HEALING OLD WOUNDS
JOHN 5:1 9
One of the things our children did quite frequently when they were younger was come running to Laura or I saying Boo Boo...wanting us to kiss it and make it better. Most of the time it is so minor that he often forgets exactly where the boo boo is by the time he gets to us. But I still thrill at the prospect that he comes to me believing that I can make it better.
In my life I've also had many boo boos. As I look back it almost seems that at various times in my life I was an accident waiting to happen. Cut..bruises..burns.. more stitches than I can count...even had my finger tip nearly severed twice...one time by a donkey....
And if we were to sit around and swap war stories we would discover that in each of our lives there have been many times where we have been "wounded" to some extent or another.
Someone once said that "Time heals all wounds." If I were to look back at all the physical battle scars I've managed to get over the years, and how they've become little more than memories, I might be inclined to think that statement is true.
But does time really heal all wounds? I've heard that all my life, as you have...but it isn't true. Time does not heal all wounds. Much more than time is needed to heal many of the wounds we've received.
I suspect that there are some here this morning that need to have some old wounds healed...wounds of the spirit. There are wounds deep down inside some people that still hurt when they are touched...hurts that still cause pain...and continually remind us that we are not whole.
How do we cope with life when our spirits are sore? How can we handle life when that part of us that is the very source of our energy and strength is wounded and just won't heal?
I want to look at a man this morning who had his share of wounds... some very evident...and yet others that were hidden so deep that from a casual glance we might miss them completely.
READ 5:1 9a (THEN PRAY)
I just read to you the the familiar story of some poor old guy at the pool who had been sick for 38 years. Now let me tell you, that is a long time...almost as long as I've been alive.
Now, if we would simply read through this story we could say that this was the story of a physical healing...and has little if anything to do with a wounded spirit. So there is not much we can learn from this story...right? Not so fast.
This man had been ill for 38 years. And for many of those years he had been brought to this pool beside the sheep gate, on the northern side of the temple at Jerusalem. It was here that this man, along with many others, waited to be healed.
The Scripture says that at certain times the waters of this pool would stir and that the first one to enter the troubled waters would be physically healed.
I think it is safe to assume that the people who brought him back and forth to the pool would also have put him as close to the edge of the pool as possible to increase his chances of receiving his healing... yet he could never seem to be the first one to enter in.
But still he came, on a regular basis hoping to be healed...hoping that maybe someone would help him in...or even push him in if need be, just so he could get in there first.
He was known as an invalid...and an amazingly unlucky one at that. As long as he had been there, he should have has some kind of seniority or something. But time after time someone else would beat him to the water and he would watch as they would be miraculously healed by the power of God.
Here is a man that had to know the power of God was real...because time after time he would miss out as others received that healing touch...right before his very eyes. Put yourself in this mans shoes for just a minute.
Year after year...decade after decade he watches...and strives...and sees so many others receive their miracle while he is still laying there likely getting worse instead of better.
If we could see this man...take a good look at his face...what might we see? Do you think there may be more here than just a physical need? I wonder if we could detect any emotional wounds? I believe the evidence is clearly there if we look closely.
In fact, the truth is that the physical condition he had was not nearly as crippling after all those years as the emotional wounds... his sense of helplessness...his feelings of being abandoned...of worthlessness...and shame.
Remember, he had likely been taught to believe that all sickness and infirmity was God's doing...punishment for his sins. Just think how well you would be able to think of yourself if you were inclined to believe that God had it in for you.
And what else did this guy have to do all day but sit and think...and wait...and watch as others received a miracle touch while he continued to sit...and think...and wait...and dwell on his condition. Here is a man who has all kinds of wounds...at least some of which he had for almost 40 years.
But then one day something different happens...he gets a visit from Jesus. Now the Scriptures don't specify, but I am convinced that this crippled man had heard about Jesus and the mighty works He was doing.
And so I'm sure there must have been a great deal of cranial activity going on as He watched Jesus approach.
But what does Jesus do? He asked the man, "Do you want to be made well?" Do I want to be made well!!! That seems about as useless a question as asking the owner of a clock shop if he knows the time.
But the question was not for Jesus' information...it was for the sick man. Jesus wasn't sure if the man had considered this question of whether he seriously wanted to be healed.
You see, Jesus knew that old wounds are tender to the touch...and sometimes we'd rather pretend to be all well, and deny our hurts than to have them handled...even by someone who could heal them.
