You’ve tried, tried, tried, and tried again. But it just isn’t working. Maybe it’s time to come at this from a different angle.
how many of y’all have had certain
patterns of thinking that have been
negative for a long time I mean a long
time I don’t know how old the man was
but 38 years trust me I’m 39 is a long
time this is the entire span of my
natural life and for so long he’s been
unable to move that now he cannot
recognize the help that is standing
right in front of him and Jesus asks a
question that I have often heard
misinterpreted when he says do you want
to get well tone is everything that’s
why you can’t text every conversation
because tone is everything sometimes you
need to pick up the phone and call
people because completely depending on
the tone is how you see the heart of
Jesus I always read it for a long time
like Jesus said do you want to get well
I almost see him now like he’s got
something in his back pocket and he’s
sneaking around the pool looking for
somebody they say God helps those who
help themselves but I almost see Jesus
looking for somebody who can’t and he’s
like I see you caught in the situation
you want to get well and the man has
every reason to be suspicious can you
imagine how many people have taken
advantage of him in almost 40 years of
suffering how many hustlers have come
through the pool at Bethesda trying to
sell a magic potion or some bubbling
water hey I got some cream man put it on
your legs I promise it’s blessed hey man I
promise you I’ll bring you to the pool
I’ll push you in when the water starts
bubbling just give me half now and half
after the move I promise you I can carry
you in I got you how many times did
somebody make him a promise because it
seems cruel to Christ the expression of
the love of God would stand over a man
who couldn’t move and ask him such a
ridiculous question do you want to lose
weight well yea
do you do you want to be happy
well yeah do you want to be able to live
at peace without anxiety well yeah what
you selling I heard this spiel before I
tried that diet how many of y’all have tried that
diet before I put a meditation app on my
phone y’all to be honest with you I got
four meditation apps on my phone I tried
all of them I either fall asleep or my
legs starts doing like that I can’t do
it everybody tells me to meditate
the Bible says meditate Russell Brand
says meditate Joe Rogan says meditate
everybody’s telling me to meditate I
tried it I really did try it they also
taught me about portion control
I tried portion control how many of y’all
tried somebody told me one time they said
here’s how you here’s how you stay at an
ideal weight when you’re full stop
eating my only problem I never found
full that gage got broken somewhere in
my childhood I never felt full so I kept
eating I tried that oh they say if you
don’t complain you will feel more
connected to God I tried it but I found
out sometimes if you don’t complain
nothing changes
I tried so hard not to complain I one
time I was gonna go seven days without
complaining and I thought if I could do
it I could make a sermon out of it I
thought I could call it you know seven
days a week of worship or something like
that
I tried so hard not to complain for
seven days what happened was
and this is so embarrassing to admit to
you the more I tried not to complain
externally because sometimes you can fix
the symptom now I’m in the text you can
fix the symptom and stop trying to
complain but the root of it what
happened to me was I went five good days
without complaining but on day six the
walls of Jericho came tumbling down a
day early everything in my path was oh
it was a tornado it was a downpour
because when you fix the symptom but
don’t address the system that created
the symptom the end is worse than the
beginning
you want to get well well yeah I’m
trying when you get to heaven
you’d be surprised who’s there and who’s
not but one thing you might
really be shocked about this dude
whoever he is in John 5 is gonna have a
long line of preachers waiting to
apologize to him for how we
misinterpreted his story in John chapter
5 oh I’ve heard everything I’ve heard it
said that in 38 years the man should
have been able to crawl or roll his way
to the edge of the pool yeah like that
will work cuz now somebody stronger than
you is just gonna pull you back at the
moment you’re still powerless to fall in
at the right time and besides when has
Jesus ever taunted someone into
transformation you really think that’s
the spirit of the Savior some of us do
we really picture God like standing over
us in our minds our concept of God like
you don’t want it bad enough if you
would have done it different when they
were eight they wouldn’t have been in so
much trouble when they were 18 see you
screwed them up that’s what God sounds
like to a lot of us so it’s no surprise
that when we hear Jesus say do you want
to get well he says it with a snarl you
know do you even want to get well do you
even lift are you even serious
I mean prove it if you do if you want to
get well say I want to get well so why
did he ask him why did he ask the man do
you want to get well before he helped
him get up and walk and as I prayed
through that this week I realize that
before Jesus could help him walk he had
to help him want
I don’t know who this is for
but God is dealing with your desires in
this season of your life you have been
disappointed over and over and over
again and every time you try nobody
notices and every time you try you come
up short
sickness is cyclical it comes around it
goes around you’re well for a little while
and then it’s the same thing all over
again but this time it’s only worse
