Do You Want to Get Well

Do You Want to Get Well?

John 5:1-9

September 14, 2008

The June 2 reading from Experiencing God Day-by-Day has this to say:

The Terror of the Lord

Knowing, then, the fear of the Lord, we persuade people. We are completely open before God, and I hope we are completely open to your consciences as well. — 2 Corinthians 5:11

The fear of God is the greatest deterrent for sin. Those who perceive God as a benevolent and gentle grandfather will treat their sin superficially. They will worship halfheartedly. They will live life on their own terms rather than God's. But a reverent fear of holy God will dramatically affect the way a person lives. Even though Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, he feared God and knew that one day he would stand in judgment to give an account for everything he had done.

Our world does not applaud fearfulness. We teach our children to love God, but not to fear Him. We want to present a loving and nonthreatening image of God to nonbelievers in the hope that Christianity will be more appealing to them. One of the great condemnations of our day may be that we have lost the fear of God. We promote Him as a “best friend” who saves us and “lives in our hearts,” but we do not fear Him. It is true that we are God's adopted children and that we are fellow heirs, even friends, with Jesus, but we are not His equals. He has forgiven us, but we are still His creatures. He is God, and we are not!

If you find that you have become complacent with God's commands and have become comfortable in your sin, you are completely isolated from God's holiness. Take time to meditate upon the awesome holiness of God and allow the Holy Spirit to instill into your life a proper reverence for almighty God. A deep sense of awe is essential to knowing God.

I, we, all have our challenges to face. As children we were either too short, too tall, too fat, or too skinny. Someone else was always smarter, or faster, or more popular. As adults we are either too young or too old, too inexperienced or too overqualified, too busy or too alone.

Sometimes it's more serious. We carry the baggage of being abused in some unfair way, we worry about how to pay the bills, we grieve over a loss of someone close, we agonize over a rebellious child or an unsaved parent who is facing a Christless eternity, or we face an uncertain future of chronic physical problems ourselves.

We all experience disappointments and failures which are often beyond our own control. We get frustrated, impatient, and angry at the way life has treated us. We may then become resentful and bitter.

Then there are some of us who appear to have it all together while on the inside we wonder why life seems so empty and meaningless. Maybe we can't exactly put our finger on it, we just know that something is missing. But this is usually a temporary state, what with so many distractions around. As Neil Postman says, thanks to our culture, "We can easily amuse ourselves to death."

Then for many of us, I suspect, we're so accustomed to our predictable, safe lives that we become unaware there's more to which God is calling us. We get so accustomed to our comfortable familiar lifestyle that we fail to realize the difference between living and simply existing. We fail to recognize the abiding sickness which resides within our own souls. A sickness that Henry Blackaby, in the devotional I just read, calls complacency sin. My message this morning is entitled, “Do You Want to Get Well?” and it comes from our key Scripture passage this morning.

Would you turn in your Bible to John chapter 5 and we’ll read verses 1 through 9. While you’re looking it up, I am going to read the General Confession found in our hymnal. Listen to it.

“THE GENERAL CONFESSION

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred,
and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep.
We have offended against Thy holy laws.

We have left undone those things which we ought to

have done, and we have done these things which we

ought not to have done; and there is no health in us.

O LORD, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.

Spare us, O LORD, as we confess our faults.

Restore us. We are penitent

We want to live according to Thy promises declared through thy Word, Christ Jesus our LORD.

Grant o merciful Father, for Jesus’ sake, that we may hereafter live godly, righteous, and sober lives – to the glory of Thy holy name. Amen”

We will come back to this confessional later. Right now, let’s read John 5:1-9 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

Whatever pain we carry, it seems rather insignificant compared to the man in this morning's story. He had been an invalid for 38 years. We don't know the cause of his suffering. We just know that for a very long time he had been unable to do the things most of us take for granted. But, apparently he still had a sliver of hope.

This man took his place with many others who shared a similar plight. They gathered at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem where some said that every now and again an angel would disturb the waters, and the first one in would be healed. But that's a mighty tall order if you can't get up

Then, one day, someone better than an angel comes along. His name is Jesus -- the friend of sinners, the compassionate man, the divine healer. Surely Jesus will tell them to forget about their superstitions.

But something strange happens next. The compassionate Jesus takes a look at the man lying on the ground and asks a very insensitive question: 'Do you want to be made well?" Talk about "politically incorrect"! What was he thinking? This poor sick man could have rightfully come back with some sarcastic response like, "Sir, I really enjoy being here completely unable to move!"

Yet there was something about the way Jesus looked at him, something about the way he asked the question, that made it not so foolish a question after all. The answer was not as obvious as it must have seemed. Jesus wanted to know. Did the man really want to be made well or not?

He had waited in this condition for 38 years and it might have been that all hope had died. The man might have been content to remain an invalid. After all, if he was cured he would have to bear all the responsibilities of making a living for himself. There are people who find a sense of security in sickness, and for them, suffering isn't that unpleasant because someone else does the work for them.

