Get Up and Walk

There is a fascinating story in the gospel of John regarding a lame man. Jesus had returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. “Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people – blind, lame, or paralyzed – lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well’” (John 5:2-6)?

I often wondered. That’s kind of an odd question. Of course, the man would like to be healed, right? Interestingly enough the man doesn’t say, “Yes.” He offers up an excuse, “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me” (John 5:7). Perhaps this man has resigned to what he believes is the reality of his life. It’s kind of like a security blanket. He’s never going to be healed and he must subsist on the generosity of others. He is comfortable. Change would be hard. I mean, if he is healed, he will have to provide for himself. 

You see this dynamic lived out among the homeless population. Many people are battling genuine mental illness, but others find themselves in such a predicament due to decisions they made to misuse alcohol or drugs. These people knock on the doors of our church every week. Most are not really interested in getting well. They just want me to enable them to be able to remain in their addiction. Over their lives they have made a series of bad choices. Have been using for years. Can’t keep a job or a roof over their head. Been in and out of prison. They don’t want to take any responsibility or change. Repeated offers of help getting into a rehab program fall on deaf ears. It’s as if they are saying, “I’ve made a mess of my life and you have to help feed me, clothe me, and shelter me, while I remain an addict because you’re a Christian.”

That’s not what Jesus does here. He says to this lame man, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk” (John 5:8)! In other words, I will help you. I will heal you, but you have to do something too. Have faith. Get up and walk. Do something!

Now, it’s easy to point at others like addicts and those experiencing homelessness, but we are not exempt here. This story speaks to us as well. We may have an emotional wound which makes us bitter. We might be holding a grudge. Refusing to forgive. We are used to it now too. It kind of defines who we are in many ways. We may not realize it but it’s kind of like a security blanket for us now. It may be old and in very rough shape but it’s our blankie. We talk about getting rid of our blankie. It’s awful, and smells, and we say we want to be free of it. But when anyone tries to take it away, we hold on tight. Don’t we want to be healed?

Forgiving those who have wronged us is hard. So is kicking heroin. But it’s part of the healing process. We have to do something. Jesus says, “…if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24). Is reconciling with someone who has harmed us easy? No. But if we truly want to be healed, it is something we are supposed to do. Just like the addict that refuses to go to rehab, if we are unwilling to forgive and reconcile, then maybe we don’t truly want to be healed either.

Would we like to get well? Then we need to do something. We need to have faith. Seek the LORD and get up and walk - do whatever we have to do to get better.

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Remember you can email praises and petitions to southchurchprayer@gmail.com. I lift them up every Wednesday at 4:00 pm on Facebook Live.