WEBVTT
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Coming to you live from the Duke Chapel,
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it's The Service of Worship on May 17th, 1981.
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(serene organ music)
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(faint speaking)
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(serene organ music)
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(uplifting choral music)
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(solemn organ and choral music)
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(uplifting organ and choral music)
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(serene organ music)
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(serene choral music)
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(solemn organ music)
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(solemn choral music)
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(uplifting organ music)
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(uplifting choral music)
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On behalf of Duke University
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and as a Minister of Jesus Christ,
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I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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But if I may, I greet you with the words
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of Apostle Paul found in his letters
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to the New Testament Churches.
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"Grace to you and peace from God our Father
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"and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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"That's not the kind of peace that means the absence of war.
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"It's not simply peace of mind.
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"It's not even the peace of the dead.
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"This is that dividing peace in your heart of hearts
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"that comes when you know that at the very center
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"of the universe, there is toward you,
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"grace, mercy, steadfast love.
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"Grace to you and peace from God our Father
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"and the Lord Jesus Christ."
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Such grace invites us, brothers and sisters,
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to confess our sins.
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Let us pray together.
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Oh Lord, do you see us as hypocrites
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while we see ourselves as righteous?
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Do you see us like tombs covered with whitewash?
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Do you know us as legalists who lack love?
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Do you find us neglecting justice
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and worrying about inconsequential rituals of worship?
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Do you see us obsessed with keeping minor religious laws
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but unwilling to help those in need?
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If we are blind guides, pretending Christians,
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self-righteous souls, shake us with reproof and rebuke gods
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until we awaken to our condition and repent.
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Create in us pure hearts and the right spirit
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so that we may see you more clearly
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and serve you more nearly.
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Amen.
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(solemn organ music)
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Let the word of God be our insurance of pardon.
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God so loved the world that He gave His only son.
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That whoever believes in Him will not perish
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but have everlasting life.
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Let us give thanks for God is good
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and God's love is everlasting.
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(congregation murmuring)
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Amen.
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We welcome all of you to this service of worship today.
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We especially want to welcome the choir
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that comes from Elon College.
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Thank you choir.
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And may we recognize, especially,
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Professor James H. Glenn, the director,
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and Dr. Walter Westover.
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We are pleased that they have come to add
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to our worship today and already they have blessed us.
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The preacher today is Reverend Charlene Kammerer,
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assistant minister to the university.
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I'm sure you will hear her gladly.
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Her topic is different than that which is listed.
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She is speaking to us on this subject,
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sometimes we need to be sick.
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Sometimes we need to be sick.
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We're glad you're here.
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Thanks be to God for this place.
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Thanks be to God for this Sabbath day.
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Thanks be to God for each one of you.
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Let us pray.
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Oh Lord our God, who by the entrance of your word,
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gives light onto the soul.
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Pour down upon us the spirit of wisdom and understanding.
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That being taught by you and holy scriptures,
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we may receive with faith the words of eternal life
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and be made wise unto salvation
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through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Amen.
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The Epistle lesson this morning is from Romans 8:14-28.
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"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
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"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back
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"into fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship.
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"When we cry Abba, Father, it is the Spirit himself
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"bearing witness with our spirit
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"that we are children of God.
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"And if children, then heirs, heirs of God
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"and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him
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"in order that we may also be glorified with him.
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"I consider that the sufferings of this present time
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"are not worth comparing with the glory
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"that is to be revealed to us.
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"For the creation awaits with eager longing
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"for the revealing of the sons of God.
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"For the creation was subjected to futility,
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"not of its own will, but by the will of him
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"who subjected it, in hope because the creation itself
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"will be set free from its bondage to decay
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"and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.
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"We know that the whole creation has been groaning
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"in travail together until now.
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"And not only the creation, but we ourselves,
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"who have the first fruits of the Spirit,
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"groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons,
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"the redemption of our bodies.
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"For in this hope we are saved.
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"For in this hope we were saved.
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"Now hope that is seen is not hope.
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"For who hopes for what he sees?
