Man on a Mat
Series: One on One with the Master
February 7, 2010
Recently, I read a very sad statistic: a quarter of a million Americans are physically paralyzed – (i.e. spinal cord conditions and others ways). And over 10,000 Americans a year are additionally paralyzed in some way (mostly through accidents). I was watching a Superman movie a couple of weeks ago and it’s hard to believe that the actor who played the part of ‘Superman’, (Christopher Reeves) was one of those statistics. Superman a paraplegic? It doesn’t sound right! As I read about being paralyzed I started thinking… “I wonder how many Americans are ‘emotionally & spiritually’ paralyzed?” It may not be as obvious as physical paralyzation, but it can be just as, (or more) devastating and disabilitating. There are a lot of different paralyzing emotions in life. You can be paralyzed by fear, worry, guilt. You could be paralyzed by grief, loneliness, resentment. Many people are paralyzed by indecision. You can be paralyzed by all kinds of things! And when it happens you feel helpless to free yourself and walk forward in life.
There are 3 emotions in particular that paralyze our potential, and keep us from becoming all that God wants us to be:
1) Our fears about the future;
2) Our regrets about the past;
3) Our doubts about our ability.
Today we’re going to look at how Jesus Christ helps you resolve all 3 of those issues. In Luke 5 we come across a man who was radically changed by Jesus, and the principles we discover from his life (I think) will help you understand how God changes you & me. READ LUKE 5:17-26. This story is so important it’s recorded by three different writers – (Matthew, Mark and Luke) – so obviously it’s got some lessons to teach us. The man we’re going to look at today was physically paralyzed. Yet the 3 things that Jesus said to this man are the same 3 things He says to you & me when we come to him honestly and say, “Jesus, I want You… I NEED you to change me. You’re the healer… and I want what you’ve got!” Maybe you’ve felt a little frustrated about your inability to change things in your personality. You’ve said, “I wish I could, but I just can’t change that about myself!” I can’t get over that hurt! I can’t forgive what that person did to me. I can’t stop worrying…or feeling so guilty about my sin!” If you’re feeling emotionally crippled in some area of your life, then you need to hear the same 3 things Jesus said to this man, because they have the power to cure your paralysis.
If you’ll humble yourself enough to ask Jesus to change you this morning, He’ll do 3 things… 1st…
1. He will EASE my fears.
The Bible tells us in Luke 5:17… “One day Jesus was teaching in a home and they had come from every village and even as far away as Jerusalem to be there.” Jesus is inside a typical Mediterranean style house with a tiled roof and on this day it’s stuffed like a can of sardines with people from all over town to hear Him teach and heal people. Then the bible says, “Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic man on a stretcher and they looked for a way to get into the house to set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof.”
You could tell Jesus was in town by the throngs of people who collected wherever he was. This time he’s inside a house, when along come some guys carrying their friend on a mat for Jesus to heal. The problem is, they can’t get close enough to Him because of the crowds. How frustrating is that? They’re desperate, but they don’t panic. They walk up the outside stairs to the 2nd floor, climb up onto the roof and start removing tiles! Now you gotta admit, these guys are pretty innovative & resourceful. They refused to give up! Jesus is teaching, when all the sudden He hears some noise above His head. He looks up and sees masonry crumbling and dropping from ceiling. Moments later tiles are being removed and there’s a gaping hole in the roof right where He’s standing. Four men poke their heads through the hole and look around. They spot Jesus, (& without even asking permission), they start lowering a man down on a stretcher. Now I’ve had some pretty novel interruptions while I’ve been preaching before, (people falling, going to bathroom, etc., Nursing home example…Lady: “Shut up!”) but this one takes the cake!
Whether he wanted it or not, the owner of this house just got a new skylight in his home! After the initial shock, he was probably pretty upset, but I’m convinced that Jesus was impressed! In fact in all 3 gospels say that…”Jesus saw their faith”. Now put yourself in the place of the paralytic, if you’d just crashed the party and were lowered down into the middle of a crowed room, how would you feel? I can tell you how I’d feel… embarrassed! I’d feel a little fearful, a little anxious, wondering what Jesus’ reaction would be.
I think this shows how desperate this man was to be changed. He was willing to allow his friends to tear up a roof and publicly humiliate him… all for the chance at being healed. How desperate are you to be healed? I love Jesus’ reaction to this whole incident. Notice he doesn’t say, “Excuse me! But I happen to busy at the moment. You’ll have to take a number! NO! Instead Matthew 9:2 tells us that the 1st words out of Jesus’ mouth were… ‘Be encouraged young man.” In otherwords, “Take heart, cheer up, don’t give up, don't be afraid. It’s OK! You’re not bothering Me.”
