0:01

Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of

0:04

Elevation Church and this is our podcast

0:06

and I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

0:08

this inspires you. Hope it builds your

0:10

faith. Hope it gives your perspective to see God

0:12

is moving in your life. Enjoy the message

0:17

now, John Chapter five, verse seven, Sir,

0:21

the invalid reply, I have no

0:24

one to help me into the pool. When

0:26

the water is stirred. While

0:29

I am trying to get

0:31

in, someone else goes

0:33

down ahead of me. You're

0:36

gonna love this because you've been wanting to say this

0:38

anyway on my title, and I'm gonna let you say it right

0:41

now. And because I'm telling you to say it,

0:43

you will have permission to say it. Look at

0:45

the person next to you and tell them this,

0:47

and tell them in a convincing way, say

0:50

trust me, I'm

0:52

trying. I'm

0:55

trying. You may be seated. I

0:58

promise I am.

1:01

I really am trying. I

1:05

know I don't always hit the mark, but I

1:08

really am trying. Because

1:11

for me, I have a rule, especially

1:13

as a boss the people

1:15

that work for me, is that I always

1:18

try to make it a point never to punish

1:20

somebody who's trying to be proactive. I

1:23

feel like if somebody makes a mistake because

1:26

they took it a little too far, that's

1:29

a little Jesus. Jesus.

1:31

Let Peter cut Malcus's ear off in the

1:33

garden and put it back on like mister

1:36

Potato had. But I think

1:38

he liked Peter because Peter wouldn't

1:40

just sit around. Peter was like, all right,

1:42

I can do something about this. The

1:44

spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, and I'm about

1:46

to use my flesh to cut off. And

1:49

that's a really interesting thing, isn't

1:51

it. Now. The kids will call somebody a tryhard

1:55

It is like a way of saying, you

1:58

know, if it looks like you

2:00

you try too hard on your outfit.

2:02

And I get that, but I

2:05

like people who will give it a level

2:07

of effort, and even if they

2:09

miss, they swing so big.

2:13

I've always liked people like that. I

2:16

thought I should tell you this. If I ever come up

2:18

here to preach and I don't

2:20

do good, which I'm sure happens,

2:23

it won't be because I didn't

2:25

try. So if you ever see

2:27

me up here struggling in this pulpit and

2:29

you're like, I don't really

2:31

understand this one.

2:35

I think I see what he was trying to do. Did you catch

2:37

that? Number one

2:39

is probably your fault because you didn't pray enough before you came

2:41

to church. That's kiddy, But

2:45

trust me, I'm trying,

2:48

and I think sometimes

2:51

it can be frustrating when

2:55

you are giving your best effort,

2:57

but what is required of you is beyond

3:00

your ability. And I'm gonna try to ignore this fly buzzing

3:02

around my head. But touch somebody and say, I'm trying,

3:04

I'm really trying. I'm

3:08

really You

3:13

must have had to really trust Jesus to

3:15

follow him when he walked the earth.

3:17

People say, oh, I wish I could have followed Jesus

3:19

and walked with him. You know. Now

3:22

it's harder because God is not

3:24

visible like that, and it would have been so cool.

3:26

No, wouldn't It

3:29

would have been so difficult

3:32

to trust Jesus and

3:35

he was always getting in so much trouble.

3:39

He was always explaining

3:41

his actions and his intentions

3:43

after the fact, and

3:46

what that required from his disciples

3:49

was just this crazy amount of

3:51

trust. I'm trying. I'm really trying. I

3:57

mean, oh,

4:00

colcha, whatever you do, just pray for me. Do

4:02

them all do them all.

4:07

Let's back up and see why he's feeling

4:09

so feisty today. Sometime later, verse

4:11

one John chapter five, Jesus went up

4:13

to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now

4:16

there's in Jerusalem, near the Sheepgate

4:19

a pool which in Aramaic is

4:21

called bethesda, means house of

4:23

mercy, and it's surrounded

4:25

by five covered colonnades or

4:27

porches. Here a great

4:30

number of disabled people used to lie,

4:32

the blind, the lame, and

4:35

the paralyzed. It's important

4:37

to note before I go on that

4:39

this is a specific dwelling place for people

4:42

with physical infirmities. And

4:44

the reason I point that out is because I'm going to make

4:46

some spiritual parallels to the

4:48

physical infirmities that are mentioned in this passage.

4:51

But I don't want us to miss the historicity for

4:53

the sake of application. I think that would be irresponsible

4:56

Bible teaching. The people who

4:58

were at this particular hospital,

5:01

if we can even call it that, it

5:03

was more like a public service.

5:05

This pool was not a resort pool.

5:08

Nobody is bringing you little umbrellas

5:10

in your drink at this pool. This

5:13

is a crowded pool and is pushing and

5:15

shoving and word has it that

5:17

if you can get in the pool when

5:19

the angel stirs the water intermittently,

5:22

you can get healed. And

5:24

this puts certain people who have certain disabilities

5:27

and an advantage over others. For

5:29

instance, it said there were the blind,

5:32

the lane, and the paralyzed, And

5:34

so if you're a blind man by this pool,

5:37

you can probably feel your way to the edge

5:39

of the pool, so that when there's an opportunity

5:41

to get in and be healed, you'll be the first

5:44

one there. But if you're paralyzed,

5:46

it puts you at a disadvantage because

5:48

even if you get yourself to the edge of the

5:50

pool, there's a chance that someone else

5:52

can pull you back. You are powerless. And

5:56

that's an interesting thing about life.

