In 1978, where were you? Please don’t answer this out loud. Where were you in 1978? I know a couple of you here this morning weren’t even close to being born yet. In 1978 the highest-grossing movie, I looked it up, was “Grease,” starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. “Grease” was great, I saw it. I was in college in 1978. I saw “Grease,” it was great, it was good. But the movie that I really, really, really enjoyed was the second highest-grossing movie in 1978, and that was “Superman,” starring Christopher Reeve. Great movie. I think it still works today. 1978. I took a few moments and took a look at the movie. I didn’t watch the movie, I’m planning to very soon, but I researched about the movie, about Christopher Reeve. You might remember that he was a highly trained, highly skilled actor with a very strong academic background in acting. You might also remember that he was also an activist. He was a public activist for environmental issues, for human rights causes and issues, and also artistic freedom of expression. Christopher Reeve, more than just an actor. And by the way, that word “Christopher,” that name, you might know that the etymology of the word “Christopher,” what’s the first part of that of that name? Christ. The word “Christopher” literally means bearer of Christ. I wonder how many parents have named their son Christopher and didn’t know that.

Well, you might also remember that in 1995 he was participating in an equestrian event, and he was riding his horse and there was a very serious accident. And he broke his neck. And from that point on in his life, Christopher Reed was paralyzed from the neck down. Not surprisingly to those who knew him, he spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair living with great grace and dignity. He lived to be 52 years old. We all know that it’s not unusual for persons in that plight in life to die early, if you will. He died when he was 52 years of age. In 2003, the year before he died, Christopher Reeve was quoted as saying this – “We all have many more abilities and internal resources than we know. My advice is that you don’t need to break your neck to find out about them.” I want to read the first part of that quote again because I believe it’s no less than what the gospel writer John is writing about this morning. Quote, “We all have many more abilities and internal resources than we know.”

I love this biblical story. And there are some things about it. One is this story Karen just read for us. It only appears in John. John is the only one where it appears, and it’s probably not professionally correct for me to stand up here and say that John continues to be my favorite gospel. I love them all. I’ve spent my whole life dedicated to the study of the four gospels, in particular the New Testament and Old Testament in general. So, I probably shouldn’t say it, but I’m going to say it. I love John. John is the one who deals with metaphor. John is the one who constantly deals with double and triple meaning in language. In a single word, there’s double and triple meaning. John is the one who deals with paradox, indirect message. John is the one who deals with contradiction. John is the one who deals with symbolism. And I am absolutely convinced, and I want you to be absolutely convinced as well, that this story is not just about some guy sitting beside the pool in Bethzatha. It’s about you, and it’s about me. I am absolutely convinced that this genius, who we’ve decided to name John, was writing about timeless challenges in life. We don’t even have to dig that deeply into the scripture to discover life-changing messages and opportunities.

“Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool called in Hebrew Bethzatha, which has five porticos. In these lay many invalids, blind, lame and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for 38 years.” John gives us specifics. Blind, lame and paralyzed. And then he starts to generalize and says, “There was this other guy who had been there for 38 years, and he was ill.” Hey John, what do you mean? What was wrong with him? I don’t know. You tell me. He was ill. And we now should begin to be sucked into this message, because John now has changed gears, basically almost stripping the clutch. He’s gone from specificity to generality, and we’re supposed to wonder about that. Hey, maybe this is about more than just people being physically ill. Been ill for 38 years. “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time” – by the way, is there anything in your life that’s been bothering you for five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? Forty years? I’m going to keep doing this until somebody says stop. Fifty years? This is the point. This is not an acute problem. This is chronic. This message is for those of us who are carrying burdens. This is why I wrote the call to worship that way. I wanted to begin our time together this morning by saying essentially, look, don’t be fooled. We’re all carrying those chronic burdens, every one of us.

This is quite possibly my favorite part of the story. This guy’s been ill, quote, ill for 38 years. And what does Jesus do? The first thing out of his mouth, he says, “Do you want to be made well?” This implies so much. Is it possible that this might open up the discussion surrounding the whole concept of helpless victim? I’m a helpless victim, and I’ve been comfortable in this for 38 years. You settle in and you feel sorry for yourself, and 38 years go by like the blink of an eye. Do you really want to be made well? “The sick man answered him. ‘Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up.’” This was the tradition of the time. Is there anybody else here who’s ever been – what was the name of that city? Vicki and I vacationed there with friends a thousand years ago. It’s in Wyoming. The name of the town is Thermopolis. Anybody else ever been to Thermopolis, Wyoming? OK. It’s got warm springs, sulphur springs, it’s hot springs. I don’t know, I assume it’s still there, but you pay your money, and you go in and you get to sit in the pools, and you feel better when you leave. That’s all the science that I know. “While I am making my way someone else steps down ahead of me.” So clearly Jesus said, “Well, I know what to do. I’m the Messiah. I’m the chosen one of God. So, I’ll sit here with you and the next time the water is stirred and somebody starts to get into the water before you, my job as Messiah is to turn into an offensive lineman. I will knock everybody else out of the way so that you can get in the pool, right?” This is what the Messiah does for us. All NFL offensive linemen get everyone else out of the way so you can get in the pool.

