Four Friends
Mark 2:1-12
by Jim Westmoreland
We're moving too fast and making too much noise to perceive the gentle voice of God. With windows rolled up, stereos cranked and engines roaring, we have little chance of hearing anything ... but the sickening sound of a mortar-crusted missile.
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar S-Type Sedan. Who could blame him, with his Jag boasting a 3-liter, 6-cylinder, 240-horsepower engine, with 5-speed automatic transmission? He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars, however, and slowed down when he thought he saw something.
As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and spun the Jag back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown.
He jumped out of the car, grabbed a kid with a buzz cut and wearing tattered cargo pants and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?"
Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"
"Please, take it easy. I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do," pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop." Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair, and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Deeply moved, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be okay. "Thank you," the grateful child said to him.
The man then watched the little boy push his brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long walk back to his Jaguar ... a long, slow walk. He never did repair the side door. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.
God whispers in our soul and speaks to our heart. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, he has to throw a brick at us.
It's our choice, each and every day: Listen to the whisper -- or wait for the brick. The four friends in today's gospel account heard the whisper, which is why they took the drastic action they did. They learned that a healer named Jesus was in the town of Capernaum, so they put a paralyzed friend on a mat and carried him to Jesus' house.(1)
We can imagine Jesus preaching in the stuffy room with others peering in the windows and the doors, when suddenly Jesus was interrupted. Sticks, dirt, and other roofing materials began to fall on him and all around him. I wonder what Jesus thought.
The disruption continued. More and more roofing material fell around Him and on Him, until finally a shaft of sunlight pierced the room. Surely, Jesus had quit trying to preach by this time, and He joined the crowd as they starred at the gaping hole in the ceiling.
Then they all saw the paralyzed man being lowered in a blanket through the hole in the roof. When the man finally came to rest on the floor, I imagine that one of the men on the roof poked his head through the hole and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt, master, but the crowds at the door were jammed. There were too many people for us to get our friend through, and this seemed to be the only way to get to you."
Don't you imagine that Jesus was impressed with the determination of the four friends and with their creativity? They could have given up when they saw the crowds and just carried the paralyzed man back home. They might have postponed this meeting to another day. But no, they seemed desperate to see Jesus right away, and not for themselves, but for their friend.
I think this paralyzed man may have already been the luckiest man in the world to have four such friends! If you have even one friend like that, you are a lucky person, indeed.
I am impressed with the four friends' determination. They would let nothing come between them and Jesus. When they saw the crowds jamming the home, they must have first tried to force their way in without success. Then they stepped back and examined the situation. They began to "think outside of the box," as we describe it today. And they broke through to a creative solution to their problem.
The typical roof in those days consisted of boards, sticks, and dirt on a flat surface that was sometimes used as a porch. It would not be unusual for there to be a stairway or a ladder leading to the roof where people might sit in the cool of the day. The four friends knew that making a hole in the roof could easily be done and could easily be repaired.
I wonder if you and I have that kind of determination to find God. Often we run into certain barriers between us and God, barriers that we have to overcome too. Would we be willing to tear up a roof to get to Jesus? Would we be willing to let go of something precious?
During the Chinese revolution, a group of Christians were worshiping in hiding from the revolutionary army that was collecting and imprisoning all who worshiped God. As they were praying, a pair of soldiers burst through the door and with their weapons ready they announced that all who would reject their God could leave, the remaining would be killed. Most left, leaving behind a faithful few who knew that they would die for their faith.
With the less faithful absent from the place, the soldiers set down their weapons and asked that they be allowed to pray with them, as they were also Christians. Their threatening entry was to protect them from certain death if the truth of their faith ever was known, and they knew that those who remained could be trusted.(2)
These soldiers wanted to be with other Christians so much that they boldly asserted themselves with their own dramatic entry into this church. The four friends in our text today were willing to risk being ridiculed and attacked in order to get their friend to Jesus.
God whispered in the souls of those four friends and spoke to their hearts. He inspired them to seek out Jesus, using whatever means necessary, and to trust him to heal their paralyzed friend. When the foursome dug through the roof, Jesus looked up at their dusty faces and saw their faith shining through.
Would he see the same in us?
Tragically, most of us are moving too fast and making too much noise to hear the gentle voice of God. Our windows are rolled up, our heaters are blowing, our CD players are cranked, our engines are roaring, and we have little chance of hearing the whisper.
We don't pay attention until we get hit by a brick. And then, when we do try to get involved with others, it can still fall short because our connection with the needy and marginalized is minimal at best. Loving our neighbors means being vulnerable. It means entering into their pain. When God in Jesus came to live among us, He shared our troubles and felt our hurts.
We will hear the whisper only when we are willing to feel the pain of our neighbors. Our love is not just a warm and wonderful feeling, but must be revealed in concrete actions if it is going to reflect our Christian faith. Faith without works is dead, says James, and that's why the foursome in Capernaum had to punch through the roof to get their paralyzed friend to the healer. It was only when there was dust on their faces and dirt under their fingernails that Jesus looked up and saw their faith.
So what are we going to do to make our faith visible? The young executive in the Jag lifts the hurt boy back into his wheelchair, takes out his handkerchief and wipes the scrapes and cuts. That's active faith. Another person spends a day each week reading and singing with residents in a nursing home. That's visible faith. A person devotes time on a regular basis preparing meals at a local shelter for the homeless. That's faith in action. An individual who cannot get out and get around like they used to calls other church members and people in the community who have been sick or cannot get out either like they used to, and through their prayers and calls they minister as a caring presence in the lives of others. That's faith you can see.
Still another person works on issues of social justice in the community. They believe we put band-aids on fresh wounds and we look for what is causing the economic and social wounds that make it so hard for people. The biblical view of justice is not everybody taking care of themselves. It is that society is to help care for the poor, for those who do not have the ability or clout to defend themselves. That's faith combined with works, in a vital and world-changing way.
The key is to listen for the whisper, and then act. To get up, get moving, get lifting, get carrying, get climbing and get digging ... whenever we hear the gentle voice of God calling us to do some work on behalf of others. Sure, there may be some barriers that separate us from Jesus, and from people around us. But like the fearless foursome of Capernaum, we can break through them.
When we place the needs of the world in front of Jesus, amazing things can happen. The paralyzed can be healed. The hungry can be fed. The oppressed can be freed. The poor can be helped. Peace can break out, justice can be done, and hope can replace even the most desolate forms of despair.
It all starts with hearing the voice of God, and taking action. And that's when the faith of the four friends will be seen in us. Amen.
Century Christian Church, February 19, 2006 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
www.centurychristian.org
1. From Sermon, "Don't Wait For the Brick," in Homiletics magazine, February 23, 2003.
2. J.W. Carter quoted in esermons.com newsletter for February 19, 2006.