Series Big Idea: You need a harbor. You need a small community of dear friends who will (replenish you,) help repair you (and re-launch you into the world to find your destiny).
Big Idea: You need a small community of dear friends who will help you repair by caring for you and carrying you to Jesus.
INTRODUCTION – The Story:
It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen or experienced… even Jesus. It was a moment none of them would soon forget.
It had started out like any ordinary time of Jesus’ teaching. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were there asking questions, prodding Jesus. Honestly, fairly uneventful.
BUT THEN the dust began to fall – (suddenly, various ones noticed dust lightly falling from the ceiling.) Then, a little more than dust. Right there in the middle of Jesus’ teaching, a couple of clumps of dried mud dropped down right in front of Jesus. Then some more dirt – Jesus and others trying to move out of the way – then some dried leaves, even a couple of branches.
What was going on? Was the roof caving in?
If it did, they were in trouble. You could barely move in that house. It was packed – so packed, people had spilled out into the street, trying to hear and still catch a glimpse of Jesus.
Now all of them were straining to see what was causing the ruckus at the front of the crowd. Were the Pharisees getting scolded again by Jesus? Were they trying to harm him? What was going on?
Soon they – along with all the others on the inside of the house – knew. Well, more accurately, they saw!
All of them, who normally would have been looking at Jesus, had their gaze taken upward because there, in the middle of the roof, was a HOLE! Yup, that was sunlight streaming in. Didn’t know people had skylights back in that day, but this house now did!
But why? They were about to find out.
The fantastic four
You see there were four of them that day: four men who did something extraordinary. And it would become this moment that none in the house would forget.
It all started when four men got an idea. I’ve known their story for a while now and I’ve wondered who they were.
A group of friends? Brothers? Co-workers?
Whatever they were in relation, you could certainly say they were acting as a band of brothers – as a fellowship on a quest. You might even call them the “fantastic four.”
I’ve wondered too why they did what they did because it ended up being so remarkable. Did they know the man they helped? Was he family? A friend? Someone they all passed on the way to work? Or random? Whatever their relationship, what they did certainly made them true friends to him.
What was their motivation to help him?
Whatever brought them together – however they knew the man – why ever they did it - what they did for him that day has been remembered literally for thousands of years. Their story was told over and over and over again…until one day, it was written down.
In fact, what they did was so profound – made such an impression – that one author didn’t just write about. Three different authors wrote about it!
Only the most extraordinary stories get that kind of press, especially back in the day when it was recorded. In those days, only a handful of stories actually made it to print, so for ink to get to papyrus three times? Yeah this was an important one.
You see, these four had heard the news about the great healing. It happened just a few days prior to their day of heroics. A man in the area had had the dreaded disease: leprosy. But he’d gone to Jesus who was preaching in the region and he had been healed.
So when word got out that Jesus had come back home – to Capernaum - the hometown of some of his closest disciples like Peter and Andrew - the four knew what they needed to do. They need to get this man that they knew who was paralyzed, to him. If he could heal a man with leprosy, surely he could make their friend walk!
So that’s what they did. Grabbing the four corners of the mat, they worked their way to the house where Jesus was supposed to be teaching. They were hopeful. They believed that today, their friend’s life was about to change. Walk right into the house, put him down at Jesus’ feet, and healing would happen.
But then they got to the house. Crowded… beyond crowded.
Now it’s here that these four could have stopped.
No one would have blamed them if they had just turned around to take their paralyzed friend back to his spot a few streets back. They had tried! No one else had. They had hoped; no one else had even given it a thought. No, no one would have blamed them if they had just let the mission go.
Getting past all these people to Jesus? Not going to happen! Not only because of the sheer numbers, but they had heard that Pharisees were at the front of the crowd, so even if the crowd made a way for them to get in, the likelihood of the Pharisees letting them by didn’t seem good. To them, this lame man had sinned. That’s why he was lame – at least according to most in their religion!
