Faith in Action Day 5

<span;> Good morning and welcome this is pastor Lucy Paynter with your Daily Insights. I believe this week you are activating your faith as we continue to explore stories of people who put their faith into action and produced results.
<span;>Fancy this; you’ve been born into total darkness and grown up with not a single visual memory and the knowledge that everyone around you has access to information in a way that you do not. You live in an ignorant society that does not mind reminding you every day of what you are lacking. Imagine having to ask an unwilling people what is going on around you every time. Having to survive on begging because your condition does not allow you to work. Can you picture that kind of life? A life built  on stories you hear from other people with no way of verifying wether   they are true. Picture that life, that feeling of being forever doomed to a darkness for which there is no  cure. And then stories begin to crop up around you of a man who’s going around healing people of the same condition that afflicts you. A condition that for the decades you have been alive you have not heard being cured. Rumors confirmed to be true .Most of us would treat such stories with a lot suspicion and pessimism. But not the man we are going to read about today. When he heard the name of the man who was doing the healing, a strange hope woke in him.
<span;> The Bible says in Mark10:46-52 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
<span;> Here is a blind man, a man who had lived his entire life knowing nothing but darkness and helplessness and yet he is portrayed in the book of Mark as the perfect embodiment of a faith in action. The paragon of active faith! A man with so much faith despite the fact that he had only heard and never once witnessed the works of Christ. He had heard of Jesus having opened the ears of the deaf, raising the dead and casting out demons. And then he heard that Jesus had given sight to a man who had been born blind. Finally, he heard a story he could identify with, and a hope was born right then, a hope that the biggest longing of his heart could yet come true. He would sit by the roadside listening to stories of the miracles Jesus was performing, and no doubt, stories of the Pharisees and the religious authorities that called Jesus a deceiver. Being a man confined by his condition to places where people gathered, he must have heard just about everything there was to hear from people about Christ, good or bad. But whatever he had heard, Bartimaeus responded in faith.
<span;> In the face of a discouraging crowd screaming for him to be quiet, one man, a blind man, had a faith strong enough to stop a grand parade. A day with such a multitude on the streets would have been a harvest day for a beggar like him but his faith had changed his focus from his immediate needs to the only person who could help him. Amidst the noise of the crowd, he raised his voice in faith and when they rebuked him, he raised his voice even higher. His faith was enough to make Jesus stand still and pay attention to him. Even though he had not seen Jesus’ face or interacted with him, Bartimaeus recognized and acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of David.
<span;> You see, active faith is not just faith that God will do something for you. Active faith knows what it is directed at. It knows what it wants. And this is why Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he could do for him. It was not enough to know that Jesus was the Messiah and he could perform miracles.  Bartimaeus had to know what he wanted. Although a blind man, he was not groping in the darkness He had to know and individualize his needs. That he followed Jesus after the healing should not be taken to mean that his healing produced faith in Christ. It was the kind of faith he had that produced that healing. The kind of faith that drives you to seek and cry out for the mercy of God. His cry was an indication that he had a clear insight into the power and character of Jesus. It was his faith, his persistent, bold and shameless faith that made it possible for Christ’s power to heal him.  Bartimaeus knew that the mercy of God is readily available to the faithful who cry out for mercy.
<span;> This is the kind of faith that we should aspire to have. The kind of faith that would make a blind beggar trust that Jesus, although ministering to a multitude of people, will make time for him. It is this kind of absolute and active faith that would make you say that this is your time, that this is your opportunity, that this is your time to act. It is by putting your faith into action that you will be able to call upon Jesus even without any encouragement. It is with faith that you must offer the cry of your heart. It is with faith that you must knock until the gates of heaven are opened. Like it was the case with Bartimaeus, it is only when your faith is active that you will be able to persevere until your prayer is heard. Faith in action is potent. It cannot be stopped by obstacles. It cannot be stopped by opposition and past failures. It knows no hesitation. It is only when your faith is this active that you can experience the completeness and deliverance you seek.
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