Questions for Lent: Do you Want to be Made Well?

[Preached March 9, 2008; Based on John 5: 1-9]

 

“Jonathan Edwards teaches us that the intellectual life and the passionate life should be friends, not enemies. Without the slightest contradiction it is possible to be both tough-minded and tenderhearted… We worship God with brain and viscera!” [Richard Foster, Devotional Classics, 24]  

 

One day a cowboy in Arizona was riding down a trail. As he rounded a bend, he saw an Indian lying down in the middle of the trail with his ear pressed close to the ground. As he got closer, the Indian began to speak: "Wagon, drawn by two horses, both gray. Passengers in wagon. Two passengers. One man, one woman. Man driving."

The cowboy was amazed. He just couldn't believe it. "That's incredible; you can tell all of that just by listening with your ear to the ground?" And the Indian replied, "No, they ran over me half an hour ago!" (Norman Nees, Living Down in the Valley)

 

Most of us get flattened in life from time to time. Something comes along – a disease, a broken relationship, or some loss, some move – something comes along that knocks us off our feet. This week, I had two such events:

 

  1. As we mentioned, there was the call from our District Superintendent calling me on behalf of the Bishop. One phone call changed the direction of the next few months and years. We didn’t expect a move but accepted it as a part of our covenant to itinerate. We have not always understood God’s guidance through the Bishop, but we have always been blessed in our obedience. When we accepted the Bishop’s invitation to move to Harlingen, we knew nothing about this congregation or community, but how wonderful these six years have been! We trust God will continue to care for this congregation, as well as the people in Seguin.

 

  1. The second surprise that flattened me for a while was the unexpected and tragic death of Brian Hughes, resulting from a car accident as he failed to maneuver a turn. Brian came to us homeless with no ID or money. He worked in our flower beds, and then did some handyman chores, and finally worked with our computers. He worked here for over two years as a handyman. When he left us, he continued in the computer business. You may remember that Brian played Jesus in The Living Last Supper a few years back... and you may remember Brian’s daughter Lucy Mae. She had many grandparents in this church.

 

This past week, these two events definitely got my attention, but neither was as dramatic as the man in our Scripture lesson who was flattened permanently or so it seemed. There he was among a great multitude of sick people – the blind, lame, and paralyzed. We don't know precisely what was wrong with him – but he had his infirmity for thirty-eight years. He couldn't get up and walk – he was on his pallet, waiting there beside the pool of water, hoping that someone would put him into the water when it began to stir and the healing power was there.

Did you notice in the reading the reason Jesus was in Jerusalem? It says it was the Feast of the Jews. We don't know what particular feast – perhaps it was Passover time, one of the most significant celebrations for the Jewish people. Had you been in Jerusalem at the time of any feast, where would you expect to find Jesus? Where was Jesus?

 

 

Perhaps you recall that when He was twelve years old and was brought by his family for the feast, they lost Him - left Him in Jerusalem, discovered Him missing at the close of the day. When they went back to look for Him - where did they find Him? In the Temple. Jesus responded to them, "How is that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 3:49) Is that where we would find Jesus - in the Temple?

If we were more spiritually sensitive to what Jesus was about, we probably would have looked for Jesus right there where He was - at the Pool of Bethesda, by the Sheep Gate, because there all the sick people, the blind, the lame, and the deaf gathered. So: It was there that Jesus was more likely to find someone needing His healing touch. And what more needy one could He choose for healing than this man who had been flattened for thirty-eight years – he was always too late to reach the water when it stirred and its healing quality was present and active.

This story reveals the message of Christianity. Not only is there power in Jesus to cleanse us from sin, there is power to heal us and free us from the chains that bind us. Did you know: No one is beyond the reach of Jesus' healing concern and His power to make them whole. Jesus went to these people, the ones who had been "flattened out," when He celebrated the feast in Jerusalem. He went to find them! Do you ever wonder whether Jesus cares about you? Jesus is looking for you!

This is one of the most fascinating stories in the New Testament. At the heart of it is the wholeness issue. There are two primary signals that speak to the issue of wholeness. These signals are the will and faith. Let's look at them:

 

First: the will. The first thing Jesus does is to challenge this man to focus on his will. That's the point of the question: "Do you want to be made well?"

The will is the crux of the matter – our capacity to say yes and no, our freedom to choose. Jesus made a frontal attack: "Do you want to be made well?" This is a question that pierced his very core – it called for a decision, an action, not the presence of a passive wish or vague desire, but an exercise of will.

