Do You Want to be Made Well?

Do You Want to be Made Well? Reading: John 5:1-9 Easter VI
By the Rev. Karen Faye Siegfriedt: St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Morro Bay CA 5-25-25

Jesus said to the man: “Stand up, take your mat, and walk.” At once the man was made well and he took up his mat and began to walk. (John 5)

Do you want to be made well? I think that is a question all of us should answer truthfully. In fact, it is an important question that we should answer before going to the doctor. It is a question that every doctor should ask before treating a patient. It is a question we should contemplate before going into therapy. It is a question we should ponder whenever we experience hurt, anger, or resentment in our heart. It is a question we should resolve before confessing our sins each Sunday during the act of confession. Sometimes, people just want to feel better or just live longer, not really wanting to make the changes that are necessary for wellness.

So, I ask you the question once again. Do you want to be made well? Do you want to be whole? Do you want to be awakened to the fullness of life? Do you want to be connected to the Divine Presence that offers grace upon grace? If so, today’s gospel gives us some insights on how to proceed. Let’s take a closer look.

The story begins in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate. A man who had been ill for 38 years was lying by the pool. The text does not explicitly say what his illness is, but the story implies that he is physically disabled with atrophied limbs. The pool (with five porticoes described in this story) is one of the few biblical sites that has been authentically discovered and verified. This particular pool of water was fed by rainwater. But ancient writings report that a stream ran underneath the pool, occasionally bubbling up and disturbing the waters. The belief was that when the water in the pool was stirred up, healing would occur for those who were fortunate enough to get into the water in time.

Now there were many invalids who would sit by the pool day after day, desiring to be healed of their infirmities. The particular man in today’s story was not mobile enough to get into the pool at prime time. And so year after year, he would sit by the pool, hoping that one day he would get into the pool while the water was stirred up. It was into this context that Jesus asked him: “Do you want to be made well?”

At first glance, you might think that this is a strange question. After all, who wouldn’t want to be made well? Well actually, there are a lot of people who don’t want to be made well. While most people do not want to suffer, they don’t necessarily want to change or do the hard work that is required to move forward. You probably know some of these folks. They might be someone in your own family. Maybe after being ill for 38 years, the man’s hope for recovery diminished, or he was resigned to a life of dependency. Maybe the man in the story lost his desire to make the changes necessary for wellness. Maybe there was a chance that he didn’t want to be restored to fullness, thus having to take on the burden of making a living. Or maybe he just had such a limited vision of what was required to heal such that he missed out on other opportunities available. After all,
one’s attitude, beliefs, and level of participation all influence the process of healing.

Jesus asks the man: “Do you want to be made well?” The actual Greek word “to be made well” can also refer to wholeness, soundness of mind, and health. Do you want to be whole? Do you want to return to health? Do you want to be a sound human being? While the man never directly answers Jesus’ question, he does offer an excuse as to why he is still lying around the pool after 38 years of disability. He believes that the only way to be whole, the only way to be made well, is to get into the pool when the water is stirred up. What a pity!

You know, sometimes it is easy to get stuck, believing that there is only one way to move forward or only one way to be happy. Excuses and false beliefs about health and wholeness often hinder us from actually getting well, especially when it comes to chronic health issues.

Think about all the false beliefs out there that are hindering our health system in our country today. I am disheartened by all the anti-scientific bias and misinformation in the media. It is hard to ignore the headlines regarding the state of public health here in the United States. Measles cases are going up, vaccination rates are going down, whooping cough is making a comeback. 33% of adults and 20% of our children are obese while the rate of depression is over 20%. Loneliness and a lack of social ties is epidemic in both the elderly and our young people. Suicide is on the rise as well as colon cancer among young adults. Thousands of government experts who have been doing medical research have been fired. And amid these crises, our country is undergoing a moment of intense distrust in public health and scientific information. What are we to do? Are we doomed to repeat history? Today’s gospel and other passages of Scripture, offer us some insights on how to
move forward in our own journey toward health and wholeness.

Let me mention three of them.

