From the Pastor, Dennis Plourde
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Stupid Questions
Psalm 67; John 5:1-9
     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.
     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?

First Baptist Church
22800 56th Ave. W.
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-3922
(425) 778-2046
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Last Modified
16 May 2007
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