When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ –John 5:6
In my recent work as a hospital chaplain, I had the privilege of accompanying three adult children on an “Honor Walk” for their 68-year-old father, Rich, who had suffered a cardiac arrest. Although paramedics were able to get his heart beating again, Rich had been deprived of oxygen too long to recover, and he was being kept alive by machines until his organs could be donated to provide healing – even life itself – for others. As Rich was being taken from the ICU to the OR where surgeons would remove his organs for transplant, the corridors were filled with hospital staff lined up in silent tribute and with gratitude to Rich for his generosity, even in death.
I’m quite sure Rich would have given Jesus a resounding “YES” had he been asked, “Do you want to be made well?” And I know for a fact that Rich’s children and others who loved him had been praying for a miracle. But death was knocking on the door, anyway, and soon it would come right through it.
The profound love and gratitude that Rich’s kids had for their Dad was plain to see. So it took me by surprise to learn that Rich had been estranged from his children for many years. And then, about 18 months ago, he left the West Coast and came back to Minnesota, moving in with one of his daughters.
From that moment on, Rich and his children began the process of getting to know each other and mending the relationships that had been broken so long ago. In just 18 months, Rich’s kids told me, they had all grown closer and shared more tears and laughter than they could ever have imagined. “Honestly, it was nothing short of a miracle,” one of his daughters told me. Rich’s body had not been made well. But healing had come, after all, in ways no one had ever expected.
Loving God, Open our eyes to see your work in the world. Remind us that even when our physical bodies are not made well, your healing power is still at work, perhaps in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. Amen.