Dee
February 20th, 2006, 03:57 PM
I want you to know I love this story. It is the only story other than Christmas and Easter that I can remember from Sunday School. I can still see the picture of the men on the roof lowering the sick man to Jesus so that he can be healed. I love this story because it raises so many questions. You know I believe the stories in the Bible that are the most powerful are the ones that leave you with as many questions as they do answers. The one who is filled with questions about God is seeking God. The one who has all the answers often has quit seeking. Remember what Jesus says, “The one who seeks finds and the one who knocks will have the door opened.”
So here are some questions. How is it that the man is healed by the faith of his friends? And what does it mean when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Did Jesus believe that sin resulted in sickness? And if he did, did he believe all sickness was the result of sin? If it was his friends’ faith that saved him, can my faith save my friend? Did Mark want us to concentrate on the healing or did he want us to see that Jesus has the power to forgive sins? Do you realize this is the beginning in Mark’s gospel of Jesus’ controversy with the Scribes and the Pharisees. It is Mark’s first assertion that Jesus is God. And why does this story assert that Jesus is God? Because only God can forgive sins. A human being can forgive another human being but only God can forgive a person of their private secret sins.
Does everyone need forgiveness? The answer is yes, but many do not realize they need forgiveness. Scott Peck used to say that only those who are broken can heal others. I never knew exactly what he meant. Only those who have relinquished their ego can be forgiven. What is your ego? It is that part of you that says, “I am my own person. I can make my own decisions. I control my fate.” As long as you are in control God cannot forgive you. Peck tells the story of a man who was an alcoholic executive and had attended AA meetings for six months. Yet every other night when he didn’t go to AA meetings, he got dead drunk. This man said he didn’t understand all that stuff about the higher power, but he did understand the first step in AA “I have come to admit that I am powerless over alcohol.” Peck asked him what this meant. He said it was simple. “Once I take a drink that alcohol takes over. Once I start I can’t help myself. It means I can’t take the first drink.” Peck said, “How come you are still drinking?” He said, “I just don’t have the will power.” Peck replied, “Maybe it means not only that you are powerless after you have taken the first drink, but that you are powerless even before you take the first drink.” “That’s not true,” he exclaimed, “it’s up to me. I’m a competent person. I can determine whether or not I’m going to take that first drink.” “That is how you feel,” said Peck, “but it is not how you act.” But the man would not give in.
The point is, as long as you and I are in control, we don’t need God. You are going to think I am strange now. There is something beautiful about sickness as well as something tragic. Yesterday as you know it snowed. I came down to the church about 9:00. And I thought I would read quietly for several hours and then I would write my sermon. I had one in my folder for this Sunday that I preached in 2000 that I liked pretty well and I thought you know you just might preach that. The phone rang. It was LaDonna saying our daughter Cherish had called and they were all sick; could we come. So I left the office, picked up LaDonna, and headed for Northern Kentucky. On the way I learn that the other grandparents had been helping out with the grandkids but now they were sick; they had to stay home. Cherish and John want to share …So we go to the store and pick up the list Cherish had requested and get what LaDonna needs to make Chicken Noodle Soup. I play with the children, Sam age 5 and Emma age 2. Watch a couple of children movies. At one point I fell asleep and Emma says, “Wake Up Granddaddy.” Finally, 5:00 rolls around and LaDonna offers chicken noodle soup for everyone. We start home at 6:00; about halfway home the cell phone rings and Marla says, “They are waiting for you.” LaDonna and I had forgotten that we were invited to the Goldman’s for Dinner for 8. I felt like a fool, as last year I forgot a Sunday School class meal.
What is beautiful about this sickness was that I was forced to share with my grandchildren and my daughter and her husband who always seem to have everything in hand and they needed help. Now the truth is we always need help. Until we can admit that we need help we don’t have any sins that we acknowledge. We have mistakes, we have errors of judgments, we have mishaps, we have unfortunate circumstances, but we do not have sins. Only when we believe in God and that God ought to be in control of our lives do we come to accept that we are sinners. Until that time we are arrogant, we are selfish, we are self-centered, even if our lives are a wreck. The man they brought to Jesus was broken. He was sick. He needed the help of his friends. He was open to healing.
Most of you will remember Christopher Reeve. He was as big a movie star as George Clooney is today. In one very high profile movie he played Superman. Later he was in an accident with a horse. He broke his back and was paralyzed from the neck down. After he recovered he was an advocate for spinal injury. At one point there was a Super Bowl commercial where Reeve got up and walked. It was amazing what they could do with computer imaging. Reed believed that in time there would be a way of rerouting electrical impulses so that paralyzed people would be able to walk. Christopher Reeve died Oct 10, 2004, but I would have liked to have asked him if he was a bigger and better person before his accident or after his accident. Did the fall force him into a spiritual journey that he would never have experienced had he not fallen from his horse? I never knew Christopher Reed, but I did know George Perrine. He was just about everything on Transy campus until he fell and broke his back. And then he went into great depression until finally he accepted that he would never walk again. It was through this process that George decided to enter the ministry.
Mark wants us to know that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive our sins. For it to happen, you first have to believe there is a God who cares for you and that God came in the flesh and died on the cross and was raised to new life and is available to all who will surrender their ego. Some people can surrender their ego easily. Some never surrender. Some surrender when they are broken. You can be broken by sickness or by sin. I once heard a minister say, “If you sin enough you will get so desperate that you will either die or call on the Lord.” When you call on the Lord, you have surrendered your ego and then you have the possibility of forgiveness.
