In our ‘We the Church’ series, Scott Ferreira shared from Mark 2:1-12 to show us what it means to be a part of a Church. It is the story about the paralyzed man whose friends carried him onto the roof and lowered him down to be healed by Jesus. This passage may leave us with questions when we don’t understand the why behind Jesus’s response. Scott unpacked our theology to help us imagine and understand the cultural significance behind this passage. It was their faith that moved Jesus to respond. It is in the communal view of faith where our Church carries us in our challenges. We need friends who are willing to take us to Jesus when we can’t get there ourselves. It is not the Pastor’s job to carry us to Jesus, but each other.
Ephesians 4:16 reminds us that each part of the Church body needs to do the work that God has called them to do. We all have times when we need help and support. It is when Jesus and others see our faith that will move Him and others into action. Prayer requests need more than just a quick response. We need to act on it, for our faith needs to look like something. Our faith needs to be lived out in a practical way, not just with using the prayer emoji. This will take some effort and may be inconvenient or uncomfortable, but that is how we bear each other’s burdens.
Matthew 28 warns us that what we don’t do for others, we have done it unto Christ. So, we need to get off our couches and start living out our faith in action. We also need faith to allow our friends to carry us to God. We need the courage to admit when we are struggling on the mat and need to be lifted up.
The outcast, paralyzed man didn’t just receive physical healing that day, but he received his greatest need which was to be reconciled to God, as His forgiven child. God is calling us to take up our mats, arise and walk, in the same way we need to be carrying our cross. We too also sometimes struggle and feel paralyzed to move, stuck in our situation, but Jesus is waiting to restore us and heal us back to wholeness. We can receive this in His presence or we can be carried there by our community.
In Church, we get to be on the roof to help lower others down to Jesus’s presence. This is the representation of what it means to be a part of a beautiful and powerful local Church. When we become consumed by Jesus, and moved to action, we will glow and shine in our community to allow others to be changed in His presence.