Faith in Community
Gladstone Baptist Church – 8/8/04
Desperate Times call for desperate Measures. Have you ever considered what you would do in a desperate situation?
What about if you were diagnosed with a life threatening disease where the only treatment available was in Europe at one expensive clinic. Would you mortgage the house, sell the second car and take out a personal loan to fund the treatment? Yes? Some are unsure? How much would you be prepared to spend - $500,000, $50,000, $5,000? What if there was no guarantee of success.
What about this one - You are on a 13 day hike through a remote canyon. I know for some of you that this is going to be very difficult to imagine. Some of us find it hard enough getting up and walking to turn off the TV, let alone a 13 mile hike. Anyway – you are on a 13 day hike and are squeezing past a boulder in a narrow canyon when it moves and pins your arm. No matter what you do, the rock won’t budge and has firmly locked your arm into place. For five days you lie trapped knowing that it is likely that you will die because no one is going to find you. You are in a desperate way – what are you prepared to do? Some of you may recognise this story. It’s a true story of Aron Ralston. After 6 days of being trapped and knowing that his hand was already dead from lack of blood and he would soon be joining it if he didn’t do something. Aron cut off his own arm and walked 5 miles till he found help. It was a desperate situation that required desperate measures. Would you have been up to doing this?
The story has a good news ending. Aron is back doing the things he loves. He has a special artificial arm for his mountain bike. One to hole his paddle for his white water canoe and one which he uses for rock climbing. It’s all turned out well for Aron, but there were no guarantees about that. What would you do if you were really desperate?
This morning I want us to turn to read an account of some people who were desperate for help and would not in their wildest dreams give up. You see, Desperate times call for desperate measures. Turn with me to Luke 5
17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
Setting the Scene
Before we look at what actually happened, I want to help you imagine the scene. Jesus had been baptised and begun his public ministry and had done some pretty amazing things. He’d driven out evil spirits, healed all manner of people and taught with such authority it was scary.
Vs 15 says about him … the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
Jesus was getting quite a name right through out Israel and people were coming from far and wide to hear him AND be healed from their sicknesses. But it was not just ordinary people like you and me that were pricking up their ears – even the religious leaders of the day were interested in finding out who this new teacher was. Vs 17 tells us that Pharisees and experts in the Jewish law had gathered from all over the country. From every town in Galilee, from the rest of Judea and even from Jerusalem. They had all gathered together to hear Jesus speak. But what is sad is that these men were not interested in LEARNING from Jesus. They were interested in TESTING Him. They regarded themselves as the protectors of the Jewish religion. They were the gatekeepers of truth if you like and their audience with Jesus was to determine if he was friend or foe, a herald or a heratic.
Isn’t it interesting that the very people who were supposed to lead the church were not interested in learning from God. Over time, they had gone to bible college, they had debated the issues, they had formed their theological understanding and they were not open to any changes or to God’s continued revelation. I think it is sad that many Christians mirror in some ways these attitudes. We’ve formed our positions and are not willing to budge an inch. It is so easy to move from having a teachable spirit to a place of stubborn and often arrogant knowledge. When this happens, we don’t come to church to learn and apply God’s word, but we come to make sure the pastor is not teaching error.
There is not a person sitting here in this building (including myself) that understands clearly every single aspect of God’s working or even his revealed Word. I know that God warns against false teachers who seek to mislead God’s flock and I am not for one instant espousing that you take on board anything and everything that is said from this pulpit or any other without first testing it against God’s Word. That is why I don’t put the Bible passage on the screen for you to read along. I want you to bring your Bibles and use them – to check up on me and if I’ve got it wrong – come and tell me – nicely of course – because I’m still learning too.
So picture this scene - Jesus is in someone’s house – surrounded by eminent Pharisees and teachers ready to pounce. The place is packed. There is a coldness in the air. There is standing room only and there are even people hanging around outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of this famous teacher or hear a little bit of his teaching and the subsequent response of the Pharisees. If there was ever a time that Jesus would want to pull off a good sermon it was now.
Dealing with a Desperate Situation
Now onto the scene comes a group of friends carrying a paralysed man on a bed. They weren’t concerned about Jesus’ doctrinal correctness. They were desperate for healing for their friend. They sought to get in for an audience with Jesus, but were HINDERED.