Don’t you wish you had Jesus’ attitude towards the little interruptions you encounter in life? Rather than see them as disturbances on his important agenda… he welcomed them as opportunities to teach. The 1st thing Jesus does is ease this man’s fears, because He genuinely cared about how he guy felt. And I might add that this same Jesus cares about how you feel. If you’re discouraged He cares about your discouragement today. If you feel lonely, He cares about your loneliness. If you feel worried, frightened, insecure, or anxious about the future, He cares about that.
Jesus’ first response to our apprehensions about change is to ease our fears. Study how Jesus dealt with people who were honest and open, and you almost always find him saying, “Don’t be afraid! “Chill out & cheer up! It’s going to be OK.” We don’t like to admit our fears, but everyone in this room has their own private insecurities, anxieties, and phobias. What are you worried about this morning? Your health? Your future? Your finances? Your relationship? Your children? Your past? How about Your future?
Jesus understands all that and He says to you this morning… “The first thing I want to do to change you, is to ease your fears!” If you have fears, (and you do)… worries in your heart, and the way you deal with them is to just push them down… that's called depression. See, depression is almost always either frozen rage or frozen fear. The Bible says in Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety in your heart weighs you down, but an encouraging word cheers you up.” And that’s exactly what Jesus starts with. He gives him an encouraging word! Let me give you an “encouraging word” this morning. I don’t know what you’re up against this week, but I do know this: God does and He cares! He can help you and His first word to you is, “Don’t worry, don’t be afraid. I can handle it.”
When you come to Christ, the 1st thing He says is, “Before we get started on this personal improvement plan, you’ve got to give Me your fears.” Why? “Because fear is what keeps you from getting close to Me. It’s the reason you keep distancing yourself from Me!” One of the reasons people don’t feel close to God, is because they’re afraid to get close to God! It’s the fear the unknown. We think to ourselves, “If I really got close to Him, what would happen to me? Would I change so much I wouldn’t like myself? What if He turns me into a fanatic? I might have to go door to door with a big black bible and say, “Hallelujah” all the time!” Listen, God doesn’t make people “goofy”. We make ourselves goofy! No… it’s the fear of change that keeps us distant from Him!
We’re like the school teacher who was swindled out of her life savings by a smooth talking salesman. When her investment disappeared and her dream was shattered, she went to the “Better Business Bureau”. As she told her sad story to the BBB official, he asked her, “Why on earth didn’t you come to us first? Didn’t you know about the Better Business Bureau?” The teacher bowed her head and said ashamedly, “Well, yes. I’ve always known about you. But I didn’t come because I was afraid you’d tell me not to do it!” We’re just like that! Even though we know God exists…and that we need to go to Him for answers… we act like He’s not there because we’re afraid He’ll tell us what we don’t want to hear! So we end up getting ripped off by life!
We need to learn from this paralytic, to push through our fear and come to God. The reason people are afraid of God is because they don’t understand what He’s like! They don’t realize that His will for us is GOOD! In fact, if you knew what God knows, you’d want what God wants for you! God is love and the bible says that “Perfect love casts out all fear.” Listen, the better you get to know Jesus Christ, the fewer fears you’re going to have in your life. Just like David prayed in Psalm 34 “I asked the Lord for help and He answered me and He freed me from all my anxious fears.”
Would you like to be freed from all your emotional hang-ups? That’s the starting point is when you come to Him and say, “Jesus, I really want You to change one of those paralyzed emotions in my life,” When you do that, the first thing He’ll do is ease your fears. Because the safest place to be is in the center of His will.
The 2nd thing that Jesus will do when I ask Him to change me is…
2. He will ERASE my guilt.
Notice the 2nd thing Jesus says to this paralyzed man in Luke 5:20, “Then Jesus said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Now wait just a minute! Did this guy ask to have his sins forgiven? NO! He didn’t come asking for forgiveness, He came asking for healing. Right? And yet Jesus looks at him and says, “Your sins are forgiven.” What’s going on here? Actually it’s typical human behavior. We’re just like this guy! We’re more interested in our external symptoms than we are in our internal causes. We’re more concerned about the problems going on around us (our health, our finances, our relationships) than we are with the problems going on inside us! But Jesus has this annoying way of always looking beneath the surface in our lives. He’s always digging deeper trying to get us to deal with the real problems in our lives. The problems we want to ignore!