5:58

I was out at the ballfield

6:01

last baseball season and

6:03

I saw this really good dad with

6:06

a fanny pack. He

6:08

didn't look happy, he

6:11

didn't look like, you know, these are the days

6:14

making memories. He

6:16

didn't look sealfie ready. But you

6:18

know, I liked about him. He

6:20

was carting this wagon. He

6:22

looked like he had some snacks first kids,

6:25

and maybe he was on snack duty that day,

6:27

and I just admired him because he

6:29

was trying. I watched

6:32

him pull that wagon up the hill. I

6:34

thought about it, how he was trying. He

6:37

was sweating all through his shirt. You could

6:39

tell he came straight from work. It wasn't a baseball

6:41

shirt. He must have had the wagon

6:43

that he packed the night before because he didn't have time

6:45

to change the shirt. But he just came out there. Shirt

6:47

was untucked on one side, looked

6:50

like he spilled a little something on the collar, and

6:53

he was sweating through it. But he

6:55

was trying. And I've

6:57

always loved the scripture that says that Jesus

6:59

looked at one man and he loved him. I thought about

7:01

that a lot lately, how Jesus

7:04

would show up to a place and

7:07

look for somebody who was at a disadvantage.

7:11

I kind of imagine him walking

7:13

around the pull at Bethesda,

7:17

and I'm sure his disciples were

7:20

shocked that he would waste

7:22

time with a bunch

7:24

of people who they would call crippled. That's

7:26

not a PC term, but that's how they would have put it.

7:30

Sickness was connected to spiritual disorder

7:32

in this time. Judaism

7:35

in the first century made a strong connection

7:37

between your spiritual condition and your physical

7:39

condition. So like if you had money.

7:42

That was a proof that you were

7:44

living right. That's how they

7:46

thought about it. We know that's not always the case.

7:49

We know a lot of times some of

7:51

the greatest people who are the most faithful

7:53

to God, they might not live in a big

7:55

house on earth, but we'll probably be cleaning their toilets

7:57

in heaven for the treasure that they're storing up after

8:00

this life. And yet there's

8:02

this tendency to just judge things by the

8:04

physical always

8:06

for all of us. So I kind

8:08

of picture him Jesus walking

8:11

around and asking

8:13

questions. One interesting thing that's in the text.

8:15

Let me show you this real quick. It's too cool for me, just

8:17

a reference. I want to make sure it's very vivid.

8:20

Yeah, is that one

8:22

who was there verse five had

8:24

been an invalid for thirty eight

8:27

years and when

8:29

Jesus saw him lying there and

8:32

learned. Now,

8:35

what stood out to me about that text

8:37

wasn't that Jesus saw him. What

8:40

stood out to me about this text wasn't that

8:42

the man had issues. We all have issues, and

8:45

frankly, we all have areas of paralysis.

8:48

And I'm going to talk about yours in seven minutes, So buckle

8:50

in and get that judgmental, look off

8:52

your face because I'm coming for

8:54

you. On this

8:57

particular occasion. What stood out to me is Jesus

8:59

learned. I

9:01

didn't think he could do that because

9:04

he's the image of God, He's

9:06

the wisdom of God. How can

9:08

the wisdom of God learn information? I

9:12

figured that he must have been walking around asking

9:16

how about her? How long has she been here? Somebody

9:20

said, well, she just got here last week.

9:23

She said, nah, not her?

9:26

How about him? How

9:28

long has he been like that? The blind guy right

9:30

there? Yeah,

9:32

is recent, it's recent. It's

9:34

been it's been two months, I think two

9:37

months, two months, Jimmy two

9:39

months, yeah, two months, two

9:41

months in three days? Yeah, two months in

9:43

three days? No, No, no, not him?

9:48

How about that one? Three

9:50

years? We'll

9:54

see. Put him on standby because

9:56

he's looking for somebody to heal. He's

9:59

looking for somebody who can experience a miracle.

10:02

He's looking for a platform

10:05

to demonstrate his power. How

10:08

about him? Five years? Eh? How

10:11

about her? Seven? How about that

10:13

guy? How long's he been like that? Nine years?

10:15

Eh? Getting closer? How about

10:17

him? And finally somebody figures out how it's

10:20

like, Well, if you want somebody who's been here

10:22

a while, I see what you're doing. Thirty

10:25

eight years long

10:27

enough that he has given up

10:30

hope that anything can

10:32

ever be different, And

10:35

Jesus learned that

10:38

there was one. I'm

10:40

gonna try so hard not to cry

10:42

when I say this to you. But verse

10:44

five says one who

10:46

was there had been an invalid for thirty

10:49

eight years. What does it

10:51

mean that Jesus, who

10:53

only had three years to do

10:55

ministry and was on his way

10:58

to a feast, would come by for one?

