Recently I shared a sermon thought with the congregation that came from a reading of Mark 2:1-12. It is the story of the paralytic being lowered through the roof of a house by some friends so that he could be touched by Jesus.
The story ends with the crowd being amazed and glorifying God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
I guess not. I guess they never had seen anything like it before, at least not in relationship to the church. Imagine a community of faith willing to tear off the roof of where they meet for worship so that people could get closer to Jesus. Imagine the Church (big "C" intentional) willing to have a rope dropped into their midst as a lifeline for those paralyzed either physically, emotionally, or spiritually; disrupting the flow of worship.
The norm is to be far more concerned that the pews remain pretty, rather than used. The norm is make sure the flowers are arranged on the altar the same each week, rather than arranging every moment so that lives might be altered.
What would it take for your faith community to cause those around you to be amazed and glorify God?
The story ends with the crowd being amazed and glorifying God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
I guess not. I guess they never had seen anything like it before, at least not in relationship to the church. Imagine a community of faith willing to tear off the roof of where they meet for worship so that people could get closer to Jesus. Imagine the Church (big "C" intentional) willing to have a rope dropped into their midst as a lifeline for those paralyzed either physically, emotionally, or spiritually; disrupting the flow of worship.
The norm is to be far more concerned that the pews remain pretty, rather than used. The norm is make sure the flowers are arranged on the altar the same each week, rather than arranging every moment so that lives might be altered.
What would it take for your faith community to cause those around you to be amazed and glorify God?
Mark interprets the crowd was "glorifying God" - but were they really? Or was Jesus to them just another in a long line of "healers" who wandered the countryside - someone whose magic was a little better than the rest. Were they really changed enough to "glorify God"? Were they sold on "God" or were they wondering "hey - what's he going to do next? Let's hang around and see."
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