A question can be a double edged sword. On one side, the mere asking of a question implies that you don't know something. It could be a sign of weakness. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't know the answer to this. In a competitive culture this could put you at a disadvantage. You could be the weakest link. On the other hand, a question could be a sign of humility, of teachability, a moment of "I'd really like to better myself, can you help me?". In a completely different sense, a well framed question coming from a teacher can draw tremendous insight. Jesus used this form of teaching masterfully countless times. So effective were they that they continue to resonate in our lives if we choose to be participants and not spectators in our study of scripture. This past Sunday evening we began a new journey in the gospels wrestling with some of the questions that Jesus asked. We entered into the story of a blind man named Bartimaeus . Upon engaging him on the edge of the city, Jesus asked him a very simple and yet deeply profound question ... "What is it that you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus replied that he wanted his sight. Well of course he did ... it seems fairly obvious, and yet you might miss this if you're not careful. This was a blind man who spent his life alongside the road calling out for people to help him. The help he was anticipating, most likely, would come in the form of food scraps or the ancient version of loose change which could be used to by food scraps. I'm guessing that not once did he ever expect his sight from a passerby ... yet he did with Jesus. Think about it for a moment ... his most pressing need was presented to the only one who could take care of it. He wasn't about to waste this moment on something as momentary as food scraps or loose change. Those he could get from anyone on any given day... but on this day Jesus asked him "What is it that you want me to do for you?" The truth of the matter is this; Jesus asks us the same exact question. How many of us have wasted the offer on something that could be covered on any other day by any other source? We waste it by answering the exact same deep and probing question with superficial things like "niceness", "success", "security". Sometimes we even spiritualize our answers with promises that "if only I had ... then I could ... for the kingdom." "When I reach a certain level of security, success, living conditions, location, free time ... then I can really get serious about following you." Most of us, myself included, suffer from any one of a number of forms of blindness ... spiritual blindness. So I ask myself as I call out to him, when he asks "What is it that you want me to do for you?" ... what's my answer going to be?
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