"Do you want to be made well?" Maybe it wasn't such a dumb question after all. The man failed to give a direct answer. Why not a simple "yes"? 38 years is a long time to be able to settle into a kind of comfort and safety even in misery. Being well holds more responsibilities. Being well holds more accountability. Jesus still asks today, “Do you want to be made well?” Do you want to be healed of your addictions? Do you want to be healed of wrong attitudes? bitterness? Time wasting? Or being a shopaholic? Like the man at the pool, Jesus is asking you, “Do you want to be healed?” Do you have to think about it for a while? Or, are you ready t respond right now, right here?

This man at the pool did respond quickly. He wanted to be healed, but he didn't see how since he had no one to help him when the waters stirred within the pool. Someone else always managed to beat him to the punch when he did try to make his way down to those magical waters. His infirmity genuinely held him back. What is holding you back? Doubt? Do you doubt Jesus has the power to heal your infirmities? Complacency? Remember what Blackaby said in this mornings devotion: “If you find that you have become complacent with God's commands and have become comfortable in your sin, you are completely isolated from God's holiness. Take time to meditate upon the awesome holiness of God and allow the Holy Spirit to instill into your life a proper reverence for almighty God. A deep sense of awe is essential to knowing God.” Jesus had to know if the man really wanted to receive the gift of healing. And today He is asking you, “why are you wallowing on your mat,” He asks you; do you want to be supernaturally healed? Do you want a a miracle of cleansing? You have to want it – really want it! Do you? If you do, then Jesus will quickly cut right to the heart of the matter: "Stand up, take your mat and walk." Immediately comes the excuse. But his was a viable excuse, wasn’t it? What about you? What are your excuses? Expect excuses. Change is hard on us. What do you think was running through this man's mind when Jesus told him to do the impossible? Perhaps he thought, "If this man tells me to walk when I obviously can't walk, it must mean that He intends to do something to enable me to walk." Thus his faith is transferred from his own efforts to Jesus. Obviously, it was Jesus' will that this man should obey Him, and the moment the man's will agreed with the Lord's will, the power was there. Did you hear that: the moment the man's will agreed with the Lord's will, the power was there. It is Jesus’ will for us to obey Him too, isn’t it? When you obey Jesus will, the power will be there to quit bad habits or change bad attitudes.

We don't know whether the man felt anything as the healing took place. There is no mention of any sensations of warmth or power flowing into him or anything so melodramatic. All we know is that strength came into his bones and nerves and muscles. Before, he couldn't stand. Now he could. And the same may be for us. There may not be any tangible or remarkable or even noticeable sensation. But there will be change. Before, you couldn’t resist. Now you will be able to resist. But there is another important step to this story of healing. First, you must like the paraplegic, want healing. Look at what came next! After recognition of our inability to affect our healing in our own strength comes Jesus directive. Look at verse 8 in John 5: “Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."

Jesus commanded the man, "Pick up your mat and walk." Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan has said that the reason Jesus ordered him to take up his mat was "in order to make no provision for a relapse." The man might have said to himself, "I'm healed now — but I'd better leave my bed here in case of a relapse. I may need it tomorrow." Jesus didn't want to leave this man a back door through which he could escape back into his illness and his old ways.

Jesus is saying something important to all of us who need His healing: Don't make any provision to go back on your healing. Burn your bridges behind you. If you are giving up alcohol or cigarettes, don't keep a bottle or a pack in the basement just in case. Say no to friends who have been luring you into evil. Don't go within ten blocks of the store that sells the magazines that tempt you. Delete games on your computer if they lure you from your work. Throw away those videos or books which stir up impure thought. Cancel that cable channel with the sexy movies you have trouble resisting. Purge, cleanse, purify! Cut off any possibility of going back. Then, let somebody know the new stand you have taken, and ask that person to check on you and hold you accountable. Find a counselor, support group, or recovery group that can help you to move forward, not backward, in your healing process.

Third, Jesus says, "Walk." Don't expect to be carried. Get on your feet and walk. Many people want to be carried after they are healed. They expect everybody to gather around them and keep them going — and this is a common source of failure. If Jesus gives you the power to rise, He can certainly give you the power to walk daily and keep going — not looking to your friends or to anyone else to carry you, but looking only unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. Galatians 6:5 says we are to bear our own load. Others may keep you accountable, and feel your burden, but your load is your own. As believers, we are expected “to love our neighbor” (Matt 22:29) and help other Christians be restored from burdensome sin. The Greek word for burdens refers to something beyond the normal capacity to carry as opposed to “load” which is what a person is expected to carry.

No Christian should ever think that her or she is totally independent and doesn’t need the help of others, and no one should feel excused from the task of helping others. The body of Christ – that’s us – functions best when we work together. Do you know someone who needs help? Is there a Christian brother or sister who needs correction or encouragement? Humbly and gently reach out to that person offering to life his or her burden (John 13:34-35). In Jesus power, the man at the pool was healed.

Jesus spoke the word, but God's healing power could not be let loose until the man assumed the responsibility of choosing to be healed. What's true then is still true for us.

The deeper question Jesus asks is, "Do you really want to be changed?" If we are content to stay as we are -- no matter how miserable that may be -- there can be no change, no possibility of healing for us. It is almost as if Jesus said to the man: "Bend your will to it and you and I will do this thing together!" Today, He’s saying, “We can do it!”.

The gospel truth is that we all must recognize our own utter helplessness apart from God. That is our shared human condition. Miracles can happen when our will cooperates with God's power to make them possible. The question Jesus asks is the ultimate question each of us must answer, "Do you really want to be made well?"

As Ray Stedman puts it, in “God’s Loving Word”, Jesus came to help the helpless, not the self-sufficient. He is the Solution for those who have given up trying to solve their problems in their own strength and wisdom. But Jesus can do nothing for those who are determined to make it on their own. If the Lord says to you, "Do you want to be healed?" and you answer, "Not yet," or, "I'm doing okay," or, "I'll let you know if I can't handle it," then He can do nothing more for you.

Even God himself can do little for us if we are comfortable. Too often we plod along in our comfortable, yet debilitating condition, craving to be healed, yet resisting any change whatsoever. Carl Sandburg once said: "There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud."

A part of me wants to fly like an eagle, but I get too accustomed to wallowing in the mud. We all have our dreams and visions, but then as we get older, life's realities convince us to settle for less -- or to forget them altogether.

So, what does it take to provoke change? Listen to this true story:

Danny Cox, a former jet pilot turned business leader, tells his readers in Seize the Day that when jet fighters were first invented, they "flew much faster than their propeller predecessors. So pilot ejection became a more sophisticated process. Theoretically of course, all a pilot needed to do was push a button, clear the plane, then roll forward out of the seat so the parachute would open."

But there was a problem that popped up during testing. Some pilots, instead of letting go, would keep a grip on the seat. The parachute would remain trapped between the seat and the pilot's back.

The engineers went back to the drawing board and came up with a solution. Cox writes:

The new design called for a two-inch webbed strap. One end attached to the front edge of the seat, under the pilot. The other end attached to an electronic take-up reel behind the headrest. Two seconds after ejection, the electronic take-up reel would immediately take up the slack, and force the pilot forward out of his seat, thus freeing the parachute.

Bottom line? Jet fighter pilots needed that device to launch them out of their chairs. Question is, what will it take to launch us out of ours?

Yes, we humans have an instinctive ability to resist change. But change is sometimes essential to our survival. Sometimes survival is the best we can hope for. Our problem, however, is that we too often settle for surviving rather than authentic living.

Jesus' question to the man was about physical healing, but the man's physical condition was not the main point. The question behind the question is about life itself: "Just what do you want from life? What is it you really need from God?" I'm afraid that many of us really don't know what it is we need.

Most of what we come to expect out of life comes straight from the television or movie screen. We buy into the false reality that our culture hands to us. We sell our souls for an illusion of life -- not the real thing.

We also buy into the false theology of a God who can be manipulated in order to make us healthier and wealthier. This theology is called the prosperity doctrine. If you are suffering physically or financially, then you have sinned. If you aren't being healed, then you don't yet have enough faith.

Did you notice in today's scripture there was a crowd of sick people surrounding that pool? There were many invalids -- the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. Scripture does not say they were sinners or had little faith. Even in Jesus’ day, people who were crippled were accused of sinning – if not them – their parents. Jesus died for sinners to bring you safely to God (1Peter 3:18). Jesus initiates and perfects our faith (Heb 12:2). If your are facing a mountainous problem, turn your eyes from the problem, look to Christ the giver of faith. Only then will you be able to overcome obstacles in your way. As far as we know, Jesus asked only one of them at the pool if he would like to be healed. What about the others? What became of them?

Surely Jesus cared about them too, but he offers no explanation as to why grace came on that day to this particular man. There is a mystery about God's healing and grace that we cannot fathom or predict.

The well being Christ offers to all of us is greater than our physical wellness. It has to do with the sickness of our souls. St. Augustine said, "We are all restless until we find our rest in Thee." This is what God offers to us in Christ -- rest for our souls. But maybe we have something different in mind -- something more material. If so, then maybe we don't really want to be made well after all.

Jesus asks us these questions today, and He deserves an honest answer. Healing will come on God's terms, not ours. Do you agree? It is really a question of faith. Can you trust God to change you? Can you let go of your fear of change and allow God to make all things new? Do you want to be made well? A new life, a new way of living, that is the Good News of God in Christ. That is His strength in our weakness. 1 Corinthians 1:25”: “God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest human strength”

And I ask you again, “Do you want to be made well?” Being well starts with an honest appraisal of our neediness and His power. In recognition of this, I want us to read together the General Confession I read near the beginning of my message. All revival and change begins with repentance. Read along with me from FOG 118:

THE GENERAL CONFESSION