Job is humbled as he responds to the Lord’s inquiry of “Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?” I particularly appreciate his response “Surely I spoke of things too wonderful for me to know.” It’s like those “You had to be there” kind of moments that don’t make sense to anyone else when pulled out of context but at the time couldn’t have been more profound or amazing.

To describe the glory of God will always fall flat. No words are so elegant or all-encompassing.

Despite Job’s awestruckness, the Lord did not restore everything that had been taken from Job right away. First, Job prays for his friends. Those friends who told him he needed to admit his sins and beg for forgiveness that ultimately annoyed him. The first thing Job does is forgive them. Despite their poor methods, eventually Job did repent but not in the way the expected him to or for the reasons they told him to. He asked God’s forgiveness for questioning Him.

Ever questioned God or his methods? I sure have.

Sometimes, I feel like our lives to God are a Rube Goldberg Machine. For those of you who do not know what that is, it’s a complicated contraption designed to perform a very simple task like Doc Martin’s dog feeding apparatus in Back to the Future. You set a marble in motion, which plummets down a roller coaster, hits a domino sending a chain reaction of clicking dominoes all over the place, until one hits a pin which releases a bowling ball that knocks over a book that turns the toaster on, when the toast pops up it sets off a mouse trap, which throws a ball to turn on the can opener.

Which is similar to how I function in everyday life. I walk through the kitchen, notice dirty dishes on the counter, go to load them in the dishwasher which hasn’t been unloaded yet, so I unload it, notice an object on the counter that goes in another room, so I head toward where it goes, put it where it belong, notice dust bunnies on the floor, go to get the sweeper, step on an empty dog bowl, realize I haven’t fed the dogs yet, feed the dog, the clock chimes notifying me I’m running late, go to get dressed, find a lost glass on the bedside table, go to put it in the dishwasher and… we begin again.

The same thing applies to everyday life and often results in us walking into a store and leaving without the very thing we went there for. Due to the extraordinarily complex series of chain reactions in life, it can cause us to question what on earth is going on and feel like we’re not getting anywhere. However, the reason everything seems so complex and convoluted is that it isn’t just about you!

God is orchestrating billions of lives at once. Each life, every encounter, affects at least one other life which affects another and exponentially grows to create a web of effects across the globe. Which, from our puny little perspective can feel like an overly complicated contraption that accomplishes very little but from God’s perspective makes the world go round.

Which, brings us to Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus (not sure why that’s there but it must be terribly important to bear writing into this story so I’m going to mention it) the blind man of our New Testament reading. Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging, listening, and waiting. I wonder how many days, weeks probably years, he sat out at that roadside just waiting. It had to be a lot since the public felt the need to rebuke him and knew who he was.

I love small town life. Every small town has their… I call them Stereo Steve. You see, in the town I am from there was once a man who was rumored to be brilliant but his mind was damaged due to repeated drug use. By the time he was in his late 20’s he was left with nothing much of life but to stand on the corner. On his shoulder he carried an old boom box. Sometimes it was on… sometimes it was not. Steve was so reliable in his standing or sitting in that locations that you could give directions by him. He was hard to miss.

The next town over had “Red” a gentleman who walked all day every day miles and miles and miles sometimes between towns. I feel like every town has that person that everyone knows who they are but not many actually know. Clarksburg had the “Sheriff” a kind man who rode a bicycle with no chain, I haven’t had the opportunity to spend enough time in Fairmont yet to learn who their person is, and Jericho it would seem has Blind Bartimaeus. A blind man who sees more than those with sight.

When word begins to whisper on the wind Jesus of Nazareth is in town, he begins to shout out “Son of David!” Funny how our disciples haven’t fully comprehended they’re traveling with the fulfiller of prophecy but a blind man instantly knows who he is and what he is capable of. Those around him of course do not and rather than understanding try to silence the man.

Small segway. I have always been intrigued with how humanity has this foolish belief that anything different from the norm is a handicap. Blind, Deaf, Mute, mobility problems identified as handicapped. Merriam Webster defines handicap as “a disadvantage that makes achievement unusually difficult.” What if sight is our disadvantage not theirs? What if our ableism is the very thing which prevents us from seeing God all around us?

Our vision is narrow and self-centered. We struggle to view things from anyone’s vantage point but our own. In Piaget’s Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development, children between the ages of 2-7 are unable to understand why two people who are standing at opposite ends of a table are unable to see the same things. We call this egocentric thinking or the belief that everyone in the world sees and thinks the way we do. It also amounts to arguments amongst grandchildren that you are one person’s grandparent therefore you cannot be the others.

Mechanically, we grow out of this phase but functionally, often we do not.

The crowd assumes that Bartimaeus has lost his mind and is acting irrationally and yet… he’s the only one that knows what is going on. In the overly complicated and convoluted contraption we call life we are frequently as Job puts it “Speaking of things we do not understand and things to wonderful for us to know.”

Bartimaeus throws off his cloak, which if you are not aware is likely the absolutely most valuable thing Bartimaeus could possibly own. For him to throw it off in a rush to greet Jesus would be akin to you leaving behind your wallet and cell phone on a park bench because you were so excited to see someone coming… speaking of seeing… “He sprang up and came to Jesus.” Remember what I said about the blind man is the only one who can see what is going on?

And, unlike our disciples last week, Jesus asks the question “What do you want me to do for you?” I love how the Bible is filled with interwoven themes and stories. A web of life that just goes to show how God has woven the universe of all time and space together. Words which last week would lead to pain in suffering and this week they lead to healing.

God’s plans are not always our plans. Like an overly complicated machine to do a simple task, God’s plans can be fun, entertaining and bounce around a lot. Sometimes the purpose in the journey not the destination. All of Job’s friends were touched by God’s intervention. The entire town was witness to the returning of Bartimaeus’ sight. It is not for us to decide how or when God does things. It is up to us to bear witness to them and appreciate them.

Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar was sitting by the roadside. Day after day just waiting for Jesus to call him. Job had everything anyone could ever want and then lost it only to find it again through repentance. Each life like a marble rolling down a ramp, knocking into dominoes, sending them scattering each to their own destination. A life of faith is a lot like a Rube Goldberg Machine, you never know what will happen along the way.

May, the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you
And give you peace