11:01

Does it mean? Could it mean

11:04

that out of everybody that I'm preaching to

11:06

today, out of everybody

11:08

that made a decision to show up at a campus,

11:11

that God might want the one in

11:14

the back who got here twelve minutes

11:16

late, pulling a wagon, just

11:18

trying to get through the week. Could

11:21

it be that God is looking

11:24

for the one who had the worst week, the

11:26

worst upbringing you, the

11:28

one that other people said could never be

11:31

anything, the one who has

11:33

gotten so used to how it is,

11:36

this is really what happens in life. You get

11:39

so used to how it is

11:42

that you cannot recognize that

11:44

how it used to be is

11:47

no longer what's in front of you. All

11:51

right, So let's work on this a little bit bring in here,

11:53

Jesus says, Now, when you get to heaven,

11:55

you'll probably be shocked who's there and who's not. How

11:57

many agreed, there's going to be some people in

12:00

heaven that are going to shock us, like

12:03

WHOA she made it? That

12:07

must have been like a thief on the cross

12:09

deathbed kind of she got in right

12:11

under the wire. WHOA

12:16

they made it. I thought they believed

12:18

weird stuff. They were new

12:21

age, and they made it. I think

12:23

we're going to be surprised who's

12:25

there and who's not, because

12:28

I think we're always surprised who

12:30

God picks and who he uses

12:33

and who he doesn't. One

12:37

was there who had been lying there

12:39

for so long that you can

12:41

even tell in his response and the questions

12:43

Jesus asked him that he

12:46

had he had gotten

12:48

tired of trying.

12:52

My message today is for

12:54

anybody who's tired of trying in an area

12:56

of your life. Tired

12:59

of try trying to repair a

13:01

significant relationship, tired

13:05

of trying to be open so

13:07

that you can experience relationships,

13:10

Tired of trying to overcome

13:12

the thing that you keep going back to,

13:15

and it's been since you were even in your teens.

13:17

And now you're a grown man. I

13:20

edited it for YouTube, and now I'm tired

13:23

of trying because there was a time

13:25

where I tried to get people to help me

13:28

to get into the pool, but now I found

13:30

out that there's no one to help me. Now, what's

13:32

mind blowing about the situation at

13:34

the pool at Bethesda is how

13:36

many different ways I have heard this

13:39

preach that completely contradict

13:41

the heart of God. For instance,

13:44

when Jesus comes up to the man and learn

13:46

that he had been lying there and he

13:48

had been in this condition for a long

13:52

time. Pause, how

13:54

many of y'all have been in a certain

13:56

condition for a long

13:59

time. Jesus,

14:02

I need help. There's three honest people in the church.

14:06

And I forgot I was coming out to speak to the

14:08

perfect saints, the ten out of ten a plus

14:10

saints. I forgot I was talking to the all stars

14:12

today. I thought I was coming to elevation where they're

14:14

not afraid to be real in

14:16

your name, Amen, how many of y'all

14:18

have had certain patterns of thinking

14:21

that have been negative for a long

14:24

time. I mean a long

14:27

time. I don't know how old the man was, but

14:29

thirty eight years. Trust me, I'm thirty nine

14:32

is a long time. This

14:34

is the entire span of my natural

14:37

life. And for so long he's

14:39

been unable to move that

14:42

now he cannot recognize

14:44

the help that is standing right

14:46

in front of him. And Jesus

14:48

asks a question that I have often

14:51

heard misinterpreted when he says,

14:53

do you want to get well?

14:56

Tone is everything. That's why you can't text

14:58

every conversation because tone

15:00

is everything. Sometimes

15:03

you need to pick up the phone and call

15:05

people because completely depending

15:08

on the tone is how you see the heart of Jesus.

15:11

I always read it for a long time. Like Jesus

15:13

said, do you want to get well?

15:16

I almost see him now like he's got

15:18

something in his back pocket and he's

15:20

sneaking around the pool looking for

15:23

somebody. They say God helps those who help themselves,

15:25

but I almost see Jesus looking for somebody

15:27

who can't. And he's like, I see

15:30

you caught in the situation. You

15:32

want to get well? And

15:36

the man has every reason to be suspicious.

15:40

Can you imagine how many people have taken

15:42

advantage of him in almost

15:45

forty years of suffering. How

15:48

many hustlers have come through the pool at Bethesta

15:51

trying to sell a magic potion or some bubbling

15:54

water. Hey, I got some

15:56

cream men, put it on your legs. I promise

15:58

it's blessed. Hey,

16:01

man, I promise you. I'll bring you to the pool. I'll

16:03

push you in when the water starts bubbling. Just

16:05

give me half now and half after the move. I

16:07

promise you I can carry you in. I got

16:09

you. How many times did

16:12

somebody make him a promise? Because

16:16

it seems cruel to Christ

16:18

the expression of the love of God would

16:21

stand over a man who couldn't move and

16:24

ask him such a ridiculous question. Do

16:27

you want to lose weight? But

16:30

yeah?

