All right, I unlocked my flannel closet. The leaves are falling. Which means it is also officially our.
Annual emergency preparedness reminder.
So real quick.
Oh, someone's. Someone is an HR director. Awesome. This is important.
We love to do this. Just as an opportunity to remind us if, I think, if anything ever happens, any kind of emergency on a Sunday.
Morning while we're here, we'll let you know. But we want to just real quick give you a reminder of this so that we are.
We know we're thinking about it, and.
We also want all of you to think about it.
If you're on a team like which most people are right, to run a church our size, everyone's in.
And so if you're a hospitality or a kids team or helping out in some way, you may have more instructions from your team.
But just generally here at Hope, it's helpful to know some things. So first, if there is an emergency, like a fire alarm went off or we needed to move people or tell people to stay still, the first thing is to stay calm.
And so we will have people in.
The doorways screaming to stay calm and just listen to them. And. No, but I know that seems obvious. Maybe, but maybe. Take a breath. We have thought about this. We do have plans, in fact, taped right on this, this stand and some other stands is a more detailed plan.
Of what to do in different scenarios.
And. And if you just stay calm, we.
Can say, hey, here's the plan. Here's what we're doing. Here's what's coming next.
Secondly, just helpful.
Stay calm. Stay calm, everyone. Oh, might be the end of the life of our laptop here, friends. We might be seeing it wither away these last few weeks.
Secondly, I'll just say them, listen for instructions, because we might lose things like technology or lights might go out. Listen for instructions. We do have instructions for all things. And if you can just stay calm and. And listen, we'll tell you exactly where to go. A lot of things are to leave.
The building and go out to the parking lot or maybe just stay still right here and stay calm.
And lastly, if you see something, say something. And so it does not hurt to do that. And it's always helpful. So if something seems different or off.
Or you go, huh, I wonder what is going on there?
That's wonderful. Sometimes there's other people in the building.
You may notice this.
And many of you say something. And often it's because there's like a volleyball tournament in one of the gyms.
And people wander into here and they go, this Isn't volleyball? You say, nope.
So it's great. And you say, hey, I don't. Just so you know, some people were.
In here, they had a bunch of bags and they look like volleyball players. We're like, oh, great, we'll check it out.
Please always say something. That is one of the best ways.
For us just to stay safe and keep each other safe.
Also, if you just saw something or.
Smelled something or if there was smoke coming out of something, like, always say something.
So that's the best way for us generally to stay safe and handle emergencies.
And we promise we'll let you know what to do and where to go from there. I'm just.
I want to pray this.
Although we're just quick reminder, it still can maybe stir up like, whew, there. There can be emergencies. And so let's just pray that there wouldn't be and that we know God is still in the midst of all this, no matter what. So let me pray for us as we move to our time of getting the word.
Lord, thanks that you have given us this place, these people. We don't know what's coming.
But you do. Always. And you already know and you already have plans. You're with us now, and you'll be with us then. But we do pray protection over our church, our kids, these hallways, all these things as we meet, that you would allow us to continue meeting in a safe place, in a helpful place.
But if something happens, Lord, we pray that you would guide us, that you'd.
Help us, give us wisdom, give us the right voice, keep us calm and all those things. We know that you're in the middle of that, and it also can feel like a lot. And so I just pray that we would cling to you and know that you are safe, you are a rock that we can hide in you always in all situations and even those that are coming that we don't know about. We pray this in Jesus. Good, good name. Amen. All right. I was trying hard to think of a cool segue. There's not one.
But I read this incredible story this.
Week, these last few weeks.
I discovered someone that I want you to meet today. Today you're going to meet kind of a few different people, other people who love Jesus in the world that maybe you didn't know one who is still living. Who's this incredible person named Kevin Chandler? Maybe you've heard of him. Now that I've discovered him and his life, I noticed I ran into him other places and interviews and stories. This is him on the back of his friend here. And they have this incredible journey.
There's this book he wrote and actually just released a kid's book also of this cool journey.
He was born with spinal muscular atrophy, type 2. And so he really struggles and mostly cannot use a lot of his body. And so a lot of the time he finds himself in a wheelchair. He actually needs help like eating and.
Bathing and doing most things, moving around his house or wherever he is.
And he tells his story in a book.
I'm going to quote here in a second.
Tells a story. It actually talks about this importance as believers in the gospel of people being in need. It's actually a good thing. This is what we were made to be. People who are in need and had to help one another. But ultimately, if we're not in need, then we don't need a savior to rescue us. We don't need God. And that is actually the best place.
We can be in is this place of need.
And so he tells this incredible story. Now, this is a picture of him and his friends. They were talking about traveling and he said, oh, I'd love to see China, but how in the world, right? It's not accessible. I want to climb the wall of China, but I can't in my wheelchair. And they said, well, that isn't. That's not going to stop us. And they essentially took a backpacking backpack and they made it work for him and they carried him all over the world.
Being it's the coolest.