• We want him to heal our bodies…He wants to heal our hearts.
• We want Him to remove that difficult person… He wants to deal with our fear of confrontation.
• We want him to heal us of our addictions… He wants to deal with our emotional wounds.
Jesus looks at this man and sees that not only is he physically paralyzed but He’s spiritually paralyzed! He was paralyzed by his past, (just like some of you are). So many people can’t get on with their future because they’re stuck in the past… (either by guilt over things you’ve done, or resentment over things other people have done to them). So Jesus deals with the real issue here. He says “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” Did you know that most of the world is dying to hear those 3 simple words? – “You are forgiven”. Why? Because we’ve all blown it! We’ve all messed up! We’ve all made mistakes. None of us is perfect. So we all need forgiveness. Of all the paralyzing emotions…I can’t think of a worse one than guilt! Guilt robs you of your energy, your strength. It steals our joy and it destroys our relationships. I wonder how many marriages have been destroyed by guilt? Did you know that guilt has a destructive physical effect on your body? Studies have shown that 50% of the people in hospital beds right now are there because of a stress related illness. Primarily for unresolved guilt or anger. Don’t misunderstand, I'm not saying that all sickness is caused by guilt, but a lot of it is! Our bodies weren’t meant to carry a load of guilt.
You say, “Should a follower of Jesus Christ ever feel guilty?” Yes… for about 10 seconds! That’s about how long it should take you to recognize you blew it, confess it to God & say, “Forgive me Lord! I want to change!.” Who ever said that God wants you carrying around a burden of guilt all the time? Jesus Christ came to ease your fears and to eliminate your guilt. That’s what the cross is all about. Here’s the truth. All of us have blown it. We’re all imperfect. I don't measure up to my own standards much less God’s. We all need to know how Jesus Christ forgives. The Bible is very clear that He forgives us in at least 3 ways…
1. Jesus forgives me INSTANTLY.
In Isaiah 55:7 “God is merciful and quick to forgive.” [Circle “quick”] God’s quick to forgive. It doesn’t say, “I want you to suffer a little while and then I’ll forgive you.” That’s the way you & I like to forgive people, but that’s not the way God forgives. If someone hurts me I don’t want to instantly tell them, “That’s OK! NO! I want them to suffer, I want them to feel it, I want them to grovel a little bit! But Jesus never makes us wait. He never delays. He never says, “I’ll think about it.” The moment you ask for forgiveness, it’s instant.
2. Jesus forgives me COMPLETELY
That means He forgives every sin in your life. Notice this verse in Colossians 2 “He has forgiven all your sins. He has utterly wiped out the evidence of broken commandments which always hung over our heads and He has completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross.” Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, and your sins were nailed to the cross with Him… so you can stop nailing yourself to the cross! You say, “Well, which of my sins did Jesus Christ die for?” All of them. Even the ones that you didn’t know were sins! Even the ones you committed in ignorance. They were all forgiven – completely. This vs. says “wiped out, annulled, obliterated from memory”. When God wipes out a sin, He not only forgives it He completely annuls it. He wipes it out from His memory. Once He forgives them, He chooses not to remember our sins anymore. Can you imagine coming to God and saying, “God, do you remember how I hurt people, abused drugs and used your name like a curse word?” NOPE! If you’ve come to Jesus Christ and sincerely given that sin to him… it’s forgiven instantly and completely!
Here’s the point. If Jesus Christ obliterates it, wipes it out from memory… don’t you think you should? I mean, if it’s been completely forgiven and forgotten… don’t you think you should start forgiving yourself? Some of you have asked God to forgive you for a sin, but you’re still holding on to it and making yourself feel guilty about it. Listen very closely…If you feel guilty over a sin that’s been confessed and repented of… the guilt you’re feeling is not from God… it’s from the devil! So you need to forgive yourself in order to keep the devil from using that sin as a beating stick!
And then 3rdly… When Jesus forgives me…
3. He forgives me FREELY
In other words, you’ll never be able to earn it. You’ll never be able to deserve it. God’s forgiveness is a gift. Notice this verse in Romans 3 “God says He will accept us and acquit us and declare us not guilty if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sin no matter who we are or what we’ve been like.” I love that last phrase in the Living Bible. It says, “no matter who we are or what we’ve been like.” That includes all of us! Jesus looks at this man who’s physically paralyzed and He sees a deeper wound. It’s guilt from a past sin. And notice He doesn’t minimize the guilt – “Don’t worry! It’s no big deal,”… because it is a big deal when you sin. He didn’t minimize it. He eliminated it.