I can imagine them trying every door and window. Asking nicely if they could be let in, but being told in no uncertain terms that there were others who were sick that were waiting in line and that they’d just have to wait in line. Besides, Jesus was in the middle of something more important. What could be more important than having your theological position verified by the religious leaders? What could be more important than having a high level debate on theological mysteries? How often I wonder have we hindered other’s or other ministries from bringing people to Jesus because we put a higher priority on what we are doing. Sobering thought isn’t it? What we are doing may be important, but is it the most important thing that could be happening?
What could be more important? I’ll tell you what … “ to preach good news to the poor … proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” If you look back into Luke 4:18, you’ll see that this is what Jesus declares is his purpose on earth. It wasn’t to debate with Pharisees, but to heal the hurting.
I find it interesting that Luke includes a little aside at the end of 5:17 … He writes that Jesus was teaching the Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there and get this bit “And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.” Isn’t it interesting that we would have considered the theological debate and teaching as primary and any healing emergency a distraction. But in God’s eyes, it was the need to convince sceptical theological gate keepers that was a distraction from the real purpose of his Son.
Jesus was ready to help those who were sick, but he was being DISTRACTED from it.
The friends, were hindered and Jesus was distracted.
So we have a desperate situation that needed desperate measures. What did they do, they went up onto the roof (it would have had a flat roof with stairs up to the top) and dug through the roof to make a hole so that they could lower their friend down to Jesus. Imagine putting that one on your insurance claim form.
How far would you go to get your friend or your child healed? Would you wreck someone’s roof? If it was that serious you probably would. Would you be able to ignore everyone looking at you in disbelief while you dug? I’m sure that wouldn’t have been a problem. Would you have been able to ignore the jeers and complaints from those in the house when their private audience was being rudely interrupted by uninvited roof crashers? I have no doubt you could.
And so the friends deliver their friend to the very feet of the one who might be able to help.
Spend a few moments thinking about some of your friends, family and neighbours. Many of them need a miracle of healing. Many need to be emotionally restored. Many need physical healing. Many need spiritual healing. They are in desperate need for help, but how far would we go to bring them to the feet of Jesus, the one who could help them. If we were honest, we’d all probably admit that we don’t recognise the current situations as being very desperate at all. We are used to suffering emotionally, physically and spiritually. We see it as a normal part of life that people don’t know Jesus and we assume that they never want to. We don’t see the desperate situation like Jesus sees it and so we don’t work to bring people to Jesus.
Healing a Helpless Human
Jesus was the only person who was able to help these friends and He acted to help when he saw THEIR faith. Whose faith? The friends faith. They were the ones who showed faith. They risked public litigation, public ridicule and unpopularity to bring their friend to Jesus believing He could be healed and Jesus honoured their faith.
How similar are you to these friends? Do you have faith that Jesus can help those you see suffering around you? If so, what are you doing about it? What does your faith look like? It can make a difference you know. Are you willing to put yourself out to bring them to meet Him? To give Jesus a chance to revolutionise their lives. That’s what he did for the paralysed man. Vs20 … When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Some of you are thinking – that isn’t healing. The guy still is lying on his mat! He is still lying there, but he is now a healed paralytic. One of our problems we face is that we have inverted God’s priority for things. We believe that physical sickness and physical needs are more serious than spiritual healing from sin. Not me you say. But let me ask you some questions …
What makes you more concerned …
Seeing an elderly lady on the news that has been robbed and beaten up or seeing people on TV that don’t know Jesus and will spend eternity in Hell.
What is more important to you …
Getting the mountains of work done that is piled up on your desk or sitting down and spending time answering the objections and questions of a friend in the office.
I think that we all KNOW the correct answer, but as usual the proof is in the pudding and we put far more emphasis on physical health and needs than spiritual health and needs. I’m no different to you in this regard. I find that I give lip service to the lost state of people, but am not doing much to change it. To see how many people have got it wrong, you only have to look at all the Christian aid organisations in this world who seek to help people who are hungry or sick or homeless. Doing these things is not bad in itself, but if this is all they are doing, they have got their priorities wrong. Filling a person’s stomach won’t get them to heaven. Bringing a person out of the cold won’t bring them out of hell. Don’t get me wrong, we need to be helping people in need, but we need to get our priorities aligned with that of Jesus.
To the friends and all those gathered, the primary need of this paralytic was to walk again and they were expecting Jesus to heal him – to make him walk. To Jesus, though, His PRIMARY need was to have fellowship with God again and so he healed him. His SPIRITUAL needs were more important than his PHYSICAL needs.
This passage has some incredible challenges for us …
Do we see the lostness of people as a desperate situation?
