Finding Love on the Roof
Mark 2:1-12
February 19, 2006
CareerBuilder.com recently listed some excuses used by employees when they called into work for a sick day. Some of the more interesting ones were:
• I was sprayed by a skunk
• I tripped over my dog and was knocked unconscious
• My bus broke down and was held up by robbers
• I was arrested as a result of a mistaken identity
• I forgot to come back to work after lunch
• I couldn’t find my shoes
• I hurt myself bowling
• My curlers burned my hair and I had to go to the hairdresser
• My cat unplugged my alarm clock
• A hitman was looking for me
• I had to be there for my husband’s grand jury trial
• I totaled my wife’s jeep in a collision with a cow
The gospel lesson for this morning is about a fellow who didn’t need to make excuses. He really did have a problem He was paralyzed. We don’t know why. Perhaps because of an accident. Perhaps because of illness. Perhaps because of a congenital condition. The cause isn’t really what is important. He was a man who was not physically whole and was in need of healing.
According to Mark’s gospel, it is very early in the ministry of Jesus. Not too long before this day, he had been baptized by John the Baptist and had spent some time in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. He had called his first four disciples there along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, cleansed a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum, and healed Peter’s mother-in-law and a whole bunch of other folks in that city. After that, he went on a preaching tour of the towns and villages around Galilee, casting out demons and healing a leper.
So his reputation was beginning to spread. People were hearing about him. He was beginning to get famous. The gossip mills were churning. People were starting to believe that he might be on to something.
And so we come to the story for today – the healing of the paralyzed man. I wonder if we could see this story from the perspective of this paralyzed guy for a minute. He had these four friends – I don’t know if they were relatives or not – but there were four of them. Somebody decided that he needed to see Jesus.
These four friends decided that it was time to put Jesus to the test, to see if he was what he was cracked up to be, to determine if he really did have the kind of power people said he had. To be fair, I am assuming that these four men really did believe in his power. Later on in his ministry, Jesus would have to contend with religious leaders and others who would test him to try to build a criminal case against him. That is not what was going on here. These four fellows, I am sure, believed and had enough faith, that they expected Jesus to be able to bring God’s healing power to bear on their friend.
Can you imagine what this paralyzed guy was feeling? His friends told him that they were going to take him to see this Rabbi named Jesus. OK, that’s fine. But then they got there and discovered this huge crowd. Next came the roof. “Excuse me,” he must have said. “You’re taking me up on the roof? You’re carrying me on this pallet up this rickety old ladder without an airbag, seatbelt, or net of any kind? Why don’t we just wait for the crowd to clear out a little bit.”
And then they finally got him up there. Can you imagine what he was saying then? “Wait a minute. You’re going to dig a hole in the roof and drop me down through it. Are you nuts? Let me check with my other friends, my SMART friends.” If this took place in contemporary America, you can see a whole host of law suits just waiting to happen.
You have to hand it to this guy. Though there were all sorts of potential problems, he loved his friends enough to allow them to help him. He got over his feelings of embarrassment and humiliation, and didn’t refuse their help. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction…” He wasn’t too proud to accept their help.
I had someone in my office not too long ago who said, “We’re all for you. Just tell us what you need us to do. Just ask. We’ll be there. We just want to know what you need.”
Refusing help when it is offered, I think, is rude to those who want to help and perhaps is an affront to God because the willingness and ability to help are spiritual gifts and not allowing someone to exercise their gift is not allowing them to do what God has equipped them to do. This moment on the roof was a sacred moment for all involved because the spiritual gifts of the friends matched the greatest need at that moment.
To offer help to others is to show grace…the same sort of grace that God shows to us each day. These four friends had enough love in their hearts that they were willing to risk ridicule and gossip. They were willing to be laughed at. They were even willing to risk the disapproval of a famous rabbi. Uppermost in their minds was their sick friend, his need for healing, and the potential for that healing that was found in Jesus.
Notice the difference in the reaction of the scribes who were there that day. For them, giving help was alright, as long as it was regulated; as long as it went with their notions of what it ought to be; as long as it fit the proper stereotypes; as long as it could be done their way. Their favorite phrase – which we try not to use around our church - was, “We’ve never done it that way before.”
This incident started with the faith of the friends and the trust of the paralyzed man, but Jesus put the finishing touches on the story.