16:33

Do you want to be happy?

16:36

Well yeah?

16:38

Do you want to be able to live at peace

16:40

without anxiety? Well? Yeah,

16:44

what you're selling? I

16:47

heard this spiel before I

16:50

tried that diet. How many

16:52

y'all tried that diet before I

16:55

put a meditation app on my phone?

17:00

Y'all, To be honest with you, I got four meditation

17:02

apps on my phone. I tried

17:05

all of them. I either fall

17:07

asleep or my leg starts doing

17:09

like that. I can't do it.

17:11

Everybody tells me to meditate. The Bible

17:14

says meditate, Russell Brand says

17:16

meditate. Joe Rogan says, meditate.

17:18

Everybody's telling me to meditate. I tried

17:21

it. I really did try it. They

17:23

also taught me about portion control. I

17:25

tried portion control. How many all

17:28

tried. Somebody told me one time, they said, here's

17:31

how you stay at an ideal waight

17:33

when you're full stop eating. My

17:35

only problem I never found full.

17:41

That gauge got broken

17:43

somewhere in my childhood. I

17:46

never felt full, so I kept eating.

17:48

I tried that. Oh. They say,

17:50

if you don't complain, you

17:53

will feel more connected to God. I

17:56

tried it, but I

17:58

found out sometimes if you don't come, nothing

18:00

changes. I tried

18:03

so hard not to complain. At one

18:05

time, I was gonna go seven days without complaining,

18:07

and I thought, if I could do it, I could make

18:10

a sermon out of it. I thought I

18:12

could call it, you know, seven days a week of worship

18:14

or something like that. I tried so

18:17

hard not to complain for seven

18:19

days. What happened was and

18:24

this is so embarrassing to admit to you. The

18:26

more I tried not to complain

18:29

externally, because sometimes you can

18:31

fix the symptom. Now

18:34

I'm in the text, you can

18:36

fix the symptom and stop

18:38

trying to complain. But the root

18:40

of it what happened to me was I went

18:43

five good days without complaining, but

18:45

on day six the walls

18:48

of Jericho came tumbling down.

18:50

A day early, everything

18:53

in my path was, Oh,

18:55

it was a tornado, it was

18:57

a downpour. Because when you

18:59

fix it's a symptom, but

19:01

don't address the system

19:04

that created the symptom, the

19:06

end is worse than the beginning. You

19:16

want to get well, well,

19:19

yeah,

19:21

I'm trying. When

19:25

you get to heaven, you'd be

19:27

surprised who's there and who's not. But

19:30

one thing you write might really be shocked about

19:34

this dude, whoever he

19:36

is in John five, is going

19:38

to have a long line of preachers

19:41

waiting to apologize to him for

19:44

how we misinterpreted his

19:46

story in John chapter five.

19:50

Oh, I've heard everything. I've

19:52

heard. It said that in thirty

19:54

eight years the man should have been able to

19:57

crawl or roll his way to the edge

19:59

of the pool. Yeah, like

20:01

that will work, because now somebody

20:03

stronger than you is just going to pull you back at the

20:05

moment you're still powerless to fall in at the

20:07

right time. And besides,

20:11

when has Jesus ever

20:13

taunted someone into transformation?

20:17

You really think that's the spirit of the Savior. Some

20:21

of us do we really

20:23

picture God like standing over us in

20:26

our minds, our concept of God like. You

20:28

don't want it bad enough. If

20:34

you would have done it different when

20:36

they were eight, they wouldn't have been in so much trouble

20:38

when they were eighteen. See, you screwed them

20:40

up. That's what God sounds like

20:42

to a lot of us. So it's no surprise that

20:45

when we hear Jesus say do you want to get

20:47

well? He says it with a snarl. You

20:49

know, do you even want to get well? Do

20:51

you even lift? Are you even serious?

20:53

I mean, prove it if you do, if you want to

20:55

get well, say I want to get well? So

20:59

why did he Why

21:04

did he ask the man do

21:07

you want to get well? Before

21:10

he helped him get up and walk? And

21:13

as I prayed through that this week, I

21:16

realize that before

21:18

Jesus could help him walk, he

21:21

had to help him want. I

21:29

don't know who this is for, but

21:31

God is dealing with your desires

21:34

in this season of your life. You

21:37

have been disappointed over

21:39

and over and over again,

21:42

and every time you try, nobody

21:45

notices, and every time

21:47

you try, you come up short, sickness

21:51

is cyclical. It comes

21:53

around, it goes around, you're well

21:55

for a little while, and then it's the same thing

21:57

all over again. But this time it's only worse

22:00

because now not only are you back

22:02

where you started, but you have less

22:04

hope that it is ever going to be different, because

22:07

you've cycled through it one more time just

22:09

to realize. Well, I guess I'm just

22:11

a cynical person. Well, I guess

22:13

I'm just a negative person. I

22:15

guess nobody in my family was meant

22:18

to go to college. I guess. See, when

22:20

you hang around the colonnades with

22:22

people who are sick, sickness

22:24

becomes normal to you, and

22:26

it starts to be easier for you to

22:29

just accept the condition than

22:31

to challenge it, because

22:33

to challenge the condition means to risk

22:35

disappointment. And some of us

22:37

have tried, got blocked, tried,

22:40

got blocked, tried, got

22:42

blocked. And now people see you and

22:44

they assume that you don't care. No I

22:47

care. I cared, and I cared

22:49

so much, but they didn't care back.