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"But if we hope for what we do not see,
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"we wait for it with patience.
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"Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
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"For we do not know how to pray as we ought,
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"but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
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"with sighs too deep for words.
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"And he who searches the hearts of men
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"knows what is the mind of the Spirit,
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"because the Spirit intercedes for the saints
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"according to the will of God.
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"We know that in everything God works for good with those
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"who love Him, who are called according to that purpose."
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Here ends the reading from the Epistle lesson.
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Amen.
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(serene organ and choral music)
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Thou has made man a little lower than the angels.
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And has crowned him with honor and with glory.
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Thou has given him dominion over the work of thy hands.
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Thou has put all things under his feet.
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All sheep and oxen and the feast of the field,
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the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea.
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(choral chanting)
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(serene organ music)
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(serene choral music)
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Will the congregation please stand
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for the reading of the gospel lesson.
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The gospel lesson is from John 5:2-9.
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"Now there is in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, a pool,
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"in Hebrew called Beth-za'tha, which has five porticoes.
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"In these lay a multitude of invalids,
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"blind, lame, paralyzed.
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"One man was there who had been ill for 38 years.
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"When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been
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"lying there a long time, He said to him,
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"'Do you want to be healed?'
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"The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me
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"into the pool when the water is troubled, and while
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"I am gone and going another steps down before me.'
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"Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.'
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"And at once the man was healed,
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"and he took up his pallet and walked."
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Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson.
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Amen.
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(solemn organ and choral music)
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Grace and peace be onto you from God our Creator
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and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The question Jesus put to the man who had chronically ill
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for 38 years was,
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"Do you want to be healed?"
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Doesn't that seem like an absurd question to ask
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of a man lying crippled on a pallet?
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And yet on second thought, why had this man
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been waiting for 38 years?
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The pool of Beth-za'tha, called the place of five porches,
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by the first century Jews, was a shaded colonnade area
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where there were five entrances to a great pool.
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There was a legend at the time that said on occasion
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an angel would come to that pool of water
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and stir the waters.
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At that point, the first one into the water
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would be healed with a miraculous power.
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I perceived that that five porches area
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must have been a favorite haunt of invalids
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to come and to hope for a cure for their particular malady.
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So to me, when we see Jesus first approach this invalid,
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his question about healing appears rather ridiculous.
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But then we see what is this man's response
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to Jesus' question.
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We find the man evading the question itself.
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He begins to complain.
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He says that no one would put him in the water
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at the right time or that someone had always
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managed to reach the water before him.
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To me, this man was obviously for 38 years
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getting some kind of fringe benefits from his illness.
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I perceived that he became a complainer after a time.
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In this way, he can blame his condition
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on others not helping him.
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He could avoid the responsibility to live the life he had,
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regardless of the illness.
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By complaining, he could well rationalize becoming dependent
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and he could reject any demands placed on him.
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Thus it is no wonder that Jesus ask him,
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"Do you really want to be healed?"
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For you see, being well would mean paying a price,
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the price of losing the attention he had gotten
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for 38 years for being ill.
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I believe that sometimes we need to be sick.
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If we are honest at looking at ourselves,
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we must admit that for us too,
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illness can have some fringe benefits.
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I don't mean this as true every time we have a cold
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or miss work for a few days.
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But it could be happening to us
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and we would not be aware of it.
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Let me share with you some of the possible fringe benefits
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of illness and exactly what I mean by saying this.
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First, if we are ill, we can get attention
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we feel we might not get otherwise.
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I am aware that many battered children
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have longer than normal recovery times
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when they land in the hospital
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because even these children realize on some level
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that it is safer to stay in that hospital
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than it would be to return to the home environment.
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The growing presence of anorexia nervosa today
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among young women is a clear signal
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and a crying call for help.
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Part of this insidious disease is that
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self-inflicted starvation will guarantee attention
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for young women who seem so desperately to need it.
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In the second place, when we are ill,
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it is generally acceptable to be irritable,
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demanding, depressed, and teary-eyed.
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When we are ill we can expect comfort
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and we can expect soothing attention.