This group of friends traveled all over the place. And they didn't just like take a bus and look at the wall. There's actually part of his story is they actually. There's like these barriers that are like, hey, past here. We haven't fixed and it's really dangerous. And his friends were like, we gotta go. And so they carried him really far on the wall of China together, which is this beautiful, beautiful picture of these friends who together are doing all these things. It makes me when you think like, oh, do I have a need? Do I need help? I want to fight that. Sometimes I want to maybe hide that because I feel this pressure or maybe culturally dislike. That's the opposite of what we want everyone to think we're sufficient and we can do it. And we got this and we want to be the maximize everything and be excellent everything. And then you see a picture of this. These are just a group of friends who are trying to figure out how to help all of them, including their friend who needs to be carried there and not Only on this trip do they just carry him. Like they have to carry him.
They have to help bathe him, feed.
Him, and then figure out if you just think, if you've been to any.
Other culture, it's hard enough to adjust and they're helping him adjust all that well.
He also wrote this book with his friend Tommy called the Hospitality of Need. And the book is anchored. It starts in the story of Mark.
2, which is where we're at today.
The story of the man being lowered.
Into a house and healed by Jesus.
But Kevin says this about it, like generally about his friends.
I think this is really helpful. As we move into this time, the.
Experience turned my understanding of need. This experience of having to be helped all the time turned my understanding of need and care upside down.
To be intentional with a peer to peer caregiving approach.
I now invite friends into my needs for them to take care of me and me to take care of them. We each have unique needs and gifts and we bring them all with us.
Into this space of healing and growth. It's the Holy Spirit living in these.
Friends and in me who escorts us.
Into deeper fellowship through the doors called need. It's really powerful and really cool. I also, when I hear this, I go, that's really cool. There's no way, like I, I want.
To be in a place where I.
Go, yeah, I would like to be.
Really uncomfortable and probably interrupted a lot.
And maybe not get to do all the things I want to do to help someone.
But that, like, it feels like one of those, like church stories where you go, that's incredible. They did that.
But there's no way today I want.
To encourage us sit for a little.
Bit here in the story of the.
Man being lowered into the house in.
Mark 2, the beginning of Mark 2, sit in the story.
It's going to hopefully encourage us. This isn't actually that far off. It actually is this beautiful thing that we're given. And I think it's going to hopefully highlight a few people in the story.
Are going to help us understand maybe.
Where we're at and help us continue.
To move towards Jesus, which is what changes us into these things.
So today we're in Mark 2 and my hope is maybe we could, if we don't feel this, maybe we do feel this, we could better understand what.
Leads you to a place where this.
Happens, like with Kevin and his friends who live together.
Eventually he, on one of his trips to China meets lady and they get married and even that life, what that marriage looks like. But this mutual need and caring for each other and moving towards Jesus.
Taylor So we are in Mark. We're going to read through this story. It's not real long together first, and then we're just take some time to unpack it and then hopefully at the.
End here, get some time to apply a little bit of what we're looking at. Okay. When Steve was here, I listened to the.
I listened.
When I was gone on sabbatical, he had you stand.
And I got to visit some churches this summer on sabbatical, and a few of them had people stand when they read the Word and they, like, prayed as they started.
And it was really a sweet thing.
So I don't know if I'll always.
Do this or remember to, but I want to. I want to do it. I was like, I want to try that.
It seems like a moment to say, like, we believe this is important and true. And it's a little story time for a moment. So if you'd stand with me, I'm just going to read you quick the story of the Paralytic man and his friends and some Pharisees and Jesus and.
Others from Mark 2.
So let me read this to you.
And pray for us as we start our time here.
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he. He was at home. And many were gathered together, so there was no room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came bringing to him a.
Paralytic carried by four men. And they could not get near him because of the crowd. They removed the roof from above him. And when they had made an opening, they let him down on the bed which the paralytic lay. I don't want to miss here the slides.
And then Jesus saw in their faith, he said to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like this?
He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said.
To them, why do you question these things in your hearts?
Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk. But you may know the Lord, the.
Son of man, has authority on earth to forgive sins.
He said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before all of them. So that they all were amazed and.
Glorified God saying, we never saw anything like this. We pray, Lord, thank you for your word. I pray you'd use it now to encourage us and convict us, to comfort.
Us, to draw us near to you.
That we would again see this beautiful person of Jesus. And that would change us. We love you, Lord. Thank you that we need you and that you meet that need.
Amen.
All right, you guys can have a seat. Thanks for standing with me. I'll keep standing. Here we go.
But take some time just to walk through our passage here and unpack it a little bit so we understand what's really happening. There's a really, really cool, really dense.
Story in these just few verses.
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days was reported that he was at home. Now this story, maybe you know, this story if you've been around church or as a kid. This is a pretty classic story. This is one that you'd make with like popsicle sticks. He'd lower someone into a little house you made out of construction paper. It starts though. First, I think it's helpful to understand we are in Capernaum. And we believe this is probably at this point. Most likely this is where Jesus kind of made his home or home base. And probably it's Peter. Most likely it's Peter's house, like Peter.
And his mom and his family.
