Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church

In the story of the man who was healed by Jesus when his friends lowered him through the roof on a stretcher, we often focus on the miraculous healing. But, Jesus himself says that it is the faith of the man’s friends that made him well. What kind of friend are we? Are we someone that will go out of our way to share the love of God with others? Or do we “hide it under a bushel.” The world is in need of healing. And Christians should be about seeking solutions, not lamenting our limitations.

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Mark 2:1-5

1. To this day, one of the most poignant expressions of friendship I have scene comes at the end of the 1990 movie Dances With Wolves.

a. Kevin Costner as Lt. John Dunbar. Assigned to a wilderness outpost in South Dakota, Dunbar encounters Lakota Sioux Indians. They make several attempts to steal his horse.

b. “I am Wind In His Hair. Do you see that I am not afraid of you? Do you see?” (Dunbar faints)

c. As the movie goes on, Dunbar and Wind in His Hair become friends – fight together, etc.

d. At the end of the film. “Do you see that I am your friend? Can you see that you will always be my friend?”

e. It is a stirring and dramatic example of what many of us hope friendship can be.

2. In the gospel lesson that was read for us this morning, we have an equally stirring and dramatic example of friendship.

a. Jesus just beginning his public ministry. He is in Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee – hometown of Peter and Andrew.

b. A lot of people are coming to see Jesus. Some are hopeful. Some expectant of the messiah. Some curious, some skeptical.

c. There were people that wanted Jesus to heal them of any kind of infirmities.

d. There was a degree of chaos involved in this gathering.

e. Suddenly, pieces of mud and mat branches from roof fall in on the people. Soon, there is a whole. A paralyzed man is lowered on a mat.

f. How impressive.

3. Now, we might read this and think that this is just another story of Jesus healing someone. If we do, we might miss something very important.

a. Hear these important words from verse five. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’.”

b. Paralyzed man – injury associated with sin. Jesus knows this; that is why he includes forgiveness in the healing story.

c. But, notice whose faith led to the man’s healing – the faith of his friends. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’.”

d. It was the faith of the man’s friends that led to his healing. That is why his friends are heroes of the faith.

e. Again, people in Jesus’ day erroneously believed that disability was the result of someone’s sin.

f. But, the man’s friends did not care about that. They saw only his need for healing. This is important. Because they will go to great lengths to help their friend experience healing. How many opportunities did they have to give up on their friend?

g. Take him to the house…get to the house, there is no way in…they take the outdoor staircase to the roof…begin to chip away at the mud and sticks until they have made a hole.

h. That is heroic love! That is heroic friendship! That is heroic faith!

4. The man’s friends are an example to all Christians. Their love for their friend challenge all of us to be more bold in how we love others.

a. Are we timid with our love for people? Do we hide it under a bushel?

b. Or, will we take loving risks, to insure that people experience the redemptive, healing love of Jesus Christ.

c. How will people know of Christ’s love in this world? When Christian begin behaving towards others the way that the paralyzed man’s friends behaved towards him.

d. They did not see sin – they saw need. And they knew that Jesus was the answer to that need, so they got the man to Jesus.

5. What do we see when we look out into the world beyond the comfort of our lives?

a. This past week, a disaster of biblical proportions hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti.

b. I have lived with the reality of Haiti my whole life – parents were involved with International Child Care.

c. The disaster was heartbreaking enough. But, then as if to add insult to injury, Pat Robertson goes on TV and tells millions of people that Haiti is being punished because, in its liberation from the French in 1801, leaders made a “pact with the devil.”

d. Not only bad historian, but bad theologian. Mr. Robertson more interested in telling us what is why people of Haiti deserved this calamity (which they did not), rather than demonstrating how Christ’s love might be revealed in response to this disaster.

e. Imagine if he were the friends of the paralyzed man – you deserve your disability.

f. Why am I even addressing his comments? Because, people hear him and thy think he speaks for Christians.

g. He does not speak for me, or for the God that I worship.

6. The God I worship calls us to go to whatever lengths we must go to in order to demonstrate to the world how much God loves us.

a. God I worship…calls us to act in dramatic and bold fashion to reach others for Christ.

b. God I worship…calls us to be less concerned with the obstacles and more concerned with the possibilities.

c. God I worship…not a God of fear, but a God of love.

d. God I worship…defines love by its willingness to act sacrificially and courageously to help others – not judgmentally and arrogantly to condemn them.

e. The God I worship…at work, even in the midst of tragedy, redeeming the world.

7. Last year, Pastor Tom told a few people at dinner a wonderful story about an African boy who was just learning about what it means to be a Christian when his teacher explained to his class the meaning of Christmas.

a. Christians give gifts to one another on Christmas Day as a way of expressing their joy over the gift of Jesus and as a token of their friendship with one another.

b. So, after class, he took off on a long walk to a particular bay which was many miles from his village. When he got there, he searched and searched for the most beautiful seashell he could find. Gave it to his teacher on Christmas Day.

c. She was very touched —not only by the beauty of the shell, but by knowing that it could only have come from the beach many miles away. She told the boy how beautiful the gift was and how much she appreciated it. Then she said, “But you shouldn’t have walked all the way to the bay to get it for me. That’s just too much.”

d. “I needed to do that,” he said. “The long walk is a part of the gift!”

8. My friends, the world is in a world of hurt. The people of Haiti represent a challenge to the church. How will we visibly demonstrate the compassion of Christ?

a. But, the people of Haiti are not the only ones in need. People all over need to know God’s love and grace.

b. Our challenge is not to love others when it is easy, when solutions readily present themselves. We are called to make the “long walk” of love, because that it part of the gift.

c. Our challenge…find a way to bring Christ’s love and healing to others, even when there appear to be obstacles in the way.

d. Our challenge…to demonstrate to others that God’s love is real.

e. Will you join me in this challenge? Will you boldly seek – with God’s help – to do all that you can (not everything) in order to bear witness to Christ in this world?

f. Will you be the kind of friend that leads others to Christ?

g. Will you be a hero of the faith? Amen.

Sermon delivered at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church Anaheim Hills – January 17, 2010.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Sermon.