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We can use illness to manipulate others who are close to us,
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trying to get them to do what we want or to get our own way.
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When I had my tonsils out at age four,
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I noticed that every time I complained or cried,
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I would get a marvelous treat of ice cream or Jell-O
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or crushed ice and sometimes coloring books and crayons.
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My cries were very effective.
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I am also aware upon looking back at that time in my life
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that my older sister lay in the bed next to me,
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also minus her tonsils, but she was too weak to cry out
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and she could not talk, for infection had set in
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after surgery for her.
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Looking back on that experience now,
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I am quite sure that she did not get as much
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as attention as I did and that for her there was
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very little gratification in getting her tonsils out.
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Thirdly, we can use illness to secure preferential treatment
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which if we are not careful, can foster our own needs
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of being dependent upon others.
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It seems to me that the more sick we are,
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the more critical the illness, the larger the danger.
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We can use our illness to evoke sympathy or gain pity.
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How many times is it called forth from us
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to want to respond to a sick person,
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oh you poor thing.
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We can ourselves sink in self-pity at these moments.
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Worse yet, we can try to win love through illness
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when we begin to transmit this kind of message:
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How could you not love anyone as sickly as I am?
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I have been with people who have tried to hold on
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to a marriage partner through an illness,
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or to cling desperately to a child,
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relying on the illness itself to establish
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a kind of false loyalty.
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When we are ill, we can avoid having people
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make demands on us, for we can easily say
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well I would like to help out or do that but I am too ill.
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The list for ourselves will go on and on.
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We can escape competition with illness.
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How many athletes have you known who were injured
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before the big contest?
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We can avoid making difficult decisions
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confronting conflict within ourselves.
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Or working through deteriorating relationships
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when we are ill.
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In short, we can avoid, through illness,
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facing life as it is.
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I remember vividly a little boy
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who needed to be sick and who taught me a great deal
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out of a sick time in his life.
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When I was doing some clinical work
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in a hospital in Illinois, one of the units I covered
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in the hospital was a pediatric area.
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It was there that I met Matt, a bright very thin,
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five year old boy.
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He was admitted with severe rectal bleeding
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and it was most obvious that his parents,
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grandparents, and the physicians on duty,
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were very worried about him.
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They were with him constantly
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and very solicitous over his condition.
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It was finally decided by the doctors
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that some fairly serious surgery for a child that age
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would need to be performed.
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As a result of that surgery,
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the hospitalization time was eight weeks.
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During the sixth week, I noticed one morning
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that we had a new patient on the pediatrics unit,
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and he had the same last name as Matt's.
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When I walked into that child's room to get acquainted,
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I discovered Joey,
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an older lookalike of his brother Matt.
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It soon became clear to all of us
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that Joey had unconsciously decided
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that if he was going to get any attention in that family,
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he would have to get sick too
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and come to the hospital to get it.
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So Joey began developing symptoms similar to those of Matt.
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Those parents had put all of their energy
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into their sick child and were unable
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to give love and attention at home
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for the very short periods they were there.
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Amazingly, after several days of devoted attention,
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Joey miraculously recovered and was able to go home.
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Unfortunately, for that family, some of the dynamics
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of illness were understood in a new way
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and they were able to begin reestablishing
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some family ties and relationships.
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Now it is not often the case when we deliberately get sick
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to gain or to avoid anything, but I am aware
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that this can happen to us some times outside the level
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of our own awareness.
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We can use illness to be sheltered from life.
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Physicians tell us that from 50 to 70% of people they see
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in their offices really need a counselor,
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a minister, or some positive relationship,
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much more than they need any kind of medical attention.
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The more we learn about our bodies,
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the more aware we are of the inner-relatedness
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of all the parts and functions.
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It is true that when something goes wrong
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with one dimension of our life,
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it touches other dimensions as well, including the physical.
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I get the impression that the man at the pool
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of Beth-za'tha, nursed his ill health in some way.
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Perhaps clinging to that sickness
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without even being aware of it.
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Jesus searching words to him,
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"Do you want to be healed?"