What I like about our story is I assume all of them had surrendered their egos to Jesus. They knew they couldn’t heal their friend, but they had the faith that Jesus could heal him. Oh, that we had faith that Jesus could heal not only us, but also everyone we know. Amen.
So here are some questions. How is it that the man is healed by the faith of his friends? And what does it mean when Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Did Jesus believe that sin resulted in sickness? And if he did, did he believe all sickness was the result of sin? If it was his friends’ faith that saved him, can my faith save my friend? Did Mark want us to concentrate on the healing or did he want us to see that Jesus has the power to forgive sins? Do you realize this is the beginning in Mark’s gospel of Jesus’ controversy with the Scribes and the Pharisees. It is Mark’s first assertion that Jesus is God. And why does this story assert that Jesus is God? Because only God can forgive sins. A human being can forgive another human being but only God can forgive a person of their private secret sins.
Does everyone need forgiveness? The answer is yes, but many do not realize they need forgiveness. Scott Peck used to say that only those who are broken can heal others. I never knew exactly what he meant. Only those who have relinquished their ego can be forgiven. What is your ego? It is that part of you that says, “I am my own person. I can make my own decisions. I control my fate.” As long as you are in control God cannot forgive you. Peck tells the story of a man who was an alcoholic executive and had attended AA meetings for six months. Yet every other night when he didn’t go to AA meetings, he got dead drunk. This man said he didn’t understand all that stuff about the higher power, but he did understand the first step in AA “I have come to admit that I am powerless over alcohol.” Peck asked him what this meant. He said it was simple. “Once I take a drink that alcohol takes over. Once I start I can’t help myself. It means I can’t take the first drink.” Peck said, “How come you are still drinking?” He said, “I just don’t have the will power.” Peck replied, “Maybe it means not only that you are powerless after you have taken the first drink, but that you are powerless even before you take the first drink.” “That’s not true,” he exclaimed, “it’s up to me. I’m a competent person. I can determine whether or not I’m going to take that first drink.” “That is how you feel,” said Peck, “but it is not how you act.” But the man would not give in.
The point is, as long as you and I are in control, we don’t need God. You are going to think I am strange now. There is something beautiful about sickness as well as something tragic. Yesterday as you know it snowed. I came down to the church about 9:00. And I thought I would read quietly for several hours and then I would write my sermon. I had one in my folder for this Sunday that I preached in 2000 that I liked pretty well and I thought you know you just might preach that. The phone rang. It was LaDonna saying our daughter Cherish had called and they were all sick; could we come. So I left the office, picked up LaDonna, and headed for Northern Kentucky. On the way I learn that the other grandparents had been helping out with the grandkids but now they were sick; they had to stay home. Cherish and John want to share …So we go to the store and pick up the list Cherish had requested and get what LaDonna needs to make Chicken Noodle Soup. I play with the children, Sam age 5 and Emma age 2. Watch a couple of children movies. At one point I fell asleep and Emma says, “Wake Up Granddaddy.” Finally, 5:00 rolls around and LaDonna offers chicken noodle soup for everyone. We start home at 6:00; about halfway home the cell phone rings and Marla says, “They are waiting for you.” LaDonna and I had forgotten that we were invited to the Goldman’s for Dinner for 8. I felt like a fool, as last year I forgot a Sunday School class meal.
What is beautiful about this sickness was that I was forced to share with my grandchildren and my daughter and her husband who always seem to have everything in hand and they needed help. Now the truth is we always need help. Until we can admit that we need help we don’t have any sins that we acknowledge. We have mistakes, we have errors of judgments, we have mishaps, we have unfortunate circumstances, but we do not have sins. Only when we believe in God and that God ought to be in control of our lives do we come to accept that we are sinners. Until that time we are arrogant, we are selfish, we are self-centered, even if our lives are a wreck. The man they brought to Jesus was broken. He was sick. He needed the help of his friends. He was open to healing.
Most of you will remember Christopher Reeve. He was as big a movie star as George Clooney is today. In one very high profile movie he played Superman. Later he was in an accident with a horse. He broke his back and was paralyzed from the neck down. After he recovered he was an advocate for spinal injury. At one point there was a Super Bowl commercial where Reeve got up and walked. It was amazing what they could do with computer imaging. Reed believed that in time there would be a way of rerouting electrical impulses so that paralyzed people would be able to walk. Christopher Reeve died Oct 10, 2004, but I would have liked to have asked him if he was a bigger and better person before his accident or after his accident. Did the fall force him into a spiritual journey that he would never have experienced had he not fallen from his horse? I never knew Christopher Reed, but I did know George Perrine. He was just about everything on Transy campus until he fell and broke his back. And then he went into great depression until finally he accepted that he would never walk again. It was through this process that George decided to enter the ministry.
Mark wants us to know that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive our sins. For it to happen, you first have to believe there is a God who cares for you and that God came in the flesh and died on the cross and was raised to new life and is available to all who will surrender their ego. Some people can surrender their ego easily. Some never surrender. Some surrender when they are broken. You can be broken by sickness or by sin. I once heard a minister say, “If you sin enough you will get so desperate that you will either die or call on the Lord.” When you call on the Lord, you have surrendered your ego and then you have the possibility of forgiveness.
What I like about our story is I assume all of them had surrendered their egos to Jesus. They knew they couldn’t heal their friend, but they had the faith that Jesus could heal him. Oh, that we had faith that Jesus could heal not only us, but also everyone we know. Amen.