Faith Makes the Difference

February 23, 2003

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Mark 2: 1-12

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ²So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. ⁴Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

⁶Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

⁸Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? ⁹Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? ¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, ¹¹"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." ¹²He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

Let’s dig into the Gospel. I want to share this beautiful picture with you. A year ago at this time I was in California, at the Robert Schuller Institute. One day, I went to an art show. A woman had painted gorgeous miniatures that told such stories. One was of a sailboat and ocean and clouds – it was just beautiful. I kept looking at it, and I had to buy it.

This picture in today’s Gospel is like that. We have the Christian life in miniature in this fabulous story that happened in the life of Jesus. Jesus was healing. Remember, He had healed the demoniac at the synagogue service. Then He went to Peter’s house for lunch, and Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, and He healed her. Then in the evening, He went out and healed people in the street. People were flooding in. Jesus said let’s leave here so I can go preach the way I’m supposed to. He went out and preached, and when He came home, people were waiting for Him. The house area was flooded with people.

Now, there were four men who had a paralyzed friend. They tried to get him to Jesus for a healing, but they couldn’t get near the house. So you know what they did? Next to the house, there was a staircase. They went up the staircase to the flat roof of the house. The roof was made of cross-beams strewn with twigs, covered with hardened mud. Grass grew on top of that. The men couldn’t get through the door to Jesus, so they dug through the roof. They made a hole big enough. Jesus and His friends were probably brushing their heads as the debris fell on them.

And down through the roof, the four men lowered the stretcher with their paralyzed friend. There he was. The Bible says that Jesus was amazed at the faith of those men. He looked at the man on the stretcher, frozen and paralyzed, and He said, “Son, your sins are forgiven. Take up you pallet and walk home.” And the man heard what Jesus said, and he was unfrozen, and he stood up. He took his pallet, his stretcher, and he went home.

I love this story, because it shows us love, and faith, and God’s power. I don’t know which of the three I’m more impressed with in this story. Look at the love those four guys had for the man on the stretcher. Why did they do it? Why did they cut the hole? Why did they lower him down? The only reason I can offer is because they loved him. He could do nothing for them, but they loved him. Were they related? I don’t know. I don’t think so, because the Bible usually makes a fuss about it when they’re related, but it says nothing. They may have been related or they may have been just friends. But herein is love, a beautiful picture of Christian love.

Do you have friends like that? They say that blood is thicker than water. I’m not sure, because love is love wherever it is. Have you ever been disappointed by a blood relation? (You don’t have to answer.) But anyone who has been disappointed knows what I’m talking about. It was pure, Christian love that those four men had for the person on the stretcher.

And then there was faith! They had to have a lot of faith to cut the hole, to absorb the cost of the roof repair – they were confident that something good was going to happen if they just brought their friend to Jesus. That’s faith. What a beautiful picture!

And then there was the picture of Jesus’s power to forgive and to heal. It’s the Gospel in miniature.

Just let me lift up a few points about it this morning. The first thing, the main thing – if you forget everything else, would you remember this one point? – is this: You are supported! Whoever you are, you are supported.

True or false? There is somebody in this world who cares enough about you to pray for you. There is somebody who cares enough about you to be one of the carriers of your stretcher to bring you to Jesus. I say true.

Now, you may be able to tell me that person’s name. Or maybe you’ll be able to tell me the name of all four. And maybe not. Because I am willing to contend that there are people praying for you that you don’t even know about. I am willing to suggest that there are people praying for you that perhaps you don’t think are. Perhaps there’s been a little bit of a broken relationship. But you know what? Maybe they’re praying for you anyway.

Did you ever have anybody come up to you and say, “You don’t know me but I know you.” Maybe it’s like that. Maybe there’s someone praying for you somewhere in the world that you don’t even know about. You are supported.

And I believe that there’s probably somebody praying for you who isn’t living on this earth, but living with the Lord in heaven and praying for you, bringing you before the Lord. And you know what? There’s a congregation that’s praying for you, and just did this morning. And there’s a pastor praying for you.

And even if none of it were so, there would be One who would come to you anyway, and bless you, and lift you up, and His name is Jesus Christ. You are supported. Friend, if you forget everything else, go into the week knowing that there is somebody who cares enough about you to bring you before the Lord, just as those four guys brought the paralytic before the Lord.

Second, know that you are needed. You are needed to be one of the four. Somehow, somewhere, this week, you will be needed to be the fourth person carrying the stretcher, symbolically speaking. Somebody is going to need your prayer. Somebody is going to need your healing words. Someone is going to need your smile, your encouragement. There are people who will need you to tell them that they are loved and to bring them before the Lord.

That story has a wonderful ending, doesn’t it? The paralytic is brought down, healed, and then he becomes self-propelled. He has the power to pick up the pallet and walk, and he does. I’d like to believe that he went home because he thought of somebody else that he needed to help carry the stretcher for.

You are needed. You are important. And remember this, too. God has power. Our God is a God of power. He healed that man spiritually – He said his sins were forgiven; he no longer needed to be frozen with guilt. He cured him. And our God can still do it. He can still do it for you. Your God is a God of power, and a God of healing and of love.

Take that with you into the week, won’t you? You are supported. You are needed. And God is able. And He loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.