Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Our text this morning is John 5:1-9:

With all respect to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, they just plan had it wrong, at least according to the Bible. “When you’re weary, and feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, when you’re down and out, when you’re on the street, when evening falls so hard,” our God is not a “Bridge over Troubled Water. Our God is instead “Peace in Troubled Water.”

Just ask the invalid laying at the Pool of Bethesda. He had bee laying there for 38 years. Don’t fault him or call him lazy. That’s just what invalids did. They didn’t go to the hospital. Hospitals had no cures. They didn’t go to the doctor. Doctors had no cures. They didn’t go to specialized, government treatment centers. Specialized, government treatment centers had no cures. In Jesus’ day, if you were an invalid, if you were blind, if you were lame, if you were paralyzed, you’d find your way somehow to Jerusalem, to the Pool of Bethesda near the Sheep Gate. There you’d spend your time hoping for two tings. First you’d hope that people would have compassion upon you and throw some coins your direction. They were profitable beggars, all right. That’s why Jesus asked the man if he wanted to get well. Second, you’d hope that, as the legend went, an angel of the Lord would come and stir up the waters like a bubbling hot springs and the first one into the waters when they were stirred would be cured. Peace would be found in the troubled water.

With all respect to Simon and Garfunkel, they just plain had it wrong.

Just ask little Eleanor Paige Campbell. This morning, her parents brought her into this place, as all faithful Christian parents do. Beth and Mike brought Eleanor this morning because she was facing an even more serious affliction than the invalid man in our text this morning. Being an invalid to any degree was inconvenient, but it wasn’t a death sentence. Obviously the man in our text had made it as an invalid for 38 years. Eleanor’s affliction was much more serious. Eleanor’s affliction was a death sentence. Born into the original sin of her parents and a personal participant in actual sin, even at just one month of age, Eleanor was under God’s judgment that the soul that sins shall die [Ezekiel 18:4]. This morning she found peace. She found peace in troubled water, water that was troubled by Jesus Himself as He applied to her His own saving death and resurrection for the forgiveness of her every sin.

There is not one example in the Bible of God bringing peace by carrying someone over troubled water, like a bridge. There are lots of examples in the Bible of God bringing peace in troubled water. Think about the Children of Israel. They found salvation from Egypt literally through the troubled water of the Red Sea and the water was pulled back and they waded on through [Exodus 12]. Think about Abraham and Sarah, that elderly, barren couple. There had been much finger point, much disgrace, much shame. Yet in that, God gave them peace, peace in troubled water, peace in a promise of a son, in the promise of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky [Genesis 15]. Think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego [Daniel 1]. The king threw them into the fiery furnace for not singing his praises, but when the king looked into the blast furnace to celebrate his unequaled power, he saw not three, but four men as God Himself brought them peace of knowing they were not alone. And, finally, think about Stephen, the man brutally stoned to death at the explicit command of Saul, whom we would later know by his converted name of Paul [Acts 7]. As his body was about to succumb to the pain and torment, he found peace as he looked into Heaven and was comforted by the glory of God. He found peace in Jesus, into Whose wisdom he committed himself at the moment of death.

Our God is not a bridge over troubled water. Our God is instead peace in troubled water. It may not be as pretty a tune. It may not initially be as comforting a picture, but that is a true message that we all need.

Troubled water? Well, we’re in it right now:

We’ve got a war that’s been going on for 5½ years that has claimed the lives of over 4,100 of our fellow Americans, wounding over 30,000 more. Troubled water.

Gasoline, while $1.00 per gallon less than we were paying just a few weeks ago, is still a painful staple of daily life in car-addicted Southern California at $3.50 per gallon. Troubled water.

Today’s unemployment rate is 6.1%. Underemployment is far greater. Some of you fall into those categories or are worried you’re going to fall into those categories. Troubled water.

Indy Mac, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual. Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac. Troubled water.

We are in the midst of a presidential election that, to many eyes, is avoiding real issues, instead specializing in character assassination and mud slinging. One of those men daily flinging dirt and insults will be our president on January 20, 2009. Troubled water.

And, well, you can’t say the two words “Wall Street” without people getting upset, the Dow down 22% over the past eight trading sessions. Troubled water.

Where is the water level in your life right now? Your ankles? Your knees? Your waist? Your chest? Your chin? The bottom of your ear lobes? My friends, despite our troubled water, the most serious troubled water that many of us have ever seen, there is hope! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Don’t let anything convince you otherwise. Despite our troubled water, there is hope. His Name is Jesus. It’s the same Jesus Who brought peace to the invalid man. It’s the same Jesus Who brought peace to Eleanor Paige. It’s the same Jesus Who has brought peace to people of every time and place. And that Jesus is not a stranger to you or to me. Instead, just like always, Jesus is alongside His people – alongside you and me – in the troubled water. To Him Who spoke to troubled water and said “Peace! Be still!,”[Mark 4:39] these troubled waters are nothing. To Him Who conquered death and holds in His Hands the Keys to Heaven and hell, these troubled waters are nothing.

My friends, take a wade in the water. There you will find Jesus. There you will find peace in troubled water.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena