In My Way
A sermon
delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
May 5, 2013
at Gordonsville
Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia
John 5: 1-9
Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives
For your eyes show the way
Your
mind knows the truth
Your
being is the life.
Amen.
5 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went
up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in
Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha,
which has five porticoes. 3 In these lay many invalids—blind, lame,
and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been ill for
thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that
he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7
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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and
walk.” 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and
began to walk. [1]
This past football season ended great, but
there were lots of ups and downs along the way. There was one week where we had
to play two games within four days. We played at Christchurch on the Tuesday and
lost, and then four days later on Saturday, we battled against Virginia
Episcopal School at home. The game was crazy, hard fought, but we started to
pull away, but the big event of the game happened towards the end of the third
quarter, when on a punt return one of our players hit one of theirs and hurt
the kid's neck. He ended up fine, but was in the hospital for a couple of days.
It was a tense and scary moment. He was med-evac'd out on the UVA hospital
pegasus. The two teams came together and prayed for him. To make a long story
short, the reason I bring this up this morning, is that the coach of the other
team, who like me is a pastor as well as a teacher, the following week asked if
he could meet us before our next game to talk to our players, give us an update
on their injured player, but also to give us a pep talk because he was
impressed with the way our players played, and the gentlemanlike way they showed
sportsmanship and caring towards his player. It was a cool speech, and the
reason that I bring it up today is that he used this very scripture passage as
his reference point for his motivation. It was cool too, because he wasn't afraid
to thump the Bible and talk to these kids, where I always feel I need to be
more subtle. He came right out. He used this passage to show how Jesus heals,
and how the healing is already inside us, from him, usually before we even know
it, that all we need do is rise take up our mat and walk. Now we tried to do
that, that night, but we were playing at Liberty Christian Academy, and got
worked, 54-0 was the final, but they literally scored 5 tounchdowns in first 5
minutes, and 7 in the first 9. So we didn't perform our miracle that night, but
did afterwards go on to win three straight and win the state championship. Who
knows what motivational seeds were planted that night.
As I was thinking and studying over this
passage all week, I kept remembering that speech, kept thinking how we
sometimes just have no clue of what wonders we are capable, until Jesus comes
along seems to introduce himself to us and to introduce us to ourselves and we
see that amazing possibility first hand. The other aspect of this passage that
kept sticking out was the phrase, "while I am making my way." I'll get to that in a minute. . . Let's look
at the story.
So here
is this guy, who has been ill for 38 years. Ill. No description of what the
illness is, left generic. The word for "Ill" actually is the same
word in Greek that is translated as "invalids" in the 3rd verse
above: "In these lay many invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed." And
there it is used as the category, the standard, the word, grammatically before
the dash, that goes on to then give examples. So the Gospel writer John goes
into detail about what it means to be an "invalid" or
"ill," giving specifics on the types of people, who were coming to
this pool to be healed, but then when it comes to the actual person healed he
goes back to the generic term. He gives the detail about how long he had been
infirm, but not what his ailment is. Why? Is it because it doesn't matter, or
is it because we would rationalize about it if we knew. Instead by leaving it
general, it can be anything, and it can apply to any of us. No name is given,
and only a generalized ailment, so insert yourself, and insert your own. What
is it that afflicts you? How long has it done so? This could be you, it could
be any of us, it can be all of us. I like this detail of it. So go ahead an insert
yourself into that place. I can assure you that I find myself very much in that
invalid's shoes, often.
Now look at the next part. Why hasn't he fixed
it? All of these other people have been going to this pool, the pool seems to
be the place to go to get fixed of your ailments. It is called Bethzaida, or
the "House of Mercy" and he is there, but he is not actually in. He
is at the gate, but has not gone through the door. He is by mercy but has not
attained mercy, hasn't asked for mercy, neither has he begged for mercy? And
for 38 years it would seem it has been like this. Jesus asks him: "Do you
want to be made well?" Now look at the man's answer. Notice that he does
not say yes. Instead he starts talking logistics. He starts talking about how
the circumstances have not allowed him to get into the pool. I guess the yes is
implied then. Obviously I want to be healed, it's just that I can't. I have no
one to help me. Of course I want to be
healed, but no one cares, so it's just impossible, it's too hard, it's
not worth it, I can't. Notice there all of the things he doesn't say: we've
already stated he doesn't say yes, he also doesn't ask for help, he doesn't ask
Jesus to put him in the pool, he doesn't do anything to suggest that he is willing
to fight for what he wants. . . if he even wants it. Is he so defeated that he
can't even allow himself to want to be healed because he has already decided
that it is too hard and much too plain impossible. It is here that he says the
other part of his excuse. The first is that no one will help him, but then he
says, "and while
I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." Why does he say,
someone? Is it always the same person? Who is this someone? You'd think it
would say people? People always get in front of me, but someone seems personal,
someone suggests that someone is keeping him down, and someone always ill. So
no one will help and everyone, or at least someone, keeps getting in his way.