What are we willing to do to save people from this lost state?
What are we doing it?
We don’t have much time left today, but a couple other threads need to be pulled together before we close.
Challenging the Critics
Jesus’ claim to be able to forgive sins was like a red flag to a bull. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were gathered for the purpose of checking Jesus out and He had just blown it. I think that Jesus knew exactly what he was saying – it wasn’t a mistake. He knew that he could have just made this paralysed man walk and not caused any tension with the Pharisees at all. But instead, one of Jesus’ key teachings was that He could forgive sins because He was God. The statement – “Only God can forgive sins” – is a correct statement. Which leads to only one conclusion - that Jesus is God
Oh - there is another possibility, that Jesus was telling a little white lie. That is why Jesus is quick to rule out that option – He issues the challenge. Which is harder to say – not do, but say – “get up Mr Paralytic and walk” or “your sins are forgiven?” From the point of view of testing to see if some one is a fraud it is getting a person to walk. The Pharisees acknowledge this and so does Jesus so what does he do. Read it with me …
Vs 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
Jesus healed the man spiritually AND physically. He was completely healed. This was direct proof that Jesus could in fact forgive sins because in the first century, Jewish belief was that sickness like this was a direct result of some sin either by this man or his parents. By Jesus physically healing him, he is actually saying to them, sin doesn’t have any hold over him any longer – he is forgiven. That is radical. While the paralytic remained paralysed, the Pharisees could never accept that Jesus could forgive sins. Only with complete healing could Jesus definitely prove that he was God.
You see Jesus is interested in physical, emotional and spiritual healing. But the priority is always – let me repeat – ALWAYS on spiritual healing first, physical and emotional later.
Unleashing the Urgency
How do we regain the right priority and unleash the urgency of the situation? Because I think in our heads we all know that Sin is important and deep down we want to make this a priority but how?
Here are some things which may help us unleash some urgency …
1) PRAY that God would breathe his urgency our lives. Pray for our unsaved friends and Pray for opportunities. A comment from the 40 Days which I haven’t forgotten was this …
2) Learn what HELL is really like. If we knew what hell was really like, we wouldn’t want anyone to end up there.
3) See people through Jesus’ EYES. People who he created, who he cares for, who he died for. We might not get on with them, but that is because we are not perfect and they are not perfect.
4) Recognise that all we have to do is to give people an introduction to Jesus. They have to make the choice of whether or not to believe. So often we fear failure to the extent that it paralyses us and we never open our mouths. What if they reject me? What if they don’t want to listen? This is a fear that I struggle with just as much as anyone else here. But you know, when ever I took opportunities as they arose, I wasn’t abused, I wasn’t laughed at. It was exactly the opposite. Whether a person accepts or rejects Christ is not your burden to carry. Your work is to introduce them to Jesus. Their decision is whether or not they become friends with Jesus.
5) Learn some TOOLS. Maybe do it in your homegroup. Talk about it in your homegroup how you can reach your friends. Help each other do it. Invite Pastor Roger or myself to come along and share with you some simple tools you could use.
Let’s become intentional about this. Without a plan, you will never accomplish anything. Plan to invite some non-Christian friends over for tea – not to Bible bash them, but to get to know them better so that you can share your life with them. Go fishing with someone – to give you a chance to talk about the important things in life. Plan to invite people to the Family Fun Day or to the Family Services we are holding that are starting next week – that they might hear God’s purpose for themselves and their family – be intentional and do something.
I want to close by replaying a song we heard back in the 40 Days of Purpose simulcast. Remember Rick Warren talking about his Dad on his death bed saying over and over again “I’ve got to save one more for Jesus.” Reaching people for Jesus is one of our five fundamental purposes on this earth. It is what we are here for. It was what we were created to do. And if we aren’t doing it, we are in effect saying to people – stuff you, you can spend eternity in hell.
During the playing of this song, I’m going to ask you to respond not to me, but to God’s call on your life to express your faith by reaching out to those in desperate circumstances all around us today. If you feel God has been speaking to you and calling you to reach those around you for him, I want you to slip off your seat and onto your knees as a sign of your submission to his priorities. Don’t make a huge scene, just be on your knees surrendering your life to this almighty task for the next week and for every week there after. If you can’t for some reason kneel, that’s fine, just bow your head – God knows your desire.
We are faced with a desperate situation which requires desperate means. What will you do to bring your friends to the feet of Jesus? Jesus wants to set them free. Will you reach one more for Jesus?