1. Action Required: First of all, we must actively participate in our own healing process. We can’t just depend on a magic pill, a prescribed medical treatment, or rely on the doctor to “fix us.” After healing the man at the pool, Jesus gives him three commands: “Stand up. Pick up your mat. Walk.” In other words, do something even if you don’t feel like it! Fortunately for the invalid man, he followed orders.

The word translated as stand up in this story has a lot of different meanings and interpretations. This same Greek word can also mean to awaken, to rise up, to collect one’s faculties. It has been used to describe rising from sleep or rising from the dead. It is a powerful word that can shake us from complacency, from habitual behaviors that are unhealthy, and from distorted ways of thinking that hurt us and others.

For instance, many people do not follow instructions from their doctors. Non-adherence to treatment plans occurs with almost 50% of all patients, especially those with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. 30% of prescriptions for medication go unfilled while 50% of people do not take their drugs as prescribed. Many folks refuse to do physical therapy once discharged. While we cannot cure all our ills nor can we live forever, there are five things we can do to improve our health: Right eating, adequate sleep, exercise, quiet meditation or prayer, and stress reduction. Do you want to be made well???

2. Thoughts Matter: We need to remember that our body, mind, and soul are interconnected. And if
there is a problem in one area, it is bound to affect the other. I once heard the human body described as a chariot! Our chariot is this body that transports us through life and carries our senses, our thoughts, our emotions, and our soul. Like any other vehicle, this chariot needs to be carefully maintained if it is to carry us through the many years of life. If not, the chariot will eventually break down. And one of the ways our chariots are breaking down has to do with mental health issues caused by useless thoughts, fearful thoughts, and hurtful emotions that deplete our joy and deprive us of abundant life. For our own spiritual healing, it is time for us to take charge of our mind rather than allowing our mind to take charge of us.
​
The mind is a powerful force. Most people are oblivious to their habitual way of thinking which
unfortunately leads them to do things that go against their own principles and harms their health. This ought not to be so. The words you mutter to yourself and the thoughts that you dwell on have the power to encourage or discourage, to motivate or deflate, to generate joy or generate sadness. Little by little, the conversations that you hold in the privacy of your mind are determining your destiny. Each thought can move you toward or away from your God-given potential. So what are you putting in your mind? Are you spending too much time watching the angry news commentators who focus on everything that is wrong in the world? Or are you thinking about how you can use your time, talent, and treasure to be a healing presence in the world today?

Do you want to be made well? Then put on the mind of Christ, focusing on that which is “true,
honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.” (Phil. 4:8) Our mind is to be used as a tool for problem solving, learning new things, engaging in activities, and delighting in God’s creation. So take care of that chariot of yours, and don’t forget to nurture your mind.

3. Community: Another avenue for healing and wholeness is being part of a community. We are not
called to be alone in this world, trying to struggle through the trials and tribulations of life by ourselves. The man in today’s gospel story had no one to help him into the water and so he laid around for 38 years. It wasn’t until Jesus came along to help, that his situation was turned around. I recently read a story about Oscar Saxelby-Lee, a five-year-old boy in England who was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. While Oscar underwent intense chemotherapy treatment for four weeks, he needed to have a stem cell transplant to survive. A call went out to the Worcester community to try to find an exact donor match, a very difficult task. However, when the call went out, the community came together. More than 3,000 people showed up to be tested in order to become a potential donor. People queued around the block in the pouring rain, and nobody complained. This spirit of generosity and concern was absolutely incredible. Oscar did receive his
stem cell transplant and is now cancer free. The moral of the story? Reach out and touch someone. Every act of concern makes a difference! So thank you, people of St. Peter’s, a community of faith who cares for one another; folks who offer acts of grace to the sick and the homebound. Keep up the good work!

As I end this sermon, there is one more thing I want to say about health and wholeness. The human body is not meant to live forever. There is a time to be born and a time to die; a time to let go. What is most important is not how many years we exist, but rather how we make use of the time and opportunities we have while still alive. “Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So be swift to love, make haste to be kind, and go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” (A Blessing)