And they maybe kind of share it now with Jesus. And maybe even other of disciples is kind of become maybe a little bit of the headquarters, a little home base. Right before this, Jesus was out in the wilderness. Remember, he got pushed into desolate places. He healed the leper. And then there was just so many crowds and people that he had to get out of those. Of those towns and those cities. And now there's moments now he moves back into Capernaum to the home, right?
He can't just always be out there.
So he moves back in here. And we have this moment now he's.
Back in kind of his home, which.
Is important, I think, to this. You see, he's at home. And these people have now are going to crowd into his home. You see here where Capernaum is up on the Sea of Galilee. That's the area that he's been doing ministry. He'll do a lot of ministry in. In that area up there. You see, Nazareth is kind of, you know, was home. And now he's moved up to this other area here. I wasn't sure what a home like at that point would have looked at. So I looked at my real estate source. And Zillow says this is what a home at that time would probably look like. This is like what I think AI is cool. Other AI stuff scares me to death.
But this is like awesome.
This is kind of is what it would. It would look like a little house with a roof. There would have been steps up on top of it. They actually would have taken this kind of a home. There would have been a place on top to actually like another living area kind of. You could have hung out up there. Even when it like a hot days.
You could go up there.
You might spread out food or things up there. So it's like another living space. It's like their deck is up on top of their house. But they would have been in this sweet little house.
In.
In Capernaum. And so that's the place we see now. They're gathered and then it tells us what's happening there. He's at this house. What's happening? Many were gathered together. How many? Well, there was so many. There's no room. It's. They're jammed into this little space. How jammed in? So jammed in. Even the doors are full. It's not like he had a bunch of friends over. They are crammed into this place. Even to the door. The door is full. Probably outside the door, outside all around. Because people want to see Jesus. It hasn't changed. His. His kind of viral moment is continuing in the sense of people heard he's healing people.
People heard of his miracles. We want to see this guy.
You can imagine probably people who are.
Also hurt or maybe bringing their kids or their loved ones. And maybe there's people who are bandaged up.
People are limping in there saying, we want to come and see you and be healed. And he's doing what he's been telling.
Us he was going to do.
He's going to come and preach, share this good news, proclaim this good news that the kingdom of God is here.
And so now they're actually. This is a cool picture we don't want to miss.
They're kind of in the king's home.
Now, hearing him declare the kingdom of God is here as he shares his word with them. It's this really cool, cool space.
This is probably more like less AI and more real. It's important because we're about to see something happen in this home as people are crammed in here. We're about to see something happen specifically.
On the roof of this place.
But this gives you a little picture. Maybe what the roof would look like there would have been boards across, and then there would have been, like, straw or. Or, you know, smaller, like, things on top. And then they would have actually put, like, most likely clay on there that would have dried and hardened. So it's kind of these layers of, like, clay to straw to these bigger planks, which is what held the roof strong enough. People could go up there and hang out. It is essentially like a deck. But this is kind of what it looked like. So you can imagine then if they.
Tore through it, what would have kind of it looked like.
So this is essentially what we would have seen this, except a bunch of.
People in it, right?
Would have all been there together. Drove from this desolate place now to literally walled in with a bunch of people around him as he gets to.
Share about this good news. And then we hear about the people involved.
Not just the crowds, kind of the anonymous crowd, but we hear about this story of specifically five friends. Says they bring in their paralytic friend.
This word just meaning a friend who could move, can walk.
We don't know to what extent. Most likely culturally. Also a friend who would have been seen as kind of an outsider, maybe even viewed as, like, there's something wrong, sinful about him. Culturally, that would have been very normal. Like, oh, he can't walk. He did something.
Or maybe his parents did something. You remember, there's a story in the Gospels where someone comes up and says, what sins have his family committed to as they see a boy in a similar situation?
There's this belief, right?
Those are kind of connected. The physical, the spiritual are connected and that.
So he's this man who has friends.
Who have to carry him, and they.
Carry him to the place. And it's so crowded, they can't get in the door with him. So they go up those steps onto the top roof, the deck, right? And they go, we still got to get him. We have to get him to Jesus. But we don't know exactly what happened here. If he asked them, if he said, hey, did you hear about this Jesus guy? Could you take me to him? If they asked him, if they all came, said, hey, we've been talking. We gotta get you this guy. This could be our chance. We don't know how they heard about Jesus. We don't know how far they came. We don't know their names. We know their relationship to each other. We don't know if three of them are buddies. And they had to, like, convince the other one. If they texted him. And we're like, hey, we're Hanging out. And then he showed up and they're moving. You know that move?
Have you done that? I know some of you have done that. I've gotten that text.
Want to come over? Right? And then there's. There's pizza. We don't know. We have no idea. It's just this cool moment. We get thrown this story. What we do know, and Mark wants us to know, is that there's these friends who found it so important to.
Take their friend who couldn't get there and make sure he got there. It's really beautiful that they were willing to pick him up and carry him.
And not get there and go, sorry, bud.
Too many people want to try again. They go, we got. We're going to find a way.
We're going to find a way so.
You can get close to Jesus because he's the one who can heal you.
