Mark 2:1-12

Happy Valentine's Day to the three or four of you that read this.  I only buy Valentine's for my wife and daughter.  You'll have to get your own chocolates today...and every day for that matter.  Time for SOAP!

South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 2:1-12.
O-The paralyzed man was healed because of his faith.
A-How much trust do we put in our faith to be enough to change people and circumstances around us?
P-Pray for a faith that is unwavering.

This is one of my favorite stories about Jesus.  There is so much going on in the story, especially if you take a moment and put yourself in the shoes of some of the people in the story.  Think of yourself, for a minute as the homeowner where Jesus is teaching?  You have the guy who's causing such a commotion in your city in your living room.  He's there teaching while the whole town tries to get in to listen.  You are so cool!  Yet, as you sit there listening to Jesus teach, you notice the ceiling of your house starting to crumble.  In your head you think, "What's going on here?"  At that point, you see a big chunk of ceiling fall to the ground in front of Jesus....and you realize there are people digging through your roof. What?

At that point, put yourself in the shoes of one of these guys who is bringing the lame man to Jesus.  You are so sure of Jesus being someone who can help this guy, that you will carry him up on a roof of someone's house and proceed to dig a hole through it.  Maybe you know the guy who owns the house. Maybe he's the guy who used to always get picked first for whatever you were playing.  You are finding sweet revenge in ripping up his house...

Wait!  We don't know that.  At best, we know that there are at least 4 guys who bring this paralyzed man to the crowd, in hopes of getting him in front of Jesus.  When they can't get in, they start tearing into the roof to get him to Jesus.

Stop and think about it for a minute.  That's some passion for this lame guy.  I've always wondered if they guys who brought him to Jesus knew him.  My gut tells me they did, it makes the story even more awesome if they didn't.  Think about it for a moment if you are the lame guy.  Its great if you had four friends who would take you to see Jesus to get healed.  Its even greater if they are crazy enough to rip through a roof to get you in front of Jesus to get healed.  Its even greater still if they are four people you don't know, who come by, pick you up, and haul you to Jesus.

Now for the twist.  Your friends have accomplished their goal.  They have lowered you right in front of Jesus.  They have interrupted the commotion with boldness.  Your palms are sweaty as you lay there on your mat, partially because you were freaking out as the guys lowered you down through the roof and partly because all eyes are on you right now.  All eyes looking at you on your mat, with your non working legs as everyone thinks, "What is Jesus going to do now?"

And what does Jesus say?  "Your sins are forgiven!"  What?  The teachers of the law that are there start flipping out because Jesus just claimed he was God in front of them by saying, "Your sins are forgiven!"  I'm sure the guys who worked so hard to get the dude there in the first place were at the least screaming in their heads, "Jesus, what about his LEGS!!!"  I'm sure that if you are the lame guy, you are thinking the same thing, only maybe with a few more capital letters.

This story goes back to our thoughts yesterday.  This being God's people thing has two sides to it in my opinion.  There is the spiritual side of it - the "Your sins are forgiven!" part.  And, at least in the context of Jesus, the Holy One of God, the Messiah, the Kingdom of God here and now, there's a healing side of things.

The question we have to ask is what can we do?  Do we have faith enough to make paralyzed people walk?  I wish we did.  I've never been able to do a miracle like Jesus.  But, we need to ask the question, what CAN we do?  How can we do the spiritual sin forgiving AND the healing side of things since we are the church, the Kingdom of God present now?

The story helps us know.  We need to be the hands and feet of those who can't make it to Jesus.  We need to go looking for them.  We need to find out their stories and step into their messes.  We need to be brave enough, have faith enough, to get involved to the point that we are willing to rip through a roof to help them to our God.

Our God is big enough to do amazing things.  We know He can do amazing things because we read it in the pages of Scripture.  I think He's waiting on us to engage and put ourselves in a place where He has to do great things...and He will!

Lord, help us to have the passion for the lost, the sick, and the hurting that the guys in this story had.  Give us the boldness to step into the messes and be the people you want us to be for your world.