|
Introduction:
Unemployment in Tennessee has reached the highest rates in
over 20 years.[1]
At the same time, lottery sales continue to increase. According to
a USA Today article, instant lottery sales were up $8 million in
Tennessee for the first fiscal quarter of this year.[2]
Why on earth would those two numbers increase at the same time? I
think it indicates as a society we have some terrible fears, we
have anxieties, we have doubts, we have struggles. But we want
serenity, peace, joy, security, and comfort. The problem is,
we’re looking for it in all the wrong places. We hope for some
lucky break to make everything right. We want some quick fix. We
long for an escape. Sadly, this issue with financial fear and
trying to find security through the lottery is merely one example
of how broken people are looking for healing in the wrong places.
If you know what it feels like to be broken, whether it revolves
around finances, health, family, discipline, sin, or whatever, I
want to share a story of hope with you today. I want to introduce
you to a man who was broken like you. He was looking for a lucky
break, but he found true healing and deliverance. You can find the
story in John
5:1-17. Discussion: I.
The world is full of broken people. A.
When Jesus visited Jerusalem because of the Passover feast,
He came to a pool named Bethesda. Around this pool were five
porches in which lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and
paralyzed (John
5:2-3). Just as these porches were full of physically
broken people, our world is full of spiritually broken people.
When Jesus traveled from city to city, Matthew
9:36 says He had compassion on the people because they
were like sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless. This is
the state of the world outside of Christ. B.
If you are hurting, I know you believe you are on your own.
It is easy to believe you are the only one. Every one else looks
like they have it together. It is especially easy in a setting
like we have this morning to think you are the only broken person
among us. I know this, because I have felt it. However, it just
isn’t true. The world is full of broken people. We are
surrounded by folks who have fit this bill—spiritually blind,
lame, paralyzed. II.
Many broken people are looking for a lucky break. A.
According to John
5:3-4, the reason all these broken people were laying
around the pool of Bethesda is because at certain times the hand
of an angel would stir the waters and the first person into the
water would be healed. I do need to explain that there is some
disagreement about exactly what is being said here. Some of the
ancient manuscripts do not contain this explanation. Therefore, we
are not completely sure if this is God’s statement explaining
what actually happened or if this was a scribal footnote
explaining a legend that had grown up around the pool. In either
case, we see the same point. B.
A multitude of broken people surrounded this pool, hoping
for healing. Yet, at any given time only one could be healed.
Additionally, those with the most debilitating illnesses had no
chance of getting to the water. Think about the blind folks laying
around the pool who wouldn’t even know the water had been
stirred until they heard folks start moving toward the water, they
were already two steps behind. C.
This is what broken people do. They look for lucky breaks.
They buy lottery tickets hoping to fix their financial woes. They
drink thinking it will drown their sorrows. They shoot up hoping
to soar above their problems. They try to find healing,
contentment, security, hope in ways that really just don’t work.
In Ecclesiastes
2:1-11, the wisest man who ever lived talked about his
pursuit for meaning. He looked for it in pleasure, alcohol, work,
possessions, and money. Whatever he wanted, whatever he thought
might fix his life, whatever he guessed might fill the void, he
tried. Do you know what he found? Vanity. He felt just as empty,
just as broken, just as hopeless. D.
Broken people often look for solutions to life through
lucky breaks, but they are all empty. They never work. III.
Lucky break seekers are selfish. A.
When Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed in John
5:6-7, the man said he had no one to put him in the water.
Someone else would get there first. Yet, there was a multitude
around him. How could he say there was no one to help? Because
broken people looking for lucky breaks are selfish. Each one was
looking for his own lucky break and if this man received it, they
would not. There was no lining up, taking turns, helping others.
There was clawing, grabbing, shoving. Instead of trying to help
each other find healing, they hindered each other. B.
Isn’t that our world? What competition we have among each
other because we often have the idea if someone else gets some
lucky break then we are losing out on ours. If someone else
receives money, health, fame, influence, we are somehow cheated.
Sadly, because of this selfishness we can easily end up no longer
looking for our own healing, but simply trying to keep others from
healing because we are jealous and selfish. IV.
You have to want healing. A.
Interestingly, Jesus didn’t simply walk up to the man and
heal him. He asked Him, “Do you want to be healed?” Jesus
understood something. There was no need trying to help someone who
didn’t want to be healed. Some folks, despite their brokenness,
just aren’t ready yet. They don’t want healing. They want to
continue trying to make it work their own way. B.