They were willing to do anything, so they did not have to stop. They wanted their friend healed and Jesus was the hope. Enough hope that they're willing to go to someone's house and tear open their roof, dig through the clay and dig through the straw and maybe push apart a beam and then make a way to lower him down. They even had ropes. I don't know if they found them or they brought them, knowing, like, maybe we got to figure this out. They had enough to say. We got to climb the steps and dig the hole and lower our friend and then interrupt what was going on. They even thought, this guy is teaching to a bunch of people in a room. I don't know if he wants. Someone just lowered in on him. They said, this. This guy is our hope. Enough.
We're going to interrupt everything and lower him right in front of Jesus so that we can hopefully see him healed. Right? This is. There's this, like. I just love the commitment to it, the love for it.
There's a love for their friend in this. There's a hope in this other person. None of us, the four of us can't heal him, but maybe this person can. Makes me think. I was at a. In line after a concert, waiting to, like, meet musicians once, and they said, hey, we can only take a few more. And a guy, like, sprinted from back.
Of the line and pushed people away.
And he, you know, he was like, sorry, they've changed my life forever. I have to meet them. And we were so angry because this guy just, like, pushed us out of.
The way and butted in line, right?
Yeah, because, I mean, because the Counting Crows saved his life. It makes me. I can Understand that feeling, right? You're like, these are my people. This is my thing. I have to get there at all costs. And then what happens? They lower him in there. I think the expectation would be he can heal him just like he's healed everyone else. Hey, please. Our friend, we brought him all the way here. We dug the hole, we lowered him in. Can you heal him? And you think he'd go like we. They had been seeing and heal him?
And he actually shows them the kingdom of God. Like, what is actually the kingdom of God? It's. It's incredible. He doesn't just say, you're healed.
Jesus doesn't, like, brush off the dirt and the straw that just came on us. He doesn't say, hey, you're interrupting. You should stand in line. He gives them this man something no one could give him. He heals them in a way that is so beyond him just being able to stand up. Jesus saw their faith.
This is really important, that word there.
Most scholars, as we're reading about this, think this means all the four of them, or maybe all five of them, though this is really important here. This word means that group. They saw this. These people's faith, the hope, right, that they have that Jesus could be the one who would heal their friend.
And he says, sons, or this means, like, my child, your sins are forgiven. I don't think that's what they were looking. I don't think they went there, gone. Hey, let's see if this key can, like, change the soul of our friend and forever reconcile him to God.
I think it was like, I just.
Would love to see him walk. And Jesus does something different, son, like a.
Like a.
How a parent would address a child. He says, son, your sins are forgiven. You've been released.
From guilt and shame. The weight in your soul, this disconnectedness with God, this thing that there is a whole ritual and series of things that normally you have to do. We're not even sure if that's something they would do, but in a sense, he's saying, son, welcome home.
You've been made right? It's incredible.
This forgiveness of sins is a big, big deal.
We hear it a lot, right? At church, we hear this phrase and we kind of go, oh, that's cool.
This is like the hurt that's in you from the guilt of things. The shame that's been laid on you from others or that you put on yourself. Those things that's, like, made you paralyzed.
I want to release you. I want to heal you from that. It's beautiful.
Another Person I wanted to introduce you.
To this week or let you know about is Corrie Tenbu. I quoted her before.
She's incredible story of helping hide and liberate people during the Holocaust and then continuing to do that work throughout her life.
It's really incredible.
I encourage you to read the Hiding Place. Uh, she talks a lot about forgiveness in that, even her story of being.
Able to forgive people who put her in concentration camps.
But this is how she describes it as she's talking about Micah 7, which says, you'll cast all of our sins.
In the depths of the sea.
She says, when God forgives, he buries.
Our sins in the deepest sea and puts up a sign that says, no fishing allowed. She love that in this moment, Jesus says to this man, your sins are forgiven.
That doesn't mean, hey, bud, I forgive.
You for getting dirt on my face. He's not just saying like, you shouldn't.
Have dropped in on me.
I forgive you.
No worries. He's saying, your sins have been put into the deepest parts of the sea, and you and no one else gets.
To fish them back out and lay them back on you again. As far as from the east, as from the west, does God remove our transgressions from us? We hear in Isaiah, I, I am.
He who blots out your transgressions. For my own sake, I will not remember your sins. From Matthew 6:12. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We hear in the Lord's Prayer in Luke, if your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. It's this real foundational part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, a Christian, is that forgiveness is a essential part of who we are. Because it's essential part of what Jesus does. It's the first thing he does to.
This man when he meets him.
He releases him. This forgiveness is costly. Jesus knows, and we know in the story when he says, I forgive you, he knows that not long from now, he's going to actually pay the price.
For that sin when he says it. To say, this man has no idea.
But he knows he's going to be.
Lowered into a grave.
He's going to be hurt, paralyzed, so.
That he could be free.
Forgiveness is transformative. We're not just going to see it in this man, in his soul, but we're actually going to see, like a moment. He's going to give us a picture.
Of what this looks like. It's beautiful. And so as he says this, Jesus also becomes aware of others who are in the room.
Now we get to meet another group.
