Forgive, then Fix!                         Mark 2:1-12            February 18, 2006  

This reading from Mark’s gospel is one of my favorite healing stories of Jesus, but it just doesn’t say enough. I wish that Mark’s gospel would tell me more about what happened here. It leaves many questions.

First, it briefly mentions that Jesus is at home on Capernaum. That’s odd, because last we heard Jesus was from a little city called Nazareth. Did Jesus move? Historians tell us that Capernaum was a thriving city of the Roman Empire on the coast of the sea of Galilee. There were jobs both in fishing and working on government construction projects nearby. Did Jesus move from Nazareth, where he was raised, and to live in Capernaum, to find work? I wish it explained these things.

Then it tells us about a paralytic man who Jesus heals, but it leaves out major parts of that story, too. It says there were four others who carried him to Jesus’ home some kind of pallet or stretcher. Who were these four others? What was their relationship to the paralytic? Where they related, like bothers or cousins, or were they co-workers? Maybe they were all roofers working nearby, and he fell off a roof and got paralyzed. That would explain what happens next.

When they arrived at Jesus’ house carrying the man on the stretcher, they couldn’t get in. There was a crowd of people standing on the porch and filling the inside beyond capacity. So the four able-bodied fellows climbed up onto the thatch roof, with the paralyzed man on a stretcher, and started cutting. It doesn’t tell us where they got the tools. Maybe if they were roofers, they brought their tools with them. With all that cutting, there have been all kinds of debris falling on the people below, including Jesus. But before Jesus could look up and yell at the guys cutting the whole in his roof, they lowered the man down, stretcher and all into the crowd right where Jesus was teaching the people!

Now doesn’t that strike you as odd? I have lots of questions. I can picture them yelling down, “Gee we’re sorry about the roof, but we will put a new roof on your house if you’ll only heal this paralyzed man,” but that’s not a part of the gospel story, either.

What it does tell us is that when Jesus saw their faith, he said “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Then it tells us that Jesus knew what was on the hearts of the scribes. They were questioning in the hearts, “Why does this man speak this way.” It’s a lie against God. Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

But to show them that Jesus had all of God’s authority, he said to the paralytic, “Take up your mat, and go home.” And to the amazement of everyone, the man got up and left.

This healing story makes several good points. It tells us about the power of Jesus, who is God’s Son. It sets the stage Jesus getting crucified because those in control didn’t want to believe that he was the Son God.

But I am compelled today by two aspects of the story. The first one was the faith that Jesus saw in “them.” It doesn’t say the singular, in “him,” but in all five of them, the plural. Their faith motivated all of them to do what they did, and Jesus could see that. In fact, we don’t even know if this man had any faith of his own. We know nothing about this paralytic, what caused his paralysis, how good or bad he was. He may not have wanted to even bother going to see Jesus that day. It was the faith of those four friends who lowered the bed down through the roof that made all the difference in this story.

I think what Jesus saw is that faith happens in groups and families of people. These are the ones who share the same situation, and come together seeking a resolution. Faith is the power that works through small groups or families to come together, and bring their concerns to Jesus. Faith often works best as a collective enterprise with people who share the same goals and visions. To make it plain, faith is the knowledge by a group of faithful people that Jesus Christ can help us, and help our paralyzed friends and family members get up and walk!

Too often, we often try to heal their problems by themselves, without any help. Personally, my weight problem has prevented me from doing what I could be doing. I would like to be able to play tennis or basketball again, but that’s not practical being as overweight as I am. But I lacked the discipline and willpower to do it alone.

I have found that with Marilyn’s support, together it is much easier to lose weight. I need your support as a congregation, and the support of all my friends and family. My faith grows in my community. For my part, I have to commit myself to the program, and submit my own will to will of the community.

The song the children sang is true. We are connected to each other, like bones connected in the human body. If we strengthen that connection, the whole body gets better. Jesus is the head of our body that guides and leads us. But the power of faith is the gift of his Holy Spirit that breaks our paralysis. When Jesus sees the power of our collective faith, he tells us to get up and walk!

The second point I see in this story about Jesus is that the first thing Jesus said to him was, “Your sins are forgiven.” The protest of the scribes was that only God can do that. Later, Jesus gave his disciples the power, the duty to forgive our sins as God has forgiven us. He taught us to pray, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others who trespass against us.

Today, it is so rare for us to say or hear the words, “I forgive you.” Back on the streets of New Jersey, when someone apologized to us, we used to say, “forget about it.” I remember one time a boy borrowed a friend’s baseball glove, and he lost it two days later. He carelessly left it out, and it was gone the next day. He felt really bad about it.

He told his friend he was sorry. But his friend didn’t say, “I forgive you.” He said “Forget about it. I was going to buy a better glove, anyhow.” Now he let him off the hook, but he never forgave him.

Why is it so hard to say, I forgive you? I think it’s because we would rather fix the problem and make it go away, than to forgive the sin of the ones who sins against us. Perhaps that’s because it’s harder to deal with the feelings of the one who is sorry, and to forgive. I see this story is telling us that Jesus didn’t just fix problems, he forgave sins, and gave us the power to do likewise.

Even more, Jesus forgave his sin unconditionally. He didn’t ask about how he got paralyzed. He didn’t ask him how it happened. Mark’s gospel tells nothing about the paralytic or his character. He didn’t even ask him to repent and simply said, “Your sins are forgiven. Get us and walk.” By their faith, Jesus just forgives the man and heals him. That is amazing.

I have come to understand that the forgiveness or sins was central to Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God. Here is just one of many stories. Later Jesus will empower them to forgive others. He will teach the disciples how to pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To forgive means to release the forgiven from the sin. It’s never conditional on any promise to repent. It does not require the person to ask for our forgiveness. It is unconditionally releasing the one who sins against us to get up and walk on.

So how can we truly forgive others? That’s where faith comes in. I had a young man who in was in the hospital suffering form some complications of his paralysis. This young man was very depressed, feeling very guilty about his life. A few years earlier he had been in an accident, and that this accident was a result of his own neglect. He felt very guilty, even angry at himself and his parents and a young wife. He knew his own neglect was turning his life, leaving him short of many of his previous goals and aspirations. He was bemoaning that his own carelessness would not have what he considered a normal family life with his wife, and was getting depressed. One cause of depression is the inability to forgive ourselves of our expectations. He had fallen so short of his own expectations, at times he felt like taking his own life.

Counselors, psychiatrists, doctors, nurses and even chaplains had all tired to assure him of forgiveness, had tried to use all the word they knew. It was his wife’s faithfulness that saved him. She said simply, "I know you feel sorry about what happened, and I forgive you. We still have life, just not the same one first expected." They went on to raise their family and have a fruitful life together. He is in a group helping others who have had life changing accidents and feel depressed. He is encourages them by helping them forgive themselves of their sin.

Now comes Holy Communion, the center piece of our worship. Here Jesus gives us his body and blood for us for the forgiveness of our sins. He paid the price when put up his own body to set us free. Let us come and receive his forgiveness, and go out with the power to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Amen

Amen!