22:52

And I tried so hard and I

22:54

still got looked over. And don't you

22:56

know, it's hard when your expectation

22:59

has been damaged by disappointment.

23:02

It's a slow damage. It's a slow

23:04

tearing of the muscle fibers. It

23:06

is a slow deterioration of your

23:08

hope by disappointment. It is not one

23:10

event that creates it. It's over

23:13

and over. I tried, and

23:15

I tried, and I smiled, and

23:17

I stayed, and I cooked, and

23:19

I parented and I disciplined and

23:21

I showed up and I didn't care. And

23:24

the man has finally gotten to

23:26

a place, I believe where he is tired

23:29

of trying. Are you?

23:34

It's supposed to be the Sabbath, It's

23:37

supposed to be a day of rest. Why

23:41

did Jesus stop by the pool on

23:43

the day of rest to perform

23:46

a miracle? You're not supposed

23:48

to work on the Sabbath.

23:53

This may offend you, but

23:56

it won't be the first time this

24:00

offends you. Your

24:02

metal detector has turned up to level ten

24:04

anyway, and you need to just turn it down. Y'all. Notice,

24:06

we live in a gotcha culture, outrage

24:08

culture. Just nobody can say anything. You can't

24:11

say anything anymore, And the more the people try to help

24:13

us, the more we crucify him if they say the wrong thing. Have

24:15

you noticed that. This is how they treat Jesus.

24:18

He heals the man on the Sabbath, and

24:21

all that anyone can talk about is

24:23

that he did it on the wrong day.

24:26

So this is what I don't want to say. It was gonna offend you.

24:31

You thought that was what was gonna offend you. No, no, no, no no, no no.

24:35

Jesus walks up on the Sabbath and

24:38

when he tells the man in verse

24:40

eight, get up, pick

24:43

up your mat, and walk, he

24:47

is trying to get the man to break

24:50

sabbath. So Jesus walks

24:52

up to the pool, looks around

24:55

and asks the man, what's

24:57

going on in your heart right now? Because

25:01

before I can help you walk, I

25:03

have to heal your will. So

25:05

here's what Jesus does that we don't

25:07

like. He calls BS, he

25:14

calls watch this, He

25:16

calls BS, and

25:18

I don't know what you're thinking about right now, but

25:21

I'm talking about broken system.

25:25

See. Now, there's one thing

25:28

in the verse. There's one thing in the verse that

25:30

doesn't make sense unless you understand

25:32

the historical context. When the

25:34

man says, I keep trying, I

25:37

keep trying to get down there, but I can

25:39

never be first. I'm not fast enough.

25:41

In fact, I can't move at all. I

25:43

keep trying, but every time

25:46

I try, something blocks

25:48

me. And Jesus says, that's because the system

25:50

is broken. If you'll notice,

25:52

give me a verse four of the scripture. I forgot

25:54

to read it. John

25:59

five four Jared.

26:04

It's been a long week, you know, staff events. Jared.

26:11

Where's Jared? Can

26:15

you get him? Yeah? I need

26:17

him.

26:20

Verse four unlocks the whole thing. We

26:26

can wait. This man waited thirty

26:28

eight years. We can wait three minutes. Uh,

26:36

the manuscript, you don't have it. It's not in the manuscript.

26:40

It's not available. Oh.

26:41

They they

26:44

added that verse later. H

26:47

it's not even in the original manuscript. They

26:50

added a scripture later, they

26:54

added a verse to explain

26:56

the situation. It

26:59

didn't make sense, so they had to add you can go

27:01

back to your job now. They had but

27:03

come here real quick, real quick, real quick, real quick. So

27:06

a lot of times when a

27:08

situation in my life doesn't make sense

27:10

to me, I add averse.

27:15

I add averse. You

27:17

know how we do? It's like, okay,

27:20

Rather than deal with it, I

27:23

would rather explain it in a way

27:25

that excuses me from having

27:27

to deal with it. There's a reason.

27:30

Verse four isn't in there because it's

27:32

not in there. There's some stuff

27:34

that you're putting in your story that

27:36

doesn't belong there because God didn't

27:38

speak it, and it's not true anymore.

27:45

You go back, see

27:48

what the man said reflects a broken

27:51

system, and it reflects a bad

27:53

story. That's another bs. The

27:56

devil has got some of us telling ourselves

27:58

some really bad story worries, and

28:00

this man has been telling himself a story

28:03

thirty eight years. No

28:05

one wants to help me. Everybody's out

28:07

to get me every time I try. No

28:10

one wants to help me. Everybody's out

28:12

to get me every time I try. So

28:14

here comes Jesus. He doesn't know

28:16

Jesus. He's never met Jesus.