Of people in the room.
Not just the friends, not just the paralyzed man, but we also get to meet some other people in the room, the scribes. These are religious leaders who really know scripture well and have developed this thing they call the oral law of what it looks like to live out this. This God's words and God's plans. This is a group of people that for the next part of Mark, we're going to see about five encounters with them where Jesus, each time, is going to push up against and have conflict with this oral law they've created. Hey, if this is true about who God is, and this is how life has to be lived out, and they've created these laws that you have to live by. In fact, to this point, if Jesus is claiming that he can forgive sin, they have a problem with that. And he can sense that in the room. So some of the scribes are sitting there questioning in their hearts, not out loud, but in their hearts, why does.
This man speak like that? He's blaspheming.
He's saying he's God and he's not. He's saying things that are ungodly. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And they're right. They know their scripture. They know if he's claiming to forgive.
Only God can forgive.
And so as they've been people who have this law, in that law, if you claim to be God and you're not, then you can be killed. So they're saying, why would he say this? Like, the penalty for this could be death. We could take him outside and stone him and it'll be okay. It's really important they have this. How this works is that they believe.
Moses was given the written Torah and then also, like an oral Torah, like, he also has this tradition that was passed down of what it looks like.
So when we talk about, like, Pharisees.
In the Gospels, we're not just saying, like, they misinterpret scripture.
They know scripture really well. And they have created this other set of laws of what life looks like. And that's where when Jesus pushes against. We're gonna see Sabbath and other things. He's pushing against this other kind of set that they're saying. This is what it looked like. That's the same laws that they're putting on. They're laying on the people. You have to follow these rules and these laws in order to actually be close to God.
They're explaining this.
It's this. This is also a Phrase we use sometimes in church called orthodoxy, which is like, the what. Like the actual. What does Scripture say?
What do we believe foundationally? The the what?
The matter of it, like, the content. And then there's orthopraxy, which is the actual practical playing out of it.
Right.
The like who and the manner of it. Like, what does that look like? So that's true. We know God is. Let's say we say the word sovereign. Like, God knows everything.
He.
He knows what's going on. He's in the midst of it. So what does that look like actually.
Played out in our life? And so they say, rightly, I think if he's. He's.
He's saying he's God.
Yeah, I think.
And I love that he senses it. I. This. Sometimes. This passage sometimes is shown as, like.
How crazy that he could sense it.
Now, I think it's incredible. Jesus knows hearts, and no one else.
In the room knows hearts.
But I would guess other people in.
The room could sense it.
It's. If you've been to, like, a holiday where someone starts talking about politics and everyone knows that, like, your uncle is not cool with what they're talking about. They're talking as if, like, oh, everyone believes this is true. And then you can feel in the room, you're like, uncle Jeff's about to blow up. I think they're adding some sense of that. Like, people know, holy cow, this guy's saying he's God by saying he can forgive sins.
These people are feeling it. And so what happens? Does Jesus then explain to them that he's God or not God? Does Jesus say, hey, I healed you of your. I forgave you of your sins.
That's a pretty big deal. Can we move on to the next person? Just go back to teaching. We actually addressed this all in this moment, right? Guy falls from the ceiling. Jesus says, son, your sins are forgiven. In the same moment, these people over here are thinking, he can't say that. That's what God says. And so in that same swirl of moment of things.
Jesus actually addresses them. Now, in the actual passage, it says.
Immediately Jesus perceiving his spirit, that they question them.
He said to them, why do you question these things in your heart? That would be intense if you're one of these people. He knows what we're questioning in our hearts. He knows your hearts. And then he says this. What is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk? Now, a lot of scholars, as I was Reading this, this is new to me this time, reading through.
Think that verse 10 here, at least this first part, might actually be Mark.
Just commentating to us.
Because, remember, Mark is writing this so.
That people would know who Jesus is.
He wants to know the good news so he knows that, like, we're not. It's not just an exact moment that's happening. But they think he might have just added this, like, to say, hey, because we know that Jesus, like, there's parts of it they'll say. He'll talk about, like, Judas, and he'll.
Say, the one who betrayed him.
Now, I'm guessing in the room, people didn't introduce Judas. Hey, this is Judas, the one who will betray Jesus. It's a comment to go, hey, we want to be clear. Mark wants to be clear. You know, what's going on here. So Jesus says, do you think it's easier to forgive sins or tell them to rise up and walk? And Mark tells us, but that you may know that the Son of Man.
Has authority on earth to forgive sins. He's reminding us of something that's really important.
Also, Jesus might have just said that.
Out loud to them.
The pushback on that is that if he said he was the Son of Man, then they would have known he.
Was saying he was God and that they might have just killed him right then.
And so people are wondering, did Mark add this in so that Jesus could.
Keep, you know, is he just. Just clarifying that to us? Here's what's really important here.
Before we get to the Son of Man part, which is really important, this.
Question is really important.
Are forgiving sins easier or. Or asking him to rise up and walk? This is actually a lot more debated than I thought it would.
It was.
Some people say, yes, it's very hard to say one and not hard to say the other. It would be kind of easy to say your sins are forgiven because we couldn't measure that. I could walk around target and be.
