Sometimes I find sermon preparation difficult.  The main reason that I struggle with it is that there is always 10 or 100 times the material than I will be able to present.  This last week as I worked through chapter 2 of Mark this was very much the case.  I am excited to use the blog as a way to provide extra material to augment the sermon for those who desire more information.

There was one portion of chapter 2 that I would like to have unpacked more, and that was the story of the men who brought their paralytic friend to be healed by Jesus.  I am inspired by this narrative.  In this story, we see a few vital lessons for us as we seek to show the love of Christ to those that God has put in our path of life.

The first thing we see is the compassionate concern that the friends had for their suffering friend.  We do not know much of the background, but we do know that these men wanted their friend to find healing and restoration.  They must have seen his pain throughout his life, and they wanted him to have a better and more fulfilled life.  To them this might be possible through the healing touch of the new teacher of whom they had heard.

Secondly we see their faith.  They just believe that if they can deliver their friend to the feet of the Messiah then there would be hope for him.  So in hope they put their plan of action into play.  They seek to get him to the master, but when they can not make it into the crowded room they are ready with Plan B.  If they can’t come through the door they figure they will go through the roof.  Their faith is that strong that it drives them to be creative.

Our compassion and faith can sometimes be costly, and their creativity would come with a cost.  For them to open the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching would assume that they would be willing to exert the effort or pay the cost to have the roof repaired after all was said and done.  To them the hope of healing for their friend was worth the price that they would have to pay to get their friend before the Saviour.

Are we in our lives compelled by a genuine compassionate concern for our friends, neighbours, and loved ones?  As we seek to meet the needs of those around us, as we desire to get them to the foot of the cross, are we walking in faith?  Are we  willing to pay the cost for such a cause?  It has been my personal experience from my life and the observation of the lives of many that we often hold to these values in theory, but struggle to put them into practice.

Be inspired by the story of these men.