28:18

Jesus is new to the scene. Jesus

28:21

hasn't even done the Captain D's miracle yet,

28:23

that's in John chapter six. He hasn't

28:25

even gotten familiar with this guy yet.

28:28

He hasn't even had an opportunity to unpack

28:30

the whole historicity of his situation. So

28:33

he's standing in front of Jesus and

28:35

he's rightfully skeptical because

28:37

he's in a broken system where the religious

28:39

leaders are trying to let the first ones

28:42

in and keep the rest back. And

28:44

unless you keep the law this good, you

28:46

can't be healed. Of course, he's

28:48

stuck. He's

28:50

stuck in a broken system. So

28:53

are some of us. He's

28:55

stuck in a bad story, and so

28:57

are some of us. We've

29:00

inserted versus that aren't

29:02

even there to

29:04

explain why we are the way we are. We

29:08

think is our job to suffer. You

29:12

know, suffering for Christ and for the good of others

29:14

is one thing, and sacrifice this. But

29:16

to suffer the shame that He already took away

29:18

from you is to snatch

29:20

back what he nailed to the cross. It

29:23

is not your job to suffer like that.

29:26

That's a broken system. I'm

29:29

telling you, men and women of the Most High God. Religion

29:31

is a broken system. That's

29:34

why Jesus went for one to show you this

29:36

is a relationship. I want

29:38

to deal with you one on one. I want

29:40

to speak to you like a person, not like

29:42

you're some kind of project, not like you're

29:44

some kind of defect. I

29:53

don't have anybody to help me. Trust

29:55

me, I'm trying. I

29:58

really try it. If

30:00

you knew how hard I was trying, you wouldn't

30:02

make fun of me like that and

30:05

ask me do I want to get well? I

30:07

don't have any help? And

30:10

see that was true

30:13

five minutes ago, but

30:15

the situation has changed. What

30:19

he said used to be true.

30:21

It was true for a long time. And

30:24

then Grace shows up at the pool at Bethesda.

30:29

Five porches. Five

30:31

is the number of Grace always

30:34

symbolism. There's levels to this text.

30:37

We could preach a series on this text. Now

30:40

Grace is here in

30:42

what used to be true isn't

30:45

true anymore? Are

30:48

you still stuck in something

30:50

that used to be true

30:53

but it isn't true anymore? I

30:58

bet he would be tired thirty

31:00

eight years of fighting off the vultures,

31:03

in thirty eight years of looking out for yourself.

31:06

And you kind of have to live that way

31:09

until Grace becomes the dominant reality

31:11

in your life. And

31:14

then Jesus comes into your life and

31:16

everything changes. But

31:19

sometimes we keep living

31:22

off of the old story,

31:25

the bad story. No

31:27

one will help me and

31:31

Jesus like I'm

31:33

someone.

31:36

Now, the question is this, how

31:40

did Jesus command the

31:42

man to get up if

31:46

the man couldn't walk

31:49

in the first place. A

31:53

careful reading of the text will reward

31:55

us in this moment. One

31:58

interpretation is that his

32:01

healing was his reward

32:03

for obedience. That's religion.

32:06

It's a bad story

32:09

because the fact of the matter is, if

32:11

trying harder could have made me better,

32:14

I'd be better by now. I

32:16

tried that, diet, I

32:19

tried that. I wasn't going to

32:21

do this, and I wasn't going to do that, and

32:23

I wasn't going to do the other. You've tried

32:25

that already, and if it

32:28

could work, it would have worked by

32:30

now. So the

32:33

man said, I'm trying, and

32:35

Jesus said, trust me. Get

32:41

up, take

32:43

up your mat and walk.

32:46

I'm trying, Jesus

32:48

said, and trust

32:50

me. I'm

32:53

trying. Trust

32:55

me. That's

32:58

the real task is

33:00

to trust. That's

33:03

always been the real work. John

33:07

Chapter five is in a text about being

33:09

lazy. Come on, get

33:12

up, make up your bed, get on the

33:14

treadmill, go get them tiger, this

33:16

is your day. This is not a pep talk.

33:20

This is a complete reversal

33:23

of the systems of this world. It

33:25

is a contrast of works

33:28

and grace. That's

33:31

why it had to happen on the Sabbath.

33:33

The moment that he picked up his mat,

33:36

he was doing work, and the

33:38

moment that he was doing work. It made

33:40

everybody who was in power mad because

33:42

he wasn't supposed to do work. The

33:45

whole reason that Jesus showed up

33:47

for one person was that he

33:49

wanted to overturn an entire

33:52

system. There is one

33:54

situation in your life right now that

33:57

God is trying to use and

33:59

by a dress this situation, I

34:01

promise you it's gonna change

34:03

the whole system because up

34:05

until this point, you've been trying trying.

34:08

I'm trying to love God. I'm trying to

34:10

bring war. I'm trying to read my Bible, I'm

34:12

trying to eat my Broucoli. I'm trying to be a nice

34:14

person. I'm trying to be kinder, I'm trying

34:17

to do better. And God said, I see you trying.

