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May 13, 2007
The Rev. Canon Lynell Walker

Lessons for the day

In today’s gospel lesson we are told the story of a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. We don’t know much about him. We aren’t told his name or the extent of his injuries. What we do know is that he has been unable to care for himself or walk for thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years of paralysis is a long time. We don’t know if he had been abandoned there by his family to be cared for by the mercy of others. We don’t know if his family were unable to meet his daily physical needs. Nor do we know if his family had hoped that leaving him near the healing waters of the pool at Bethesda might prove to be their son’s only hope of a better life.

Whatever the reason, the odds of the paralyzed man’s recovery were certainly not in his favor. It reminds me of scenes at a casino where there is the single placard of the winner who won $117,000 playing the slots standing out amongst the sounds of the clanking tonnage of monies dropped into the house’s coffers. It’s amazing how often we continue to repeat a behavior we know won’t work for lack of a better plan. You can almost imagine Dr. Phil walking up to the man at the pool and asking, “How’s that working for you?” Anyway you put it, thirty-eight years is a long time.

Then one day, one Sabbath day no less, Jesus walks through the Sheep Gate and sees the lame and the infirmed lying in the covered porches around the pool. We are told in today’s gospel of his encounter with one of the many who came hoping for health and wholeness. When Jesus discovers this particular man has been there thirty-eight years he asks him a very strange question, “Do you want to be made well?” Why such a question when the man’s need seemed so obvious? I can make some guesses based on observations about my own life.

1. Sometimes I resist change when I don’t want to assume the responsibility that comes with new life. Change disturbs my sleep.
2. Sometimes I resist change because I am afraid of the unknown. I have many friends who have settled for unsatisfying careers because it is easier to stay with the known misery of broken work relationships than risk the unknown, especially when threatened with a loss of health insurance coverage. One friend of mine has stayed unhappy in the same job because of health insurance for nearly 30 years. (That’s pretty darn close to 38 yrs. of paralysis!)
3. Sometimes I resist change because I can’t see any other way out. When I was in seminary I got desperately behind in reading during my first semester. It was mid-November. It had been twenty five years since I had last been in college. Papers were taking days, not hours, to complete. I came very close to leaving school and flying home. I remember one afternoon praying (now there’s novel idea!). I didn’t think it would do much good as I wasn’t convinced that God could be specific enough to give help with homework, but I tried prayer nonetheless. It was that or pack. I had no sooner gotten out the words than this idea came to into my head: “Do today what’s due tomorrow. Spend any time left over catching up.” I followed that pattern to graduation.

In reading the gospel story I’m not even convinced that the paralyzed man gave the right answer. Jesus asked him one question, “Do you want to be healed?” and the paralytic answered, “There’s no one around to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.” Jesus simply asked a “yes” or “no” question and instead of getting a simple answer found himself listening to an excuse about why others keep getting their blessings ahead of him. The wonder and beauty of this story is that Jesus helped him anyway.

The whole of the Gospel narratives are full of story after story where Jesus met people where they were. He never held back healing people until their faith reached a stature worthy of God’s grace. We have all had times when life has presented something we can’t handle and in spite of our best efforts to “do it ourselves” find ourselves rescued by one watching and loving from a close distance. They seem to stand patiently in the wings then toss us a life jacket before we drown in our own stubbornness. How much more engaged is God, the One who loves us to the end?

Today at Trinity Cathedral we are, through our prayers and actions, setting apart a community of faithful people called Stephen Ministers to a particular vocation within our community. They are people who are willing to enter into the stories and journeys of our lives with intention and prayer. A Stephen Minister is one who has been trained for a year to partner with someone in need of pastoral care. The person receiving care may be someone within the church family, a relation to a member of the church family, or someone within the broader community in need of support. Relationships between Stephen Ministers and Care Receivers are kept confidential. Following the training this past year, Stephen Ministers will continue honing their skills in groups where oversight and training continues to be provided by Canon Winnie Gaines, Canon Kathleen Kelly, and the Stephen Ministry trainers. It’s interesting to note that most all of the pastoral care provided to members of this congregation comes through the Stephen Ministry program. It is a joy this day to welcome a new class of Stephen Ministers and to support the ongoing ministry of those who are committing themselves to this wonderful work for another year. The Stephen Ministry program is the largest lay ministry at Trinity Cathedral. If you would be interested in participating in this program contact a Stephen Minister, Canon Gaines or Canon Kelly after the service. A new training class will form this fall.

Today’s gospel tells us about a man who needed the help of another to move from being paralyzed to standing then walking on his own two legs. Where in our lives do we experience Jesus asking us this day, “Do you want to be well?”

Answering that question is risky business.

1. What would we do different in our lives today if the promise of sleepless nights became invigorating and life-giving? What would it be like to feel the Holy Ghost breathe over dry bones? It must have been an unbelievable rush for the man at the well to cast his weight on his lifeless legs.
2. What would we do different in our lives today if we welcomed the unknown/unsolved as an opportunity for God to become specific in the stories of our lives that need particular resolution? I hope you have something in your life you can’t handle! Such stories become wonderful opportunities for catching God’s grace in action.
3. What would we do different in our lives today if we knew we could not fail? Would you sky-dive? Start a novel? Plant a garden? Call an estranged member of the family? Find a way to turn a tragedy into an opportunity for new life? Become a Stephen Minister? Get baptized? Take a class in preaching? Go to the East Transept during communion and ask for prayers for healing?

Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus will come to meet us where ever we are, whether we possess the right answers or not, whether our past choices have been suspect or not. For your sake and for God’s sake, don’t wait thirty-eight years to budge. Amen.