"Roof-Raising Christians" OR "Ministering Like Jesus"

“Roof-Raising Christians”

or 

Ministering Like Jesus

 

August 22, 2020

 

Larry R Evans

 

Introduction

 

Jesus had a way of ministering that brought healing.  Sometimes the healing was physical but there were also times when emotions were touched.  However, it was always the “heart” of the person that drew his greatest attention. Jesus sought to reach the whole person.  Each person needed individual understanding and care. Perhaps Max Lucado explains why we sometimes falter in our attempts to minister like Jesus did.

“We condemn a man for stumbling this morning, but we didn’t see the blows he took yesterday. We judged a woman for the limp in her walk, but cannot see the tack in her shoe. We mock the fear in their eyes, but have no idea how many stones they have ducked or darts they have dodged.

 

  Are they too loud? Perhaps they fear being neglected again. Are they too timid? Perhaps they fear failing again. Too slow? Perhaps they fell the last time they hurried. You don’t know. Only one who has followed yesterday’s steps can be their judge.

 

  Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapters are yet unwritten? Should we pass a verdict on a painting while the artist still holds the brush? How can you dismiss a soul until God’s work is complete? ‘God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again’ (Phil. 1:6)” – Max Lucado in Let the Journey Begin, p.79

Let’s be honest.  We don’t live in the same world Jesus did. We have experts in every field. We are self-sufficient. We don’t need a Savior, we need an expert, a professional, well-trained, well-educated, well-established individuals who know how to fix whatever our problems may be. But then again, are we really being honest when we say that?  Consider the following analysis,

The secular world around us is saying in a loud voice, ‘We can take care of ourselves. We do not need God, the Church, or a priest. We are in control. And if we are not, then we have to work harder to get in control. The problem is not lack of faith, but lack of competence. If you are sick, you need a competent doctor; if you are poor, you need competent politicians; if there are technical problems, you need competent engineers; if there are wars, you need competent negotiators.  God, the Church, and the minister have been used for centuries to fill the gaps of incompetence, but today the gaps are being filled in other ways, and we no longer need spiritual answers to practical questions.” – Henri Nouwen in In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, pp. 19-20.

Sound familiar? Never more so than during election years.   “Look at me, see what I can do” is the mantra not only during times of elections but in our everyday world. Yet, we have to ask if the platitudes and promises ever reach into the hearts of the people these leaders are called to serve.  Consider:

And the cry that arises from behind all of this decadence is clearly, ‘Is there anybody who loves me; is there anybody who really cares? Is there anybody who wants to stay home for me? Is there anybody who wants to be with me when I am not in control, when I feel like crying? Is there anybody who can hold me and give me a sense of belonging?” (Ibid. p.21-22) 

The Call for “Roof-Raising Christians”

 

One day as Jesus went about teaching, He found Himself surrounded by a group of cynics. They were well-versed, well-established, and well . . . they were well-thought of by themselves. Let’s pick up the experience in Luke 5:17b,

And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When you read that story, where are you?  Where in the story do you find yourself? Are you part of the crowd, standing there curious to see what this man Jesus would do or say next?  Maybe you are one of the cynics questioning the motives of Jesus feeling He is just a hoax, a “snake oil salesman.” Or maybe you see yourself on the stretcher?  Wishing someone would understand you and how you got to where you are today?  

 

Do you ever wish others would understand why you reacted the way you did and said somethings that may have been offensive? Maybe you are wishing that somehow your weaknesses didn’t drive people away or wishing that someone would not quit believing in you just because you’ve made a series of mistakes.  Maybe you are just wishing someone would even notice you?

 

The good news of the story, however, began with friends who saw the need, accepted and believed in the wounded paralytic despite his past, and put into action a plan to get the help he needed.  That help was Jesus. Every pathway, however, to Jesus seemed to be blocked—he wasn’t able to walk.  There were people in the crowd who likely knew his sordid past—people who did not see any hope in him.  Ellen White points out that the 

“paralytic had lost all hope of recovery.  His disease was the result of a life of sin, and his sufferings were embittered by remorse.” (DA 267) 

Despite his feelings of hopelessness, his friends did their best to bring him to Jesus.  The crowd was packed so tight they couldn’t squeeze in.  However, his friends did not give up. They found an unconventional way to get the help he wanted and needed.  They carried him to the roof, removed some tiles, and lowered their “friend” into the presence of Jesus. Imagine that!!  In the presence of Jesus while the crowd was outside.

