It happened only a few weeks ago. After my normal shift on the graveyard I had gone home to rest. Some time in the middle of my sleep Storm came and woke me up. In her hand she held the phone. “It’s the police,” is all she said.
A thousand questions went through my mind. “Did I do something wrong?” “Are they fund raising again?” “Has one of my loved ones been injured or worse and they’re letting me know?” As one can imagine in that situation I was instantly awake.
“Hello Mr. Shepard,” a cheery voice greeted me as I took the phone. “This is Sergeant Johnson with the Army recruiting office in Topeka.”
I politely declined the invitation to see if I could be an “Army of one.” I have no intentions of joining the Army at this stage in my life. Nor do I think it is God’s calling for me.
Despite their annoyances I want to talk about the importance of life’s interruptions. Because life is full of them.
Take a moment and turn with me to Luke 5 beginning in verse 17.
Luke 5:17-26
17 One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him. So they went up to the roof, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his mat, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
21 "Who does this man think he is?" the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to each other. "This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?"
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, "Why do you think this is blasphemy? 23 Is it easier to say, ’Your sins are forgiven’ or ’Get up and walk’? 24 I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, take your mat, and go on home, because you are healed!"
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped to his feet, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe. And they praised God, saying over and over again, "We have seen amazing things today."
NLT
Normally I think of myself as a fairly organized person. I try to plan out my days weeks in advance. I got this little gray book I carry around in my back pocket. It’s got my daily to do list in it. There are things in there that have been there for months. There are other things there that are done every week or every day that I make sure to put in every time I record the upcoming week, just to make sure I don’t forget. I enjoy planning out my life. If I had time I might even plan out my memorial service, although it might not be as interesting then. I like routine.
But life is full of interruptions. Even Jesus was interrupted. But I think more importantly in this passage of scripture we can see three interruptions that take place. Each one is important in its own way.
Jesus is teaching. Now there are few things in my life that I can imagine more important than being taught by Jesus. And apparently the people of that day felt the same way because we’re told that there was a huge crowd. People had come from as far away as Jerusalem just to hear him speak. In fact it was so crowded around this house that as the friends of the paralyzed man couldn’t even push through the crowd to get him near Jesus. Instead they climbed on the roof and began removing tiles.
And here we find the first lesson about interruptions. Interruptions happen. They’re a fact of life. We are going to be interrupted. No matter how important what we are doing is there will come a time when we will be interrupted in the middle of it.
There’s something more to be learned here. Jesus didn’t get mad or angry, as we tend to do about the interruption.
I’ve got a fairly vivid imagination and in my mind I can picture Jesus teaching this crowd. People are pressing in all around him. A little dust begins to fall. It’s only a slight amount. Maybe it’s nothing at all. Another version of the Bible said they had to cut through the roof. So I imagine chucks of mud and wood falling down around Jesus. He looks up knowingly. Others in the room are getting frustrated with this strange turn of events. Not Jesus. He’s calm. He knows that interruptions occur even when we don’t want them too.
Then the bedroll begins to lower from the ceiling. Jesus stops teaching. People in the room stop and stare. Some are angered. Others are puzzled. Still others think quietly to themselves how rude this interruption is.
And Jesus words are so simple. “Because you had faith, your sins are forgiven.”
But the interruptions don’t end there. Since he is God, Jesus knows the very hearts of the Pharisees seated only a few feet away. Like us, he knows what they’re thinking and he chooses to interrupt their thoughts.
Verses 22 to 24 tell us what occurs. 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, "Why do you think this is blasphemy? 23 Is it easier to say, ’Your sins are forgiven’ or ’Get up and walk’? 24 I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins."
He interrupts their very thoughts. He interrupts their lives.
God does this more often than we realize. You see, the second thing we can learn from this passage of scripture is that God interrupts our lives to get our attention.
It’s happened before. He’s done it more than once. Moses was out tending his sheep when God interrupted his life with a burning bush. Saul was on his way to persecuting more Christians when God interrupted his plans on the road. Joseph and Mary were planning on getting married when God interrupted their lives with the news that they would be the earthly parents of the Savior.
Even in my own life God has a way of interrupting to get my attention. It wasn’t that long ago that I was telling myself I would never be a minister. Oh there were others who were telling me that was the direction I needed to go. But I’d lived as the son of a preacher. I know the pain that goes along with it.
Then God interrupted that thought. It was during the reading of a book. I was brought to the point that I was most wounded; the very spot that most of my pains of life came from. And there were words that at first I wanted to deny. “Your new name comes from the deepest part of your wound.”
I’d been avoiding it for months and maybe even a few years. Those people that were telling me that I needed to be a minister were right. I had a gift that wasn’t meant to be buried. God had a plan. I needed to be interrupted to see it.
Jesus had a plan when he interrupted the Pharisees that day too. He needed to get their attention and so he stopped their thoughts in the tracks. “I will prove that I have the authority on earth to forgive sins.” He got their attention.
Finally we see that interruptions can bring about change in our lives. Change that can be incredible to witness. I look back now over the last couple of years since God interrupted me. I see where I was and what I’ve been through. It’s not over yet and I know that God is still working to make me the man he wants me to be. I’m not even sure that I would have been able to put a Christian thought on paper if it wasn’t for that interruption.
I look at the life of Moses in scripture and what his interruption brought about. He led a stubborn people out of captivity. He followed God at all costs to himself and over an inability to lead. I see the life of Paul laid out in scripture. He changed from killing Christians to not only being one of them, but to hearing God and inspiring others to continue to put their full faith in God. I see the lives of Mary and Joseph who witnessed the birth of a child destined to save the world. I see his mother at the foot of his cross wondering how this could be God’s plan when he interrupted her life.
Then I see something else. This young man on his bed had his sins forgiven. But it didn’t occur to him then that he could walk. It took more words than that. “Rise. Go in peace.”
An interruption that he had caused changed his life. Jesus made it so that he could walk. Jesus interrupted the thoughts of the Pharisees. And lives were changed in that moment.
Maybe you’re facing an interruption now. You’re in the middle of a separation from your spouse. Maybe you’re facing a problem you don’t have the answer to. I’ll tell you one thing I’ve learned. Interruptions can come from God. They occur all the time. All you have to do is trust God and listen. The answer is there.