because now not only are you back where
you started but you have less hope that
it is ever going to be different because
you’ve cycled through it one more time
just to realize well I guess I’m just a
cynical person well I guess I’m just a
negative person I guess nobody in my
family was meant to go to college I
guess see when you hang around the
colonnades with people who are sick
sickness becomes normal to you and it
starts to be easier for you to just
accept the condition than to challenge
it because to challenge the condition
means to risk disappointment and some of
us have tried got blocked tried got
blocked tried got blocked and now people
see you and they assume that you don’t
care no I care
I cared and I cared so much but they
didn’t care back and I tried so hard and
I still got looked over and don’t you
know it’s hard when your expectation has
been damaged by disappointment it’s a
slow damage it’s a slow tearing of the
muscle fibers it’s a slow deterioration
of your hope by disappointment
it is not one event that creates it it’s
over and over I tried and I tried and I
smiled and I stayed and I cooked and I
parented and I disciplined and I showed
up and I didn’t – and the man has
finally gotten to a place I believe
where he is tired of trying are you it’s
supposed to be the Sabbath it’s supposed
to be a day of rest
why did Jesus stop by the pool on the
day of rest to perform a miracle you’re
not supposed to work on the Sabbath this
may offend you but it won’t be the first
time if this offends you your metal
detector is turned up to level 10 anyway
and you need to just turn it down y’all
notice we live in a gotcha culture an
outrage culture just nobody can say
anything you can’t say anything anymore
and the more that people try to help us
the more we crucify them if they say the
wrong thing have you noticed that this is
how they treat Jesus he heals the man on
the Sabbath and all that anyone can talk
about is that he did it on the wrong day
so this is what I wanted to say that was gonna
offend you
you thought that was what was gonna offend
you no no no Jesus walks up on the
Sabbath and when he tells the man in
verse 8 get up pick up your mat and walk
he is he is trying to get the man to
break Sabbath
so Jesus walks up to the pool looks
around and asks the man what’s going on
in your heart right now because
before I can help you walk I have to
heal your will so here’s what Jesus does
that we don’t like he calls BS he calls
watch this
he calls BS and I don’t know what you’re
thinking about right now but I’m talking
about broken system see now there’s one
thing in the verse there’s one thing in
the verse that doesn’t make sense unless
you understand the historical context
when the man says I keep trying I keep
trying to get down there but I can never
be first I’m not fast enough in fact I
can’t move at all I keep trying but
every time I try something blocks me and
Jesus says that’s because the system is
broken if you’ll notice give me verse
4 of the scripture I forgot to read it
John 5:4 Jared it’s been a long week you
know Staff Advance Jared
where’s Jared can you get him yeah I need
him verse 4 unlocks the whole thing
we can wait
this man waited 38 years we can wait
three minutes it’s not in the manuscript
oh they added that verse later it’s
not even in the original manuscript they
added a scripture later they added
a verse to explain the situation it
didn’t make sense so they had to add you
can go back to your job now they had but
come here real quick real quick real
quick real quick so a lot of times when
a situation in my life doesn’t make
sense to me I add a verse I add a verse
you know how we do it’s like okay rather
than deal with it I would rather explain
it in a way that excuses me from having
to deal with it
there’s a reason verse 4 isn’t in there
because it’s not in there there’s some
stuff that you’re putting in your story
that doesn’t belong there cause God
didn’t speak it and it’s not true
anymore
you can go back
see what the man said reflects a broken
system and it reflects a bad story
that’s another BS the devil has got some
of us telling ourselves some really bad
stories and this man has been telling
himself a story 38 years no one wants to
help me everybody’s out to get me every
time I try no one wants to help me
everybody’s out to get me every time I
try so here comes Jesus he doesn’t know
Jesus he’s never met Jesus Jesus is new
to the scene Jesus hasn’t even done the
Captain D’s miracle yet that’s in John
chapter 6 he hasn’t even gotten familiar
with this guy yet he hasn’t even had an
opportunity to unpack the whole
historicity of his situation so he’s
standing in front of Jesus and he’s
rightfully skeptical because he’s in a
broken system where the religious
leaders are trying to let the first ones
in and keep the rest back and unless you
keep the law this good you can’t be
healed of course he’s stuck he’s stuck
in a broken system so are some of us
he’s stuck in a bad story and so are
some of us we’ve inserted verses that
aren’t even there to explain why we are
the way we are we think it’s our job to
suffer you know suffering for Christ and
for the good of others is one thing in
sacrifices but to suffer the shame that
he already took away from you is to
snatch back what he nailed to the cross
it is not your job to suffer like that
that’s a broken system
I’m telling you men and women of the
Most High God religion is a broken
system
that’s why Jesus went for one to show
you this is a relationship I want to
deal with you one-on-one I want to speak
to you like a person not like you’re
some kind of project not like there’s
some kind of defect
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