Well, the guy answered..but not the question Jesus asked. He responded by explaining his terrible plight which, as with many of us, is a way to rationalize why we haven't sought healing for ourselves. And this often means finding someone else to blame.
"Mister", the man said, "I don't have anybody to get me into the pool after the angel stirs up the water. Somebody else always beats me there. And only the first one in is healed, you know.
Jesus asks each of us if !we„Ç want to be made well...but we may miss the chance for wholeness by trying to cover up ourselves from His concern...from His loving acceptance.
You know, coming to church for worship may be like a Bethesda for some of us. We come here just as we are...and for many of us, that means coming with our wounds.
Sometimes these wounds are in the forefront...they are the only thing we talk about and focus on. We relate to others on the basis of our hurts. I wish most of you could hear a tape of your last, oh say 20 conversations. I'll bet if you had that opportunity you'd find a very distinct and probably disturbing pattern.
The problem is...that so many are more comfortable with their old wounds than they are without them. We talk about them...and dwell on them so much that we wouldn't know what to do without them!
Yet we come to church, sometimes half heartedly hoping for some kind of healing. We haven't given up all hope...not all hope...but we have become skeptical about the honest prospects for healing.
It's like the man who was driving home late one night who took a short cut. On the way he got a flat tire. There he is at 1:00 in the a.m. and he discovers that his bumper jack doesn't work.
Looking down this strange road he saw a dark farm house. He hated to wake up the people who lived there, but maybe they had a jack he could use. So he started walking to the house. But as he walked his mind took over.
He began to think...I'm probably going to make this man awful mad by knocking at his door this late at night. Probably wake up his whole family...Even if he does have a jack, after all the commotion he will probably be so mad that he won't let me use it after all.
He finally reached the farm house and knocked on the door. But by then he was so worked up that when the man opened the door he yelled in his face, "Keep your old jack!"
That may seem pretty silly...yet in effect that is what we do to God time after time.
We watch as others seem to benefit from angelic stirring in worship.. those on the other side of the sanctuary...or down front here where all Church of God people fear to tread. There are actually those who seem to move toward wholeness...and we are envious of them.
We wonder when, and if, we will ever be able to connect with this divine power that seems just out of reach. Well, it was time for this invalid to come face to face with the reality of what could happen in the name of the Lord.
And so Jesus says to him, "Stand up...take up your mat and walk." Now what do you think went racing through that mans mind when he heard those words of Jesus?
I don't know what he thought but I got an idea that he looked at that old tired worn out body...and said, Something is about to happen to you...(Repeat) Body, you have just met your match...Glory to God!
Everyone is standing around and staring at Jesus...because it's the Sabbath...and you're not supposed to heal on the Sabbath. But I'll bet this mans heart was going like this (thump on chest)...and he said to himself...This is the one...
This is the one that can do that (snap fingers) and blind eyes open...
" " " " look down and the dead come to life...
" " " " opens deaf ears...leper filled sores...
This is the blind man healer...the leper cleansing man from Galilee... This is the one!!!!!!!! And He's still the one!!!!!!!
The Bible says that at once the man was made well...and he took up his mat and began to walk...just walk?...maybe a casual stroll around the pool?... after 38 years of debilitation...he went ballistic...
He was healed.
**Jesus doesn't ignore our pain...even though He may have little patience with our excuses...especially when we become more occupied with our limitations than we are with Him. And isn't that so often the case. We spend more time bawling about what we can't do...than trusting Jesus for what He can through us.
After 38 years of feeling helpless and dependent...embarrassed and abused...worthless and frustrated...that man in a moment's time, stood up and walked away from Bethesda. His physical condition was cured, and no doubt the wounds of his soul even began to heal that day.
But this incidence of healing was not simply a matter of making the man believe he could be better...even though that was a part of this situation.
His healing came about because at some point he obviously !wanted„Ç to be healed...and because the power of Jesus' words were spoken forth forcefully, and yet in love.
Some of you here this morning need to be made whole...some that are carrying wounds that you think are almost impossible to have healed.
You must believe that the healing of your old wounds „ªis„« possible...
Even the touchy, painful ones that have been with you for so long. You have to come to the same realization this invalid at the pool came to. And that is that Jesus truly is the same...yesterday, today, and forever.
But something else here is very important...you must want to be healed...set free from the emotional baggage that has so beaten you down...and keeps you defeated.
How much do you want to be set free?......
Finally, listen for the voice of Jesus. I believe He is saying to you this morning...I want to make you whole...are you ready to Rise, take up „ªyour„« bed and walk?