Like, your sins are forgiven, your sins are forgiven, your sins are forgiven.
And just be like, I forgave everyone sins.
And you go, I don't know. We didn't see anything happen.
We don't have, like a. We can't, like, take a test and.
It shows if your sins are forgiven.
So maybe that's easier because you can't measure it. But also, like, forgiving someone's sins is very hard because only one person can do it. I can't forgive your sins in that sense, in, like, a cosmic God forgiving our sin sense. So it would be easier to pick up. It'd be easier for me to say, pick up your bed and walk. Because forgiving someone only God can do, but also I can't just say, pick up your mat and walk. That's also really hard to just heal someone. That isn't just possible. So it's this question that makes it really hard. What is Jesus trying to say? I think what's really cool about this story is Jesus doesn't just do one of these.
He doesn't just say, your sins are forgiven, move on. He doesn't just say, stand up, walk.
This is a moment where he actually.
Shows off the kingdom of God being there in person, live. He actually does both of these.
And who can forgive your sins, who can read your heart, and who could actually heal a paralytic man right there on the spot so he could stand up and walk out. There seems to only be one. And that is what Mark is indicating.
Here to us with this word son of man.
Son of man is actually a phrase. It's one of Jesus favorite ways to.
Refer to himself is son of man.
And son of man has a real meaning to it.
It's a meaning that maybe doesn't hit us because we don't hear this phrase.
But would have been very real to a Jewish person. It would have been from Daniel 7.
It is from Daniel 7 and it's.
Describing this person who will come and.
Usher in a kingdom.
In my vision at night, I looked and there before me was one, like.
A Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days, God, God the Father.
This is a moment of like the Trinity hanging out and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away.
And his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. There's this one, the Son of Man, we call him, who will come, given the authority by God to usher in his kingdom that will take over all things and be all things and will be everlasting.
This is a person that everyone was.
Looking for, this one who would come, this Messiah, this Christ, right, the Savior, who would come and rescue them.
And in that Moment, in Mark 2.
Jesus says, I'm the Son of Man.
Not Son of man.
Like he's not saying I'm a human. He's saying I'm capital S O N, capital M A N. I'm the one come to usher in my dominion, under usher in my kingdom and you're actually.
Right now in my house witnessing what's better? Forgiving your sins, reading hearts, healing you? How about all of it? How about only the Son of Man? Only the true king could come and do all of it? And so then he turns to him, right after he asks this question, he says, well, I'm not done yet. And he says to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your.
Bed and go home.
And he rose and immediately picked up his bed.
This immediate word we hear all the time in Mark, right?
Then picks up his bed and went.
Out before all of them.
So they all were amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw anything like this.
Which is easier, both. If you're the Son of Man, you.
Want to see the kingdom of God. You want a place where not only are people healed from not being able to walk, but also healed from the weight of guilt and shame and sin in their life. It's right here. It's in my house. You just entered my house.
And my kingdom is here. And it's. And it's moving. It's this beautiful picture where people get to see the cleansing of guilt and sin.
A person made whole, not just their.
Body healed, but their heart and their.
Mind, all healed, reconciled to God. You have to imagine he didn't just walk. He had a little jump, little leap in his step as he walked out. Another person.
We get to see this moment, life changed forever.
And what was the result of that? The result is that they were amazed or astonished and they glorified God.
And they said, very understandably, we never saw anything like this. I like this phrase because it's very true.
You have never stood in a house.
With God himself and watched him make someone whole, like, whole. And you won't with anyone except this one. You're in for the rest of their lives. They tell this story, right?
There's some grandkids and they go, tell us the story about the guy in the roof again. We want to hear the roof man story. And they tell their grandkids the story. We've never seen anything like it. And we always and never will except through him. And so who can forgive sins, knows hearts, heals brokenness? There's one, the Son of Man, who we call the Christ. It's a big moment. He shows us in this moment in this house as people are lowered down.
To him, who he is and what he can do. As we wrap up here, I want to just real quick pop through each of the people in this story and.
Just kind of Maybe remind us and maybe consider. Where do you feel like this person? I think we're all these people. All the four people. I'm going to show us. The scribes, the friends, the paralytic, and Jesus. I would say we all connect to.
All of them, except maybe one. We're not one of them. Spoiler. It's Jesus. Uh, but let. Let's just real quick.
I just want to take a moment to. To get it, like, really start thinking, what is.
What does this look like in your own life? In this story, as we witness the kingdom of God in this house, the.
Scribes first are people who created the oral law. They created from. From something really good.
Actually.
Jesus would agree with them this. The word of God is so important and so good, and it is God's word. And then they would. They would disagree. And how does that actually play out?
What does it actually look like in life?
I think I feel like a scribe in my life when I realize I've created laws or rules, especially ones I go like, well, this is Scripture. And so I say, well, then I get to do this, or I get to judge people for this, or I get to think this way about these people. I like to make up a rule for living. And then it's nice even to be able to take scripture and, like, apply. I don't like this thing in my life.
And.
