When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been there for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
The sick man said, "Sir, there is no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. By the time I get there, someone else has gotten in."
~John 5:6-7
The sick man was there waiting for the angels to come down and stir up the waters. He believed that if he could get in first he would be healed, but also knew that he wouldn't be first. Jesus reaches out, asks him if he wants to be well. Jesus could have come in and healed him without asking. Who wouldn't want to be well. But that isn't what happens.
My first summer, I used the same lesson each week. This summer, I was out quite a bit camping and left the message to be given by others. Sometimes I got to hear it, sometimes not. I also found that even my message changed some week to week.
I talked of how Jesus reached out to those who others would have ignored. It was believed that the sick were being punished for some transgression and therefore unclean. It teaches us to reach out to others who are on the fringes, whom others overlook. We can offer help.
I spoke of community and how we may not know or like everyone in our community. That we can help some but probably not all of them. The Bible has directions about loving your neighbor as yourself, and who your neighbor is. It doesn't say that you have to like them, but treating others as we would want to be treated would mean that we are nice, polite, helpful to others.
Others spoke of asking for help. The sick man reached out and said that he can't do it alone. There is no way that he would be able to get to the water to be healed without help.
From my life, I remember a time when I had a flat tire. Before cell phones. But that is ok because I knew how to change a flat...so I got the tools out and began. But I didn't get far. I couldn't loosen the lug nuts. I pushed, pulled, I even stood on the wrench holding on to the top of the car, I jumped. Nothing doing. So I had to cross the highway to the rest area and call highway patrol. When he arrived, he had no problem loosening the lug nuts and changing the tire. I just had to reach out...
Community is key. We do better when we work together. Communication is necessary. It is something we should all keep working on. Reaching out offering help and asking for help.
My first summer, I used the same lesson each week. This summer, I was out quite a bit camping and left the message to be given by others. Sometimes I got to hear it, sometimes not. I also found that even my message changed some week to week.
I talked of how Jesus reached out to those who others would have ignored. It was believed that the sick were being punished for some transgression and therefore unclean. It teaches us to reach out to others who are on the fringes, whom others overlook. We can offer help.
I spoke of community and how we may not know or like everyone in our community. That we can help some but probably not all of them. The Bible has directions about loving your neighbor as yourself, and who your neighbor is. It doesn't say that you have to like them, but treating others as we would want to be treated would mean that we are nice, polite, helpful to others.
Others spoke of asking for help. The sick man reached out and said that he can't do it alone. There is no way that he would be able to get to the water to be healed without help.
From my life, I remember a time when I had a flat tire. Before cell phones. But that is ok because I knew how to change a flat...so I got the tools out and began. But I didn't get far. I couldn't loosen the lug nuts. I pushed, pulled, I even stood on the wrench holding on to the top of the car, I jumped. Nothing doing. So I had to cross the highway to the rest area and call highway patrol. When he arrived, he had no problem loosening the lug nuts and changing the tire. I just had to reach out...
Community is key. We do better when we work together. Communication is necessary. It is something we should all keep working on. Reaching out offering help and asking for help.
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