Stop Complaining - Just Pick Up Your Bed And Walk...

Last Sunday, my friends and I attended church together. We all sat together. We all heard the same sermon. But, when we went to brunch, we discovered that we had all taken something completely different from the sermon.

The text was this: Jesus Heals at the Pool of Bethesda John 5:2-9

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.  A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get 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, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

From this one passage, we derived four very different, but poignant points.

Firstly, we looked at the fact that a the “play on words” was symbolic.  A sheep gate was a place where the sheep are allowed to enter the city.  But, the bible also makes use of the term sheep when speaking of followers of the gospel.  Sheep are sometimes of a communal mindset and these sheep (in either form) have become herded into one area while they sit and wait for a miracle.  

The pastor used this ideology to suggest that the church has been held captive by their own thinking.  People gathered to wait on a healing rather than continue to move forward with  their blessings.  The mentality of those who had gathered was no longer seen as hope, but, instead, as the lack of Faith.  The scene resembles an unfortunate "human lottery" based on the unrealistic expectation of being the one person who could be healed.  In likening that to the flock of the church, the pastor implied that many people who come to church gather only to complain about their afflictions, but have no real intent on ever stepping out on Faith and discovering their true healing.  Has the church become a place to gather and talk more about your transgressions instead of seeking your blessings?

Secondly, the fact that the man had lain there for thirty-eight years and had not yet been healed pointed out man’s complacency with affliction.  Again, man has the ability to live with ailments and shortcomings as this man had done for 38 years.  The bible makes no reference as to how he was dressed; yet, we can assume he was clothed.  There is no mention of his being starved, so we can assume he has been fed.  And, since the sheep says he cannot walk, we assume all of his other faculties are in order and he has learned to survive without the ability to move quickly – yet, he can move.  Why not sit closer to the water instead of waiting for someone to help him to the water’s edge?    Is your next blessing dependent on another's actions instead of your own?

Here, we posed the question, “Why is our relationship with sickness greater than our own capacity to strive forward?”  If this man could eat, bathe, and clothe himself, why would it seem as if his efforts to be healed have not been as great?  When asked if he wanted to be healed, he responded with an accusatory excuse rather than a simple yes or no.  How many of us are endlessly waiting on a miracle, but doing nothing to ensure that we are in the right place to receive a blessing?  The pastor breathed life into this point by simply suggesting that some complain about their weight or blood pressure, but refuse to change their daily diets.  These people simply expect a miracle although they are doing nothing to bring one about.

Thirdly, we looked at the simplistic, short conversation that this man had with Jesus.  After suffering for so long, this man was simply encouraged to “get up and walk”.  There was no laying on of hands, no prayer, no movement of Heaven and Earth.  Instead, Jesus simply spoke the words and a healing was done.  Was this truly a miracle or a change in the mindset of the man?  Was he truly afflicted or simply over-exaggerating his illness in an attempt to overcome some other fault in his life?  Or, is it possible that we simply need to be challenged when faced with adversity? 

And lastly, why was he told to pick up his mat and walk?  Was this to make space for someone who truly needed to be there?  Are you taking up space at the altar when you could rectify your situation and allow someone truly in need of a blessing use that space?   Would the mat serve as a reminder for others who now see him walking about?  Was it a way of his testimony being shared without ever having to say another word to onlookers?  What scars do we carry that serve as a testament in Faith for others to see?  Or, was this done to serve as a reminder for the man who had used this mat as a resting place for so long so that he will no longer rest on sheep-mentality and, instead, act according to his Faith? 

Because Jesus healed in so many ways, we can say that all these responses could be true.  But, in either case, we could agree that there was a lot more to be discovered within a few passages of text.  Reveling in all the possibilities; however, still means nothing unless we all agree to pick up our own beds and begin to walk…