Easter 6C * John 5:1-8 * St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC * 5/25/19
Lord God, heavenly Father, fill our hearts with love toward you. Remove any anxiety or fear of judgement as we encounter you this day. Pour out, we beseech you, your healing mercies on us, our churches, and our country. For we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do you want to be made whole? Jesus stood before the man who had been crippled for thirty-eight years…
Now, if Jesus asked me that, I imagine I or you would say YES! But did you notice- the crippled man did not say yes…Instead, he started making excuses—I didn’t have anybody to put me in the pool.
A little background would help … just outside the temple precincts in Jerusalem was a pool which during Jesus’ day was thought to be a place of healing. Sometimes known as Bethzaida or Bethzawa, it was fed by underground springs. It was a trapezoidal shape and had porticos surrounding it. Those in need lay in the porticos.
Some scholars think that the Romans had dedicated it to the God Asclepius – the Greek god of healing and medicine. The idea associated with it was this: When the waters seemed to move (probably the underground spring bubbling up), it was thought the divine presence (or an angel) was very close by and the first person who could get into the water would be healed…
The man Jesus spoke with said – I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool – that was his explanation –
Jesus said to him – Do you desire to be healed?
Have you noticed that sometimes what is said and what is heard are two different things?
The man heard Jesus’ question as judgement – As in, you’ve been here 38 years, you must not really want it.. you must want to stay crippled…
To be fair, though, sometimes it is easier to stay in that familiar place than to change. This reminded of an older couple at church I served… they argued constantly and loudly… I remember asking them – “Aren’t you tired of arguing all the time? Why not think about stopping? The wife looked at me and said – what ever would we talk about? Sometimes its easier to stay in the old familiar places than to change.
Jesus, though, in that question was going deeper – there was no judgement – He stood before the man and asked what is your heart’s desire?
What if Jesus stood before us, before you here and now and asked that question?
Let that question percolate in you, if you will.
Do you want to be healed? Imagine the change in this man’s life – 38 years is a long time – he’s gotten comfortable – it was a predictable life—
But when Jesus got involved – well, his world was about to get a lot bigger.
So often we live a small, safe life – we get used to our situation and we feel , for the most part, in control…
A clergy friend, Phil McLarty, who has served as both a Methodist and a Presbyterian minister tells this story which is to the point…
“.. He was living in Odessa, [Texas] and served as a chaplain for the local Police Department. One night he got a call from dispatch, who asked him to meet a police officer at a run-down, flea bag motel in a very rough part of town. A man staying there had called the local AA chapter and said he had decided life was not worth living. They called 911, of course, and a police officer was sent over to intervene. When Phil got there, he found the police officer standing at the door of the man’s room.
The man was drunk, of course. He went in and sat down on the bed beside him. Sobbing and slurring his words, Phil writes, he told me how he didn’t have much to live for any more, how he’d been injured on the job and was no longer able to work, how his wife had left him, and how he’d lost his house and car and most of his belongings. He said he spent most days in that depressing motel room by himself watching television.
McLarty asked.. “Why don’t you get out of this place and move into Lincoln Tower, where you can be around other people?” Lincoln Tower was a very affordable, nice little retirement community nearby, where the coffee pot was always on, and there was usually a game or something going on in the game room. “Why don’t you move over to Lincoln Tower?” We could help make that happen? he asked. “Oh no, the man said, I couldn’t do that,” he said, “Why, this is where all my stuff and my friends are.”[1]
It is so hard to help people sometimes and addressing what seems to be an obvious need often does not solve the deeper problem. maybe you’ve had an experience like this – I know I have..
Back to our gospel story – Jesus said to the crippled man– take up your mat and walk -and he did… Notice - the man’s body was healed but he had a long way to go to be fully restored – if you read on.. you will notice that he didn’t even think to ask the name of the one who healed him and when he found out Jesus’ name, he promptly reported him to the religious authorities who were upset because Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath. As one of my kids would say – that’s just messed up.
But to here and now -- the Lord Jesus stands before us asking - just as he stood before the crippled man – no matter what our age is, no matter our life circumstances – do you desire to be made whole?
Our God is the god who heals – who makes whole…
And that healing often takes an unexpected form- sometimes that healing is physical and God acts through the care and expertise of medical folks. Sometimes, relationships are healed and most often God heals us from the inside out – our hearts and minds are healed.
Before us today is the Lord who wants to give us everything – who understands and lives the fullness and freedom and wholeness of life that God desires for us –
Think about our collect today—listen to how it starts…
“O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding…”
So, what to do – what if the Lord asks you that question? How would you answer? What if he asks this church that question? What if he were to ask our country that question? Or, would we rather stay comfortable in our infirmity holding onto an illusion of control? Or would we rather just keep arguing because its too much work to figure out what else to talk about?
Now, let’s say you go home and think about this—and you come up with something that needs healing and wholeness.
If so, I want to invite you into the classical spiritual discipline known as discernment. That is, don’t just do it (like the reverse of the Nike slogan) – bring your thinking to people you know who listen to God and ask them to pray with you…
Consider if it opens the door to greater wholeness and healing or if it would bring injury to others (that might be a cue that it’s not from the Lord).. Spend some time in discernment. Don’t just do it!
Notice one last thing – the man did not answer yes – to Jesus’ question but Jesus healed him any way…love and mercy don’t keep score – it’s not a quid pro quo – you do this for me and I’ll do that for you.. You believe in me, have faith and I will heal you..No, that’s not the Jesus’ way.
Jesus says, “Forget the Pool! This is about the overflowing river of life – that we heard about in our reading from the Revelation to St. John today – this river pours out from the throne-room of heaven—it is the same river on the banks of which stand the tree of life whose leaves are given for the healing of the nations… that shining river which flows through the Heavenly Jerusalem and in, through and out of Jesus – this is the river that brings healing to all it touches..
Do you remember this saying of Jesus? It comes from the Gospel of John just a little way over from our reading today – “Jesus stood up and proclaimed.. if anyone believes in me- out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.”
Forget the water in the pool – it’s Jesus - the water of life, our resurrected Lord in whom the shining river flows – who can bring healing and wholeness to any situation. He stands before us…asking the question – do you want to be made whole? AMEN.