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brought to him a new kind of strength
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and the recovery of health.
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Full health is understood in the gospel
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in a very special way.
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It is always understood as physical, emotional,
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and spiritual soundness.
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Healing for Jesus would be an act of the whole part
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of rescuing of life.
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Healing is an expression of God's
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continuing work of salvation.
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In fact, the meaning of salvation
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in the New Testament is wholeness.
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The many ways that we see healing
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recorded for us in the gospels,
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conveys a sense of deep mystery.
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Something happens to someone that seems
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extraordinarily significant and could not have been
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expected under normal circumstances.
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The point of each story seems to be beyond
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any scientific explanation.
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But according to the gospels, Jesus' miracles of healings
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were real and specific.
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Events which could be grasped and understood.
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I believe it is important for us to remember
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that a healing always occurred
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in an atmosphere of faith.
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For the question of miracle cannot be separated from faith.
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In the New Testament, it is faith in the person of Jesus,
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the preaching and His power, both of which had to do
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with the dawning of the Kingdom of God,
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around which healing occurs.
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I believe that faith then as now,
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cannot prove that miracles happen,
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but it is faith which is the context in which we began
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to understand the signs and wonders of God.
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After the man at the pool of Beth-za'tha
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unknowingly revealed to Jesus the fringe benefits
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of his illness, Jesus told him,
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"Pick up your bed and walk,
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"or pick up your life and walk."
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Dare to take the risk of being whole and being well,
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and then you can begin to meet life as it is
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and as it comes to you.
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The book "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden"
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has left a deep impression on me
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00:51:34.730 --> 00:51:39.730
even after years have passed since first reading that.
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To me that book is a book about healing.
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It tell us the story of Debra, a young schizophrenic woman
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who becomes that way because reality in her own life
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is too painful for her to face.
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She's been in a private hospital for a long time
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working with a therapist and the time comes
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when Debra must leave that hospital,
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become part of the community again,
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pick up her bed and walk.
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But she is afraid of the risk and the pain
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00:52:17.580 --> 00:52:19.880
that will involve for her.
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00:52:19.880 --> 00:52:23.430
There is far more security in the fantasy world
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00:52:23.430 --> 00:52:26.795
which she has created for herself.
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00:52:26.795 --> 00:52:30.690
She dramatizes her fear at that moment
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00:52:30.690 --> 00:52:34.890
by beginning to burn her body with matches,
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00:52:34.890 --> 00:52:37.360
which will guarantee that she can stay
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00:52:37.360 --> 00:52:42.058
in the hospital awhile longer.
406
00:52:42.058 --> 00:52:47.058
The question for us today as we hear the gospel lesson is
407
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do we want to be healed?
408
00:52:52.311 --> 00:52:57.311
It is our faith in God and in the saving grace of wholeness
409
00:52:57.920 --> 00:53:02.920
that we find in Jesus Christ that can help us say
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00:53:03.420 --> 00:53:06.615
yes to that question.
411
00:53:06.615 --> 00:53:10.340
We can choose to face life the way it is
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with its hurts and pains.
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00:53:13.780 --> 00:53:18.780
When we began to relate to ourselves and God and others
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00:53:18.780 --> 00:53:22.150
in wholeness and in ways of love,
415
00:53:22.150 --> 00:53:26.090
we won't need to be sick anymore.
416
00:53:26.090 --> 00:53:31.089
We will be able to coup with illnesses that do come to us.
417
00:53:32.050 --> 00:53:35.970
The word to the man at the pool of Beth-za'tha,
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is still the same word to us today
419
00:53:39.690 --> 00:53:44.690
and the challenge of the gospel to all of us is this,
420
00:53:45.070 --> 00:53:47.861
as Jesus has said it,
421
00:53:47.861 --> 00:53:52.736
"Pick up your life and walk."
422
00:53:52.736 --> 00:53:56.543
So be it, amen.
423
00:54:03.993 --> 00:54:07.076
(solemn organ music)
424
00:54:28.931 --> 00:54:32.098
(solemn choral music)
425
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Let us affirm what we believe.