34:19

Will you trust me? Will

34:22

you trust me enough to

34:25

get up when you feel like you can't get

34:28

up, to praise me when

34:30

you don't feel like you want to praise me?

34:32

Do you trust me enough? I

34:36

know you've been trying, but do you trust

34:38

me? This is a trust moment, This

34:40

is a trust decision. Sometimes

34:48

my trying gets in the way of my trusting.

34:53

And this man got up because

34:57

he had been healed, and

34:59

you keep thinking that you will be

35:01

healed if you can get up, but

35:03

you can't, and you're trying,

35:06

and you're trying. And here's

35:08

what's so funny about the text to me. The

35:11

man said, I'm trying, and

35:14

Jesus said, so am, I

35:20

I'm trying to help you. I

35:23

knew you couldn't reach that water. I

35:27

knew you grew up in a really, really hard

35:29

environment and there was some abuse. And

35:31

I know you're trying to be a better man

35:34

than your dad was, or I know that you're

35:36

trying to be a better mom than your mom was, or

35:38

I know you're trying to figure things out when the complexities

35:41

are greater than anything you've ever seen. I

35:43

see you trying, and

35:45

I'm trying. Since

35:48

you can't get to the water. I

35:50

brought water to you. And

35:56

what it does when

35:58

you get up and you do

36:01

what you didn't think you could do, It

36:03

shocks the system. God

36:06

said, some of you who have been lying in your

36:08

condition for thirty eight years. I

36:11

brought you to church today, not so

36:13

you could just sing a few songs or

36:15

hear a few words, but I want to

36:17

shock the system. I

36:19

want to stir up the waters. I

36:22

want to heal. Watch this

36:24

your will.

36:28

You've lost your will. You've

36:31

lost your will to be sweet, You've

36:33

lost your will to be forgiving, You've

36:35

lost your will to be whole. You

36:37

don't even want that anymore because you tried

36:39

to want it. And it hurts to have hope,

36:42

especially when you're disappointed, especially

36:44

when something gets in your way, especially

36:46

when you keep pumping up against your own brokenness,

36:49

especially when it's rigged against you. And

36:53

I want to help you walk first.

36:56

I need to help you want to

37:00

want the right things again, for

37:02

the right reasons, to

37:05

heal your desires

37:08

by the pool of Bodesda,

37:12

here comes walking living water. That's

37:16

what he told the Samaritan in John

37:18

four. He said, within you will

37:21

be rivers of living water. So

37:25

I know you can't get to the water. Let

37:28

the water come to you.

37:32

You will not receive certain things

37:34

in your life from trying, but

37:37

only by trusting. Then

37:47

we were at a pool seven or eight years ago,

37:50

and Elijah wanted to swim, and we went

37:52

down there as a hotel pool, and

37:54

it had that pool smell, but

37:57

we went in anyway. We just

37:59

he was, I guess at that point seven years

38:01

old, so I had to get some energy out, so we

38:03

got into the pool. As soon as we got in, the

38:06

doors busted open. The hotel manager

38:08

said, hey, sir, I

38:11

advise you to get out of that pool. I

38:13

said, why, it's like the middle of the day.

38:16

I'm like, stupid hotel rules. You know, I'm not

38:18

one to really like stupid rules. I'm

38:20

like, it's the middle of the day, there's nobody

38:22

here. I am a registered guest, and about

38:24

the time I'm in the middle of my imaginary

38:27

speech. I'm usually nice externally.

38:29

It's just what happens on the inside that makes me go

38:31

to hell. But I

38:33

said, I said, about

38:35

the time I was about to say what I was about to say, he said,

38:38

we just shocked it. I

38:45

said, well, next time, we'll give you notice

38:47

before you come. I don't want to shock your

38:49

pool. He said, no, he

38:52

said, sometimes the

38:54

water, you know, once

38:57

a week or something, has

38:59

to have a treatment. We

39:01

call it shocking the pool

39:05

because when the chlorine combines

39:07

with the I really

39:09

don't want to tell you all this that's

39:11

in this pool. This

39:14

is an hotel pools or bacteria,

39:17

sweat other

39:21

fluids, pool

39:23

fluids, hotel pool fluids.

39:28

So once a week we

39:31

got to shock it. Once

39:34

a week. I come

39:36

to church because

39:38

sometimes my heart gets

39:41

mixed up with some

39:43

substances,

39:45

some contaminants, some

39:48

disappointments. Sometimes

39:50

this world pollutes me. So when

39:52

I come to church, please understand, I'm

39:55

coming to treat my disappointments

39:59

because I need living water and

40:02

I don't want to die by the pool. So

40:05

I came to church. And I don't know if you came

40:07

to church for this reason. I don't really know why you came.

40:09

But tell somebody, shock the waters. Jesus

40:13

said, I came down to the pool in Pithesta,

40:16

not just to look around and go home

40:18

and pray a nice prayer. But

40:20

I came to this pool, this house of mercy,

40:23

to shock the waters. And it

40:26

just might be that God brought

40:28

you here this week because

40:30

you've been in a state of disappointment. But

40:33

God said, I'm about to shock the waters.

