April 3, 2022
We’re learning to walk with God! We learned to be true worshippers who invite God into our hearts, to read the Bible because it is alive and active and able to transform us. We learned the importance of serving, to follow Jesus. We heard about the early Christians who gave to people they didn’t know who lived far away. Today we are learning to share the good news.
The church I served in Oley had a Christmas eve service. This guy was up in the balcony. He seemed to have a little too much to drink. The church handed out candles we all held on Christmas eve. He was holding his candle and singing silent night, and he caught his hymnal on fire! Aahh! Somebody saw it and put it out. That was ok. There was no idea that the man shouldn’t be allowed in church. Instead, they decided that on Christmas eve we would have someone on balcony duty from then on to put out any fires! Because we want that guy in church!
The religious leaders in Jesus’ day would complain about Jesus. The Pharisees said to Jesus disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:12-13) Jesus’ behavior was unbelievable to the Pharisees. Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus came for everybody! Especially for sinners. And we’re all sinners. So, if there’s ever an idea that a person should not be in church, well really that’s exactly who SHOULD be in church! We want everybody to become devoted followers of Christ.
Today we’re going to talk about something very dear to my heart, and that is reaching people who are far from God. In the gospel of Mark chapter 2:1-5 it says:
“A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that Jesus 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.’”
Now notice, before Jesus heals the guy, which he eventually does, he goes for his biggest need first, his spiritual need, and forgives his sins.
We all need God’s love and forgiveness. We need God’s undeserved and unearned grace in our lives. Knowing God has changed my life. I have hope and joy. When things are bad, I know God can make a way where there is none. As I continue to follow Jesus I still sin. But I am a different person: moving in God’s direction. Do you feel that way? I imagine many of you here feel that God has changed your life. Let’s give God some love and applause.
We know life is better with God. But often we think, I don’t want to bother someone by talking about God. What sense does that make? Salvation hangs in the balance, as well as a more meaningful life today, and an eternity with God. It sounds crazy to say, “I don’t want to bother someone with the opportunity to live their best life now and have hope and joy in difficult times. I don’t want to be a nuisance by mentioning salvation!
But listen, Because people matter to God, they matter to us! Sharing the good news matters!
In the story from Mark, we find two big things we are called by God to do for others. The first thing is to bear some burdens. To care for those in a place of hurt in their lives. In verse 3 of Mark’s gospel, it says the men brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. They cared enough about their friend to carry him. They had this idea, “We have to get you to Jesus.”
It’s not easy to carry a grown person. And how far did they have to carry him? We don’t know. But they were determined! They didn’t say, “Jesus is in town, and he could heal you, but it would be a lot of trouble to get you there!” No, they just felt they had to get their friend to Jesus!
One of the bigger weaknesses when it comes to Christians sharing their faith is drive-by sharing. A drive-by would be putting a pamphlet in someone’s door. Or a real drive by, put the window down and tell a stranger, “Jesus loves you, go to my church.” Or the signs along the road that say, “You’re going to hell.” “Turn or burn you sinner.” That’s mean. It’s impersonal. You just drive by. Does that convince anyone? No!
You may say, “I don’t know enough to share my faith.” But you know what? Knowing isn’t as important as caring. People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
I believe we’re called to bear some burdens. Life can be hard. We carry someone, we’re there for them. When they have a need we bear some burdens, and so we earn the right to be heard. Those four guys carried their friend, because they felt they just had to bring him to Jesus.
Because people matter to God, they matter to us!
The second thing we are called by God to do is to break some rules. Have you broken any rules? When I was a kid, we had six people in our family in a little economy car called a Vega. I was the youngest. So, either I or my brother Joe, who was second youngest, we were the smallest, had to sit up front between the two bucket seats. We had to sit on the emergency brake. My mom had a little pillow she put there. That broke the rules. We didn’t have a seat belt, or a seat!
Then me and my brother and the neighborhood kids broke rules: once we got in trouble for squishing our neighbor’s grapes. Our neighbor’s grapes looked green like the grapes in the grocery store. But they never tasted good. So, we figured there was nothing to do with these grapes but squish them. Our neighbor, Windsor, saw all and knew all. So, we got in trouble. We never got away with breaking rules in our neighborhood.
Some of you like to break rules, and it’s even better when it’s for something good. These 4 guys took the paralyzed man to Jesus. But there was no room to get him to Jesus. The place was packed. So, they thought, we can’t give up. Our friend needs Jesus. Since they couldn’t get their friend to Jesus, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by cutting the roof and digging through it. Then they lowered the man on his mat to Jesus.
Those four men massively broke the rules: they destroyed a roof! Squishing grapes was nothing in comparison. But they are determined: they are not letting any obstacles stand between their friend and God. So, like them we’re going to do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. Because people matter to God, they matter to us!
What rule are we going to break to share the good news? Well, if your rule is that you don’t talk about religion with people, that’s a good rule to break! We’re not going to let a rule stand in the way of a friend coming to Jesus!
So, what I want you to do this week is to take an invitation and offer it to a friend, family member, or neighbor. What a great opportunity Easter is! It’s a day of hope and celebration! And it will be fun for everybody. We will have a group scavenger hunt/Easter hunt for the kids during the children’s sermon. We’ll also have wonderful music and communion.
So you can invite by saying, “We’re having an awesome Easter worship service at church. Can I pick you up?”
(At Trinity: there will be a delicious breakfast before church. Can you make it?)
Let’s all get rid of our invitations! Not by leaving them in church or throwing them in the trash. Remember, people matter to God, and they matter to us! So, we’re going to invite some folks to Easter!
Four guys just had to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus. They were determined. God calls us to be just as determined to help people find God and his grace, love and purpose for their lives.
Let’s finish with a prayer for our inviting:
Holy God, we have these beautiful invitations, to help us reach out to others. Help us do this. We pray you’ll help us, put in our minds the people to invite. We look forward to celebrating that we invited, and people came and experienced the blessings that come from you. Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 