10-23-18 - Lord, Have Mercy

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

In this week’s story, we find Jesus leaving Jericho with a large crowd, on his way to Jerusalem. At the side of the road sits a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, who is not shy: 
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’

This bellowed prayer has come through the ages from the lips of Bartimaeus into the lives of millions of Christ-followers. It forms the heart the “Jesus prayer,” which pilgrims and mystics have taken as a mantra to help them cultivate the practice of praying without ceasing. This spiritual practice, called hesychasm, flourished in Russia and some Eastern Orthodox churches, and has popped up in other unexpected places, most notably in J.D. Salinger’s great novella of spirituality and neurosis, Franny and Zooey. Also called “the prayer of the heart,” the words vary, but are most often rendered, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me,” with some formulations adding the words “…a sinner.”

What is it about these words that so many have found so compelling? Do we need to beg for mercy from a God of love? In a perfect world, we would not. In the world we yet live in, awaiting the perfection of God’s redemption, many of us find ourselves aware of our need for God’s mercy and love on a regular basis, whether from a place of pain or poverty or as a cry of repentance. No matter how well we know God’s grace, our awareness of being less than we were made to be drives us to that prayer. I pray it often for our country.

But let us not mistake this for a prayer of degradation and forced humility. Bartimaeus called out these words with vigor and volume. His was not a meek plea, but a prayer of faith and recognition both of who Jesus was and who he himself was. God is God, and we are not. God is all in all; we are ever becoming whole. This side of glory, we will always be in need of the mercy of the One who made us, knows us, loves us, and never lets us go.

What would drive you to utter such a cry? What are you in need of deliverance from or blessing with? Bartimaeus is our model – pray it with pride, “Lord Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me. God will.

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