Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 5                          NOTES FOR REFLECTION                         Sixth Sunday of Easter

Texts: Acts 16:9-15; Revelation 21:10, and 21:22-22-5; John 5:1-9

Theme:  The question Jesus puts to the sick man at the pool is so important that it might itself serve as the theme for today: "Do You Want to be Healed?"  A more original choice might be something like "One at a Time and All Together", which would capture the mood of this time of the Easter Season, where we have the Big Picture constantly before us made up of individual threads.

Introduction.  St Paul and his entourage are having a frustrating time in their travels (see below), but arrive in Troas.  There during the night he sees in a vision a Macedonian begging him to go to Macedonia to help the people there.  He goes there and meets, not a Macedonian man but a group of women, one of whom is Lydia, who becomes a convert when the Holy Spirit opens her heart to Paul's message.  Meanwhile, St John the Divine is once more in the Spirit as he sees in more detail the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven.  If there is a link with the gospel passage today, the key may be the pool with supposedly healing powers.  True healing comes, not from a mineral spa, but from the Son of God incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth.

Background.  The first thing I want to draw attention to today is the fact that we are now this side (after) the famous Council of Jerusalem: read chapter 15 if you've forgotten the story.  Then keep going into chapter 16 and you will see the painful truth about the human beings who peopled the infant church, our spiritual ancestors whose genes we have so obviously inherited!  The Council held a full and frank discussion and (remarkably) reached consensus: Gentile converts did not have to become good Jews in order to become good Christians.  All those in favour say "Aye", all those against say "No", carried unanimously, or so we are led to believe.

The Holy Spirit has guided the whole lot of them into unity.  The minutes are drafted, the summary of their decision is prepared for dispatch, and these giants of the faith disperse to carry the good news to the various faith communities.  But not so fast.  Go back for a moment to 15:25 and notice the glowing reference to "our beloved Barnabas and Paul".  Now fast forward to 15:39, where we find "our beloved Barnabas and Paul" at each other's throats: The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company.  [No reference to the role of the Holy Spirit here, be it noted.]

Worse is to follow.  Paul arrives in Lystra where he meets a disciple called Timothy.  He is so impressed with the young man that he wants to take him with him, but there is a problem.  Timothy's father was a Greek (Gentile) so Timothy was not circumcised.  [You see where this is going?]  Post the Council of Jerusalem that should not have been a problem, should it? But Paul, the great advocate for equality between Jewish and Gentile converts, took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.  [The traditional explanation is that Timothy's mother was Jewish, she should not have married a Gentile, and she should have brought the child up as Jewish.  So to avoid offending Jewish sensitivities Timothy had to be turned, somewhat belatedly, into a real Jew by circumcision.  Well, St Paul might have been a recovering Pharisee by this time, but it seems the recovery wasn't going too well. Perhaps he should have published his letter to the Galatians anonymously!] And to rub it in the next verse (16:4) reminds us of what they were supposed to be doing in their travels: As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.  So the next time it occurs to any of us that the solemn decisions of General Synod are best honoured in the breach, may St Paul himself be our champion!

The story continues.  St Paul's travels become more frustrating.  First, the Holy Spirit forbids him to speak the word in Asia (16:6); and then the Spirit of Jesus prevents him from entering Bithynia (16:7).  After all that, they arrive in Troas, where Paul had his vision of the man from Macedonia.  Even then there is a hint of further difficulties – St Luke says: When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.  The journey was not a short and simple one, as St Luke makes clear in verse 11.

So what are we to make of all this?  First, that St Paul was a real person, with real human strengths and weaknesses living in a challenging world, and trying to proclaim a brand new message to people who thought they knew better.  Secondly, the story of the ups and downs of travel is clearly designed to emphasise that all they were trying to do was guided by the Holy Spirit.  Next time your flight is cancelled, diverted or delayed perhaps you will reflect on the role of the Holy Spirit in your travel plans?  Or perhaps not.  But here is a true story from my time in a previous parish.

B was a very zealous, reasonably new convert who became convinced that God was calling him and his family to missionary work in Fiji.  Everything seemed to fall into place, but at the last moment the visa that was supposed to have been a mere formality was refused.  It seems that the Fijian Government had decided that it was having enough trouble with local Christians without importing more from New Zealand.  But how could this be, if all this was God's will?   Then less than two weeks later I received through the post a request for a family to go to Vanuatu as soon as possible to provide assistance in certain specified areas of teaching.  The job descriptions exactly fitted the skills of B and his wife.  Within a very short time they were on their way to Vanuatu.  At their farewell service we had a reading from Acts 16:6-10.  It seemed so right, somehow.