It is so important that you understand that Jesus Christ forgives instantly, completely and freely. Because if you don’t… every time something bad happens in your life you’re going to start thinking, “God’s getting even with me.” God’s punishing me for what I did.” No, He’s not! The Bible says if you’ve given your life to Jesus Christ, He took the punishment for all your sins on the cross, not just some of them! Think about it…why would God punish you if Jesus Christ was already punished for you? Not only would that be double jeopardy, but it’d be a waste of his death on the cross! Just like Jesus wasn’t mad at this paralytic for interrupting his message… God’s not mad at you if you come to Him and say, “I want to be changed.” He’ll instantly respond by easing your fears and eliminating your guilt.
Here’s the lesson…You don’t have to live with your guilt! Even if there were no such thing as heaven, (which there is!) it would be worth becoming a Christian just to have a clear conscious. He forgives completely, instantly and freely. When I think about myself, (knowing me like I do) …I’m amazed that God would love and forgive a heart like mine.
Now some people don’t believe that Jesus can forgive sin and eliminate guilt. They don’t believe you can be forgiven. They believe you have to live with that stuff the rest of your life. The Pharisees and religious rulers were like that. They respond to Jesus’ pronouncement of forgiveness in Luke 5:21… “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?” Who do you think you are Jesus? You can’t forgive sins! Jesus says… “Oh yea?” Well, let me ask you a question… Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’?
How would you answer that question? Sure! it’s easier to “say” your sins are forgiven, right? Anybody can “say” that! The problem is, they can’t prove it. But if you say, “Get up and walk”… the proof is in the pudding! Either it happens or it doesn’t. Now the Jews made a very close connection between sickness and sin. They thought the 2 were linked. They believed that “Sickness always caused sin”. So if you could cure the sickness… you just cured the sin that went with it. Jesus knows this and says, “O.K. let me prove to you that I can forgive sins (also proving that I’m God)… watch this!
And this is where the real change starts to take place. Because He’s God in a Bod…
3. He will ENABLE me to do the impossible.
He will enable you to do that which seems humanly impossible. Notice the 3rd thing that Jesus says to this paralyzed man in Mark 2:10… “Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, ‘Stand up! Take your mat and go on home. You’re healed.’ Instantly, the man jumped up, took the mat, pushed his way through the stunned crowd and walked out of the house!. They couldn’t believe their eyes! All the crowd could do is praise God and say ‘We’ve never seen anything like this before!” But the Pharasees and religious rulers grumbled quietly! Jesus had proved that His words weren’t just empty phrases…He really had power to DO what He said He would do! To not only heal the body, but heal the soul!
Now think about this… Jesus asked this guy to do the very thing he’d been unable to do his entire life. He could have asked him to do all kinds of different things… He could have told him to quote scripture. He could have told him to fix the roof! But He asked him to do the one thing he’d never been able to do in his life. Remember… this man was an invalid. Have you ever had to care for an invalid? He’s been a shut-in his whole life. If He wanted to go somewhere he had to be carried there. They didn’t even have wheel-chairs back then. So he was totally dependent on others. And Jesus looks at him and says, “I want you to stand up, take your mat …and get out of here! You’re healed.” Now why in the world Jesus ask him to do the impossible? Because He wanted to stretch his faith.
Most of us have this faith thing all mixed up in our minds. See, Faith isn’t something you believe. No. Faith is something you do! Faith isn’t just something you think about. It’s something you act on! Faith isn’t simply an opinion, a philosophy or even a conviction. Faith is an activity! It’s obeying God and doing what He says to do …even if it seems impossible. Even if you don’t know how it’s all going to work out. Think about it, if you knew how it was going to work out… it wouldn’t be faith! That’s why tithing is such a great thing! (explain)
What is God asking you to do this morning, that looks impossible? Whatever it is… you need to know that God is testing your faith. He’s saying, “This situation is a test. Are you going to believe Me? Are you going to trust Me? Are you going to place your faith in Me? Or are you just going to lie there and be an invalid all your life?” See, if you’re like most people, you have areas in your life that you’d like to change. Areas that are under your control to change, but a long time ago, you gave up on yourself. You decided in your heart, “It’s too hard!”, or “It’s too impossible, I can’t do it! It’ll never happen!” Again, I’m talking about things that are under you’re control. There was a time I wanted to be 6’ 3, but no matter how much I prayed I’m never going to be that tall. That’s not under my control…that’s in God’s control.
But there are many things in your life that ARE under your control …you’ve just decided they’re too hard.
