4’ 10” and the Power of God (Mark 10:46-52)

Reading this miracle story again, it finally occurred to me that I know this guy.

A little while ago, I went on social media and had the rare experience of walking way more filled with hope. I saw that my dear friend, Sister Brandy Dudley, had decided to become The Rev. Sister Brandy Dudley and begin the process to become a local pastor. In knowing and working alongside her for years, this seems about the most obvious step imaginable. However, her journey to this point hardly tracked in a straightforward direction.

Standing 4’ 10” and serving as easily the most popular resident of Palestine, Texas, Sister Brandy exudes a passion for God that turned her previous place of employment, Walmart, into frequent opportunities for ministry and prayer. I have never understood how she did that, or, how she moved 75” televisions, when she could barely propel herself into my old, off road, truck. Her apartment (nicknamed “the Monastery”) contains so much religious art, iconography, and statues, that it could easily stock a medium sized Catholic Cathedral. I often tease her that she sees Jesus in her breakfast cereal. Sister Brandy can clearly recognize the face of God in a cloud formation, the image of Christ in toast, or the Virgin Mary in dryer lint. Every time it happens, I know that she has correctly witnessed God. Her openness to the constant movement of would amaze even the most hardened cynic.  

This clarity of sight connects her with our blind friend from Mark 10. In the grand tradition of ancient literature, we’ve got ourselves a blind seer, Bartimaeus. Scripture has a soft spot for this exact kind of irony. The Moabite woman (Ruth) redeems a family and gives birth to a royal line. A donkey speaks wisdom that a holy man doesn’t see. The little kid fells a giant that grown men refuse to face. A man without sight sees Christ the clearest and understand exactly how to seek the Lord. The blind man cries out, but the crowd holds him back, as if to say, “Don’t bring your problems to this important divine being” or “Stop making such a spectacle of yourself.” The Bartimaeus persists, and Jesus heals him - praising his faith.

To extrapolate this out a little further, not only does the blind man see Jesus and Jesus’s potential, but he understands the life of faith. God does not desire distance from God’s creation. Rather, God has upended the universe to live in relationship with humanity. Jesus came to earth not out of begrudging obligation but out of love. In crying out, Bartimaeus recognizes both Jesus’s identity as Messiah, the Son of David, and Bartimaeus’s need for mercy. Our unsighted friend gets that he stands in the presence of the one who can help him and, perhaps, intuitively knows that the Messiah wants to help him. In this way, Jesus’s statement in verse 52 that, “Your faith has made you well,” takes on a double meaning. Literally, the man had such faith that drove his persistence and got him in front of Jesus - leading to his healing. However, on a spiritual level, the man was already well long before his direct encounter with Christ. He knew God on a deep level, so much so that even before he receives his sight, he springs to his feet and throws off his cloak at the invitation to an encounter with Christ. The Bartimaeus’s exuberant faith carried him over the obstacle of crowd and made his life more full of the joy of the Lord to begin with.

Sister Brandy’s similar ability to see God in every moment and every person gives her similar power. She moves through the world constantly joyful as her exuberant faith keeps her eyes permanently open to the movement of God. I can often wonder where God is. Sister Brandy always seems to know. Her life has struggles and obstacles – like anyone else, but no matter what occurs in her life or in the life of the church, Sister Brandy moves first to cry out to God and then feels confident that God will do what God does best.

This ability of hers certainly impacted me. Five or so years ago, the church that Sister Brandy and I served had hit the wall. The church had experienced a lot of hardship and decline, and nothing that we did seemed to get us going in the right direction. Other members of our ministry team faced similar struggles in the churches that they served. It felt like banging our heads against a wall hoping that the wall would finally break. One night, at the height of my own frustration, I gathered the ministry team for prayer at 11pm. Sister Brandy, Scott, Emily, and I prayed deep into the night for God to open the right doors and for us to overcome the obstacles that we faced. After that night, things changed. Ideas came together. People showed up. Our work gained new momentum. I initiated that prayer meeting, but doing so was wildly out of character for me. I lack that prayer instinct and shear confidence in God’s power. Sister Brandy deserves the credit. Her clear-eyed faith and rapidity to take everything to God taught me about the faith of the blind seers and diminutive saints that find peace in God and never lets an obstacle get in the way.