Most of us have heard the story of the prodigal son in Luke
15:11-19. When the young man had money, he was a broken
man, but he didn’t want healing. When he was going through his
money, he was a broken man, but he didn’t want healing. When he
lost all his money, he was a broken man, but he didn’t want
healing. When he lost his friends, he was a broken man, but he
didn’t want healing. When he started working for the citizen, he
was a broken man, but he still didn’t want healing. It wasn’t
until he recognized he had hit rock bottom, as he sat there among
the pigs, finding his supper from their scraps that he decided he
wanted healing. C.
Sadly, this is a big problem with many folks. I imagine
even some here today are struggling with this lesson because they
just can’t relate to what I’m talking about. They know
they’ve had pain. They know they’ve had struggles. But really,
it is not all that bad. They’ve still got some plans up their
sleeves. They’ve got some other options. Besides, even though
the lucky breaks haven’t panned out yet, they are sure one will
soon. They’ve come so close in times past. Therefore, they’ll
just keep hanging on, pursuing their own course. Too many are like
those in Laodicea in Revelation
3:17. They are wretched, blind, naked but think they are
rich, prosperous, and needless. Until you really see how bad your
situation is and really want healing, you just can’t get it.
What makes me most sad is I know I can’t force you to see it.
You have to see it on your own. When you do, you can move to the
next step. V.
Recognize your own inability. A.
John
5:6
says Jesus found a man who had been there a long time. Why
didn’t He go to the most recent poolside resident? Jesus
understood the new residents still had hope in the pool. They
still had faith they would be next. They still thought they were
going to get the lucky break. Jesus picked out a man who had
finally realized the lucky break had nothing to offer him. B.
The man’s answer to Jesus’ question about healing in John
5:7 demonstrated his recognition of complete inability.
The man couldn’t heal himself and he knew it. Even if the
miracle of the pool was real, he would never enjoy it. He
couldn’t beat everyone else to the pool. He had to rely
completely on someone else. He was hopeless, powerless, unable. C.
Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with this statement:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven” (Matthew
5:3). This is what poverty of spirit is all about,
understanding our inability to heal, deliver, or save ourselves.
In Romans
7:14-25, Paul expressed this very feeling. On his own, he
couldn’t be righteous enough to be saved. The only place for
deliverance was Jesus. As long as you think you can somehow
deliver yourself, you’ll never have healing. If you think you
can rely on your own think sos, your own plans, your own agenda,
you won’t get victory. As long as you continue to think you will
somehow get yourself into the pool, you’ll never find freedom.
Only when you come face to face with your inability to overcome,
your powerlessness to win, your complete hopelessness in self will
you start the path of healing. VI.
Just do what Jesus says. A.
Put yourself in this man’s shoes. You’ve been crippled,
unable to walk for 38 years. You’ve been laying by this pool for
a long time, waiting for the water to ripple, seeing it, getting
your hopes up, trying to get in, but being pushed back and missing
out on healing. Hopelessness and despair have set in. You’ll
never walk again. You are certain. Then some man says, “Get up,
take up your bed, and walk” (John
5:8). What do you do? You laugh at him, that’s what you
do. How ridiculous. But that is not what this man did. He obeyed. B.
I recognize this man did not yet know who Jesus was. But He
did what Jesus said. That is the key. If we want healing we need
to surrender to Jesus. We need to just do what He says. We don’t
need to add our ideas into it. We just need to recognize that
Jesus’ way works. Sadly, so many people seeking deliverance are
giving lip-service to Jesus, but they add what they want to do
into it. That will always fail. This is really what Jesus meant in
Matthew
7:13-14 when He said we should enter by the narrow gate
and follow His strait and narrow way. He was not telling us we
need to follow the strait and narrow to earn salvation,
deliverance, healing. He was telling us His way is the only path
to salvation, deliverance, healing. C.
Friends, listen to this point carefully. Many of us are
struggling. Many of us are hurting. Many of us despairing. Yet,
we’ll turn anywhere but Jesus. 1.
“Don’t tell me turn to Jesus,” some of us cry.
“That’s a joke. He’s not real. He can’t help. I don’t
believe in Him.” I don’t expect you to believe me just because
I say it, but you’ve tried everything else and it hasn’t
worked, why not examine Jesus? Why not look a little closer? What
have you got to lose? If you just do what Jesus says and that
doesn’t work either, you aren’t any worse off. 2.
“Don’t tell me to turn to Jesus,” others are saying.
