Morning Message Text: Mark 2: 1-12
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.
2 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.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
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?”
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’?
10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,
11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Morning Message:
I believe that we take God’s grace for granted in so many ways. We don’t set out to do this, but as we live out our faith in this sinful world, we start to take God’s love and grace for granted. It becomes very common to us. After all, God is supposed to love us, and because of his amazing love, of course, being gracious toward us naturally follows. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel entitled to God’s love and grace. What an awful thing to say, right? We would never feel like we deserve God’s love and grace.
Am I the only person that feels like God has not been fair to me when something goes wrong? Come on people, you are in church. Can’t we be honest with ourselves and with God here? You mean to tell me that you have never felt sorry for yourself to the point of thinking, “Why me Lord?”
It’s okay for us to expect God to be good and loving and full of grace, as long as we don’t mistakenly think that we deserve it, because we really don’t. Jesus had a scandalous reputation throughout Judea. Yet, it wasn’t overturning tables and clearing the temple of money changers that gave him this reputation. It wasn’t only the company he kept—fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes—that goaded all the gossip. Rather, the most scandalous work of Jesus was the most gracious work of Jesus: forgiveness. People throughout all of Judea were shocked to hear Jesus declare, “Your sins are forgiven.” The reason for their surprise and scandal was that God alone can forgive sins. If Jesus was forgiving people, then He was declaring himself to be God. This is important. So hear this if you don’t hear anything else that I say today. This is not a new revelation from me; I have made this point hundreds of times, but it is the most important thing I can say. Jesus is God!
This scandalous grace is just as controversial today as it was back then. The people back then were wondering, “Could it really be that God had come into his own creation to speak a personal word of forgiveness to sinners?” Yes! Jesus came near to speak an intimate word of forgiveness to you. We are going to talk about faith and trust, but before we do I want to remind us that Jesus continues to draw near to us in our sin and shame and says, “My friend, your sins are forgiven. Rise! Go your way today knowing that you are forgiven!” Jesus forgives us every time. In our reading from Romans today we hear the very familiar, simple way of accepting Jesus and obtaining eternal life. No worldwide journey is needed. Christ is absolutely accessible by faith, and as near as a person’s mouth and heart. All they have to do is reach out and receive him by faith. We need to be reminded of our need to come to Jesus in this very simple but meaningful way. It is not a way; it is the only way. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Why is it important for us to remind each other of this fact on a regular basis? Because this is what the devil and the world wants to take from you. The world says, “It can’t be that simple; you are much too intelligent to believe that it’s that easy.” But it is, and we need to trust what God is clearly telling us. Listen, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
From Saturday’s reading in your Lenten devotional. “If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.” (Psalm 139: 9-10). What do you hear when youlisten to what the psalmist is saying? I hear a confident trust in God. What else might that be called? Faith. Where does that kind of faith come from? It comes from spending a lot of time walking with and listening to God. This devotion is entitled, “Faith Trusts.” That’s all that faith is: Trust in something that you can’t see. Even though you can’t see it, you know that it exists. You might say, “If I can’t see it then it doesn’t exist.” We believe in a lot of things that we can’t actually see. Do you believe in the air that you breathe? Show it to me.
Now listen and let this sink in. I will read this to you, even though I know you all have already read it; this will refresh your memory. “When you are still young, you want to hold everything in your own hands, but when you have grown older and opened your hands in prayer, you are able to let yourself be led without knowing where. You know only that the freedom which God’s breath has brought you will lead to new life, even if the cross is the only sign you can see.” (Henri J. M. Nouwen, With Open Hands).
Now I don’t pretend to be a deep thinker, and it takes me a little time to digest what he (Henri J, M. Nouwen) is saying here, but I think I can see my journey of faith in this statement. As a young Christian I needed facts; I needed to try and understand every meaning and every purpose that God had for me. As we get older and wiser, more infused with God’s word, we should evolve into more faithful disciples who can trust in God without seeing and knowing where he is taking us.
Let me finish the devotion. “One cannot always see the way ahead. One may even be uncertain about the next step, let alone the way. …youth are not always concerned about such things. That’s good. They should not have to experience that kind of worry. Out of our unknowing seasons, we may still pray for the young. We ask for the Lord’s comforting, personal presence to them.
Why can we pray this way, even when we are uncertain about our way? Because even then, we are children of faith. Faith knows. Faith trusts. If God waits for us at the farthest limits of the sea, He fills our lives right where we are. Faith knows. Faith trusts. Faith sees the greater reality of the unseen things. God is present to us in his Christ. He is the Way.”
It all starts with God’s scandalous grace, shown to us in our Savior Jesus, and through our trust in his unwavering love and amazing grace, we are given the privilege of becoming children of God who faithfully trust in the way and the truth and the life.
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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