In today’s scripture reading we once again see Jesus changing the game in a very significant way.  Another way of looking at is he is changing the present narrative and moving it forward into something new.  On the surface the story seems like a fairly routine healing of a crippled man.  But when we scratch below the surface a little we see that there is something much, much more important, not to say the healing isn’t important, especially if you were the crippled man, happening here and the ramifications were huge.   This may be one of the strangest miracle stories in the gospels.  It certainly differs from the others.  Some things to think upon that we do not have the time to delve into today is what is missing from this particular miracle and why.  First, in most of the healings it is the person, or in some cases someone close to them, family or friends, who is in need of healing that calls out to Jesus requesting to be healed.  Not so here.  In today’s story Jesus approaches the man on his own volition and not because the man called out to him.  In fact, if we were to read further down in the text we would discover that at first the healed man had no idea who Jesus even was.  The man isn’t trying to get Jesus attention and we so no movement on his part to initiate any type of interaction with Jesus.  Unlike other healing stories there is no rejoicing by either the crowd or the healed man following the healing.   At most of the other healings the disciples are present but in this story we do not have any indication that the disciples were present.  In fact, the first sentence in the reading makes it appear that Jesus was by himself.  Unlike other healings there is no mention of faith in this story and John is pretty skimpy on details.  These are all clues to us to is that this healing is different.  Something else is going on here that John wanted his readers to pick up on.

I think there are two sub-plots going on in this story.  The first focuses on Jesus and the second on the man who was healed.  Let’s start with Jesus first.   Last week we talked a little about the reason for Jesus being executed by the state with full cooperation from the religious system is that he chose to stand up to the systems of domination that were in place then and now.  We also see that theme in today’s reading as well.  In fact if were to read further down in the text we see that this healing was the catalyst to persecution of Jesus by the religious establishment and even led to their seeking to kill Jesus.  What was it that so angered them?  It wasn’t the healing per se, although we sometimes get misled in that direction thinking that was their problem because it happened on the Sabbath.  That isn’t the case. Their problem wasn’t the healing but rather what Jesus told the man to do after he healed him — to take up his mat and walk.  It was that action, the picking up the mat the crippled man was lying the broke the law of not working on the Sabbath.   Now to our modern eyes that doesn’t seem like such a big deal but as we have seen it was a big enough deal for the establishment to begin plotting on how to kill Jesus.  Why was it such a big deal for them?  For one, it was undermining their authority and their power over the people.  Nobody likes to have their power undermined.  But even more so in the big picture it was breaking with tradition — it was doing something new, it was breaking down some long time boundaries.  You see, this had been the law for thousands of years.  It was what the people were used to.  They were comfortable with it.  You can say it was their narrative and had been so for a long time.  But, then comes along this Jesus guy and says it is time to change the narrative, time to change what you have been doing for a couple of thousand years.  Talk about being pulled out of your comfort zone.  We have a hard time changing things that we have only been doing for 10 or 20 years, not to mention thousands of years.   Again, Jesus was proclaiming that in the new kingdom of God that he came to testify to, things are going to be different.  The center of power is going to shift and the way we live our lives is going to change.  He was demonstrating that being part of God’s kingdom is more than just following a set of rules, in their case some 570 plus rules.   How many times are we also prone to reducing faith, the Christian life down to following a set of rules?  Jesus, says that isn’t what it is about.  Once again, Jesus was redefining the norm, he was changing the status quo.  Although it is subtle we see Jesus changing the focus from being internal to external.

Let’s change gears a little and take a look at the man who was healed and see what he has to say to us today.  What is interesting about this man is the question that Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be made well?”   At first reading we tend to think well duh, yeah Jesus I want to be healed.  You think it is easy being crippled?  However, think for a moment what Jesus was really asking him.  Jesus was asking him, are you ready to change the lifestyle that you have been living for the last 38 years?  Are you willing to move into a new way of being?  Do you want to be made whole — to be all that you were created to be?  When the question is posed this way we see it is a much more difficult question to answer.

Thirty eight years the man had been at the pool waiting to be healed.  Just a few years shorter than Mt. View has been in existence.  I think it is easy to assume that over that time he had made many friends at the pool, people just like him, people that he was comfortable with being around and sharing his life with.  We can also assume that over all those years he had settled into routine that on the surface seemed to be meeting his immediate needs.  However we also see that it was keeping him from moving forward.  He was stuck.  When Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed he was asking him, “are you ready to do something different?”  Are you ready to become unstuck?  After all, once he was healed he would no longer be able to lie by pool and beg for money.  If he was healed he had to find a new source of income, a new livelihood.  Most likely, if he is healed he really isn’t going to fit in any longer with the other people at pool.  He is going to need a new circle of friends and he is going to have to learn a new way of relating to people.

The translation we read today translates the Greek word at the end of Jesus’ question as “well.”  Do you want to be made well?  Other translations translate it as “made whole.”  Do you wish to be made whole?  A more accurate translation would be “to become.”  Do you wish to become?  It is the same word that Jesus uses when he tells the disciples he will make them become fishers of men.  It is the same word used in the John 1:12 that says, “But to all who received him, he gave power to become children of God.”   So, on the surface, Jesus’ question of “do you want to be made well” is not a simple, not the no-brainer as it seems.  It is a question of profound significance to the man. “Do you wish to become something more.”  The act of becoming something entails movement.  Likewise, becoming is not returning to something so that implies movement forward.  That is the question I believe Jesus is constantly asking us as individuals and as a congregation., “Do you wish to become something more by moving forward?”

When we look at both the religious establishment that Jesus was dealing with as well as the man at the pool we discover that what we focus on becomes our reality.  The religious establishment was focused on strict enforcement of the code and maintaining the status quo, holding to tradition.  The man at the pool was focused on the waters of the pool, waiting for them to stir.  For both, their focus had become their reality until Jesus comes along and proposes a new reality and a new focus.  He has a way of doing that.  Many times we become so comfortable with our present reality that the call to change it becomes challenging and it can be extremely threatening.

When Jesus asks the question, “Do you want to become something more” we have two ways of responding.  The first is demonstrated by how the religious establishment responded in today’s story.  They said nope, no way.  You got to be kidding us?  This is how we have always done things, in their case for several thousand years.  Why should we change now?  It has been working quite well for us, we are comfortable with it.  In fact Jesus, we really don’t like your proposals and we are getting tired of hearing about it.  So much so, they decided that the only way to put an end to it was to kill the messenger, to kill Jesus.  They responded out of fear.  Fear leads to death.

I think it interesting that at first the man doesn’t directly answer Jesus question.  He attempts to alter what Jesus is asking, turning the focus not on him but on others.  His first inclination is that it is not me that needs to change but it is those others who always fail to get me into the pool on time.  It is them that needs changing, not me.  If they would just do their job things would be great for me.  Jesus doesn’t buy it and doesn’t allow the man to lure him into that trap.  He posed the question and now he gives him the choice.  If you want to be made whole quit saying it is others that have to change, to do the work.  Pick up your mat, the mat you have been relying on for the last 38 years, and walk into a new tomorrow, a new way of being.  The man’s response?  He picked up his mat and walked into a new way of being.  That my friends, takes an enormous amount of courage.  He responded not with fear but with courage.  Courage leads to new life.

As we begin our own process of “Walking Towards Tomorrow” we have the same choice of how we will respond.  Will we choose fear or will we choose courage?   I have to be honest, the easiest of the two will be to choose fear but as we have seen that is the most crippling and destructive alternative.  To respond as the man at the pool did will take courage to spend time, effort, and resources to engage in self-awareness.  To explore what it is that we focus on, what do we pay attention to?  What are the  narratives and images that we hold about ourselves? What rules have we created and follow that define us as a church?  What is our positive core?  What are the things that we do well, that interest us?  What things are we curious about?  What excites us?  What is our passion?  What gives life to our congregation?  And, as we look towards the future what do we envision for Mountain View United Church?  What is our dream?  What it is we want, how we will know when we get it, and what keeps us motivated to get there?

Movement, change, from the present state of things is usually focused on one of two things.  You move because you want to get away from something — something that isn’t working right, something that is causing pain, something that is destructive.  A simple example of moving away change is when DDT was outlawed due to its destructive impact on the eggs of birds.    I am also reminded of a time when I was driving through the nether lands of Utah and saw a man beside the road hitchhiking.  The unique thing was that he was trying to hitch a ride with cars going both north or south.  It was apparent that he didn’t care where he was going to he just wanted to get away from where he was.  The other type of movement is not to get away from something but rather to get to somewhere.  It involves having a destination in mind, knowing where it is that you want to get to, and knowing when you have arrived.  As we initiate our process of change that we call “Walking Towards Tomorrow” you see that the emphasis is not to get away from something but rather to get to a new place, a new way of being, a new way of becoming.  We begin the process this coming Saturday at 1000 and everyone is encourage to participate if at all possible.   We will end at 2:00 and lunch will be provided so please RSVP so we know how much food to get.  We need everyone’s input so if you cannot be there on Saturday please turn in the survey that you received in the mail this week.

The choice is ours to make to Jesus’ invitation. We can choose to kill the messenger.  We can choose to continue to lie on our mat next to the pool waiting on others to do something or we can choose to pick up our mat and walk into a new way of being.  Amen.

Thank you

Detta

TOM REHLING TO RETIRE
Tom Rehling, Rocky Mountain UCC Conference Minister, will be retiring August 31, 2013. You may email him your best wishes and blessings to tom(at)rmcucc.org. 

CONTACTING US

Michelle, Secretary 

• 303.755.3799 (Tue-Thur 9-12)
• Email: office@mtviewchurch.com

Pastor Steven

• 303.755.3799 (Mon-Thurs, 8:30-1)
• Cell: 720.318.8220
• Email: stevmitch2002yahoo.com 

Wayne Laws, Social Justice Minister

• Email: walaws@comcast.net 

Website:www.mtviewchurch.com

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