Paralytic Sunday 2022

Two amazing accounts. Peter, as Acts records,

doing exactly what Jesus said he would do. These

things in greater works you will do. And the

Lord raising up this man who had been paralyzed.

Draw your attention to the fresco at the back,

the south side. You will see The account there

painted, Bethesda, five porches. Of course, it

looks very solemn and dignified, but you can

imagine the terrible suffering, the kingdom of

sorrow that that little place was at the time.

I want to follow up on the theme from last week,

that is Christian activity based on faithfulness.

Christian activity inspired by the Holy Spirit

working within us. Christian activity which shows

a change that has come over us as we are Christians.

This gospel represents many, many things. One

is the radical change of life that that man experienced

from 38 years as a paralyzed man there, begging

for food. And then getting up and walking. That

kind of change. That's what we have to think

about in our own life. Some other time, we will

speak about some of the other themes in this

gospel, the inevitable resistance that hits us

once we start to walk with Christ in a serious

way. The resistance within ourselves and without

ourselves that happens when we truly define ourselves,

orientate ourselves, identify ourselves, and

act with and according to Christ. This is what

Christians do. This is not news for you. I'm

just reviewing this. You know this. So let's

now focus on how we might meet Christ today in

this gospel. Love for our neighbor is so important.

This man begged for 38 years alone. Christ unites

us together. We become one family. It's very

frightening to live. We read reports. This terrible

shooting in Buffalo. The war in Ukraine and other

places in our world. For love of God and our

neighbor. Let's think about that today as we

ponder this gospel. You know, there's a good

and it's fairly good dramatization of this account

from John chapter 5 by the TV show The Chosen,

John 5 · chapter mention

by the way. You might want to check that out

as you open your Bible to read about it at the

same time. Have we all opened our Bible this

week? Now, Jesus did not just heal this man and

leave him alone. He first asked, do you want

to be healed? This is not a sarcastic question.

It's not a pointless question. The hearer of

the gospel must be the one who wants to be changed.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's always the

case with myself. Often, we hear what we want

to hear. Make the gospel fit whatever preconceived

ideology we might have. Many people in a political

way, on the right hand or on the left hand. But

if we seek human things when we come to church,

even if it's fellowship, even if it's the wonderful

singing, even if it's the icons, even if it's

love for one another, if we only seek the human

things, that's what we're going to find. We won't

find God. We won't see him. We have to seek God

in all of this. The more we open our hearts to

God and lay aside all earthly cares and agendas,

the more we receive Christ. Don't take upon yourselves,

says Elder Thaddeus in that wonderful book, Our

Thoughts Determine Our Lives. Don't take upon

yourselves the cares, the worries of the world

so much. but preserve peace of heart and live

with Christ. The gospel message is first and

foremost about Jesus Christ, the invitation,

yes, to lay down our sickness. And not pick up

our bed, but pick up our cross and follow Christ.

Otherwise, if we don't come for that reason,

if we come for other reasons, you can expect

problems, confusions, disappointments with me

and with the parish. It's painful for me to say

this, but that's what happened during COVID.

So many places. Do we want to be healed? Let's...

really answer that in the affirmative. Jesus

asked that perceptive and razor -sharp question

about wanting to be healed, after which he did

not say to the paralyzed man, Brother, you're

healed. I know it's been a long time. You must

be exhausted by your ordeal. Just sit back. Rest

for a little while before you begin to walk about.

No, he did not say that to the man. He said,

rise, pick up your bed, and walk. Immediately,

Jesus called this man to begin acting in faith.

Immediately. So very interesting, isn't it? Also,

that it is the Sabbath day, as Jesus' opponents

pointed out, the day of rest. And the man is

told, to carry his bed. On that Sabbath, carrying

his bed was not carrying a burden, but it was

proof, a sign, that he had entered into the Lord's

rest. The rest of the Lord, God's rest, as Hebrews,

the epistle tells us, is not sitting around and

doing nothing. It's God's peace in our heart

which rules the kingdom of God within us and

God's holy work. which he calls us to do. Isn't

it also interesting that the man is carrying

his bed and someone says to him, you're carrying

your bed, it's the Sabbath. The man said, well,

the man who healed me, he didn't know who he

was, Jesus came to him. The man who healed me

told me to pick up my bed and walk. I didn't

ask any more questions, I just did it. And you

know what the response was? It wasn't, Who healed

you? It was, who told you to pick up your bed?

Isn't that ridiculous? That kind of legalism,

which misses the point of the glory of God. If

you want to know, if you want to come to know

more, Jesus, the Word, as he is now, as he was

there at the pool of Bethesda, for he is the

healer and physician of our souls. If you want

to know Jesus in the baptismal font, or the divine

liturgy, or in many different ways in ministry,

if you want to experience that godly rest, laying

down your burdens and paralysis of sin and ignorance

of God, to be where Christ is, to encounter Christ,

to be transformed by him, to work with him, to

be his disciple. There is a place where that

is happening right now. Ground zero, as Father

Stephen B. Young said in a recent podcast, are

the church services. We didn't build this magnificent

place with extravagant expenses on everything

here you see so we could use it 3 % of the time

of the week. That's insane. We built it so we

could glorify God. As it says in Acts, the faithful

were in the temple continually praising God.

Ground zero is the church service, the liturgy,

confession, holy communion, the scriptures, the

Bible. This is base camp. But take up your bed

and walk. act, be a disciple indeed. This gospel

is given to us in Pascha time about water, of

course, therefore reminding us about baptism

and the transformation that will take place within

us by the Holy Spirit. But like the paralyzed

man, we have to do something. And this is where

I'm following up from last week, to be an active

disciple of Christ. We have to think about where

Christ is. We have proof. I can give you proof.

You can follow me around when I go to the hospital

or a nursing home. That Christ, as the prayer

of St. Basil says, is the help of the helpless.

The hope of the hopeless. The physician of the

sick. That he is all things to all of us, as

the liturgy reminds us. This is what Christ is

doing right now. He is the Savior of the world

100 % of the time. Where Christ is now, he is

with the helpless. He is with those who feel

hopeless, who are sick, who are alienated, who

are suffering, who are lonely, who are alone.

That's where the scriptures tell us he is. Have

you forgotten the lesson of... Judgment Sunday,

Matthew 25, the least of these my servants. We

can go to those people. We must go to those people.

We will be asked if we went to those people.

And we will see that we will encounter Christ

there. And sometimes we will be Christ for someone

else. We live Matthew 25. Very powerful change

will take place in our heart and in our mind.

Christ gives us hope when we are there. Help

when we feel helpless. The action, this action

of faithfulness is not a burden. Is the liturgy

a burden? Is saying your prayers every day a

burden? Is coming to church during the week a

burden? Is reading the scripture a burden? Is

doing the commandments of Christ a burden? No,

he says, come unto me, all you that are heavy

laden. I will give you rest. And if a man, he

says, a person keeps my commandments, my father

will love him and we will come and abide in him.

This is what we want, to be the dwelling place

of Christ. the Father, and the Spirit. In the

days of our Lord's walking upon earth, the sheep's

pool, which you can see now in ruins there in

Jerusalem in the Moslem Quarter, next to the

Church of St. Anne, it's been called a kingdom

of sorrow. Find that kingdom of sorrow wherever

you are and visit it. And bring Christ to someone.

And meet Christ in someone. To our Lord be glory

now and ever. To ages of ages. Christ is risen.