings. And in this story, it was the blind man by the side of the road who could really “see” what was going on. How often is it that those who are overlooked in life are the ones with the clearest vision and deepest insight? They tend to see things more clearly.
The Biblical story today is the second healing story in Mark of blind man. In Mark 8, while Jesus was Bethsaida a group of people bring a blind man who begs him to heal him. Jesus takes him by the hand outside of the city, then spits in his hands and then lays those hands on his eyes two times. The man is healed and he can see clearly.
In Mark 10 a blind man was sitting by the side of the road and he was begging. The man had a name, Bartimaeus - meaning he was the son of Timaeus. He was someone’s child. Jesus was on his way out of Jericho and a large crowd was following him.
Bartimaeus cries out; “Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me.”
The crowd tries to quiet him, but he shouts even louder: “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
And Jesus hears him. He stops in his tracks and has the crowd call him over.
“Take heart – get up – Jesus is calling you,” they now say.
Bartimaeus, still blind yet full of faith and hope, gets up, throws off his only possession and comes before Jesus.
“What do you want?” asks Jesus.
The blind man replies, “Teacher, I want to see.”
“Go,” says Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately Bartimaeus receives his sight and follows Jesus along the road.
This is the story of what happens when one encounters Jesus Christ. Lives are transformed and we are given new eyes with which to view the world. In the story this happens both with Bartimaeus and with the crowd. In life there are times that we are like Bartimaeus and there are times when we are like the crowd, pretending not to see the great needs of a crying world all around us. Jesus helps us see things more clearly, giving us sight and insight, but also at times has to point out to us those who are “overlooked” in our world.
The needy are all around us. They are in our own neighborhood; they are on the other side of the world. They are within our own families, our church and in our country. Sometimes the needs of the world are so great, that we avert our eyes and pretend not to see them. Out of sight, out of mind.
At first the crowd has no use for the blind beggar by the side of the road. They avert their eyes. They rebuke him, tell him to be quiet and try to keep him in his place. Out of sight, out of mind.
Today we still have people who have to resort to begging to get food. We still have those who are homeless and at times they are sleeping in the doorways of public buildings, on park benches, back porches in our own neighborhoods and nearby shelters. We often avert our eyes to the rising problem of the homeless in America – as if we were blind. Out of sight – out of mind. There are many other “out of sight – out of mind” issues; homelessness is only one of them. We rationalize their plight away…often trying to blame them for their situation. Or we rationalize all the reasons why we can’t help them. We are too busy or too tired. We try to keep them and the problem of homelessness quiet, and we decide it must be someone else’s problem.
But Jesus reminds us that their concern and their cry for help is a real one and they are real people. The needy in our society and in our world are men, women and children who have names. They are sons or daughters of someone. They are mothers and fathers and children just beginning in life. They are people who have a story. There is a text – what is obvious and then there is a subtext – their own individual stories. They are people whom God created and whom God loves. Jesus loves those who are needy and struggling just as much as He loves us. He knows us by name and all children of God are never out of sight – out of mind in God’s eyes.
Jesus hears the cries of the needy and the crowd sees things differently. They see the light and they become part of the solution
“Take heart – get up – Jesus is calling you.”
The man comes to Jesus and is made well and whole by faith. He leaves his old life behind and follows Jesus. If only we could see all of those who are forgotten, lost, brokenhearted - as if we had the eyes of God.
Lord,
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me your eyes for just one second.
Give me your eyes so that I can see.
However there are times that we are also just like Bartimaeus. We feel pushed aside and unnoticed. Stuck. Begging to be noticed, loved, and appreciated. Begging for someone to help us, listen to us and love us for who we really are. We have all said or thought “you know there is more to me than meets the eye.” We want our friends and families to look at us as if they had the eyes of God.
Every one of us here today has a story. Our stories of who we are, how we have grown and lost, and then found our way again are often not revealed to one another here in worship or in our community. There is the text of our lives – that which is obvious and then there is the subtext – what really goes on beneath the surface. Our worries, our anxieties, our fears about health, money, relationships. Our joys, hopes and dreams for ourselves or our families.
We reveal a little of that each Sunday during our prayers and concerns – and we discover that amidst the subtext of our lives we have a lot in common. We come to look at each other with compassion, empathy and understanding and so we gain insight. We learn to love one another – despite our visible differences.
We all want to be known and loved. We do that by listening to each other and listening for what is going on beneath the outer and visible surface of our lives. And there are some people who have an amazing capacity to get to the heart of the matter in a conversation or in a relationship. As disciples of Jesus Christ we can all learn to see each other with eyes of faith and compassion. With sight and insight – looking for the subtext and stories of our lives.
These are the eyes with which we are called to live. We are asked to open the eyes of our heart and have faith in Jesus who sees us, hears and transforms us. Lincoln Galloway said that “the persistence of Bartimaeus sets in motion a wave of mercy, blessing and change.” [2]
This week may we remain steadfast and strong in our faith, seeing and understanding one another as well as those often “overlooked” and may our clarity of vision set in motion waves of mercy, blessing and change.
Amen
Rev. Deborah J. Blanchard
[1] M. Craig Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet,( Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co. 2009) p19.
[2] Lincoln Galloway, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 4, ed. David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009),p215.
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