“I know it doesn’t work. I’ve been going to church for
years.” You didn’t hear me properly. I didn’t say try
church. I said try Jesus. Oh yes, if you’re surrendering to
Jesus, you will be part of a local church. But there is a big
difference between going to church and surrendering to Jesus. All
kinds of people go to church every Sunday but have only given
their Sundays to the Lord. If you want healing, victory,
deliverance, quit relying on lucky breaks, your own strength, or
quick fixes, start leaning on the Lord. 3.
“Don’t tell me to turn to Jesus,” others mumble.
“His way may provide deliverance, but I don’t think it will
give me what I really want.” Sadly, some of us won’t surrender
to Jesus because while we want healing, we want fame, riches,
power, pleasure, or some other thing more. If we knew that healing
through Jesus would provide those things as well, we’d take it.
Until we are sure of that, we keep holding back on full surrender. VII.
Jesus may not deliver you the way you expect. A.
When Jesus asked the man if he wanted healing, the man
didn’t simply say, “Yes.” He was so stuck on being healed in
the pool, he couldn’t even answer the simple question. He had to
explain that he needed someone to help him in the pool (John
5:7). He isn’t asking Jesus to heal him. He’s asking
Jesus to wait with him and get him in the pool. B.
Here is a problem we often have even in turning to Jesus.
We’ve spent so much time trying to find healing, deliverance,
and victory through a lucky break that when we turn to Jesus, we
expect Him to save us through a lucky break. We’ve wanted to win
the lottery so long that we don’t ask Jesus to heal us His way.
We ask Him to let us win the lottery. It doesn’t work that way.
We want Jesus to put us in the pool. Jesus just wants to heal us.
If you can find Jesus telling you to find victory through the
lottery, then by all means, go buy a lottery ticket. I’m still
waiting to find that verse. Jesus wants to provide us with real
healing, real contentment, real deliverance, real victory. That
won’t come through a lucky break even at Jesus’ hands. Let’s
not put Jesus in the box of our expectations. Rather, let’s just
turn to Jesus and do whatever He says. That is where healing is. VIII.
Others will try to stop you. A.
In John
5:9-10, the man took up his bed (which would have been
more like a mat he could roll up than a bed on which we often
sleep) and walked. Some of the Jews came to him and said, “it is
the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
One of the laws God gave the Jews was they were to do no work on
the Sabbath day, which was Saturday. It was to be a day of rest.
Yet, this man was hauling his bed. The no longer crippled man
explained, “Look, the guy who healed me told me to do this.” B.
Here is the amazing thing. The Jews were so bound up in
their opinions about God’s rules, they couldn’t even be amazed
at the miracle going on in the life of this crippled man. This man
understood. Anyone who could empower his crippled legs to walk had
the authority to tell him to carry his bed even if it was the
Sabbath. So he did. C.
The point we need to see is that when we are surrendering
to Jesus, many people will be against us. They will try to get us
to stop. They’ll tell us it won’t work. They’ll tell us
we’re doing it wrong. They’ll make fun of us. They’ll mock
us and say we think we are the only ones who can have healing.
They will say we are being too extreme. Who needs to go so far,
they’ll ask. Sadly, you would think everyone would jump on this
path of healing and victory. But they won’t. Be prepared for
folks to try and get you to quit. You’re just going to have to
keep on keeping on. IX.
Don’t go back to sin. A.
In John
5:14, Jesus gave the no longer crippled man a plan. “Sin
no more.” Sadly, many people turn to Jesus, find deliverance,
start recovering, head down a path of healing, only to think
they’ve got it all under control. They begin to think they
don’t need to lean on Jesus any more and they turn back to sin. B.
As I
Corinthians 10:12 says, when we think we are standing,
that is when we are in danger of falling. The moment we think
we’ve started getting things under control, we subtly turn back
to thinking we can heal ourselves. That is when we turn right back
to our own brokenness. Leaning on Jesus is not a momentary choice.
It is a journey. C.
Within the Biblical context, we must not take this to mean
that if we ever sin again we have lost our hope in Jesus. That is
not the case. Certainly, we are striving to overcome sin, but
leaning on Jesus is about progress not perfection. As II
Peter 1:5-8 says, we are growing in virtue. Jesus’ point
is not that we have to be perfect from now on to be with Him. His
point is we must not go back to our old way of life. Healing is a
lifelong journey. Conclusion: Many of us are hurting. We are broken. We are crippled spiritually. We need healing. We want healing. Sadly, too many of us are looking for it in all the wrong places. We hope a lucky break will fix us. What is your pool of Bethesda? What are you relying on to provide your fix? Has it actually helped? Have you found victory, freedom, deliverance? Jesus wants to heal you? Will you let Him?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
|
||||||||||
