True Friendship – Mark 2:1 – 12
We’re going to look today at true friendship.
1. Hindrances:
In this story we find that as Jesus was preaching there was such a huge crowd that a man in desperate need of seeing Jesus couldn’t get near Him.This man was paralyzed. This probably meant palsy – uncontrollable spasms.
The people we need to bring to Christ may be paralysed by drugs, alcohol, immorality and any kind of sin. Sometimes these people are not pleasant people to be around. And when it comes to us bringing people in need to Jesus there are usually impediments or hindrances of some kind.
2. Inventive Solutions
In this story the crowd was the first big hindrance. One of the friends came up with a radical idea. Let’s get him up onto the roof above this crowd. It seems that none of the friends argued or disagreed with this plan but they went ahead and worked together to carry out their plan.
3. Hard Work
It would involve a lot of hard work to get him up on the roof to begin with. Most houses in the east had outside stairs so they might have struggled up those stairs with him. Or perhaps they pulled him up by ropes on his bed along a side of the roof. Either ways it was tricky, hard work.
But, when they got him on the roof, there was another hindrance. The roof itself. They had to remove tiles to make an opening. Luke 5:19 a parallel passage mentions these tiles. All of this effort represents work, dirty hands, danger, dust, ridicule.
4. Opposition
Probably the people who had come ‘properly’ into the home were not happy having dirt and dust showering down on them, nor a man being lowered down right in front of Jesus, the preferred spot that they had managed to be in! Others may oppose our inventive, costly solutions to these friendships.
For us we’re probably not going to be taking up roof tiles, but to be involved in bringing people to Jesus there is going to be some hard work, much prayer and probably some inconveniences.
Roof tiles might mean visiting someone in prison, helping some kid who hasn’t got a Dad, taking a meal to someone who needs some help.
It might mean we have to get rid of some personal ‘roof tiles’ – busyness, shyness, awkwardness, laziness. To have that faith and love to win souls, any method is good. We always need to be thinking outside the box to find creative ways to bring the spiritually paralysed to Christ.
5. Cost
When working with people who have not yet come to Jesus – there will be a cost. That roof had to be repaired. For us it may cost time, a day’s pay, helping, befriending with no agenda.
The world is inventive, Let’s let faith be inventive. Let’s always leave room for the paralysed. If we can’t get them to Jesus by ordinary means we have to be creative.
6. Rewards
Verse 5 -When Jesus saw THEIR FAITH he said to the paralytic – ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
I can’t emphasize enough how important our part is when God calls us to be part of people’s lives.
Personally I remember quite a while ago when we were trying to reach out to young people in Stouffville. We had prayed and were to go out and try to engage people in conversation trusting the Lord to enable us to have a chance to share Jesus. A girl named Sue was walking along the main street when she passed a tough looking young fellow and kept on walking. She felt really compelled to turn around and go back to try to talk to this guy – so she went back. That fellow, Ted came to know Jesus about a week later, thanks to her turning back to talk to him.
Our prayers are very, very important. God hears them. Don’t lose hope or get discouraged.
Verse 6 – These religious people probably knew the man, and knew him well from his begging on the streets. Probably counselled him, taken his offering, probably one about whom Jesus said you won’t lift a finger to help or make their burden lighter. They were THINKING ‘who can forgive sins but God alone?’ They were totally negative about what Jesus could do. As Christians, we need to keep positive about Christ’s power to change lives.
Verse 8 – Jesus asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’
To the paralytic he said, ‘Get up take your mat and walk?’ So Jesus has just verified to these religious leaders who he was!
Their friendship for the paralytic meant HIS healing. They got nothing solid from all that they did, except the satisfaction of bringing a friend to Jesus – and what an intangible reward that is in itself!
Be inventive bringing those in need to Christ.
Be willing to be inconvenienced.
Be sympathetic.
Be cooperative.
Be persistent.
(Note: Due to Pastor Neville being ill, a lay speaker, Gary Paisley shared this at Talbot Creek.)