426
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We believe in God who has created and is creating.
427
00:56:35.070 --> 00:56:38.360
Who has come into truly human Jesus,
428
00:56:38.360 --> 00:56:41.610
to reconcile and make new.
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00:56:41.610 --> 00:56:45.570
Who works in us and others, by the Spirit.
430
00:56:45.570 --> 00:56:50.330
We trust God, who calls us to be the church.
431
00:56:50.330 --> 00:56:53.540
To celebrate life and its fullness.
432
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To love and serve others.
433
00:56:55.950 --> 00:56:59.600
To seek justice and resist evil.
434
00:56:59.600 --> 00:57:03.260
To proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.
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00:57:03.260 --> 00:57:05.093
Our judge and our hope.
436
00:57:06.030 --> 00:57:10.720
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
437
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God is with us, we are not alone.
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Thanks be to God.
439
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The Lord be with you.
440
00:57:21.276 --> 00:57:23.070
And with your spirit.
441
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Let us pray.
442
00:57:43.290 --> 00:57:48.290
Oh Lord our God, Thou who did steal the diseases
443
00:57:48.570 --> 00:57:50.053
of all who seek Thee,
444
00:57:52.600 --> 00:57:54.170
Thou who does know our needs
445
00:57:54.170 --> 00:57:55.820
more than we know them ourselves,
446
00:57:58.090 --> 00:58:00.700
cause us now to cry out with Thee,
447
00:58:00.700 --> 00:58:03.863
out to Thee from hearts that truly believe,
448
00:58:05.560 --> 00:58:08.493
asking for wholeness through Jesus Christ.
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00:58:10.990 --> 00:58:12.780
Thou know us who we are and from whence
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00:58:12.780 --> 00:58:14.223
we come to this place.
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Some of us have come from well ordered lives,
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marked with health and strength,
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with success, with friendship.
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Some of us come from a deeper need,
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Thou know us our brokenness, our loneliness,
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00:58:37.170 --> 00:58:39.803
our embarrassment, our sin.
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Thou know us the world from which we come to Thee oh God.
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A world that is marked by violence,
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by deceit,
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00:58:56.360 --> 00:58:57.313
by greed.
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00:59:01.230 --> 00:59:04.383
Thou know us the tragedies of this past week.
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Hear us oh God as in one voice, we ask for thy salvation
463
00:59:12.670 --> 00:59:14.293
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Hear us oh God as in one voice, we ask for newness of life.
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Hear us oh God as in one voice,
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we pray for new strength for the Pope,
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for some vision in the midst of this confusion,
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for thy peace, even in the midst of our brokenness.
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But oh divine love, Thou who does everlastingly
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stand outside the closed doors of all the souls
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of men and women, knocking ever and ever again,
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will Thou not now give each one of us grace
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to throw open our soul's doors.
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Not every bolt and bar be drawn,
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let us hither to, robbed our lives
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01:00:16.620 --> 01:00:19.973
of the fresh breezes of Thy spirit and of light and of love.
477
01:00:23.430 --> 01:00:26.890
Open our ears of God that we may hear Thy voice
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01:00:26.890 --> 01:00:28.743
calling us to new high and ever.
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01:00:30.170 --> 01:00:32.600
Too often we have been deaf to appeals
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01:00:32.600 --> 01:00:34.850
that Thou has addressed to us.
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But now give us courage to answer
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01:00:37.020 --> 01:00:39.633
with the Prophet Jeremiah sent me.
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01:00:41.870 --> 01:00:43.573
And when anyone of Thy children,
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01:00:44.450 --> 01:00:47.193
our human brothers and sisters cries out in need,
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give to one of us and all of us
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01:00:50.360 --> 01:00:54.803
an open ear to hear that cry, Thy call to service.
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Give us open eyes oh God, eyes quick to discover
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Thy end dwelling in the world which Thou has made.
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Let all lovely things today, fill us with gladness
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01:01:10.780 --> 01:01:12.360
and let them uplift our minds
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01:01:12.360 --> 01:01:14.363
to thine everlasting loveliness.