God will never save any one of us against our will. Mark that down. God will never save us against our will. Every person must say, "I will," to the Savior if they're to be the recipient of the grace that redeems.

In this story, an angel came down every day and stirred the water. It was then the water had healing power. Each day the water was stirred, but the man couldn't get in. Jesus came not to stir the water, but to stir the man's will. Over those long years of disappointment and apparent hopelessness, the man's will had been numbed. Jesus addressed an essential point for us: the will.

 

The question, "Do you want to get well?" not only relates to our physical well being; it has to do with relationships. You're not going to know wholeness in relationships until you will to be whole. Estrangement that causes you to flirt with the possibility of divorce is not going to be resolved until the two of you make a decision that you want the marriage to be healed.

 

Maxie Dunnam talks to couples considering marriage about what he calls “decision love.” In order for a marriage to survive and more than survive, to be rich and rewarding – decision love is needed. Every day, we must make a decision to love each other. The exercise of our will is essential for wholeness.

 

You guys know what it means to multitask, right? Drive and talk on the phone, watch tv while making dinner, read the paper and listen to your spouse? What about spiritual multitasking? Reading one’s Bible while watching Jay Leno... praying while you are falling asleep... listening to the sermon while planning the remainder of the day...

 

The story is told about a martial arts student who went to his teacher and said, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it? The teacher replied, “Ten years.”

 

Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice every day, 10 or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?” The teacher thought for a moment, “Twenty years.”

 

There is a big difference between working hard and learning well. The Christian life does take effort, but more than that, it takes discipline – consistent, steady listening and availability to God’s Spirit. Spiritual busyness is not the key to spiritual growth!

 

Picture the following scene: You want to speak with someone at work. Their door is closed, but you can see through the glass that they are staring off into space as in deep thought. What do you do?

 

In America, you knock and say, ‘I’m so glad you’re not busy because I have something I need to talk with you about.”

 

I’m told that in Japan, you would never knock or enter because deep personal thought is seen as the most productive aspect of one’s job! That is when the greatest advances are made.

 

The will speaks to the issue of wholeness. We must want to be whole. The second issue is faith. There is no healing, no wholeness apart from faith.  In 1 John, we read, "This is the victory that overcomes the world -- even our faith.” (1 John 5: 4)

In our Scriptural story, notice that Jesus asked the man first if he wanted to be made whole. He wanted to stir up the man's will. Next He called on the man's faith: "Rise, take up your bed, and walk."

 

It's significant that He didn't give the man's faith any outward assistance. He simply called it forth. He didn't take him by the hand and lift him up; He told him to get up. When the man obeyed -- when he acted in faith -- he discovered a new strength. In fact, Scripture says, "Immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked."

 

Now let me be quick to say that faith does not always bring physical healing. It's evident as we look around us that some folks are healed by faith, and others are not. Sometimes, I pray with and for people for healing, and healing takes place. I pray for and with other people for healing and I hold their funerals.

 

A Baptist couple felt it important to own an equally Baptist pet, so they went shopping. At a kennel specializing in Baptist dogs, they found one that they liked a lot. When they asked the dog to fetch the Bible, he did it in a flash. When they instructed him to look up Psalm 23, he complied using his paws with dexterity. Impressed, they purchased the animal and went home.

That night, they had friends over. They were so proud of the new Baptist dog and his skills, they called the dog and showed off a little. The friends were impressed and asked whether the dog was able to do any of the usual dog tricks as well. This stopped the couple cold, as they hadn't thought of normal dog tricks.

"Well," they said, "let's try it out." Once more they called the dog and they clearly pronounced the command, "Heel." Quick as a wink, the dog jumped up, put his paw on the man's forehead, closed his eyes in concentration, and bowed his head... It was then that the couple realized they'd been deceived. The dog was a Pentecostal.

 

There's a mystery that surrounds prayer and healing. But here's the point – the root word for “healing” in New Testament Greek is sozo.  This is also the same root word for “salvation” and “wholeness.”  When we think of God offering healing – a mature thought includes balance, harmony, and wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships!

 

 

 

God wants us to know that we can be survivors!  God can take even damaged children and heal our body, mind and soul. God rebuilds and transforms. If we are willing to be under construction, then we can know the washing away of sin’s residue and we can see clearer. If we have the desire to be whole – if we have the will and expressed faith, we too can be healed.

Have you felt flattened? Jesus already knows about your situation. Call upon him to help!