To the roof
But they didn’t stop… (I wonder what this scene looked like – “You go that way; I’ll go this way. We’ve got to find another way in!”)
Looking around for another way to get their friend to Jesus, they saw the stairs – the stairs on the outside of the house that led to the roof. There it was! If they couldn’t go through the crowd, they’d go over them. Of course, we don’t know if they knew what they would do once they got to the roof yet, but regardless of how much the plan was in place prior to hitting the steps, they took their care for this lame man to another level: literally.
Up the stairs to the roof. Standing on the branches and dried mud that were the roof’s composition, they began to dig.
I like to imagine what they might have been thinking - digging out a roof… right above a packed house of people… right above somebody who is teaching important stuff to teachers of the law, Pharisees, and common folk! Right above Jesus! Like: What if they drop a big piece of dried mud and it hits somebody on the head? Or a branch falls through right into someone’s eye?
Good thing Jesus can heal just in case!
Well, they were trying to be careful – trying to catch as much of the dried mud as they could, just moving it to other parts of the roof next to them – trying to keep the mud clay tiles in tact.
I like to imagine too what Jesus and the Pharisees and the crowd was thinking as they began to experience this never-to-be-forgotten moment.
More so… what were the people who owned the house thinking?
It’s crazy right?
But these four? They didn’t care. They were on a mission. Their friend? He was getting to Jesus one way or another!
Back to the moment
So the hole was dug… and now everyone would know why there was now a skylight in the roof.
They grabbed the four corners and began to lower this lame man on the mat to Jesus. (Ok, we’re not really sure if they grabbed the corners of the mat. They must have had some kind of rope… cause that was at least a 6-7 foot drop they were lowering into.)
Regardless, they got him there. They had done it. They got their lame friend to Jesus, caring for him - carrying him literally to the one who could make all the difference in his pain and suffering. They just knew Jesus could heal him AND just like he was willing with the man who had leprosy and who had run around the region telling one another how Jesus had healed him, they believed that Jesus would be willing to heal their lame friend.
So they watched and listened. And though they believed Jesus could do it and though they believed he would, they were still amazed to see it. But there he was – this one they had cared for and carried standing up, picking up his mat, and beginning to walk!
For a split second, they even wondered if he would jump right through the roof back to them! But he didn’t have to.
Funny how that packed crowd was able to make room for their no-longer-lame friend to walk right out the front door!
Yes you can see why it was a moment none would soon forget – a moment unlike anything they had experienced or ever would again.
(keep tone up – consistent moving from story to application)
And you can see why this story has been told over and over and over again, right?
It makes sense why in the first century, three of the four authors of the gospels made sure to write it down, right?
Because it’s an extraordinary story of love – an extraordinary account of helping someone to Jesus.
It’s an extraordinary story of small community coming around someone and helping them repair from their pain and suffering in this world – from the damage done by the storm of brokenness in this world that can physically make one lame!
An extraordinary story of 4 men being a harbor for repair for someone in need - like a harbor to him BECAUSE they helped see him to repair from the brokenness and pain that life had brought him, helping this man find healing and wholeness.
And it’s a story that begs this question: Do you have such a harbor?
RE-CAP and OVERVIEW:
We are doing this series – Harbor –to convince you of this fact:
You need a small community of dear friends who will replenish you, help repair you and re-launch you into the world to find your destiny.
You need a harbor. You need to find one, join one, or start one.
This is about your need – my need – for community.
All of us need a harbor. We need community with one another to help us navigate the stormy seas of life – a community that we return to again and again, like a boat sailing into a harbor, in order to be replenished, repaired, and then re-launched.
Now this community thing, it’s not our idea. The reason we need this community as humans is because God made us for it!
We were never meant to “go it alone.”
We were made for relationship. God as Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is at God’s core, relational – social. So it makes sense that we who bear God’s image would be innately relational / social.
We were never meant to “go it alone” in this world – not even “go it alone” with God!