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01:01:15.530 --> 01:01:18.410
Forgive all our blindness in past days
493
01:01:18.410 --> 01:01:20.823
to that which is grand and glorious,
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01:01:22.320 --> 01:01:24.853
our blindness to charm of little children.
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01:01:26.150 --> 01:01:28.613
To the sublimities of the human story.
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01:01:30.500 --> 01:01:32.993
To all the intimations of Thy presence,
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01:01:34.970 --> 01:01:38.443
which 10,000 things in this world contain.
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01:01:42.180 --> 01:01:44.970
And give us open hands oh God,
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01:01:44.970 --> 01:01:47.880
hands ready to share with all who are in want,
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01:01:47.880 --> 01:01:51.433
the blessings which Thou has given to us.
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01:01:53.180 --> 01:01:57.770
Deliver us from all vengeance,
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01:01:57.770 --> 01:02:02.713
all meanness, all selfishness, all self-righteousness.
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01:02:06.350 --> 01:02:09.523
Let us hold Thy gifts in stewardship.
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And let our whole lives be as a trust for Thee.
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To whom even now, be all honor and glory forever.
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Through Jesus Christ, who has taught us when we pray to say:
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Our Father, Who art in heaven,
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hallowed be Thy name.
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01:02:37.880 --> 01:02:42.230
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,
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01:02:42.230 --> 01:02:43.943
on Earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us this day our daily bread
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and forgive us our trespasses,
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as we forgive those who trespass against us.
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01:02:55.252 --> 01:02:58.255
And lead us not into temptation
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01:02:58.255 --> 01:03:00.373
but deliver from evil.
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For thine is the kingdom and the power
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01:03:04.820 --> 01:03:07.550
and the glory forever.
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01:03:07.550 --> 01:03:08.383
Amen.
519
01:03:14.993 --> 01:03:18.076
(serene organ music)
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01:05:07.421 --> 01:05:10.588
(serene choral music)
521
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(solemn organ music)
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01:09:14.572 --> 01:09:17.739
(solemn choral music)
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Almighty God, Thou who has given all things,
524
01:10:25.760 --> 01:10:28.930
the appointment of our lives stands according Thy will
525
01:10:28.930 --> 01:10:30.730
and we could not bring gifts to Thee
526
01:10:30.730 --> 01:10:32.933
had Thou not first given to us.
527
01:10:34.920 --> 01:10:39.620
Therefore receive our gratitude and also these gifts
528
01:10:39.620 --> 01:10:42.070
and bless them to the Kingdom of God
529
01:10:42.070 --> 01:10:43.633
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
530
01:10:44.522 --> 01:10:45.355
Amen.
531
01:10:47.570 --> 01:10:50.653
(serene organ music)
532
01:11:30.206 --> 01:11:33.373
(serene choral music)
533
01:15:09.850 --> 01:15:11.340
The Lord bless you and keep you.
534
01:15:11.340 --> 01:15:13.197
The Lord made his face to shine upon you
535
01:15:13.197 --> 01:15:15.083
and be gracious onto you.
536
01:15:16.180 --> 01:15:19.550
The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you
537
01:15:19.550 --> 01:15:22.953
and give you peace today and forevermore.
538
01:15:24.548 --> 01:15:25.381
Amen.
539
01:15:28.200 --> 01:15:33.200
♪ Amen ♪
540
01:15:35.490 --> 01:15:40.490
♪ Glory Jesus my Lord ♪
541
01:15:43.127 --> 01:15:48.127
♪ Praise His name ♪
542
01:15:50.930 --> 01:15:55.930
♪ Praise His name ♪
543
01:15:58.311 --> 01:16:03.311
♪ Praise His name forever ♪
544
01:16:05.344 --> 01:16:09.011
♪ Lord He will live forever ♪
545
01:16:16.317 --> 01:16:18.234
♪ Amen ♪
546
01:16:30.401 --> 01:16:33.734
(uplifting organ music)
547
01:20:47.405 --> 01:20:49.655
(laughing)