“Healing Waters”
November 18th, 2007
John 5:1-15 - The man at the pool of Bethsaida waited to be healed for 38 years. All he needed was for someone to help him down to the healing waters of the pool. But, no one did. As Christians, we are far too consumed sometimes with our limitations. Instead, God calls us to be a healing presence to people whenever and wherever we can.
“Healing Waters”
John 5:1-15
1. A woman and a man are walking down a busy street in New York City.
A. They meet a blind man who makes a strange request. “Describe it to me.” He wants the woman to tell him about the street.
B. She goes on to describe a pretty average day in New York - “people rushin’ back and forth…nobody really cares about nothin’.”
C. The blind man responds, “man, I wish I could see that.”
D. And suddenly, everyone involved sees the world differently.
2. When the lame man at the pool of Bethsaida asks Jesus for help, Jesus asks what might appear to you and me as a silly question.
A. “Do you want to be made well?”
B. The sick man answered him, “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.”
C. The legend of the pool - angels would stir the waters. The first person to touch the waters would be healed.
D. Jesus asked the man a direct question. “Do you want to be made well?”
E. The man responded with an excuse - justification, perhaps, that he thought he needed in order to explain his predicament.
F. So Jesus cuts to the chase with three simple commands - not suggestions, not points for discussion - commands.
G. “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”
3. You know, whenever I read this story, I am struck not only by the simplicity, brevity, and directness of Jesus’ response. I am also struck by the fact that this man had been waiting at the pool of Bethsaida for 38 years.
A. Could no one have helped at any time during all those years down to the pool?
B. Perhaps, they assumed “he is a beggar, so I will drop a coin in his coffee cup and be on my way.”
C. But, that is not what the man wanted or needed.
D. Jesus asks the man “do you want to be made well?” This question seems rather obvious to those of us who read this story today - of course the man wanted to be made well.
E. But, listen to the man’s response. John 5:7.
F. Perhaps Jesus asked the question of the man not because he did not know the answer - but because he wanted those gathered around to hear how they themselves could have helped this man during the past 38 years, had they stopped to really take notice of him.
4. Sometimes, it seems like we complicate our world so much that we forget how simple our response to the need for healing in the world might be.
A. We become so obsessed with our limitations - with acknowledging what we cannot do - that we forget to be available to God as an agent of healing whenever we can.
B. We are tempted, when we hear this gospel story to think, “I’m not Jesus. I don’t have the gift of healing.”
C. But, let’s look at the real gift that Jesus gave the lame man. Man would have been ostracized from community because of his paralysis.
D. Jesus’ healing brought him into full inclusion in the community.
E. Sometimes, the healing we offer is as easy as describing the street scene to a homeless man, or letting someone who is sick know that we are praying for them, or inviting someone suffering the pain of loss to worship.
F. Boy on the beach throwing sand dollars back into the water so they won’t die. The line of sand dollars stretches infinitely in front of them.
G. Father says, “there are too many of them, you can’t possibly make a difference.”
H. The boy looks down at the sand dollar in his hand and says, “it matters to this one,” as he throws him into the water and continues his walk along the beach.
I. We disciples of Jesus Christ have no business lamenting what we cannot do. Our job is bring about the healing that we can.
5. And believe me friends, there is no shortage of opportunities to provide healing to a broken world.
A. Different kinds of healing - emotional healing, healing the scars that people carry from the various emotional wounds that they have endured throughout their lives.
B. Spiritual healing - helping people who have lost their way find their way back to faith.
C. Physical healing - pray for people’s bodies.
D. Healing related to the justice of the kingdom of God. This involves healing that integrates people back into the community.
E. Healing of nations. Healing of creation. It is all a part of the work of healing in God’s world.
6. A woman and a man are walking down a busy street in New York City.
A. They meet a blind man who makes a strange request. “Describe it to me.” He wants the woman to tell him about the street.
B. She goes on to describe a pretty average day in New York - “people rushin’ back and forth…nobody really cares about nothin’.”
C. The blind man responds, “man, I wish I could see that.”
D. And suddenly, everyone invoved sees the world differently. Suddenly, healing has occurred.
E. How will we be a part of the healing work of God in this world?
F. How will we respond to the needs of our community?
G. Let us not miss the blind man in the city street. Let us not pass the by the lame man by the pool of Bethsaida.
H. Let us be about bringing folks to the healing waters of God’s love and grace. Amen.
Sermon delivered 11/18/07 at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church, Anaheim Hills.
