“When Later On Isn’t Soon Enough”    2013

Exodus 8:5-11        John 5:2-9

 Exodus 8:5-11

5And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, the canals, and the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’“ 6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt. 8Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, “Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 9Moses said to Pharaoh, “Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God, 11the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.”

 

John 5:2-9

2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When 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?” 7The 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.” 8Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath.

 

When archeologists were unable to locate the pool of Beth-Zatha as described in John 5   anywhere in the city of Jerusalem,

                        many biblical scholars were certain,   and insisted

                                    that the story must not have actually happened.

 

            That apparent discrepancy was then taken as proof

                        that the author of the gospel of John was obviously                                                     not familiar with layout of ancient Jerusalem…

                                    … and so John the apostle could not have written the gospel.

 

    But then when a construction crew was doing some excavating

            during a restoration project at the church of St. Anne,

                        which is just down from the old Temple site in Jerusalem,

            they unexpectedly uncovered the pool of Beth-zatha

                        with its spring-fed pool and five porticoes,

*                                  exactly as John described in his gospel.

vs. 2

    Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

 

The pool and the five porticoes

            were located along the way and just down from the Temple,

                        and it was a good place for the sick to beg for alms.

According to legend,

            periodically an angel would stir the water of the pool,

               and the first one in the water would be cured of any ailment,

                        and so the sick and infirm would gather there and wait.

 

The text describes when Jesus came to the pool-area one day,

     and he noticed a man lying there, who had been waiting 38 years.

vs. 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?”

 

“Do you want to be made well?”

            That question is the heart of this passage,

                        and refers to much more than just healing of the body.

 

In the Greek, “made well” is about more than physical infirmity,

            but really means the whole person and their relationships,

                        and living out well     one’s God-given potential.

 

“Do you want to be made well?”

            Infers deeper questions; are you satisfied with your life?,

            satisfied with the direction in which you are traveling?

 

On a more literal level, the question almost seems foolish.

            After waiting 38 years to be healed,

                    “yes, of course I want to be made well, sooner the better;

                            in fact it’s urgent, I want to start walking right now!

 

Yet surprisingly, that’s not how he responded at all: vs. 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."

 

He doesn’t say, “Please help me and heal me right away”,

       but rather he explains and makes excuses for still being sick.

 

- It’s the fault of those who haven’t tried to help me.

            - It’s the fault of those who got in the pool ahead of me.

                        - It’s the fault of the system’s unfairness

                                    that has failed me for all these many years.

 

* The man is frozen in place by his victimhood and assumptions,

            believing that his cure could come only from the pool,

                        that nothing else could be done to change his situation,

                                or he had the idea that this was as good as life gets.     

 

Maybe over time his helplessness led him to hopeless despair,

            and with the few expectations or demands being put on him,

                    he acclimated to accepting his illness as comfortable…

            … after all, if he were made well and whole,

                        he’d be responsible,  and more might be expected of him.

 

I think   weariness, disappointment, stress, and discouragement

          can cause us to accept, or settle in and hunker down,

                       and so we forget, ignore or even cynically doubt

                             that God might intend something more for us,

                                  something new, or wonderful, the unexpected.

 

During the Civil War,

            the Army of the Potomac set up camp just outside Wash. DC.

Occasionally they’d march toward Richmond for a battle,

            be easily defeated,  and then return to their encampment.

 

               As the various Union Generals came and went, each time

                        the army would head into battle, lose, and return.

            With every defeat they would come back to Washington DC,

                        and make a few more improvements to their encampment.

 

But when General Grant took command,

       he ordered their encampment burned entirely before they left.

 

                   He want to make it very clear, no excuses or explanations,

                                    but rather, they would not be returning defeated.

     The creature comforts of the encampment back home,

            would not be an enticement against their progress & victory…

             … their days of defeat and settling back were over and done…

   … there’d be no 38 years of laying around the pool of Beth-zatha.

 

*  This story in John’s gospel is really a story about God’s grace.

            The man never asks for healing, makes no statements of faith.

                        Jesus finds and notices him, and offers him wholeness.

                                    The man whines about the unfairness of his life,

                                                but Jesus ignores his griping and complaining,

                                                     heals and calls him to radical change & hope.

vs. 8

            “Stand up, take your mat, and walk”        

 

It’s a simple offer -- “you want to be made well?”;

            then get moving, if you really want your life made whole.

vs. 9

    At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

 

But I wonder, what if the man had just sat there,

            suppose he rejected, and chose to remain and not be healed,

                and decided against the responsibility of restored health.

 

He could have refused to believe, or accept the grace of healing.

            He could have stayed in the familiar security of where he was.

Jesus gave him freedom and power to decide.

            He was free to accept, or to  reject as he chose.

                                      -  just as we decide, and we are free to choose.

 

Do you recognize that this story is a lesson in God’s grace? —

            - a helpless and hopeless man is being offered a new life,

                        and he is free to choose how he will respond…

… just as Jesus asks each of us to choose,

            again and again to go further, “Do you want to be made well?”

                   “Then stand up, take up your mat and walk, follow me.”

 

This is our call to a life of purpose, usefulness, & faithfulness,

            and to live out our most deeply held beliefs and values

             and to receive the joy & abundant blessings as God intends.

 

~ When Jesus asks us, “Do you want to be made whole?”,

                 the question is,

                        am I satisfied with where I am, and who I have been?

 

~ We can take it as a challenge to consider,

            what more   might the Lord have for me,    and if I say, “yes”,

                        what would allowing for such a change    mean for me?

 

~ It is the question, do we want more of what God is offering?

                            It challenges us to consider what healing might mean,

                                    and what being whole  might change or require of us.

 

I wonder, have I become complacent in my Christian life?

          Do I believe that God really does have more to offer me?

    Maybe I’ve forgotten

          what a close and growing walk with Jesus really feels like.

 

Are there hidden places and areas of my life and faith practices,

     where I have chosen complacency, compromise, and easy comfort,

               rather than the challenge of sacrifice, change, and growth?

 

According to Romans 8:37

    In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

But does that Scripture ring true and the way I am living each day,

     and does that really describe how I am choosing to live my life?         

* If it’s not, then when   am I going to do something about it?

  

     The Exodus text describes a struggle between God and Pharaoh,

                        when Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people worship the Lord.

 

So God sent a plague of frogs that spread throughout Egypt,

           frogs in their houses, frogs in the bedroom and kitchen,

                    frogs in the oven, frogs in dishes, frogs are everywhere…

… until finally, Pharaoh was willing to submit, vs. 8~10

            Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, "Pray to the LORD to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."  

            Moses said to Pharaoh, "Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile."   And he said, "Tomorrow."

 

Tomorrow !?

 

    "I'm going to spend just one more night sleeping with the frogs,

                        but then I really want them gone,

                           after another night of trying to sleep with the frogs.”

* Where is the urgency?,

      and do we feel any urgency, a longing in our walk with our Lord?

 

      As we come to the Lord’s Table of grace today,

          are we too complacent & too comfortable,  limiting our faith?

 

“Do you want to be made well”,

            according to Pharaoh, tomorrow is plenty expedient enough.

  But when the Holy Spirit speaks to us, to God’s beloved children,

      tomorrow won’t do, and later on is definitely not  soon enough!