DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL? Sermon for 5-25-06
Scripture: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 and John 5:2-9a
“Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asks the crippled man that has been sitting beside the pool of Bethsaida for 38 years. What kind of question is that? The man doesn’t really answer Jesus’ question. Is Jesus being sarcastic? It’s a little bit like having your car broken down on the turnpike during heavy traffic. There you are with the hood up and looking helpless and scared. Someone comes along and asks, “Do you want your car to start?” Of course! The crippled man mignt have responded sarcastically, “No, I’ve just been lying here for 38 years getting a suntan!”
This pool was a gathering place for people that had various physical handicaps. There were many people here every day hoping to become whole again from the healing waters. Although many of the people died at the edge of the pool, many more continued to believe that the waters would heal them. The man we are focusing on says that he has no one to help him get into the pool when the water is stirred up. The belief was that an angel of the Lord had disturbed the water and that the first one in after this disturbance would be healed. This man without anyone to help him was just not fast enough to beat the others into the stirred up water. Jesus was right there among the multitude of suffering humanity just as he is here with us who suffer today. Jesus’ question was not a cruel or sarcastic question. No, it was a penetrating, purposeful question. One thing we can count on is for the spirit of God in whatever form to ask the difficult, disturbing questions. Maybe he was wondering if this man’s resolve to get better had left him after all these years. Maybe the man even felt some sort of comfort with his handicap. Maybe Jesus wondered about whether his heart was crippled also, if there were a paralysis of his mind and will as well as his body. Have you ever been so discouraged by your difficulties that you just couldn’t move forward? Jesus knew and we know that we can become prisoners of our own despair. It’s easy to offer up excuses why we can’t be made well: “I have no one to help me.” “No one loves me.” “I’ve been like this for longer than I can remember.” “You just don’t understand how bad off I am.” This man could not walk! Yet what does Jesus say? “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” And what happens? The crippled man is made well immediately. Wow! The impossibility became possible! What does this mean? It’s not the only time such things happen when Jesus is around. He issues a divine command and the impossible becomes impossible. Some other examples: “To a man with a withered hand…stretch out your arm. To failing fisherman…let down your nets for a catch. To a buried dead man…Lazarus come forth!”[1]
In the June 2006 issue of Sojourners magazine there is an article about “The Stumbling Block of Healing” by Dee Dee Risher. She talks about her partner whose severe depression had lasted for many years. Somewhat hesitantly and cautiously (not believing in that sort of thing), they gathered with some close friends for the purpose of praying for his healing. She reports that everyone in the room felt a powerful presence and the largest part of his depression was alleviated from that night on. She then goes on to tell about this middle-aged pastor that had a cancerous tumor, so bad that the surgery was scheduled for the next Monday. To quote her, “Prayers stormed heaven and on Monday morning, the entire tumor had disappeared. Decades later, it has never returned.” (p.30) She then goes on to talk about healing prayers for a 4 year old girl, dying of a brain tumor. Her family was certain of a miracle; however the child died. Most of you probably know of similar situations. About 15 years ago, I had a persistent painful shoulder that was not responding to anything, even physical therapy. I started reading all kinds of books on healing, especially those written some time ago by Father Francis MacNutt. I got to the point where I just knew I could heal myself with prayer. One morning before I got out of bed I was praying fervently for the healing of my shoulder and I felt a powerful shift in my body, and sure enough my shoulder was no longer painful after that surge of power. I still had some limited range of motion which I was able to work on with stretching. I never had any more problems from that shoulder. Now there have been other times when I have prayed for healing for myself or others when either nothing happened or there seemed to he improvement but then the old condition returned. One of the things Risher said in the Sojourners article was that from the voluminous research on faith healing, there did seem to be a connection between the social expectation of healing and the actual occurrence of the healing. She found that prayerful healing occurs in every part of the world; however, “they predominate in cultures that are less influenced by the scientific, rational, and technical mind.” In some areas such as the global South, she experienced greater receptivity towards healing from prayer, resulting in more dramatic healing results. (p. 31). She further says that she doesn’t see the faith or disbelief of the individual seeking healing as significant but what counts is the orientation of the faith community that is praying for the healing.
A few months’ ago results of a research where people needing cardiac help were prayed for in controlled studies by people that they did not know indicated that prayers in these cases were not helpful. Often prayer research is anecdotal and not carefully constructed with the scientific method. I’m familiar with earlier studies by Larry Dossey, a physican, that did show the effectiveness of long distance prayer. Some of these studies are now being criticized.