Don’t miss this. This guy’s been sitting by this pool for 38 years looking for something that was out there, something that he thought he did not have. I need something out there because I’m a helpless victim, and there’s something out there that I don’t have that I need. And this probably IS my favorite part of the story. Someone else always sits down ahead of him and Jesus says to him – I’m going to use the King James Version here. By the way, on NPR this morning as I was driving up, I always listen to the 8 o’clock news. This week the legislature in Texas is voting on requiring every public school in the state of Texas to have the Ten Commandments somehow presented in the school. The governor’s going to sign it. The part that made me chuckle the most was their insisting on it being the King James Version, because we all know that that’s how God speaks to us. The King James Version of the Bible. So I really like what the King James Version does, speaking seriously, in this passage, because the man says, “Someone always steps ahead of me.” And Jesus says to him, in the King James Version, which I love, “Rise. Take up thy pallet and walk.” Wait a minute. Don’t I have to get in the pool? Don’t miss that. What Jesus is saying here, not verbally, is you don’t need that pool. What you need you’ve already got. You’ve got it. You’ve got this.

I’ve shared with you before, and I want to say it again, that lo, these many years of ministry and pastoral counseling, boy, not just a light bulb, but one of those searchlights that they used to put up for used car lots back in the day, right? One of those went up over my head, oh, 20-some years ago, when I would sit down and listen to you in my office, and I would empathically connect with you, and you would come to me. There were things in your life where you didn’t know what to do, and oh my gosh, this light bulb went off and I said to myself, “Groat, all of these wonderful people are coming to you and they all need to hear the same thing, and they need to hear it from me, and they need to hear it from their family, and they need to hear it from everybody else. But they need to hear it from their pastor, and they need to hear the pastor say this – “You can do this.” “What do I do, Reverend?” I don’t know. But we can talk about that. We can talk. We can get a piece of paper, we can make choices, we can make lists. I’m not sure. You’re the only one who will ultimately know what you should try, but I’m here to tell you, you can do this. You’ve got this. That’s what Jesus said. You got this.

I’ll finish with this, and this is the only time I’m going to talk about this in a sermon, at least in this congregation. Many of you know that earlier this month I underwent – and I’ve got it written down here and I still can’t pronounce it. It’s cardiac artery surgery. But the technical term is carotid endarterectomy. Am I close? That’s what I got, I got it on my right side, and I learned a lot in this experience. The last time I had surgery I was 6 years old, and I got my tonsils out. They put me under with ether, 1964. I learned a lot in preparation. I learned a lot about me; I learned a lot about others. And I found out that for me, I needed to tell just a few people beforehand. I did tell the church council at our regularly scheduled church council meeting last month. I wanted them to know; I wanted them to pray for me. And I told a small group of friends. Obviously, my family knew. And I learned something. As a pastor, there’s a difference between professional and personal. I knew this intellectually, but when it’s you, right? This is a story about 38 years, this guy sitting by the pool. You know how long I’ve been ordained? Right on the number. I can talk to you for 38 years about being professional when somebody’s going to have surgery. I didn’t know about it since I was 6. I learned what people should say to me and what they shouldn’t. Here’s one example of what people shouldn’t say. I told a colleague who knows better. I’m going to use non-specific pronouns, and I said to this person who knows better, who is an ordained person, I said, “I’m going to have this surgery.” And this person’s response was, “Wow, that’s serious.” (Laughter.) By the way, I’m going to confront them. First, I wanted to survive the surgery. I’m going to smile, but I’m going to be honest. I wanted to say, but I didn’t at the time, “Yeah, I know.” Wow, that’s serious. I walked away from that experience really sad and a little frustrated. That’s not what I needed to hear. Then a few other friends said what I needed to hear,and I went home, and I told Vicki and Jackson, and Jackson and Bree are here today. I feel so sorry for them because I process everything verbally, and I said, “Listen to what I’m learning. I’m learning what people should say and what they shouldn’t say. Do you know what I want to hear from people? You got this.” You got this. So, I told Vicki and Jackson that. There was a silence in the room and my beloved son walked up to me with a smile and slapped me on the back and said, “You got this, old man.” (Laughter.)

Right before they took me in – I love my surgeon. I’m convinced that he’s a genius. Maybe everybody says that, but I’m convinced he’s a genius. He was very gentle with me. Right before we went in, he said, “There’s something I need to tell you.” I figured out later that legally he had to tell me this. He said, “I need to tell you this. There’s 1 percent chance of a stroke, and 1 percent chance of voice box damage.” And I said, “Forget it. It’s off. We’re not doing this.” No. But he was so gentle. And I trusted him. He didn’t say it verbally, but he said it non-verbally. What he said to me was, “You’ve got this.” You’ve got this. I want to get it just right. “We all have many more abilities and internal resources than we know. My advice is that you don’t need to break your neck to find out about it.” You don’t need that pool. What you need, you’ve already got. You’ve got the Christ within. You’ve got this. Amen? Amen.