And so I'm gonna apply some scripture to say, like, yeah, yeah, that's not good. I'll share one very specific one. I think I have a rule. There's a Druze rule that if you make me uncomfortable, it must not be from God. So if that thing makes me, or.
The thing you said or the thing maybe I read in Scripture, if it.
Makes me feel uncomfortable, that must not.
Be what it means.
Because in my mind, I think the ultimate Drew's rule is there has to.
Always be peace and comfort. And so if it's uncomfortable, that it must not be from God.
So if I see.
If someone makes me uncomfortable, you're an enemy. If.
If a thing makes me uncomfortable, if a thought, I go like, oh, I don't know about that.
It kind of sits different with me. Oh, that must be the enemy.
That must be a thing I have to fight now, right? So I've created this Druze rule, and I definitely become a scribe, and I definitely find myself in that moment. I'm not going to ever say that out loud.
This is the one time I'll ever share that out loud.
It's just going to be in my heart.
I'm going to go, oh, I need to find comfort and you're interrupting that. Scripture doesn't say that.
It tells me that we're going to be uncomfortable and that God is my comfort in the midst of very uncomfortable things.
But you create your own lie.
I find myself a scribe some days, watching, even witnessing miracles of Jesus around me. And my first instinct is judgment and skepticism. And I go, eh, they're not doing.
It the way I think you probably should do it.
Secondly, we have friends, these wonderful friends who bring them to the source of healing, who show faith in that source, understanding that Jesus is willing and wants to heal their friend. These people remind me of that part of me that is willing to be interrupted. They're willing to set aside comfort, efficiency, safety so I can bring people to.
The real king into his kingdom. People who don't know him, people who need whole healing.
People who are just weighted by paralyzed.
By guilt and sin. It feels like that Kevin shares about this from his friends. I got a couple of long Kevin quotes as we end here from his book.
He also had friends Kevin talks about.
Yeah, I'll just read it.
He also had friends like I have.
This is talking about this story.
It was his friends who carried him on his mat across town to meet Jesus. And when they got to the packed out house, they pulled him up into the roof, they tore open a hole and lowered him into the middle of the room, plopped him like that, plopped him right down in front of Jesus.
I have friends like this, good friends who bring me to the feet of Jesus time and time again with every action they take to care for me and make my life not just possible, but abundant. My friends cut holes and roofs every day in the word, deed, laughter and song. And together we get to experience Jesus. Like how he describes friends who are willing to cut holes in roofs so that we could experience abundant life with Jesus. When it's opportunity for us to consider what does it look like to be a friend who's willing to cut holes so that people could know the true source?
Sometimes I just like people come to.
Me as the source, forgetting that actually there's one who could wholly heal our friends.
And then the last person other than.
Jesus is this man who was healed.
Forgiven and healed, made whole. This is us. This story might be easy to read.
And go, oh, I could be a friend like that. Oh, I gotta be careful to not be skeptical or cynical or prideful. Well, thankfully I'm not a paralyzed man. This is so much us in this story, needing this Healing, I think we find ourselves.
Kevin in his book, refers to, like, two ways we find ourselves moving that.
Aren'T in a place of just sitting in front of Jesus and saying, I have need.
Or just sitting even with friends and.
Saying, I have need. It's okay, I'm broken. I have need.
Can you help lower me to Jesus?
Can you help me?
We find ourselves in two places. He calls one of them being a burden narrative.
I'm too much of a burden. I don't want to be that person. So I lean away from being lowered.
Being even allowed to be carried to Jesus. Or a person who has an idle narrative where my whole existence, my identity, becomes that I have a need, and everything revolves around solving the need and.
Not the person who actually can solve it. So he shares this.
It doesn't take much to convince myself I'm a burden. When I feel the quiver of my friend's arms as he picks up my dead weight in a matter of seconds, my mind jumps from I weigh too much to I am too much. And it's a pretty arguable point, especially if I leave it to my mind to bounce around for a while by itself. But if I bring it into the.
Light in a conversation, for example, I might just find that my friend has a better argument against it than I do. As Dr. Thompson, who wrote this book the Soul of Shame, Kurt Thompson, says.
The only way to counter shame is with vulnerability. It's the very thing our shame tells.
Us we absolutely shouldn't pursue. But that's because vulnerability kills the shame.
So shame screams, stay away from that. It's terrible.
And we demolish the burden narrative, warping our heads and hearts by inviting others into our need. This doesn't just happen in friendship. This very much happens in my relationship with God. I say, I'm too much, too much, I'm too much. You don't. You don't need this. Which is not true. That's not just the voice of shame. That's the voice of Satan saying, you should be alone and hide. We want you now.
The other way of that is actually making it all you are and like an entitlement of, like, now all my needs and my hurts are all anything's about, because then you don't have the opportunity actually even care for others. So we find these, like, two sides. He says, it's kind of like going on a road and you fall down one of the cliffs if we're not careful in. As a person with need, my needs are numerous and ongoing. I've been blessed With a lot of.
Amazing folks willing to meet these needs.
And it could be easy to take advantage of this. If not checked, what is a gift.