You have often heard me say that I believe that with God’s grace and love, anything is possible. I really do believe that. How does this work? Why do some people get healed and some don’t? I have no idea. For me I think the mystery that surrounds the supernatural is part of why I am so attracted. I believe in a God that is always present in every person, in every situation. I believe in prayer, opening up my self and letting the wonderful, amazing possibilities of the divine enter in. I believe God empowers new possibilities and that the energy of prayer helps those possibilities become realities. There are no guarantees that prayers will be answered—especially in the way we want them to be answered. “God is not a vending machine for healing.”[2] God does not work on our timetable. I do believe that God hears prayers and answers them. Does God have a plan for our lives? Maybe so; however, that plan may or may not become clear to us. We have to remember that God is God, and we are not. Even when healing prayers may not cure the disease, they can spiritually prepare the sufferer for peace and joy in this world and/or the next. So my sisters and brothers, I pray that your faith and trust in God can encourage you to ask for healings of whatever sort. From the early Christian church, members were encouraged to ask for the elders of the church to pray for them if they are sick. Laying on of hands and anointing with oil were often a part of these prayers for healing as we heard read in the Epistle reading from James this morning.
At the end of this sermon you will have the opportunity to come forward and receive laying on of hands and prayers for healing for yourself or for someone else. I have asked our head deacon, Jim Carpenter to help me in this ritual. During the hymn, those who wish to come forward please do so. Take your place in the front rows. When the hymn is finished, we ask you to sit down and then take turns coming forward to Jim and me as we stand on either side of the platform. As one person finishes with prayer, another will please move to one of the prayer areas. After you are prayed for, you may return to your seat. We will ask each of you that come forward who or what prayers are desires. If you do not want to go into detail, you can say simply that you want prayers for healing of yourself or for another. I ask that those of you that don’t come forward, would please pray silently for the healing of whatever requests are being made. You might pray that God’s presence be felt and that whatever kind of healing people are desiring may indeed happen, knowing always that God hears and does respond to prayers in God’s own time and way.
As I have indicated earlier, prayers may not bring the healing or the cure one is hoping for spiritually, emotionally or physically. God does not promise us a life free from suffering but promises to be with us always in joy and in suffering. Please remember that what happens is not an indication of how much faith you have or whether or not God loves you. The Bible tells us that God will be with us to wipe every tear from our eyes. I encourage you to keep praying for wholeness in the knowledge that you are deeply loved by the Divine. Remember that even deeper than the message of healing that Jesus gave us, is his message of loving one another.
“Love, after all, is the daily miracle that transforms our lives. And perhaps only love, with its rich, complex, and ever-open heart, is large enough to contain the mystery of healing in all its shapes” and forms.[3] Let us keep loving each other as well as God and be ready for great things to happen in our lives and in the world. Amen and blessed be our healing God.
[1] Rev.Dr.Benjamin Reeves, On 30 Good Minutes, transcript of a radio show online. Many of the ideas in this sermon come from this resource.
[2] Dave Kepple, “The Healing Presence of Christ”, online.
[3] Dee Dee Risher, “The Stumbling Block to Healing”, Sojourners Magazine, June 2006, p. 31.
“Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asks the crippled man that has been sitting beside the pool of Bethsaida for 38 years. What kind of question is that? The man doesn’t really answer Jesus’ question. Is Jesus being sarcastic? It’s a little bit like having your car broken down on the turnpike during heavy traffic. There you are with the hood up and looking helpless and scared. Someone comes along and asks, “Do you want your car to start?” Of course! The crippled man mignt have responded sarcastically, “No, I’ve just been lying here for 38 years getting a suntan!”
This pool was a gathering place for people that had various physical handicaps. There were many people here every day hoping to become whole again from the healing waters. Although many of the people died at the edge of the pool, many more continued to believe that the waters would heal them. The man we are focusing on says that he has no one to help him get into the pool when the water is stirred up. The belief was that an angel of the Lord had disturbed the water and that the first one in after this disturbance would be healed. This man without anyone to help him was just not fast enough to beat the others into the stirred up water. Jesus was right there among the multitude of suffering humanity just as he is here with us who suffer today. Jesus’ question was not a cruel or sarcastic question. No, it was a penetrating, purposeful question. One thing we can count on is for the spirit of God in whatever form to ask the difficult, disturbing questions. Maybe he was wondering if this man’s resolve to get better had left him after all these years. Maybe the man even felt some sort of comfort with his handicap. Maybe Jesus wondered about whether his heart was crippled also, if there were a paralysis of his mind and will as well as his body. Have you ever been so discouraged by your difficulties that you just couldn’t move forward? Jesus knew and we know that we can become prisoners of our own despair. It’s easy to offer up excuses why we can’t be made well: “I have no one to help me.” “No one loves me.” “I’ve been like this for longer than I can remember.” “You just don’t understand how bad off I am.” This man could not walk! Yet what does Jesus say? “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” And what happens? The crippled man is made well immediately. Wow! The impossibility became possible! What does this mean? It’s not the only time such things happen when Jesus is around. He issues a divine command and the impossible becomes impossible. Some other examples: “To a man with a withered hand…stretch out your arm. To failing fisherman…let down your nets for a catch. To a buried dead man…Lazarus come forth!”[1]
In the June 2006 issue of Sojourners magazine there is an article about “The Stumbling Block of Healing” by Dee Dee Risher. She talks about her partner whose severe depression had lasted for many years. Somewhat hesitantly and cautiously (not believing in that sort of thing), they gathered with some close friends for the purpose of praying for his healing. She reports that everyone in the room felt a powerful presence and the largest part of his depression was alleviated from that night on. She then goes on to tell about this middle-aged pastor that had a cancerous tumor, so bad that the surgery was scheduled for the next Monday. To quote her, “Prayers stormed heaven and on Monday morning, the entire tumor had disappeared. Decades later, it has never returned.” (p.30) She then goes on to talk about healing prayers for a 4 year old girl, dying of a brain tumor. Her family was certain of a miracle; however the child died. Most of you probably know of similar situations. About 15 years ago, I had a persistent painful shoulder that was not responding to anything, even physical therapy. I started reading all kinds of books on healing, especially those written some time ago by Father Francis MacNutt. I got to the point where I just knew I could heal myself with prayer. One morning before I got out of bed I was praying fervently for the healing of my shoulder and I felt a powerful shift in my body, and sure enough my shoulder was no longer painful after that surge of power. I still had some limited range of motion which I was able to work on with stretching. I never had any more problems from that shoulder. Now there have been other times when I have prayed for healing for myself or others when either nothing happened or there seemed to he improvement but then the old condition returned. One of the things Risher said in the Sojourners article was that from the voluminous research on faith healing, there did seem to be a connection between the social expectation of healing and the actual occurrence of the healing. She found that prayerful healing occurs in every part of the world; however, “they predominate in cultures that are less influenced by the scientific, rational, and technical mind.” In some areas such as the global South, she experienced greater receptivity towards healing from prayer, resulting in more dramatic healing results. (p. 31). She further says that she doesn’t see the faith or disbelief of the individual seeking healing as significant but what counts is the orientation of the faith community that is praying for the healing.
A few months’ ago results of a research where people needing cardiac help were prayed for in controlled studies by people that they did not know indicated that prayers in these cases were not helpful. Often prayer research is anecdotal and not carefully constructed with the scientific method. I’m familiar with earlier studies by Larry Dossey, a physican, that did show the effectiveness of long distance prayer. Some of these studies are now being criticized.
You have often heard me say that I believe that with God’s grace and love, anything is possible. I really do believe that. How does this work? Why do some people get healed and some don’t? I have no idea. For me I think the mystery that surrounds the supernatural is part of why I am so attracted. I believe in a God that is always present in every person, in every situation. I believe in prayer, opening up my self and letting the wonderful, amazing possibilities of the divine enter in. I believe God empowers new possibilities and that the energy of prayer helps those possibilities become realities. There are no guarantees that prayers will be answered—especially in the way we want them to be answered. “God is not a vending machine for healing.”[2] God does not work on our timetable. I do believe that God hears prayers and answers them. Does God have a plan for our lives? Maybe so; however, that plan may or may not become clear to us. We have to remember that God is God, and we are not. Even when healing prayers may not cure the disease, they can spiritually prepare the sufferer for peace and joy in this world and/or the next. So my sisters and brothers, I pray that your faith and trust in God can encourage you to ask for healings of whatever sort. From the early Christian church, members were encouraged to ask for the elders of the church to pray for them if they are sick. Laying on of hands and anointing with oil were often a part of these prayers for healing as we heard read in the Epistle reading from James this morning.
At the end of this sermon you will have the opportunity to come forward and receive laying on of hands and prayers for healing for yourself or for someone else. I have asked our head deacon, Jim Carpenter to help me in this ritual. During the hymn, those who wish to come forward please do so. Take your place in the front rows. When the hymn is finished, we ask you to sit down and then take turns coming forward to Jim and me as we stand on either side of the platform. As one person finishes with prayer, another will please move to one of the prayer areas. After you are prayed for, you may return to your seat. We will ask each of you that come forward who or what prayers are desires. If you do not want to go into detail, you can say simply that you want prayers for healing of yourself or for another. I ask that those of you that don’t come forward, would please pray silently for the healing of whatever requests are being made. You might pray that God’s presence be felt and that whatever kind of healing people are desiring may indeed happen, knowing always that God hears and does respond to prayers in God’s own time and way.
As I have indicated earlier, prayers may not bring the healing or the cure one is hoping for spiritually, emotionally or physically. God does not promise us a life free from suffering but promises to be with us always in joy and in suffering. Please remember that what happens is not an indication of how much faith you have or whether or not God loves you. The Bible tells us that God will be with us to wipe every tear from our eyes. I encourage you to keep praying for wholeness in the knowledge that you are deeply loved by the Divine. Remember that even deeper than the message of healing that Jesus gave us, is his message of loving one another.
“Love, after all, is the daily miracle that transforms our lives. And perhaps only love, with its rich, complex, and ever-open heart, is large enough to contain the mystery of healing in all its shapes” and forms.[3] Let us keep loving each other as well as God and be ready for great things to happen in our lives and in the world. Amen and blessed be our healing God.
[1] Rev.Dr.Benjamin Reeves, On 30 Good Minutes, transcript of a radio show online. Many of the ideas in this sermon come from this resource.
[2] Dave Kepple, “The Healing Presence of Christ”, online.
[3] Dee Dee Risher, “The Stumbling Block to Healing”, Sojourners Magazine, June 2006, p. 31.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:22 PM
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