Waiting at the Water's Edge: Praying for God's Will

 

John 5:1-15

 

“Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

 

Drama written by Rev. Emily Tanis-Likkel, Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, UCC

 

 

God, what is your will for me?  That is the question I asked, day after day, as I waited by the water. 

 

Hundreds of us rested there at the pool of Bethesda.  Some of us were fortunate enough to have shelter in one of the five alcoves surrounding the pool.  But we all fought to be the first to the water whenever it began to swirl, the first person to enter the water would be healed.  At least, that's what we believed then.  It was a decent place to beg for food, because it was so close to the temple.  I'd lay in the shadow of the temple, feeling as though it were a million miles away. 

 

All of those years I spent at the pool of Bethesda I was part of something that was anti-kingdom of God, because the last is not first at the pool.  I should know, I was last.  I was among the oldest.  I had been there the longest.  I was definitely the worst off physically, and probably the most depressed of the bunch.  You'd think somebody would have taken pity on me and help me into the water.  I felt invisible.  The healthiest person would make it to the water first, which didn't seem fair to me.  I was helpless, and almost hopeless.  Still, I waited, getting more and more frustrated and discouraged.  I not only had disease of body, but illness that separated me from true community – I was a nobody.  I had no one.  No friend, no family.  All I had was the waiting, and it was exhausting.  Time stretched on and on.

              And then I saw him.  Up until that moment, I knew nothing of Jesus.  I didn't even know his name.   I wasn't counting on him to heal me.  I was counting on the water.  Why would he ask “Do I want to be healed”?  Does he think I haven't tried?  Come on, give me some credit!  He certainly caught my attention the moment he showed up beside me.

              God, what is your will?  I didn't realize at the time that God was guiding me, that I simply needed to trust.  So many sick people were waiting around at the pool.  The passersby were wrapped up in tallying what other people were doing wrong, making sure the Sabbath was kept.  The will I had for my life was too small.  Jesus came to me as if to say, let's do something different and significant, let's do something that matters.  Take up your mat and walk.  I felt life flow into my legs and throughout my body.  I cautiously rose to my feet, my heart pounding.  I had been waiting for a miracle.  All those years of isolation, of weariness, and  finally I was healed. 

              But I knew the words from Jeremiah: "Thus says the LORD: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors" (Jer. 17:21-22). He asked me to carry my mat.  I could have left it behind.  He could have waited till sundown.  Was he trying to offend everyone?   Was he trying to get me in trouble?

              “Who was that,” they all asked me?  “I don't know--he left so quickly,” I told them.  I went to the temple.  It just made sense to go.  He found me again there.   His eyes were so arresting.  “Your physical health is not enough,” he said. “Be changed in your heart; join me in establishing the kingdom of God.”  But I didn't.  Without being grateful, and without thinking, I turned him in.  I went to the authorities and told them that Jesus was the one who broke the law.  Because he really did!  But after the words left my mouth my heart sank.  What had I done?

 

Then I realized  it wasn't about the Sabbath.  It wasn't even so much about me being healed.  It's about him – Jesus.

 

Jesus, You found me at the water's edge.  You said, Get up.  Get moving.  Be healed.  Join me in establishing the kingdom of God.

 

              Don't waste so much time waiting like I did.  Don't wait for the kingdom of God to come to you.  Get up, take your mat and walk.  We are called to align our will with God's will.  Do you wonder what God's will is?  It is for us to advance God's kingdom in the world.  It is a kingdom of grace, love, and hope.  It is a family that takes care to ensure that everyone's basic needs have been met, and where everyone is welcome.  Get up, take your mat and walk, even when doing so is the opposite of what the world expects.  Even when you may offend.  Receive the healing, wholeness and grace that Christ offers, and let it spur you on to share that grace with others.

 

              The specifics of what you do with your life may not be the most important matter.  But what kind of person are you?  What are your priorities?  Are they kingdom priorities?  Do we wait around for wholeness to happen, or do you take up your mat and walk?  Trusting God, relying on God for strength, we are called to be God's hands and feet in the world.  Praying for God's will is a prayer for guidance, a prayer of preparation, and a vow to partner with God to change the world.  

 

              I was the worst off of us.  I had been there the longest.  I was closest to the water, but it didn't matter – when the water moved I was at the end of the line.  I couldn't get to it.  My hope was all but gone.  If I had had no one to bury me, no one to remember me . . . what then?  But Jesus called me, and I got up.  He brought me to wholeness, reconciliation with the world – he brought me back into community.

 

He found me waiting at the water's edge.  I had been there what seemed like forever.  I was waiting for the water.  But it wasn't the water I needed.  It was him. The living water.

 

              Maybe you've been like me.  Maybe you've felt stuck—even paralyzed.  You didn't know which way to go or what to do or who to blame.  Maybe you felt you wouldn't make it, that nobody was on your side.  You were at the water's edge.  But it wasn't the water you needed.  You just gotta look up,  and see Jesus standing there, asking, “You want to be healed, don't you?”  He says, “Don't make excuses, just leave it to me.  Take up your burdens and get going.  I'll give you strength you need.  You can't get it from the world that promises you so much.  It only comes from me.  I am your strength, I am I am.  I have been in your heart all along.  I have been with you these many many years. 

 

              Have you asked, what is your will O God?  Trust that God is guiding you.  God's will is often in the unexpected.  God's will is always bigger than ours.  May we change our will to become the same as God's will.  Jesus came as if to say, let's do something significant, let's do something that matters. 

              He came to say be healed, be well, be whole.  He came to say repent, turn your life around, and belong.  God, you find us at the waters edge.  But it isn't the water we need.  We need the living water—we need Jesus.