Could be mistaken for entitlement.
Meeting that need will consume us. We'll do anything to meet it. And at some point expect others to.
Do anything to meet it too. It will be the center of our universe and we'll operate as if we should be the center of everyone else's universe. Those around us or in our path will be no more than players in our game, tools or obstacles. Their needs will fade and will either wither or leave or we'll meanwhile waste away. That becomes our goal is just to deal with my need rather than to actually move towards the person. Excuse me. Both of these I resonate with so much.
Oh, I know certain needs. I fall into each one of those things. And now the deeper need that we have is.
Forgiveness is Described by corrie10 Boone. I'm going to combine our Kevin and Corey moments here.
She describes what forgiveness looks like. Forgiveness is an act of the will.
And will be functioned regardless of the of the temperament of the heart.
She's explaining how we become these people that are like the friends and like the paralytic that we are changed in our forgiveness. And there were people who it's not just like I feel like forgiving, but.
I actually do it because it's doesn't.
Matter where my heart's at right now. This is the thing that we do. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and handcuffs of hatred. It breaks the chains of bitterness and shackles of selfishness.
I like those words all together.
So how do we get to that? How do we get to be a person who forgives ourselves and others so that we're no longer handcuffed with hatred or shackled with selfishness? If we're not careful in this story, we go. So go home and don't be a scribe. Go home and be a good friend.
Who rips open roofs. Go home and let people help you. Right?
That's not what's changed Kevin. That's not what changed Corey. What changed them is meeting this person, the forgiver, the healer, the knower of hearts, our God, the son of man, the one who changes lives, who will turn us from living lives of the.
Law to lives within him in the Gospel.
What a picture, right, of this. This is like a picture of what our small groups are, what your friends are, what your family is, right? You're crammed in a house together and you're encouraging each other towards the thing that heals us.
We're declaring this ultimately to ourselves and reminding that Jesus has said to each one of you, child, your sins are forgiven. Get up and walk. Go home. It's every day.
And so we get to be people like Kevin and his friends, not because we carried our friend through China, but because we get to gather and point.
Our friend to the one who heals us.
Okay, I want to welcome our worship team up. I want to just end with this story from Corey. Corey has, in her book the Hiding Place shares the story of her family rescuing hiding Jewish people and then eventually being caught and actually put in concentration camps.
Some of her family were killed.
Later in her life, though, she has the opportunity to actually meet one of.
The guards from the concentration camp.
And in that moment, she shares how.
The gospel, how Jesus has changed her, how she has been forgiven. And she stood up and walked. And what does that look like?
I think that looks like a person who says, I have a need.
I've been changed. And this is what she says.
I stood there with the coldness clutching.
My heart.
But I knew that forgiveness was not an emotion. Jesus, help me. I prayed silently. I can lift my hand.
I can do that much.
You supply the feeling. And so woodenly and mechanically, I thrust my hand into the outstretched.
Into one outstretched to me.
She's standing in front of. Of one of the men who was.
In the concentration camp, one of the guards there. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. As I prayed, Jesus, help me, a current started in my shoulder and raced down my arm and sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. I forgive you, brother. I cried with all my heart. How in the world that doesn't happen without something changing, transforming you, you being released from shame and guilt and hatred and hurt. That comes from a prayer. Jesus, help me. To the moment of someone standing in front of an enemy, calling them brother. That's my prayer for us as we become people who look like the people in this moment, in this house. And we'd see more people even know Jesus and forgiveness.
We're going to move to a time.
To respond to that good news.
A couple questions to consider. As you get a time to sing and take communion.
Will you look to Jesus to make you whole? Whose house are you going to to try to get healing?
Are you amazed by Jesus or looking.
For something else to amaze you? He'll be the best thing ever. So it's not even. There's nothing else but what else are we looking to? To amaze us who brings you to Jesus and who could you maybe even bring to Jesus?
We're going to respond in our room here by singing together. The band will lead us in that we have. People want to pray for you in the back of the room. They have a yellow lanyard. They'd love to pray for anything. You can share anything with them. They just want to pray for you, essentially. They want to lower you down in.
Front of Jesus with them and pray and ask Jesus for anything.
They'd love to do that. We also take communion, which reminds us of this moment which changed history, when Jesus was crucified, when his body was broken, his blood was shed, he was lowered into a grave.
And thankfully, we know the good news that he too, stood up and walked.
And so we celebrate that. We have grape juice and crackers. Everyone is welcome to do that.
If you're a follower of Jesus, you don't need to be a member of.
Hope and just do that as an.
Opportunity to celebrate this really good news that Christ has died and risen. And you also always can give as a way to just be generous in helping the ministry of Hope and continuing to join us in helping more people know Jesus. Let me pray quick as we continue. Lord, thank you for your kindness and goodness that you have to. Each of us said your sins are.
Forgiven, offered us something none of us.
Can do, and have asked us and told us we can stand and walk. I pray you would heal us, minister to us, warm us, so that we too could be people who could move towards you and maybe even bring others with. Thank you, Lord, for this time and these people. Amen.