I grew up in northern Maine and during the winter
we would often play outside after school in temperatures well below zero. When
we would come in our zippers would often be frozen and we would have to stand
on the heating vents for a few minutes for them to thaw before we could unzip
them! Now it seemed to me and my cousins that everyday as we came in our
grandmother would ask, "Is it cold out?" We would look at each other roll our
eyes and just nod or say "Yes, Gram!" Can you think of some "stupid" questions
that you may have been asked? (Response: "How does this make me look?")
Our passage today has some stupid question. But
before we get to them lets look at what is happening. It is a Festival of the
Jews (we are not told which Festival and can probably rule out Passover).
Being a Festival there would be more people than normal in the city. It would
be important for many to celebrate the Festivals in the city. Our Scripture
tells us that there was a pool in the city, a pool of hope and healing. The
tradition was that when the water in the pool was stirred (by an angel) the
first person in the water would be healed of their infirmities.
Can you imagine the scene? Around the pool (it
was a rather large pool) would be dozens or hundreds of people anxious to be
healed. They would be intently watching the water for the slightest movement.
They would not want to move too quickly to alert others around them that the
water was being stirred. Nor would they want to wait too long and take the
chance that someone else would be first. Was it the wind just blowing across
the water or was the water being stirred by an angel from beneath? Their whole
day would be spent hoping, praying for a miracle. It may also have been a
place of begging. A few coins to help with the evening meal and with Jerusalem
full of tourists maybe a few more people than normal to drop a few coins.
As Jesus enters the scene he begins a dialogue
with this one man. We are not told why. Perhaps he is the only one who looks up
and makes eye contact with Jesus as he walks through the crowd. We are told
that this man has been an invalid for 38 years. Can you imagine having someone
carry you down to the pool, leave you there for the day and come back for you
in the evening for 38 years? All day he sits alone waiting for the waters to be
stirred. His whole life revolves around the pool between periods of hope and
hopelessness. Jesus looks at him and asks, "Do you want to be healed? Do you
want your life transformed? Do you want to be able to walk and work again?"
Now there may be good reasons to say no. Perhaps
he has never learned a trade. Who will take on a man of his age as an
apprentice to learn a trade? What if he doesn't want to work? There are those
people who like to be sick. (We have a friend who likes to think he is sick. He
loves the attention people give when he tells them of his latest possible
illness-the attention his wife gives him.) And, it is the Sabbath day. Is it
appropriate to heal a person on the Sabbath? There are laws.
Do you notice his response in verse 7? It is not
a yes or no but an explanation of why he is still there after 38 years.
"Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up;
and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." Can
you hear the hopelessness in his words? He has been trying for 38 years to be
the first into the pool but his infirmity keeps him from being first. Someone
always beats him. He always comes in second. You know, "Always the bridesmaid
never the bride!" Even though he tries he can never quite make it. Discouraging
days to say the least.
Jesus' response is simple: "Stand up, take your
mat and walk." There is no long sermon on being first, trying to do your best.
Just a simple command and a life is transformed from an invalid and beggar to
a man made whole. And what is the response of those around him? For me these
are the "stupid" questions of the day, "Who gave you permission to take your
mat and walk?" It was the Sabbath and to carry a mat was work and it was
forbidden to work on the Sabbath. Thus, rather than a celebration that a man
who has been an invalid for 38 years can now walk comes an inquisition of who
gave him permission to work! They cannot see a life transformed, only a
law-breaker. They don't celebrate, can't celebrate because they can't see
beyond the Law.
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Contrast this to the Psalm that we read this
morning. This is a Psalm of praise and celebration of God. It is a Psalm in
which the wonders of God's presence in the life of the Psalmist and the nation
is a celebration and God is praised. It is a Psalm to be sung at a party. Do
you remember the first place Jesus took his disciples? He took them to a party,
a wedding in Cana. There they danced and partied. It was a celebration of life.
Should there not have been a celebration at the pool? A life has been
transformed and restored! We need to learn to party more!
Now I think that Jesus' question is one that the
church needs to be asked today: "Do we want to be healed?" "Do we want to walk
again?" "Do we want to be renewed to new life and hope?" We probably all nod
our heads, "Yes," and affirm that we want the church healed. Then comes our
actions. Amazed at how this passage fits in with our Wednesday evening
study–actions often speak louder than our words. We want to, but…
I remember working with the youth in a church
outside Philadelphia. Now the builders of the building had great foresight when
they built the building and had a full size gym as part of the complex. However,
the doors were chained shut. Why? Because the Trustee who had refurbished the
gym didn't want it to get dirty, and if it was used the floors would be
scratched, the paint on the walls scraped, etc. Thus, in many ways he held the
church hostage from doing ministry because of what might happen if neighborhood
youth were allowed to use the building. He would not even let the church youth
group use it! Yet, he would be the first to say that we need to have ministry
to the community–just somewhere else! Action speaking louder than words.
We have our way of doing things. We know how we
like things done. We even have our own church language. Who is welcome at our
meetings? Who do we shut out because of our actions? These are questions that
the church must ask before it can be healed, before it can pick up its mat and
walk into God's future.
I remember our visiting a congregation in New
Hampshire on one of our vacations. Our sons still talk of this and both
remember the Sunday vividly. No one spoke to us. No one offered us a worship
bulletin as we came in. One of our sons had to find the bathroom and he says
that he felt they were afraid to tell him where it was! No one asked us to the
coffee hour following worship nor invited us to join them. We were completely
ignored. If we had been a new family moving into the community we would never
have gone back. And it was the worst sermon I have ever heard! (A visiting
pastor).
We have never done it that way before! No, we do
not want to be healed if we have to change. The list can go on and on but the
question is still the same: "Do you want to be healed?" We like who we are and
if we allow new people in it may change that.
In 2002 we were part the leadership team of the
Thailand Xtreme team. We had six young adults from Thailand visiting the Los
Angeles area to be immersed in what was happening in America. One of our days
was spent visiting "skid row" in Los Angeles. This was an eye opener for these
Thai young people who did not think poverty existed in the United States. Our
guide led us up and down the streets of skid row, talking to the folk on the
streets. The team was impressed that everyone on the streets seemed to know him
and he knew all of them. One of the team commented that he must be doing a good
job for all of them to know and like him so much. He responded by telling them
that they knew him because he was once one of them. For five years he had
lived on skid row. He had lost his job, his family and all that he cared for by
misusing alcohol and drugs. Christ had transformed him and made him whole. Now,
he had devoted his life to ministering to those who remained on the streets, to
those who refused, for whatever reason, to be healed. He said he hoped that
through seeing what a transformed life could be he could encourage others off
the streets. But he said in sadness, many do not want to be transformed or made
whole.
Jesus asks the church today, "Do you want to be
healed?" How do we answer?
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