“Good Friends”
Mark 2:1-12
At the church I served in East Ridge, we had a member named Tootsie Watson.
Tootsie and her parents lived
in a deteriorating part of town.
And that is where Tootsie lived for her entire life—all 89 years of her life-- in the same house where she was born, in the same house where her parents died.
In the same house where she eventually died.
At age 4, she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and the doctor told her parents that Tootsie wouldn't live past the age of 7.
As it turned out; Tootsi outlived everyone--her parents, sister, and 4 brothers--even her father--Joe who lived to be 101.
Tootsie was confined to a wheelchair her entire life.
She could not move her legs.
She could only barely move the wrist of one arm, and that’s it!
Nothing else.
She couldn't do life's basic necessities by herself.
A caretaker had to come and put her in bed, in a position that she would have to stay in until someone else would come the next morning and get her up and get her dressed and back into her wheelchair.
And, amazingly, Tootsie managed her own affairs--she lived independently, in her own home.
This is remarkable for someone who was basically paralyzed.
I was her pastor for 6 of the 9 years I was at East Ridge.
During that time, I met people who told me that Tootsie was a sort of "counselor" or "mentor" to them.
She would, on occasion, call me up and ask me to pray for someone or speak with someone whom she was helping through a tough time.
A lot of people looked "up" to Tootsie.
She was an inspiration.
She was a mighty witness for God.
She always kept a smile on her face.
She had an almost magical gleam in her eyes.
Everyone loved her.
Her favorite song was “What a Friend We have in Jesus.”
Members of the church used to pick Tootsie up in their cars, and bring her to worship and Sunday school.
Eventually they all pitched in and bought an expensive wheelchair accessible van so they could pick her up and bring her to church.
Members took turns, over the years, driving to Tootsie’s home early every Sunday morning, going into her home and rolling her wheelchair out and into the van.
It was a good workout…not an easy task.
Tootsie loved her church, and her church loved her.
Her church, and those who paid for and drove that wheel-chair accessible van were, in a very real sense, much like the men who carried the paralyzed man to Jesus in our Gospel story for this morning.
And it wasn’t easy for them, nor was it convenient.
Imagine what it would be like, not only to push through that crowd to get to the roof of the house, but then to “dig through it” and “lower the mat that the paralyzed man was lying on.”
These four men were—quite literally—willing to do whatever it takes to get this guy to Jesus!
It took a lot of compassion, empathy and faith.
These were some good, good friends.
And not only was what they were doing hard physically it was an extremely risky thing to do socially and religiously.
And that is because people with disabilities, in that day and age, weren’t a whole lot different than lepers, as far as being hustled off to the margins of society and religion.
The average person in Jesus’ day would have taken one look at the paralyzed man and said, “That guy is a sinner!”
It was just assumed that physical disabilities and other sicknesses were punishments from God for sinful behavior.
Remember in John’s Gospel when Jesus’ disciples asked Him, point-blank, whether a man born blind had sinned himself or whether his blindness was due to his parents’ sin?
Of course Jesus told them that sin had nothing to do with the man’s blindness.
That was a radical and brand new thing to say back then.
(pause)
This guy in our Gospel story is extremely blessed.
Jesus has been out and about healing lepers, driving out demons, and bringing the sick back to health.
And word is spreading fast.
And this guy has four friends who hear about it.
He has four friends who are willing to do whatever it takes to get him to this HEALER named Jesus—even if it means digging a hole in someone’s roof!
Even if it means making the religious authorities angry.
What a beautiful thing they did.
Are we willing to do anything it takes to bring people to Jesus?
When we decided we wanted to run a food pantry out of this building some amazing people from up on Signal Mountain heard about it and wanted to help.
They asked us where we wanted to put the pantry, and without even asking them to do it, they made blue prints which included knocking out a wall, taking up the floor, building--from scratch several very large and sturdy shelves, re-wiring the room so it could handle all the freezers and refrigerators we would need.
I asked them how much it would cost and they said “nothing. Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.”
They wouldn’t even let us pay for the materials.
They came down here several Saturday mornings, very early and worked well into the afternoons until the pantry was done.
These big ‘ol construction guys from Mountain Ministries were willing to do just about anything to bring people to Jesus.
They asked for no accolades.
They just did it and were so very humble about it all.
Right now, they are finishing up building us a new pantry in an unused space behind the fellowship hall where we will store food to be taken specifically to the homeless camps in our area.
When I see them give of their time and resources…
…When I see the joy it brings them to serve in this way, it brings me closer to Jesus or carries me to Jesus, much like those guys in our Gospel Lesson.
Do you know people like that?
Do you know anyone who helps carry you to Jesus?
They are good friends if they do.
I remember a story that a former pastor of mine named Bob Homer used to tell quite often.
It’s a story that changed his life.
Bob grew up in a home that didn’t go to church.
And so, Bob had never been.
And Bob was a paperboy and one of his customers happened to be the pastor of the nearby Methodist Church.
Once when Bob was collecting money for the paper the pastor said, “Bob, would you do me a great big favor?
“We don’t have anyone to hand out bulletins at the church on Sunday mornings, and I can tell just by the way you conduct yourself that you would be very good at it.
Will you come and do that for us?”
Bob’s parents allowed him to do it, and Bob met Jesus at that little Methodist Church.
Bob became a wonderful pastor.
He was sincere and humble.
And he helped carry many people to Jesus.
The day before I left for college the doorbell rang.
It was Bob.
He was holding a Bible.
It was a really nice leather-bound pocket Bible.
He gave it to me and said, “I hope you will read it.”
I did.
That was the first Bible that I really, really read.
Bob helped bring me to Jesus.
I bet if most of us were to look around this room we could find some folks who have helped bring us or carry us to Jesus.
You all carry me all the time.
Teresa of Avila is quoted as saying:
“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out his compassion to the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.”
And it’s true.
The greatest calling in life is to bring people to Jesus, for healing, wholeness, and salvation.
The man on the mat in our Gospel Lesson for this morning had no way to get to Jesus on his own.
He was paralyzed.
The house Jesus was in was filled with people.
There was no room, not even outside the door.
But this paralytic had some very good friends.
And they cared about this guy an awful lot.
They cared so much that they were willing to do anything to get their friend to Jesus because they knew he wouldn’t be able to make it without them.
We really do need one another.
Human beings are created for relationships.
Relationship with God and relationships with one another.
And healthy, good relationships are vital to our spiritual growth and health.
(pause)
Who are the paralytics of our day, who are not here because they either don’t feel good enough to walk through these doors, they think that we will judge them for their sins or they don’t think Jesus has anything to offer them through this church?
Who are the folks in the homes surrounding this building who are either still asleep right now, watching television or their computer screens without a thought in the world about what is going on inside this humungous brick building that takes up two city blocks of space?
Who are the people who need healthy relationships?
And what are we willing to do in order to carry them inside, to help them fall in love with Jesus and with life?
The man who was carried in to Jesus by his four good friends “got up, took his mat and walked out in full view” of everyone.
He had been healed.
He had been made whole.
And the people watching were “praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’”
His life—his new way of life helped carry others to Jesus as well.
May the same be said of me and of you.
Amen.
