WRECK THE ROOF. Mark 2:1-12

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1 1 WRECK THE ROOF Mark 2:1-12 In his book, Your Church Is Too Safe, Mark Buchanan writes that a church roof in good repair is a sign that no one wants so desperately to get within your walls that they ll resort to extreme measures. No one is ready to vandalize the place for the sake of finding Jesus inside. That s what people were willing to do in our text, where Jesus is preaching in a house in his home town of Capernaum. Verse 2 says, They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. So Jesus preached the Word to the crowd. Even Jesus, who is the Word of God, uses the Word. Jesus preaches the Bible. So this is a story about the need for the Word of God to be preached, for sure, and how when it is faithfully preached and powerfully preached, it draws people as God s Spirit works.

2 2 But this is also a story about the need for the Word to be made flesh and dwell among us. Because it s when the Word is loosed, when it is incarnated, made flesh and appears personally to people, seeing them, touching them, ministering to them, that lives are transformed. Mark Buchanan says that The Word preached draws a crowd. But the Word made flesh makes a church. Jesus is doing both here. He s preaching the Word and He is fulfilling the Word. But first the roof must be wrecked. Because at the heart of the Gospel, at the heart of the Word, is welcoming the stranger. Loving those who are the least of these. Bringing grace to those who have none. And a broken roof may be the only entrance that a desperate person has to get into a church. It s what a desperate person in need of the Gospel may have to resort to when they re not welcomed through the front entrance or even a side entrance. But if Jesus is in the building, that person will find a way in. So what happens when that occurs? Well our story starts out with preaching going on at the church. Great preaching. The best! Jesus Himself is in the pulpit. Sharing the Word

3 3 Interpreting it Applying it I can t imagine what it would be like to hear Him in person. But notice this Buchanan writes, After one sick person gets in the center of things, the Word becomes flesh. The Gospel is not just preached. It s unleashed. It s set in motion. And through that unleashing, 5 amazing things occur. It starts with a radical welcome. You would expect that the first words out of the Lord s mouth when this man is dropped in front of Him as He preaches were, Hey, what s this? But no, Jesus looked at the man and said, Son. Before the paralyzed man s sins are forgiven, Jesus accepts Him and welcomes Him. And we shouldn t be surprised. He did the same thing with: Zacchaeus The Samaritan woman at the well The woman caught in adultery and many, many others. Jesus welcomed the man. Which is more than we can say for the rest of the people who had gathered to hear Him preach!

4 4 And Jesus not only welcomes him, He forgives him of his sins in the same breath the same sentence. Son, your sins are forgiven. Radical welcome, then radical forgiveness. I wonder what the man was thinking when he heard those words. Hey, that s not why I m here! I can t walk! I can t move my arms! I want to hold my wife and kids, I want to raise a cup to my lips without the help of others. Why are you talking about my sins? You see, paralysis was not this man s biggest problem. He just thought it was. Which is how we often look at things. Most of us think that our most pressing need is not our sin. It s finances, or relationships, or health, or low self-esteem, or a better job, or not getting the breaks in life that others have. But Jesus knows differently. And He declares that every sinful thing that this man has ever thought, spoken, or done from birth until now is forgiven. The entire weight of a lifetime of sin is lifted from him. Well that sets off a strong reaction in the room. Look at verse 6:

5 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 Why does this fellow talk like that? He s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? So a radical welcome leads to radical forgiveness, and that leads to a radical confrontation. You see, there s a bigger drama going on here. This isn t just about preaching or healing or being welcoming to strangers. This is about authority. By whose authority is Jesus speaking and acting here? It s one thing to preach, but it s quite another to announce that someone s sins are forgiven. That is God s exclusive right, and this Jesus has crossed a line here. And the teachers of the law are mad. 5 But they are also cowards. They re thinking all of this, but they re not brave enough to confront Jesus on it. So Jesus confronts them. Because if Jesus is in the same room, to think something to yourself is the same as saying it aloud. Look at v.8: 8 Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take your mat and walk? Jesus understood that whenever the roof breaks open, it will arouse what Buchanan calls the religious spirit, the commitment to religious

6 6 rules over a relationship with Jesus Christ. Whenever you wreck the roof, the muttering and rumors start, and then it moves on to pious questions and comments but of course, dutiful and sincere. It s all done behind the scenes, and it needs to be confronted. I thank God for Pastor Alberta and his unswerving commitment to break open the roof here at Cornerstone over the years and to confront the socalled religious spirit when it raises its head. But back to our story. So when the roof gets broken, there s a radical welcome, there s radical forgiveness, then radical confrontation occurs. And next, Jesus confronts the religious spirit by healing the paralyzed man, proving that He indeed has the authority to forgive sins. Look at v.10: 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. So the next thing that occurs is a radical healing: 10 So he said to the man, 11 I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. Not only does Jesus heal the paralyzed man, but He calls for immediate verification. He commands him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk home. The results prove Jesus authority to forgive sins. 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

7 7 Don t miss the additional truth Jesus is pointing out here: Forgiven people demonstrate that they re forgiven by walking in newness of life. For this paralyzed man, it meant not another minute of lying around. Not another minute of waiting for others to do something to help him. He s a new creation in Christ and he acts accordingly. That s to be our response as well to the good news of the Gospel. By God s grace we ve been given a new lease on life - and we re called to act appropriately. Sin may have immobilized us in the past, but not anymore! But I have to mention one more thing. One last thing that happens when the roof breaks open, and that is radical worship. Look at the second half of v.12: This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this! Did you notice that word everyone there? Everyone praised God Did that include the teachers of the law and those who were muttering about Jesus not having the authority to forgive sins? I guess we ll find out when we get to heaven. When our lives are restored through the grace of Jesus Christ when we experience His welcome and acceptance, His forgiveness and healing, we can t help but worship Him! That s why the Bible says:

8 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. In view of God s mercy, worship Him. Part of the newness of life that Jesus makes possible includes a life of radical worship. Isn t that a big part of why our worship at Cornerstone is so joyful? Because people have experienced the grace of God through the preaching of the Word and also through their interaction with those who are living it out. 8 Radical welcome Radical forgiveness Radical healing Radical worship All these are the blessings that come from allowing our roof to be wrecked to be broken. It almost makes you want to make some MORE holes in the roof! Why not join us? Volunteer for Children s Ministries & Student Ministries Join the choir and instrumentalists who make holes in the roof every week, drawing people to worship

9 9 Volunteers for the Coffee Ministry Sunday mornings and invite people into Cornerstone s amazing hospitality How about serving in the furniture ministry one Saturday morning every other month? You re greatly needed! Serve as a deacon, Stephen Minister, or a greeter Cornerstone ministries have as their core values the faithful sharing of God s Word and the commitment to live it out as part of that Word made flesh in each one of us. As we look to the coming year, ministries characterized by full teams dedicated to passing on the grace they ve received, will result in an even more welcoming church, where people are drawn to Jesus Christ and see us as God with skin on.