Mark 2:1-3
1
When he (Jesus) returned to Capernaum after some days,
it was reported that he was at home.

2
So many gathered around
that there was no longer room for them,
not even in front of the door;
and he was speaking the word to them.

3
Then some people came,
bringing to him a paralyzed man,
carried by four of them.

[ Prayer ]

What if your world measured 4 feet by 6 feet?

A man on a palate, a world defined by a piece of cloth a bed that moved him from one place to another. From home to the road each day to beg, and back again when the day was done. Day in and day out, year in and year out, he lay by the road waiting on people’s pity. That’s how he made his living, a few coins here, a few more there.

Paralyzed, with no modern medical treatment, no physical therapy, and no hope, he needed help to move, to bathe, to eat. He even needed someone to clean him up when he soiled himself. But the paralyzed man whose world was 4 foot by 6 foot had something most of us don’t have.

Four friends, 4 faithful friends willing to carrying him to Jesus. Without them, he would have never been healed. Without them, he would have never heard the words of forgiveness. Without them, we wouldn’t either.

Maybe the buddies had been childhood friends. Maybe they watched the flocks by night before an accident or an encounter with a bear. The text doesn’t tell us what happened. It only says the friends were determined to bring the paralytic to Jesus.

They wanted to hear Jesus teach and they believed that Jesus could do something to transform their friends’ life of misery.

I see them telling him their plan, “you’re going with us,
no arguing about it.”
And then by the four corners of his mat, they picked him up and carried him.
But when they arrive, the crowd is too big and others need healing too.

One of them sees a back stair, leading up to a roof. They lug him up and set him down while they dig a hole in the ceiling. Down below the crowd and Jesus too, hear a noise above. Little pieces of dirt and straw rain down and soon it’s a torrent of falling sticks and the dust of decades.

When the dust squall is over, the sun streams in. I see Jesus looking up,
beard and hair covered with dirt. I hear him laugh, staring at the four faces peering down at him. They disappear and return with the mat and the man, and lower their friend down to Jesus. I’m guessing the crowd watched the paralyzed man being lowered, but Jesus,
well, I bet he watched the friends.

The text tells us, “when Jesus saw their faith, He said to their paralyzed friend, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’

And then Jesus said “Get up, take you mat and go home.”

Through an act of kindness and the perseverance of friends,
a buddy is brought to Christ, a body is healed, and a human being is transformed. So much of a story, so many layers but I want to highlight three.

First of all, this is a story of four friends who care enough to act.
Most of us, according to recent national survey at the University of Chicago, don’t even have 4 close friends.

In 2006, the average American was down to two close friends, down from 3 in 1985. Not enough to carry a mat.

The researchers indicate our lives seem to be too full to nurture friendships. Statistics show we work more hours than any other industrialized nation. We have lots of stuff for our work, but our relationships, especially friendships suffer, even though according to Cindy Rodriquez of the Denver Post, “survey after survey shows that people desire loving, relationship more than anything else.”

(Cindy Rodriguez the Denver Post, 7/30/06)

The Bible reminds us, we need community, we need friends,at least four,
who really care, to help us get through the hard times. If you aren’t sure if you have at least 4 good friends, then I hope you will use your Lenten spiritual disciplines to invest time in one of God’s greatest gifts, friends.

Secondly, this story of four friends and a man on a mat is a story about accessibility. The friends made sure the paralyzed man had access to Jesus.
This is the first recorded case of handicapped accessibility
in all of scripture.

The ancient world was not an easy place for the disabled. It is generally believed that the Greeks regularly disposed of newborn infants with physical abnormalities. In ancient Hebrew culture, people assumed a physical disability was the result of sin, of a punishing God.

Even in our day, people who face mental and physical challenges often say that the biggest obstacles they face are the attitudes of others. Folks are sometimes unkind, they look the other way, or try to avoid the person who is disabled. A high achievement oriented society is often not a kind place
for those who cant keep up. But in our story, the Rabbi Jesus, see the faith of the friends determination and offered the same healing to those who could walk and those who could not, “your sins are forgiven”.

In our church, a new group of such faith friends has begun to plan how to dig a hole into our faith community to allow children with physical and mental challenges get as close to Jesus as the paralytic. They are out looking for churches that already offer a safe place where everyone can get close enough to feel God’s love, where every single person is prized and valued, not for what they do, but just because we all, no matter our abilities, are valued in God’s sight, made in God’s image. If you are interested in digging such a hole in our roof, see Linda Ruggles in the Christian ed. office.

Finally, this story reminds us that there are times when it is the faith of friends, that carry us through the hard times. Last week we heard the story of the widow Naomi, lost in grief for her husband and sons, whose friend and daughter-in-law Ruth, refused to let her slip away into despair. Ruth’s choice to be Naomi’s friend, to stand by in the hard times, to walk with her until times changed, Ruth’s choice to be a friend, offered Naomi hope and eventually, new life.

Our gospel story today reminds us that we all need a community of friends.
Each one of us has been or will be paralyzed some way, by illness, divorce, addictions grief, unemployment or a body that will not move.

Jesus saw the faith of the friends, who would not let him go,
but he also saw a man with a broken soul and spoke to him tenderly. “Your sins are forgiven.” He must have been surprised.

Still he received the gift of forgiveness without asking for it. Neck deep in community, there in the dust and mess of life, the paralyzed man, supported by his friends, faces up to the disorder of his life, and is offered tender care and hope. Jesus is focused on liberating individuals from anything that keeps us paralyzed.

Is there anything in your life that keeps you from wholeness? Addictions often keep folks in a world defined not by a 4 by 6 mat, but no bigger than a bottle or a nickel bag. Sometimes what is called an “intervention”
is the way friends and family break a hole in the roof, holding up a mirror for the addicted loved one to see the trouble they are in.

Sometime we are paralyzed by denial, or shame, sometimes pride or guilt that does not allow us to receive God’s gift of grace and healing. We need friends to carry us through when we lose the ability to ask for help.
We need to be such a friend.

Everson Walls, the former Dallas Cowboys cornerback is such a friend. He played football with Ron Springs' from 1981 to '84. Springs, now 50, lies paralyzed several times a week while undergoing dialysis as he tries to get healthy enough for a kidney transplant. It feels a long ways from the year he rushed 541 yards, made 7 touchdowns and caught 73 passes.

His son Shawn of the Washington Redskins offered to end his NFL career and
donate a kidney but his father refused. It looked like death would win until old friend and teammate, carried Springs through. Walls told reporters,

"What are you going to do?

I can't sit here and do nothing." Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page E05

Can you?
Amen.

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