A final thought about the possibility of the link between today's readings being water.  In our first lesson the women's prayer group meets beside a river, though nothing is made of any special significance in that.  In our second lesson much is made of the river of the water of life, the source of which is the Throne of God, and whose waters are as pure as crystal.  In our gospel reading we have the Pool of Bethesda (or Beth-zatha, depending on your preferred translation).  For a people of the desert, constantly alert to the need for a clean water supply, the association of water with life, healing and cleansing is understandable.  In our first reading it seems only incidental; in our second it is central, assured and eternal; in our gospel it offers false hope, at least when contrasted with the waters that spring up to eternal life in Christ.

Acts.  To sum up, it is the Holy Spirit who has guided St Paul to Macedonia, and it is the Holy Spirit who opens Lydia's heart "to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul".  In the big things and the little things, in positive things and negative things, the presence of God can be seen by those who look through the eyes of faith.  If we were to read on in this chapter we would find Paul involved in exorcism, being flogged and imprisoned, surviving a major earthquake, converting his jailer, and being freed, all in the space of a few hours!

Taking It Personally.

• Read the whole of chapter 16 slowly.  Make a list of the ways in which the author suggests that the Spirit is orchestrating events.  Which of those instances strike you as credible, and which as incredible?
• Review your last week.  Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper, so that there are 2 columns.  In the left-hand column list the things that went well during that week, both the things you did, and the things that happened to you.  In the right-hand column, list the things that did not go well, both the things you did or tried to do, and the things that happened to you.  In which of those items in each column did you discern the action of the Holy Spirit?  Are you more likely to discern the action of the Holy Spirit in those things that went well or in those things that went badly?
• Before reading or listening to Scripture this week, pray a short "Lydia prayer": O Lord, open my heart that I might read/listen to your Word eagerly.  Amen.

 

Revelation.  The completion or consummation of all things is now shown to St John the Divine in this image of the New Jerusalem "coming down out of heaven from God".  Much of the imagery comes from Old Testament sources, Genesis and Ezekiel being particularly in view here.  There is in a sense a "wish list" here: everything that is most frightening has gone; everything that is most wonderful is here in its plenitude.  Perhaps most surprising is the absence of the temple, long considered the dwelling place of the Lord.  But now all places are holy – God is everywhere – and priests and other intermediaries are no longer required.  The faithful are in the very presence of God: we shall see him face to face.  All created light is missing, too, because the uncreated light of the glory of God illuminates all things and all people (the Transfiguration was a first glimpse of this).  The city gates will never be shut because there are no longer enemies to fear.  Nothing unclean or defiled will be brought into the city.  Instead, people of all nations (converts to Christ) will bring gifts and talents into the city. Night (with all its terrors) will be no more.  And so on and so on.  The river of life, and the tree of life, fruitful and life-giving, are both there because the relationship between God and his people is completely restored.

 

Taking It Personally.

 

·         Another wonderful passage for slow, meditative reading, followed by prayers of praise and thanksgiving.

·         Once again, hold this vision in your mind as you consider the irritations and setbacks of your daily life.  Does your perspective change?

·         What would you bring with you into the Holy City as an offering to God?

·         Pray for the healing of the nations.  Reflect on the autumnal falling of the leaves, giving nourishment to the soil for the next cycle of growth.  Perhaps gather one or two leaves as representative of particular countries and pray for the healing of those nations.

·         In what particular ways does our own nation need healing?  Pray accordingly.

 

John.  This guy has tended to get a hard time from commentators and preachers, who usually paint him as wallowing in self-pity; but perhaps it's time to give him a break!  First of all, notice that he is described as "ill" (v.5) and as "sick" (v.7), so why are we hard on him?  He's been suffering for 38 years!  How would you feel?  But the question the Lord asked him is one of those classics:  "Do you want to be healed?"  I think it's probably that question that leads us into our judgmental ways.  We assume the honest answer is "no", and we have all come across people like that somewhere along the way, haven't we?  Yet, this guy is in a predicament.  If timing is everything – first in gets healed, for others, better luck next time – and if his condition is such that he has impaired mobility, what appears to us to be moaning, may be a simple statement of fact: without anyone to help him, his chances of being first in to the pool at the right moment are nil.  And, of course, when Jesus commanded him to stand up (code for resurrection) he responded immediately.  So give him a clap!

 

Taking It Personally.

 

• Do you want to be made well?    It what regard?  Be as specific as possible.  Pray accordingly.
• Is there someone you know who has no one to help him/her to be raised up to new life?  Can you help?
• Pray this passage with your imagination.  Put yourself pool-side.  Watch the action.  Get involved.  What learning is there for you here?