David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 2:1-12

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Ask me, “How many do you worship?” and see what happens. I’ll give you a mini-lecture: I worship the mysterious, gracious and glorious Three-in-One. Gathering in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit we worship the One True God. The question is usually asked by those who wish to know how many people attend worship at St. John, where I serve. It’s preacher vernacular; and no idol or polytheistic intent is behind the question.

Or is there? I must guard my heart against counting the worshipers as a sign of my success or my place in God’s heart. So even though we have achieved a good deal of success in attracting a growing number of worshipers weekly (or perhaps because of that!), I guard my heart against worshiping the worshipers.

Having said all that, however, notice the realities imposed on Jesus and his host on this occasion: they literally had to un-roof the roof to squeeze in the last five people to hear Jesus teach. It seems no one fretted about that move. It was simply something that needed to have been done.

So the question today is two-fold: “How many do you worship?”, and, “Are you willing to go to any length to allow more people to hear Jesus’ teachings?” Too often we worry about the wrong things. Like the scribes we focus on preacher rather than the people in need. We fret when we are asked to move to the center of the pew to make room for more people. We complain when we must battle more traffic or search for a parking space.

We should simply be like the paralyzed man’s four friends who carry him to Jesus and find a way to get him to Jesus’ attention. We would do well to un-roof our roofs more often, and rejoice that Jesus does forgive sins (ours and theirs) and heals our diseases. After all, he’s the one who has gone the longest mile to redeem us. It wasn’t an easy trip or task, but he made it for us and our salvation. He (and they) set an example. He, alone, is worthy of our worship!