GodMath: Me, Plus Three, Carry The One.

 "His friends: four of them. One of them couldn't manage it." (Pastor Sam)

During Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam shared the account of the paralytic. Let’s revisit the story (Luke 5:17-26), and consider a few points of reflection.

Now it happened that on one of those days, while Jesus was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus. But since they found no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the roof tiles right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

Then the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, “Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their hostile thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you raising objections within yourselves? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralyzed man – “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher and go home.” Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all, and they glorified God. They were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen incredible things today.” 

Pastor Sam shared with us that, from time to time, gaining access to the grace of God can be a challenge.

v  The person in need of God’s grace might not have enough spiritual strength to pursue it on his own. Just as the paralytic needed other people to carry him, we may need several people to help us bring one person to God’s throne of grace. Sometimes we work as a team to bring the person to church, and sometimes we work as a team to bring the essence of the church (love, healing, deliverance, etc.) to the person.

v  The person in need of God’s grace might be set back by human obstacles. Sometimes our zeal for protocol and our desire for comfort reveals that we are more interested in process than in people. When we neglect the need of others in order to preserve some sort of physical or cultural status quo, we run the risk of blocking the way to salvation and deliverance.

v  The person in need of God’s grace might be set back by spiritual obstacles. Because the devil holds an interest in keeping hell well populated, he will do anything to prevent people from encountering God. The Lord has said that He is present in community, so it is in our best interest for community to be involved in the redemptive process. It is a powerful thing when a group is able to pray in agreement for the spiritual and physical well-being of an individual.

v  The person in need of God’s grace might be set back by natural/physical obstacles. Just as the paralytic and his friends had to navigate their way through the crowd, we too may find ourselves in positions where being present in community requires us to sit in tightly packed church pews and to navigate through crowds. Though it may be a little uncomfortable and/or inconvenient, our desire is to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to be present and engaged in the corporate worship experience.

Lord Jesus, You know that I am not strong enough to bring my paralyzed friend to You by myself. Please give me courage to ask for the help I need. Please send me friends who are strong in the faith and who are willing to, as our pastor said, “do the heavy lifting” of intercession and practical assistance for the sake of Your great name. 

Some people brought me to You, and I am so grateful that they did! Help me, and the friends you send me, to band together and do the same for someone else.