Following and Glorifying

Luke 18:35-43

One of the things I learned early on in seminary was that when a particular event in Jesus’s life is recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke – all three, the Synoptic Gospels – pay attention.

Well, the healing we have been examining over the last few days is one of those events.

What is further interesting to note is the unique details that each author adds. In this case, in Luke’s Gospel, that not only did the “certain blind man” who was healed – whom we know to be blind Bartimaeus – follow Jesus, he followed “glorifying” God.

So – Matthew says two were healed, Mark says Bartimaeus followed Jesus “in the way,” and Luke adds he didn’t just follow, he glorified God while doing so.

Which leads me to this question: do we just receive God’s blessing and healing and go about our way, or do we respond by following AND glorifying God?

I confess that sometimes, I only do the first part, the receiving part, of that two-part proposition.

As we walk with Jesus in the way – in the Way – to Jerusalem, Gethsemane, the crucifixion, and beyond – may we do so thankfully, glorifying God, each step of the way.

By Paul Simrell

The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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