Remember in Genesis, the STORY of chapter 2 communicates that God was walking with Adam in the coolness of the garden – in unhindered relationship – yet God still said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” So God had Adam name the animals, the story tells us, looking for one that would be able to be with Adam and none was found (sorry dog lovers… the can’t be a person’s best friend!).
So God made another human: woman.
(tongue-in-cheek) As much as you may not like other people sometimes, you’ve got to find at least a few that you can stand to be with because you were NEVER meant to be alone, on your own, moving through life in isolation!
So our attempt to convince you that you need community? It is NOT our idea. It is God’s idea!
You need a harbor.
You need a small community of dear friends who will replenish you (last week), re-launch you into the world to find your destiny (next week) and…
Mark 2:1-11
You need a small community of dear friends who will help repair you.
These four were a harbor to the paralyzed man as they helped see him to repair before the feet of Jesus.
And I want you to turn with me now to the story in Mark 2 because there are a couple of aspects I want to show us that speak to the kind of community we all need.
Mark 2:1-11
SCRIPTURE APPLICATION:
You need a small community of dear friends who will help repair you.
And the way they first help to repair you is by caring for you - friends who will be God’s instruments of care and love that bring healing to your life. Friends who will go the extra mile for you to be present.
This is the four in the story. Picture it again. They are carrying this lame man on his mat to the house. He probably doesn’t weigh a lot, but still, they are carrying a person – it’s tiring. And when they get to the house, they can’t get in. So… let him down, leave him there and hope Jesus sees him on the way out?
No! They hit the stairs. They go the extra mile – then they dig the hole in the roof and figure out some way to lower the man down.
Their “care” took effort – remarkable love and care to literally bear the burden of this man to get him to Jesus.
You need people like that! People who by their caring are instruments of God’s love, comfort, and healing. People who act as Paul and Jesus speak about:
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Galatians 6:2
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
(What is the law of Christ? It is the “law” of love.)
AND ultimately Jesus…
John 15:9, 12
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. […] My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Jesus loved with comfort, care, and healing – sacrificially even. Paul instructs the church to love one another with comfort, care, and healing – willing to help bear the load with one another.
You need a harbor that helps repair you – bring healing to you – by caring for you. A community of dear friends who will go the extra mile for you!
ME: When I think of a small community that repairs like that, my mind jumps back 15 years to when my father shockingly passed away four days after open-heart surgery.
· “From the time I found out, lots of people came around me and Betsie, but one moment especially stands out…”
o Don – coming to the airport
§ One of my 4 in B’ham; primary community there
o Funny… Don was there in difficulty again 3 months later as the first one to visit me and pray with me post-emergency surgery
You need a small community of dear friends who help repair you by caring for you.
To “carry you”
…and carrying you to Jesus.
What do I mean by that? We can’t literally carry each other to Jesus like these 4 did with the lame man.
BUT… they didn’t just carry him literally. They did so in a way that we can too with one another.
We get a clue again when we look carefully at the story specifically in vs. 5:
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Pronouns matter, don’t they?
(or… who knew pronouns could matter so much?)
“Their faith”!
Now this more than likely included the paralyzed man’s faith too, but it definitely includes the faith of the friends!
Jesus forgives and heals on the basis of their faith.
And there are times when you need a harbor because you will need people to carry you to Jesus with their faith:
· When your faith is faltering, their faith will be strong!
· When you can’t find it in you to pray, they will pray with expectation!
· When you are overwhelmed with doubt, unable to find your footing to even take one step (step out) in trust, their trust in God will move you!
· When you are just hurting and need someone to figuratively and literally carry you to Jesus through prayer on your behalf, their confidence in God will do exactly that!
ME: This is what my small group does for me - what we do for one another.
We’ve been together for about 8 years now. First four couples, now three, faithfully, consistently meeting together a couple of times a month. And yes we have certainly been there for one another to care for one another through:
· Ongoing health issues
· Miscarriages
· Extended family situations
· Parenting challenges and disappointments
· Job changes
· Personal insecurities and brokenness
· Anxiety and depression
· Crises of faith
· Life’s STRESS!
