Crippled by Love, Disabled by Hate

John 5:1-8 (The Message Bible)
Even on the Sabbath. Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, "Do you want to get well?" The sick man said, "Sir, when the water is stirred, I don't have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in." Jesus said, "Get up, take your bedroll, start walking." The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

   


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  Once upon a time there was a mother and father, we'll call them Harold and Deidra, who loved their child so much that they could not bear the thought of allowing the child to ever  cry, feel pain, or even be exposed to difficulty in any form. There was also a second mother and father, let's call them Thomas and Mona, who secretly hated their child, blamming them for destrying their freedom, the physical beauty of the mother and forcing the father to care. Both families decided that it would be easier to place their children in an enclosed room free from outside contact. The room allowed each family to monitor their children from a thick glass window through a large steel plated door. Several times a day the the parents would enter the rooms just long enough to feed, clothe and clean their children. Deidra and Harold would hurriedly care for the child, fearful of exposing them to germ from the outside. For this reason they would only stay but for a moment.  Mona and Thomas also would hurriedly enter to provide for their childs' needs, staying only for a moment as well; however their reason for leaving so quickly was the desire to limit contact with the object of their hatred. As time pressed on, the childern began to grow. Deidra & Harold's child started to crawl and even pull up on the walls of the room into a stand. The proud parents smiled and cooed through the thick glass encouraging the child to keep trying. Suddenly, the child placed one foot in front of the other, trying to walk,then fell hard to the floor and crying out in pain. Their hearts sank as they ran in quickly to the rescue. Mona and Tom's beautiful toddler had a similar experience, yet Tom & Mona did not run in to rescue the child, instead they began yelling loud and hurtfully to scold the child for trying to stand in the first place.

     This situation caused a big dilema for both families. If Deidra & Harold's child continued to try to walk, the child would certainly experience the pain they feared. If Mona & Tom's child continued to try to walk, the toddler would only require more of their time and attention by forcing them to enter the room to help; therefore both parents decided simutaneously to keep the children in an extremely small, very padded playpen.

     As the years rolled on, the children grew. They learned to stand and hold on to the sides of the pen, but never learned to walk. By age 5 they were ready to go to school. Deidra & Harold dressed the child smartly for the first day at school, packed a lunch, and opened the small play pen door. Mona & Tom also provided suitable clothing, gave the child a handful of dollars for lunch and opened the miniture play pen door.  Much to their amazement the children were absolutely unable to walk. They stood strong and tall, but did not know how to operate their legs in a manner that would allow them to step out of the play pen.   Both children required wheel chairs to leave the room at all. Surprisingly, both children were also very sickly and missed many days from school. 

     Many more years rolled on and the children celbrated their 18th birthdays and were preparing for graduation from high school. As their friends from school prepared for prom, earned their driving licenses and talked excitedly about walking across the stage for their graduation, Both Deidra & Harold's and Mona & Tom's children refused to do any of these activities. As more years rolled along, both children, now young adults, found themselves unhappy and regretful. One day, Deidra & Harold's child, in a deep fit of despair, raised a fists toward heaven and with a loud angry shout yelled out at God, "how could you do this to me, why did you create me with this disability?" That same day across town, Mona & Tom's child tryed to cross a busy street but tipped over the wheelchair and fell to the ground. Crying out with a gruff hurtful scream towards Heaven, "why did you do this to me? Why!"

     As if in a dream, both people heard a Voice inside their hearts; "Rise up and walk". "I can't, I'm disabled. I've never been able to walk". The Voice called out again, you can walk, you have always been able to walk, Rise Up!" both were parallized by fear, unable to even try. Before their eyes the entire events of their births, childhood, and young adulthood passed before their eyes. They saw how they were able to stand, even attempting to take steps was abruptly halted by the love and hate.  They saw how this love and hate imprisoned them. They also saw that they never, never, never once tried to walk even in their adulthood.  The Voice called again, this time with authority and power they had never heard in life thundered: "Rise and walk" both people, now with fear and awe looked up towards Heaven…

     It started somewhere deep inside their chests. One describbed it as a "burning, It was painful", the other said "it stung like a slap in the face". With limbs shaking, trembling heart, and eyes open, each looked upwards, seeing beyond the clouds, beyond the good intentions of love and the bad intentions of hate to see what lay just beyond the clouds…. 'A Brand New Day' 

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Everybody look around
'Cause there's a reason to rejoice you see
Everybody come out
And let's commence to singing joyfully
Everybody look up
And feel the hope that we've been waiting for

Everybody's glad
Because our silent fear and dread is gone
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

Everybody be glad
Because the sun is shining just for us
Everybody wake up
Into the morning into happiness

Hello world
It's like a different way of living now
And thank you world
We always knew that we'd be free somehow
In harmony
And show the world that we've got liberty

It's such a change
For us to live so independently
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

Everybody be glad
Because the sun is shining just for us
Everybody wake up
Into the morning into happiness
Hello world
It's like a different way of living now
And thank you world
We always knew that we'd be free somehow
In harmony
And show the world that we've got liberty

It's such a change
For us to live so independently
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

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