Jesus is standing inside someone’s living room when, all of a sudden, dirt and dust starts to fall on his head, and he notices someone being let down through the ceiling to land at his feet. You have to admit that this is a pretty weird scenario. But it gets even weirder in the next few minutes.
Jesus looked at this paralyzed man and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” There were some Scribes there that day; men who were literate and specially educated to interpret Jewish law. They started mumbling and grumbling among themselves, insisting to each other that only God could forgive sins. Surely, they insisted, this rabbi was sacrilegious: disrespectful and offensive. He was claiming power that only God could rightfully claim.
Jesus told them that since they didn’t believe that he had the power to forgive sins, he would do something more difficult than that. He turned to the paralytic and said, “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go home.” And the man did.
At that point, they understood that Jesus, the One who can so easily bring physical healing, can surely heal from sin as well. They came to know that Jesus heals, has knowledge of the state of individual hearts, and forgives sins.
I hope that you will take with you some lessons this morning. The first lesson is this: don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Don’t let your pride get in the way of another person who wants to use the spiritual gifts given him or her by God.
Do you remember the story of the Russian submarine “Kursk?” In August of 2000, there was a series of explosions in the forward torpedo room which sent the ship to the bottom of the sea. Naval experts believed that at least some of the 118 crew members had survived the explosion and were waiting on the dark, cold sub for rescue.
The United States, Great Britain, and Norway all offered the Russian Navy technical, logistical, and staff support for a rescue operation, but their Deputy Prime Minister said that they had all the technology they needed. Thanks, but no thanks.
According to official accounts, the sub was resting on the bottom at 354 feet, but was not located for 16 hours. They did not lower the first rescue vessel until 15 more hours had passed. The next day came the offers of help and it was two days after that when President Vladimir Putin ordered Naval officials to accept any aid that was offered. It was three more days before help arrived.
Obviously, no one knows for sure, but there was certainly a chance that at least some of those men could have been rescued if the Russians had accepted the help they were offered.
Things in your life may not be nearly as dramatic as a rescue on the high seas or terrible illness, but the lesson remains. Don’t be afraid to ask or accept help when it is offered. Allow others to use their spiritual gifts. Allow others the opportunity to model the gracefulness of God.
Secondly, I think that we can learn from the trust of the four friends. They had heard the stories of Jesus. Perhaps they had talked to someone who had first-hand experience with him. They were willing to put their faith on the line and into practice.
One of my favorite verses from the Bible is found in Hebrews 12:1. It begins like this: “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” We have heard the stories of faith. We know others who can testify to the power inherent in Jesus. We have heard the witness. Perhaps we can take a little leap of faith of our own. Perhaps we can decide today to trust Jesus with our most important issues, decisions, or questions. The four friends had their faith rewarded. Perhaps the same rewards are waiting for us.
Thirdly, I believe that in this story is a lesson for the church. I don’t know if they knew it or not, but they were actually standing in the way of the paralyzed man getting the healing he needed from Jesus. The religious teachers and scribes were standing in the way by insisting that there was only one way to go about their religious practice. They weren’t hearing the fresh winds of the spirit blowing in their midst. They were blind and deaf to the new ways that God was acting.
So let’s ask ourselves a question. How do we, as the modern-day church keep people away from God? Have you ever thought about that? When we fail to live as witnesses of Jesus, we keep people away. When we fail to accept people regardless of age, status, race, economic position, or theology; we are keeping them away from Jesus. When we fail to love as Jesus loved, we keep people away. When we fail to forgive, we keep people away. When we arrogantly assume that our way is the only way, we keep people away. When we don’t accept other’s differences, we keep people away. When we don’t listen to the needs of others, we keep people away. When we refuse to make the church a comfortable environment so that others can feel safe and secure when they are here, we keep people away. When we boldly point out the sins of others, but don’t notice our own sins that separate us from Christ, we keep people away. When we refuse to show compassion to others, we keep people away. When our weekday actions don’t match our Sunday morning proclamations, we keep people away. When we are grumpy and out-of-sorts, we keep people away. When we mistake our small corner of the truth for the REALTRUTH, we keep people away.
Jesus has come to heal us: our souls, our bodies, our emotions, and our spirits. He not only wants to do that, but has the power to do it. In Jesus, the Kingdom of God has come to us. Miracles of healing and forgiveness of sins wait. If we are willing to come down off the roof into the presence of Jesus, we will be rewarded with healing, wholeness, forgiveness of sins, and new life.