BUT more than that, what stands out about my small group for me is how we have carried one another to Jesus. Because we have been together for so long in authenticity, vulnerability, and freedom to just be ourselves as we process life and faith, we have an openness that has led to the opportunity to carry one another.
That list I went through a moment ago? We’ve done all of those for one another.
· When one’s faith has been faltering, others faith has been strong!
· When another can’t find it in them to pray, others have been able to pray with expectation!
· When each of us – cause we’ve ALL had them - has had our moments of being overwhelmed with doubt, unable to find your footing to even take one step (step out) in trust, other’s of us have had the trust in God that has moved them!
AND
· When we’ve just been hurting and needing someone to figuratively and literally carry one another to Jesus through prayer, each other’s confidence in God has done exactly that!
By God’s grace and our surrender to His Spirit’s work in us, we have been a small community of friends who have helped repair one another by caring for and carrying one another to Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
You need a small community of dear friends who will help repair you by caring for you and carrying you to Jesus.
You need a harbor. And if you don’t have one, you need to find one, join one, or start one.
Caveat:
· Community messy – sometimes you just want to say, “I am done with people – give me a dog! They don’t talk back!”
o I get it: my small group for all the blessing it has been has had more DTR’s than my high school and college years combined (well, more than college… high school’s another story)
· Community disappointing – some of you questioning me – you’ve tried it and it failed; some even deeply hurt
· Shepherd’s story last week’s video: three tries church in E’ville
Yes it’s hard, but you’ve got to try!
You are not meant to be without community.
And God does not want you to be caught without community.
And you do not want to be caught without community!
You need a harbor.
This past week, Dave received a story from one of you directly to this point – a wakeup call to community. He writes:
I wanted to share with you my story about how I needed a harbor and didn't have one. In 2001, I went for my annual physical (first time in 10 years) and my doctor said he didn't like what he was hearing in my heart beat so he sent me next door to a cardiologist. The next day I was given a stress test (aptly named) and then my cardiologist said something to me that I never expected to hear. He said "I want you to go home and 'get your affairs in order' and then report to the hospital Monday morning!"
Obviously that got my attention but it was nothing compared to what happened as I was going about the task of getting my affairs in order that next day. I was doing ok until I began to write out plans for my funeral. I had no pastor friend, no home church, no small group, no harbor, nothing. The final straw was when I realized that I didn't even have 6 close friends that I could ask to be my pall bearers. I had lived a life of "it's all about me, my career, my wants, etc.
I literally fell to my knees and asked God to forgive me and to help me and my family through this ordeal. Thankfully my prayers were heard and answered with a yes. Now I am still alive, surrounded by a loving family and a safe harbor of friends that have been there for me in an incredible way. Through 3 open heart surgeries; lung cancer; death of our daughter; death of a brother and sister, they have been there for us. No one should have to face these life challenges alone and thanks to Christian community that is available within small group ministries like the one here at Grace Church, no one has to.
{Listen: when my dad died, I knew exactly who I was calling first: my best friend to this day who at that time lived 8 hours away from me. And if / when tragedy strikes again for me, I know who I am calling.
Do you?}
What about you?
Who is your harbor?
When circumstances are hard?
When pain hits?
When suffering comes?
When the unimaginable happens?
When the doubts creep in and the questions arise?
When your faith falters?
When you are battered by the storms of life?
Who will care for you?
Who will carry you to the feet of Jesus?
Who will have faith for you when you don’t have faith?
Who will go the extra mile and climb the steps to the roof, dig a hole and lower you down before the healing power of Jesus?
Who is your harbor? Do you have one?
You’ve got to have one.
You need a small community of dear friends who will help repair you by caring for you and carrying you to Jesus.
A harbor like the one the Santiago’s had right when they needed it.
TO VIDEO STORY