No matter what, he is blaming others for his inability to get into the pool,
and in that way be healed. But also here is that phrase that has been staring
me in the face all week. "and while I am making my way."
It reminds me of Alice in
Wonderland, one of my favorites, I've always liked the curiouser and curiouser
line, but also there is the old Cheshire Cat, who is telling Alice about the
Queen of Hearts. Alice is excited and thinks that maybe the Queen can show her,
her way home. The Cheshire Cat tells Alice in his typical evasive subtle
fashion that she has no way, that all the ways here are the queen's ways. She
takes this advice as silly, as does the audience, until she actually meets the
infamous Queen of Hearts, who at the top of her lungs exclaims it to Alice
repeatedly, "Your way, you have no way, all ways here are my ways! Off
with your head!" Now we hear the Queen yell that and think to ourselves
what a tyrant, right?
So to me this week this idea is
going through my head here. The real reason that this man has not been able to
be healed is that he, for 38 years has been doing it his way, and his way is to
blame, to wallow, to lose faith, to be almost there, but not able to take that
next step that, risking step, that challenging step, that step into the pool
that may or may not heal him, forever answering the question that he cannot
stand the answer to, because to him the possibility of healing is better than
learning forever that the pool just doesn't heal, and that there really is no
hope. I've been a teacher for a long time, and I've seen this over and over,
the kid who is so afraid of failure that they just won't try because trying
would take away the excuse, trying would answer forever that question, am I good
enough, and the possible most likely answer they are sure is no, you aren't
good enough. But it's not just kids, it's not just teenagers, but all of us.
There is something in humanity that doubts our worth, doubts our ability to do
things, doubts our value, and holds to false hope because at least it is hope,
but we can never challenge the hope because we know deep down that it is just
not real, that it is just as fake as we are. It's built on untested lies. Or is
it?
Look at God's way. Jesus' way. Jesus
says rise take up your mat and walk. Go
do it. Right now. Do it. You are worthy, you can do it, you do have value. You
can, but you have to take the step. Rise take up your mat and walk.
God is good right! Yes, but God gets
some bad press these days. Why does God let this man suffer? Why does God not
just heal him? Why does God allow us the freedom to make choices that harm us
and harm others? Why doesn't God just force us to heal ourselves? Why doesn't
God just make us different? Does God even exist? Is God good? What kind of God
would allow such suffering? Why wouldn't he just step in and do something? Why,
Why, Why? Is God still there? Does God still care? Or is God just too weak to
make a difference? These are the questions of a world full of people too afraid
to take that step on our own, doing things our way, and getting in our own way.
What do we want God to do? Do we
want God to force us? Do we want God to make the choices more real? The
consequences more in our face, more tragic, more immediate? The Queen of Hearts
does that. . . The only ways are my ways, and all other ways result in her
yelling "Off with her head!" It is effective. Everyone stays in line,
or if they don't they learn quickly, completely, and eternally. Would we rather
live in the wonderland of the Queen of Hearts? Where there are strict rule,
strict and immediate punishments? Or would we rather live in this world, God's
world because look at what God does instead: He allows us to follow our own way
rather than his. He allows this man to be ill, infirmed, paralyzed, lame, etc.
for 38 years, doing things his own way. And for 38 years he doesn't step in to
help him. How hard that must be to allow his beloved creation to suffer for so
long, and since it is so hard, we should respect also what it says about God,
his love, and his world. It screams that a major part of love is freedom,
freedom to choose the wrong path, freedom to suffer in ignorance of our worth
even for a greater part of our lives, and sadly it would seem some for eternity.
But at the same time God sends us
Jesus, and Jesus tells us to rise take up our mat and walk. Jesus tells us that
we can be healed. Jesus knows of our worth. And there is a sense of urgency
here as well because this healing takes place on the Sabbath. Jesus comes in contact
with this man and doesn't say, wait until tomorrow to get up and walk, he says
to do it now, removing all our excuses, even our most pious ones for not being
willing to worthy of our place as children of God, created to be amazing, and
free to not be.
In my role as a teacher and a coach
I am called to teach my students about character, what it means to be human,
and what it means to be a human of high quality. Many think that you can teach
it by example, that you can teach it through discussion of ethics, that you can
teach it through instilling good habits, by imposing soft artificial
consequences that will show people the sting of bad behavior to try to steer
them away from it. It's possible that all those ways are effective and have
their place, but I am convinced that true character cannot be completely taught,
or at least completely instilled without giving them the opportunity to fail
and believing that they will succeed, giving them the opportunity to cheat, but
believing that they will be honorable, giving them the opportunity to be less
but believing that they will be more. The rest are simply training wheels,
which have to at some point come off. Remember it is the tyrant who lacks faith
in his subjects. Freedom derives from faith and trust. Passages like this one,
stories like this one (rise take up your mat and walk) seem to scream out to us
that God has faith that we are more than we think we are, that we are stronger
than we think we are, that we are better than we think we are, and that we are
capable of much more than we think we are. . . and he should know, since he
made us, each and every one of us, maybe we should start believing him.
[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989
(Jn 5:1-9). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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