40:36

I'm about to stir it up. You

40:38

don't have to wait for an angel, you

40:40

don't have to wait for somebody to get out of

40:42

your way. You don't have to wait for

40:44

a situational improvement. And

40:47

we beheld his glory, the

40:49

fullness of the Father, full

40:51

of grace and truth. Living

40:53

water is in the house. Trust

41:02

me, I'm trying

41:04

to bless you. I hear the voice of the Lord.

41:07

Trust me. I'm

41:09

trying to help you raise those kids.

41:12

Trust me, I'm trying.

41:14

You say, well, well, God doesn't

41:16

try to do anything. He either does or he doesn't.

41:18

Then why did Jesus go to Nazareth? And it says

41:20

he couldn't do many miracles there? He

41:24

tried to, but

41:27

they tripped. I

41:30

believe there are many for whom this message

41:32

is just another Bible message.

41:35

I believe there are some and

41:38

maybe even few, that

41:40

this is a definitive word for your life.

41:43

You have been like that man. You

41:46

have been paralyzed in an area of your

41:48

life for a long time, and

41:50

you've been trying. But

41:53

you've been bitter for eight years over

41:56

what the business partner did, and

41:58

you keep trying. This

42:00

is not about trying. This

42:03

is about trust. You've

42:06

been going back and forth and back and forth

42:08

and back and forth for so long,

42:11

and today God is saying, let

42:14

the water come

42:16

to you.

42:20

Father. We declare this our

42:23

sabbath, where we

42:25

rest from our labor

42:28

and enter into your grace, with

42:31

everyone standing and no one

42:34

moving at every location. If

42:38

this has been a season for you of frustration,

42:43

a season of you going to the

42:45

pool over and over, and

42:47

you've been blocked so many times now that

42:50

quite honestly, you

42:52

don't need just God to heal your legs,

42:55

or to heal your bank account, or

42:58

to just heal that one compulsive

43:00

area in your life.

43:03

But you need Jesus to do what he did for that unnamed

43:05

man in John chapter five and heal your will

43:10

and help you to want him

43:12

again. The

43:14

place to start is not pretending the

43:18

man was healed partially because he was honest.

43:21

I keep trying every

43:24

time I try something

43:27

someone, but there's

43:29

a greater someone.

43:31

There is a greater

43:34

power than anything

43:36

that you are struggling with that's pulling against

43:39

you. This takes faith

43:42

to trust him, to

43:44

really believe that he made you like he wants to make

43:46

you as short as he wanted

43:49

to make you. You grew up in

43:51

as small or as big of a town as he wanted

43:53

you to grow up in. It takes trust,

43:56

and all your life God has been trying to

43:59

position you. All

44:01

your life. God has been bringing things into alignment

44:04

so that you can serve His purpose. And

44:07

now he saying, trust me if

44:11

this has been your word today, and

44:13

there is an area of paralysis in your

44:16

life. I want you with your

44:18

head bowed, your eyes closed, and not looking around. You know,

44:20

this man could have spent the rest of his life

44:22

thirty eight more years talking about somebody

44:24

else, somebody else, everybody

44:27

else, somebody else. And sometimes

44:29

that's what keeps us from getting what we need from

44:31

God. Is somebody else? What

44:33

will somebody else think? But when you

44:35

come to the point where you've been trying long enough

44:38

and you really just want to surrender to the mystery

44:40

and give God everything that you are and everything

44:42

that you're not, you don't mind lifting up your

44:44

hands. So if this is your word, just

44:46

lift up your hands for living water in this moment

44:49

and shock the waters. Shock

44:52

the waters. Worship shocks the

44:54

waters. Worship stirs up the complacent

44:56

heart. Worship realigns

44:59

your affections and reconfigures

45:01

your desires so that what you want

45:03

is what God wants for you. Shock

45:05

the waters today. You've gotten stagnant,

45:08

you've gotten complacent, You started blaming

45:10

everybody and everything. And this

45:13

is not a time to try harder. It's

45:15

a time to trust more

45:19

to you and

45:21

to say yes, I'll get up if

45:24

you help me. I'm

45:26

trying. Trust

45:29

me. I'm

45:32

trying. I'm

45:35

trying to trust God, but I can't see him. I'm

45:38

trying to trust God, but sometimes he feels

45:40

far away. Why

45:44

won't he speak to me? Why won't he helped me? He says,

45:46

I'm trying. I'm

45:48

trying to show you my presence. I'm trying to

45:50

put people around you. I'm

45:53

trying to help you. I'm

45:56

here. You

45:58

just are used to it. You're

46:01

used to doing it alone, so you keep doing it alone.

46:05

You keep telling yourself this story. You keep

46:07

living in this system.

46:11

But trust me. Thank

46:15

you for joining us. Special thanks to those

46:17

of you who give generously to this ministry.

46:20

Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

46:23

You can click the link in the description to give

46:25

now, or visit Elevationchurch

46:27

dot org slash podcast for more information

46:30

and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

46:33

You can share it with your friends. You can click

46:35

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46:37

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46:40

Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you