Last Sunday after Trinity 2024 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we celebrated our Sunday Eucharist, the Last Sunday after Trinity, accompanied by Abigail.
Saturday 2nd November – A church walk is planned for the Ardmore peninsular. The plan is to meet Ardmore Point car park at 10.30am.
Drive via Dumbarton and A814 to Helensburgh. After Cardross, take first turn left after crematorium, cross railway and park alongside shore. Allow c 40 minutes. Walk is level and 2 ½ miles. We can go to the nearby cafe and farm shop at Ardardan afterwards. We will need to car share.
Sunday 3rd November – 6pm we are invited to a Choral Evensong at All Saints to celebrate their Patronal Festival. Included in the service, in an acknowledgement of the Feast of All Souls, will be an Act of Remembrance. Names of departed loved ones will be read out, if you would like a name to be read out at the service, please let me know.
This Week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House
Saturday 10.20am Church Walk
Readings for next Sunday – All Saints Day – Isaiah 25:6-9 Revelation 21:1-6 John 11:32-44
Today’s readings – Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 10:46-end
Over the last week I have had trouble with my watch, I suspect a new battery is called for. A matter that is obviously not a big deal, but the trouble is I am the last person who should have a faulty watch, punctuality is not my forte and sadly never has been. I’m not proud of myself. I am fully aware to be late is disrespectful, inconsiderate and careless, at least that what I thought……..however, it seems I might be mistaken…..
There is a great trend these days to medicalise every mental and physical condition, and it is in this vein, apparently, I can absolve myself. It appears people like me who struggle with punctuality are not simply ill mannered and thoughtless, as has always been considered, but we suffer from a form of time blindness.
I suspect what that means is we lack the ability to measure the length of time required to complete tasks and therefore everything we do over runs; we fail to see the realty of time.
But the concept and language of vision has always been complex because it refers not just to an ability to see in an optical sense, but it also refers to an emotional state of mind.
We use phrases like being blinded by the science. We talk about having a vision for the future and when we finally understand a situation, we say oh I see what you mean.
Equally, how often do we feel we are in the dark, not in the sense that someone turned off the lights but that the light within us is no longer shining. I’m talking about those times when we feel lost and we can’t see a way forward, we are confused and there is no clarity. Or maybe our lives have become darkened by fear, grief, loss, and sorrow. Maybe shadows from our past – shadows of guilt, regret, failure, disappointment.
So, we wonder if that is what it was like for Bartimaeus as he sat on the roadside begging.
Our prayers so often reflect our supplications, “please God help me” we pray. And this in a sense is what Bartimaeus is doing in today’s reading when he calls out to Jesus, Son of David, to have mercy on him. Jesus’ question to Bartimaeus may seem a little obvious – “what do you want me to do for you?”
Clearly, we understand Bartimaeus wants to be healed of blindness. But nothing is quite so straightforward because this healing will bring new responsibilities for Bartimaeus. Not just as he lives with renewed sight but as he re focuses his life to understand and live out his faith in Jesus, to see God’s kingdom – know God’s will and be remembered as one of the followers of Jesus. For him to follow Jesus at this point was to bring healing and joy to himself. Yet this story is also part of the theme of drawing near to Jerusalem – to the entry of the king and then the suffering of the Messiah there. So, it also meant to risk suffering and trouble, especially in the light of all that was to happen to the Messiah in Jerusalem.
Bartimaeus’ faith brought him healing, but this faith also was to sustain him as he followed the way of Christ in ways that he could never have seen. Bartimaeus’ faith brought him into the service of God and the kingdom. It wasn’t just his sight which was restored but his vocation.
Today is Bible Sunday. The day when we celebrate the written texts of these holy scriptures. But seeing and reading these texts and even digesting their content on their own and for their own sake is not enough. We need to absorb them into our souls, believe them and live them.
The bible is made up of many different books, stories which speak of God’s people but all l the texts point to the one overriding story. The story of God’s Kingdom – manifested and made complete in Christ by his life, death and resurrection. These texts are the portal through which we see and understand God’s word for us. As Bartimaeus discovered seeing and understanding are synonymous.
In a moment as we share the sacrament in the giving and receiving of the bread and wine, may we be reminded of the words of the post communion prayer offered last Sunday.
God our Father,
whose Son, the light unfailing,
has come from heaven to deliver the world from darkness.
Let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way of life,
and walk in it without stumbling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen