| Healing those in a broken World |
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Grace and Peace to you from God, our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen Sermon Text: John 5:1-16 (ESV) After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him laying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”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 going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take your bed, and walk.”And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was a Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “ It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. Dear Congregation Everyday we read in the newspapers and see on television, stories about Wars being faught. We read about corrupted politicians and crime. When we see these pictures, one cannot help but to ask: Is there any hope left in this World? This question thus becomes a reality for us the moment that we are affected by these events. We loose hope in the future and it doesn’t matter in which direction we look, we simply cannot find a solution, because everywhere we look it is darkness and emptiness that we see. We talk to people and we listen to their advice attentively only to be disappointed with the answer simply because it does not address our concerns. As a result of that, we continue our search for answers and it is in these times that we experience a bit of joy. This joy can be as a result of a child’s birth, or a religious festivity like Christmas or Easter, because at lease for a few hours we can forget about our problems and focus on the festivities and time with family and friends. For many people these days are just normal days, because their situation keeps them from being excited about these festivities.Such a person which we can use as an example is the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, laying there waiting for the angel of God to stir the water, which will bring him healing. For thirty-eight years he is waiting and when the water is stirred for someone to recognized him and put him into the water. Yes, for this man everything looks hopeless. I can just put myself into his situation when it comes to the dreams which he dreamed about how different his life would have been if he could only get into this water and be healed. However, he knew that the chances was slim of that ever happening and that he most probably would spent his whole life at the side of this pool, because every time the water was stirred it was everyone for himself and no one took pity on him. It is in such a world that Jesus appears and although it was to be part of the festivities, Jesus had always time for another miracle. This Easter will have a new meaning for this man, since someone have realized him and took pity over him. Jesus who knew that this man had been laying there for a very long time.After this man had told his whole story as he did so many times with other people, since he did not know that Jesus, the Son of God was talking to him. After hearing the man’s story, Jesus asked the man a simple question and that is whether he wants to be healed and whether he believes that he could be healed? He asks this man a question of faith, because it is when you believe in something then healing takes place. It is then when you are ready to invite Jesus into your life and that you trust him. Therefore, dear congregation, one cannot separate healing from faith. Faith means that I put my total trust in the person who can heal me and as a result of that I become very skeptical when traditional healers in Africa and the world cultures claim that they can heal people. In looking at their background, then one starts to realize that everything isn’t as clean as it looks. When I talk about healing it means that I can trust the person completely in knowing that the information I am about to share with him will be treated confidential, it means that I could be able to share the possible reasons for this sickness with the person. To experience true healing, it means that I must be prepared to willing to look at myself and own the possible share that I might have in my pain so that I am able to make the changes where it is required of me. I can’t think for a moment that the man laying there was happy with the idea of being totally dependent on other people for his well-being. What the reason may have been for him being paralyzed had to be put on the table and thus with this simple Jesus have kept this man accountable.God also keeps the people who practice any healing method accountable and he does it through people like you and me who is critical when it comes to healing.Healing must happen in an open and transparent environment and therefore it can only happen when the life of the healer is in harmony with what he is doing and if it is not there then one should question it. Faith and healing belongs together, and it becomes clear to us when Jesus says to the man: “Get up, take your bed, and walk.” The man had a choice, either he could remain there where he was or he could do as Jesus had told him, thus action in this case is a sign of the faith that the individual had. For this man to take action was probably one of the hardest things, because since he was healed he had to learn from being dependent on other for help to become independent because his situation had clearly changed. This man had such a need to be healed that he did not think for a moment what the next step would be after he had been healed and that made the process of healing so much more complicated, even more since he had to adapt himself to the normal world. The man did not know who Jesus was and thus when people started to question him about his healing he said that he did not know who the person was and therefore does not know who healed him.But still he walks to the temple, praising God for what had happened to him. Although he did not know Jesus, the Holy Spirit told him that God through Jesus was at work here. Jesus did not have the need to convince people that he could heal.Therefore, in our daily lives we do not need to tell people that we are able to heal, all what God expects from us is to simply do it. It is God who enables us to heal other people and that we cannot do out of our own strength.Because of this, if we need to convince people that we can heal is God then really present in this healing situation? Jesus does not cause a riot but work silently until this day, he heals people in silence. Dear Congregation Yes, Christ even heals until this day people. He sees our suffering, he hears our prayers and is willing to help you in your hour of need. Everyday is a day filled with opportunities for God’s healing hand to make a difference in this world. Everyday an opportunity presents itself for us a new beginning with God as well as an opportunity to be healed by him. Are you hunger for healing? Are you carrying heavily on your illness and your worries, so much that you can’t see the positive things that God presents us with everyday? Then God wants to invite you today to present your burdens to him and he will send someone to you to comfort you. He will send someone to you to be your pillar of strength and to help you in your time of trail. Stop trying to do it yourself, save your energy for that, which lies ahead and give God the praise even for your sickness. In being there for other, your need becomes your bread, because by helping another suffering human being, you might be surprised in finding a solution for yourself. That is why I like it so much to walk through a hospital, because it does not matter who you are, everyone helps one another because everyone is suffering due to the same cause. For many and I can also understand it, the hospital is the final destination before you die, but for me it is a place of new beginnings and new opportunities.So if you start to doubt God’s healing hand go and visit a person in the hospital and be a beacon of hope for him. God invites you to be his healing hand, mouth and eyes in this world, because God works through people who is prepared to make this service of love their own. It’s a service which brings many blessings, a service which brings a lot of joy and it is a service you can do while at the same time you grow spiritually. And the peace of God, which surpasses all our understanding will guide our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen |