August 16, 2017
In John 5, Jesus asked an odd question to a guy who had been sick for 38 years. He said, “Do you want to get better?” Kind of odd question.
Here’s the story: Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
But this isn’t a regular pool. Verse 3 says: Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
There was a legend that an angel would sometimes fly over the pool and stir up the water, and whenever the water stirred, they believed that the first person to jump in would be healed. (Really it was just some underground springs that would bubble up every so often, but the legend of an angel flapping its wings was way cooler.) And so people might wait days, or weeks, and then as soon as the water bubbles up it’s a free-for-all to see who can jump in the pool first.
Verse 5: One who was there had been an invalid 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?” Seems like kind of a funny question, don’t you think? It’s like asking a broke guy, “Do you want a hundred bucks?” It’s like asking a hungry guy,
“Do you want an all-you-can-eat buffet?” The answer’s obvious!! He says, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
A moment in the presence of Jesus changes everything for that man.
For 38 years, this man was flat on his back. So today I want to talk to you about problems that persist. Long-term problems that don’t seem to go away … that just don’t seem to get better. For some of you, it’s an ongoing medical issue. For some of you, it’s an ongoing problem with overspending, or overeating, or overcommitting. For some of you, it’s an ongoing challenge in a relationship – you just can’t seem to get along with your mom, or it’s your marriage, you just can’t seem to get on the same page. I want you to listen to this message through the lens of whatever ongoing issue you’ve been experiencing.
And let’s be honest. There are at least three significant challenges when you’re dealing with a problem that persists. The first one if this:
The longer a problem persists, the more discouraged you become.
Right? Some of you, you’ve got this issue in your life – it just won’t go away. You tried a few things that you thought might help, and nothing worked. And so you just feel discouraged. Maybe you tried to work on your marriage. You read some books about marriage, you were extra nice, you even went to a marriage seminar together, and your marriage is still bad news. And years later, you’re like, I don’t think anything is going to help. Maybe you have some physical problem. You tried one doctor; that didn’t work. You tried another doctor; nothing got better. You’re discouraged to the point of, Maybe this is just the way God wants me to live.
On top of that, the second thing is:
The longer a problem persists, the more excuses you tend to make.
You start to make excuses because, ultimately, it’s going to make you feel better if you put the blame somewhere else. And that’s what this guy does. He says, “Lord, I got no one to help me into the water. How am I going to be the first one in the pool? They all go running by me and I’m left sitting here.” Now I don’t want to be hard on this guy, but let’s be honest. He couldn’t figure out some kind of plan over 38 years?
But this guy gets to the place that we often get: “No one will help me out. I can’t do anything about this. …. Look, I’ve been to the doctors and I’ve tried. …. Look, I can’t ever get a good job because I don’t have a college degree. … Look, I went to counseling once and it didn’t work. I even tried church, for two weeks straight, and nothing happened.”
Let’s be honest. The longer a problem persists, the more discouraged you become, the more excuses you make, and the third thing is:
The longer a problem persists, the more you learn to compensate.
In fact, if I can be blunt, some of you are excelling at compensating for an issue in your life. Some of you are highly functioning alcoholics, right?
You are. Sure, it puts stress on your marriage. Sure, it’s a challenge for the children. But, you’re holding down a job. Professionally, you’re holding it together and getting it done.
Some of you, in your marriage, you’ve just learned to exist in a dead marriage. You don’t like it, but you accept it – just kind of the way it is. It’s more of a business relationship: We’re just together for the sake of the kids. Can’t afford to lose the house.
Some of you, you’ve learned to compensate for overspending. People look at your lifestyle and say, Hey, man, you got it going on! They have no idea you’re living from paycheck to paycheck. They have no idea you’re really just transferring balances from one card to another, taking out more credit just to pay the monthly minimum.
You cannot change until you recognize the problem. You will never, ever change when you’re willing to tolerate an issue. You cannot change what you’re willing to tolerate. That’s why Jesus asked this guy, “Do you want to get well?” Because Jesus knew something. Jesus knew you can’t help someone who needs help. You can only help someone who wants help!
Here’s the bottom line: Until your desire becomes bigger than your disability, you will never start to find healing. “Do you want to be made well? Do you want to change? Do you?” Jesus is saying to some of you, loud and clear: “I can help you, but you’ve got to want it, too.”
Go back to the Bible. Read between the lines: Jesus said, “Do you want to get well?” Do you? “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” The guy immediately starts in on the excuses. Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! No more excuses. No more compensating. No more blaming others for your situation. Pick up your mat and walk.”
In other words, do what you can do – but, this time, do it with Me. You tried before; this time try with Me. I have a power you don’t have. Call it a Higher Power. Call it a supernatural power. It’s an Almighty Power.
Now think about your life. Think about that problem that persists. What step would you need to take right now to begin changing things? No more excuses. No more blaming others. Maybe you tried before. This time try it with God.