Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany – 19 February 2006

St Paul Lutheran Church, ABQ NM – The Rev. P. L. Holman

Isaiah 43:18-25; Psalm 41; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12

“Forgiven for Life”

Stepping into the story …

Imagine, if you will, imagine yourself in the midst of the crowd at Simon and Andrew’s home, inside perhaps or just outside the door listening in, and suddenly pieces of the roof start dropping down upon the one speaking the word and on those around him.  Put yourself there -- what would you think?  I know that in June 2002 when I came into the building around 10 AM on a Saturday morning to find rain water splashing onto the hallway floor, and bits of ceiling tile falling to the floor with a sickening splat, “Jesus heals” and “God forgives” and “thanks be to God” were not exactly what I was thinking.  The combination of an intense rainstorm and a roofing project at its most vulnerable stage created the perfect opportunity for a flood throughout the two floors of the education/administration wing.  As folks gathered to help schlep and sort and toss and mop up that day we all agreed, “We have never seen anything like this!” but that was hardly a “glorifying God” sort of reaction.

Faith in action …

Mark’s Gospel is an action gospel – it contains fewer words of Jesus than any other Gospel and allows the actions of Jesus to speak the word to those who would hear.  In this Gospel  Jesus is constantly on the move – immediately is one of Mark’s favorite word.  The first chapter starts: “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God..” as though what follows is to be continued….  Mark doesn’t bother with an infancy narratives – first John the Baptist proclaims his coming; then Jesus shows up, is baptized, tempted, then gets to work…  It’s a good book – not on the NYT bestseller list but a worthy read nonetheless

And the work Jesus does? Breaking boundaries -- all sorts of boundaries.  A few weeks ago we heard of him casting out demons from a man possessed while Jesus was teaching in the synagogue (a religious no-no) – some new teaching, with authority, the religious leaders exclaim (can you hear the echoes of Isaiah?).  Then Jesus restores Simon’s mother-in-law to her ministry, and heals a leper who in spite of Jesus’ warning just can’t keep the joy to himself.  Today we hear that Jesus the healer has drawn another large crowd, this time at home of Simon and Andrew.   And in the face of the scribes Jesus forgives the sins of the paralyzed man and confronts the unspoken questions of their hearts.  The God who has been with the people of Israel through their exodus in Egypt, their exile in Babylon, and their persistent apostasy – this God offers fulfillment of that “new thing” promise in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Trust in God is built anew as the power of Jesus’ healing, forgiving ministry with the people unfolds.  The problem is that the religious folks – those with the most to lose, the ones with the tightest grip on “we’ve never done it that way before” – those “ins” are now by virtue of their own paralysis left “out.”  The intimate relationship God has with the people, the picture Isaiah paints, is the gift people are called to open up and receive so it can take root and grow.  The religious authorities are too busy having and holding – and the conflicts with Jesus begin.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible was performed this past week at Albuquerque High School.  Justine Remer-Thamert, a senior at AHS and member of St. Paul, directed what seemed to me to be a powerful production with a pretty deep message for a high school group to deliver.  The young man who played the part of the presider of the high court (Dep. Gov. Danforth) was frighteningly convincing in his portrayal of a man so corrupted by power of position and his seemingly divine appointment to carry out God’s judgment that scores of people unjustly accused lost their livelihoods and their lives before the corruption was halted. At one point near the end of the play, when condemned citizen John Proctor is being encouraged by his wife to live, encouraged yet not to the point of asking him to lie to save his life, she says something like this: “John, I forgive you.  But you won’t know that forgiveness until you can forgive yourself.”  In the corrupt theocracy of 19^th century Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials, the disparity between human limitations and God’s infinite capacity to forgive was overwhelming.  It was God’s power of YES – and the courage of some people to trust that YES, as history recounts it – that ultimately turned things around.

In his director’s notes Justin reflects: “Today, the play’s relevance holds.  Because of newly passed legislation, it is increasingly easy for incriminations to surface without our knowledge.  Terrorist hunts leave many people ostracized from society and their families, forcing them to sit in prisons such as Abu Ghraib [and I would add, in countless other places of containment we little about].  I realize expressing these opinions is controversial, but my hope in producing The Crucible has been to raise awareness.  It is important for all of us to consider our treatment of those around us.  Through “random” airport searches, racism has persisted; mosques have burned and persons of Islamic heritage have suffered discrimination since September 11, 2001.  If, through this play, I am able to make one person consider their actions a little more carefully, my purpose has been achieved.”

Justin is a young man of faith.  That’s a glimpse of Justin’s faith in action.

Back to Mark’s story, chapter 2, verse 3: “Then some people came, bringing to [Jesus] a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.”  We don’t know much more about them than that, except that those four men were so determined to get the paralytic to Jesus for healing that they – daring to think and act outside the box – they headed to the roof and clawed their way in.  As someone at Bible study on Thursday observed, “They didn’t even ask permission – they saw a need and an opportunity, got a group together, and just did it.”  That’s faith in action. 

It was about six months after my husband’s back surgery and subsequent confinement to a wheelchair before he was able to drive again.  In that time he had many physical therapy and chemotherapy sessions and I needed help him getting there.  Among the many people who stepped forward were four men from the congregation Phil was serving at the time, four men who have since entered their eternal rest.  Don, Ed, Stan and Bob were godsends, literally.  They didn’t ask for thanks, they just took turns showing up and loading Phil into their vehicles and got him where he needed to go.  They couldn’t fix his broken body but their dependability and support, their humor and willingness to show up in the midst of our chaos -- that was power for healing beyond what any medical treatment could give.  In a way we realize now, we came to know personally those men who clawed through the roof to get the paralytic to Jesus….

Forgiveness for Life …

As it does today, our Sunday worship often includes a time of Confession and Forgiveness, a part of the liturgy not very popular in some churches today.  The folks I’ve spoken with about their reasons for omitting it tell me it’s too messy, too much of a downer; people what to be happy, worship should feel nice.  Jesus didn’t die to make us happy, Jesus didn’t die to make life feel nice.  Jesus died to set us free from the very hard stuff we’re reluctant to confess.  So often the public point of confessing mistakes is to avoid the consequences that come with accountability (consider the euphemisms for SIN we’re likely to use).  But the One who speaks the word is clear – confession sets us free to rise and walk in newness of life.  And those who know that newness, that true forgiveness which is as amazing as rivers in the desert and water in the wilderness -- they can’t help but share the joy.  There was joy in that horrid day four years ago amongst the soggy books and water-logged walls, a joy that came in working together toward a shared goal of restoring the building to the work of the Lord. And, yes, it was amazing.

Faith is not mainly about rules and protocol.  It is first and foremost about trusting in Jesus’ teaching and the transforming power of God that teaching contains.  Faith is the work of breaking boundaries and tearing down barriers that separate any people in any way from lives of justice and well-being that God desires for all people, for all creation.  When like those four men, like that group of people that accompanied the paralyzed man to Jesus, when we say YES to the call to carry others – whether through caring ministry or prayer, music ministry or friends feeding friends -- we too are carried into new opportunities for community and relationship, new places to know and experience God, into new hope for life.   It is those very opportunities that can open us to accept at ever deeper levels the forgiveness that God has already given us in Jesus. 

Someone sent me an email of “Christian one liners” this week.  While they were all lever turns of phrase about what it means ot be Christian, it was the math one that caught my eye.  It read, “The best mathematical equation I have ever seen: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.”  That about sums it up: Jesus died on the cross that the paralysis of dying not have the last word, but forgiveness for living – for you and me, for all people, forgiven for life.

Amen and Amen.