I’ll never be able to lose weight.
I’ll never be able to overcome this habit…
I’ll never be able to recover from that failure... ...
I’ll never be able to love again…
I'm never going to become what I’ve always wanted to be…
I can never forgive that person who hurt me.”
If you believe that…you’re right! Because you’re emotionally paralyzed. That’s why you need Jesus Christ! Jesus said, “Without God it is utterly impossible… but with God everything is possible.” Listen…your greatest need is not for relief of your problems. Your greatest need is to see how big God really is, to understand the greatness and love and majesty and forgiveness of God. Because the more you understand how big and how loving God is …the smaller your problems shrink in comparison. See, the reason your problems look so big right now, is because you’ve got your eyes on them 24/7! No wonder! But when you look to Jesus and realize how powerful He is, everything else shrinks in comparison.
That’s exactly what the paralytic had to do. Even though it was humanly impossible for him, if Jesus said He could do it… He could do it! He took Jesus’ words at face value, and against all rational or reason… He stood up! Listen… when God asks you to do something that seems humanly impossible, He gives you the power to do it. After Jesus said, “Get up”, …the very second he decided to get up, …God gave him the power to walk! And God will give you the power to do whatever He asks you to do. What change in your life seems impossible? Are you in a relationship right now that’s dying before your eyes (and you can’t stop it)? You feel powerless, hopeless and helpless? Are you consumed with some painful memories that you can’t forgive (or even forget)? Are you stuck in a habit that you’ve tried many, many times to change… and you can’t? Jesus Christ specializes in those kinds of situations. He’s the God of the impossible.
In many ways every one of us in this room are like this paralyzed man. Whether it’s depression, worry, guilt, fear or indecision…if you’re unable to move past it… you’re paralyzed!!! And you need to have the power that only Jesus can give you to get off your mat… and walk! Jesus is telling you to GET UP! Can you hear Him? But if you don’t ACT on it, knowledge alone won’t help you! It makes no difference that Jesus Christ will forgive you instantly, completely and freely if you don’t accept it and act on it. So what you need to do today are the three things that this paralyzed man did:
1. He turned to Jesus Christ. We’re just like he was…unable to move and utterly reliant on God to help us.
2. Like the paralyzed man, you must believe that Jesus Christ can and will help you change.
3. You DO whatever He tells you to do even if it seems impossible. When Jesus looked at this man & said, “I want you to get up right now. I want you to take up your mat. And I want you to leave this room because you’ve been healed. “ That was impossible. But He did it. And the moment he decided to do it, as soon as he stood up, his legs and his arms were filled with strength he’d never had in his life. He did what he’d never done before. Question: What would have happened if this man hadn’t done what Jesus said to do? What if he’d just come to Jesus and believed that He could and would heal… but he didn’t obey him? I’ll tell you what would have happened. NOTHING! He would have been carried out of that house on a mat! But when your faith meets Jesus’ power… amazing things happen! So what about you? Are you going to go home today, lie down on your mat in front of the TV and say…“Boy, that was a good message! Too bad it doesn’t apply to my situation. My situation is too difficult. Too tough. Too impossible. I wish it did!” If that’s your attitude, don’t expect anything from God! You’ll just spend another wasted week, paralyzed…laying around. You might get some sympathy… but that’s not what you need… you need the courage to get up off your mat and do what Jesus is telling you to do! On the otherhand, you might be like this young man, you’re tired of lying on your mat… you’re ready to get out of the rut, and you want Jesus Christ to change you… NOW is your time! In the name of Jesus… I want to say to you this morning… GET UP! TAKE YOUR MAT… AND WALK!
Prayer:
Are you going to trust Jesus Christ for a miracle today? If
you’re serious about wanting real change in your life,
… follow me in this prayer from your heart.
“Dear God, You know the emotions, the hurts and the mistakes that often hold me back. Today I ask You to help me change from the inside out. I admit that I’ve often held back from You out of fear. Forgive me for looking to other sources to solve the problems that only You can solve. If I am Yours, You will take care of me. Set me free from my fears and worries as I learn to trust You more and more. I also need You to forgive me for the things I know are wrong in my life. Jesus Christ, thank You that You forgive me instantly, completely and freely. I’m amazed at Your love and grace. I really want to get to know You better and better. I invite You to be the manager of my life. You call the shots and I’ll follow. And Lord, You know the situations in my life right now that look impossible from a human standpoint. Forgive me for forgetting that nothing is impossible with You. Help me to focus on Your greatness and watch my problems shrink in comparison. I dare to trust you right now!