 

What the story doesn’t say but implies is that it was Jesus who put the desire, the compassion, in the heart of the friends to bring their friend to Him. That’s what the Good Shepherd does. He brings the sheep to the cool, gently flowing stream to drink. The true shepherds were commissioned by the Good Shepherd. They are the friends of the sheep. It is also He, the Good Shepherd, who provided the water. He supplied the helpful shepherds and the water all for the purpose of bringing refreshment and restoration to the weary she, the rejected  paralytic. 

 

It’s all about Jesus from the beginning of the need to the refreshment whether it be the paralytic, the sheep . . . or you!

 

But there were some in that crowd who pronounced the man “incurable.”

He had long before appealed to the Pharisees and doctors, hoping for relief from mental suffering and physical pain. But they coldly pronounced him incurable, and abandoned him to the wrath of God. The Pharisees regarded affliction as an evidence of divine displeasure, and they held themselves aloof from the sick and the needy. Ellen White in The Desire of Ages, p. 267

The story continues,

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”(Luke 5:20-21)

Pause a moment! The man is paralytic—that means that some part of this man is paralyzed. He was perceived to be “frozen” in place, unchangeable. The man was brought to Jesus because he had a physical problem.  He needed change but was unable to change. Inside his mind, over and over he kept rehearsing the negative voices he heard. No doubt about it, he had lost respect for himself.  That lack of respect was reinforced by others by word and look.  

 

So I have a questin for you, “What does Jesus say and to whom does He say it?  “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”  What!  Friend? Why?

 

I am reminded of a Bible verse that meant a lot to me when I was really feeling low.  Carrie put the following verse on a pen set that I still have on my desk. 

The Lord your God is with you,

the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you;

in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

As is the case so often in the time of Jesus and in our own as well, “God is more interested in changing our thinking than in changing our circumstances.” Circumstances will change but it may take time.  During the waiting time we are not alone. The Lord reminds us that He takes “great delight in us.”

 

However, Zephaniah doesn’t stop with God’s singing!

At that time I will deal

with all who oppressed you.

I will rescue the lame;

I will gather the exiles.

I will give them praise and honor

in every land where they have suffered shame.

At that time I will gather you;

at that time I will bring you home.  (Zeph. 3:19,20)

Yes, Jesus knew the man’s past, but He saw beyond the past.  He was assuring the man that his past would no longer held against him.  By faith the man needed to accept that. To dwell on the past was to deny the gift God was giving him.

 

But this should not have been new to the crowd that had gathered!    There is more to the story?  Jesus was also speaking to the crowd and to the cynics scattered throughout the crowd?  Could they hear, were they “listening” to what Jesus was doing that very day.  He was fulfilling some ancient prophecies that He Himself, has spoken.  The ministry of Jesus brought the promises of the past to real life! 

Insights for the Insider

To His exiled people in a foreign land, He spoke these words:

“This is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wound is incurable,

your injury beyond healing.

There is no one to plead your cause,

no remedy for your sore,

no healing for you.

All your allies have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you. (Jer. 30:12-14)

 

But I will restore you to health

and heal your wounds,’

declares the Lord, (verse 17)

Yes, Jesus was speaking to the crowd through the paralytic.  He was offering them healing too but not just physical or emotional healing. He was offering them much more.  He was offering them a home with Him.

‘So you will be my people,

and I will be your God.  . . . I

In days to come you will understand this.’ (Jer. 30:24)

One timeless truth runs throughout the ministry of Jesus and it is this:

 “Real love loves us, not just as we are, but so that we can become what we are meant to be. . . . It’s a love that won’t let us go. It is hardy and relentless. It loves at great cost. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). – Mark Buchanan in Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More, p.147-148.

Concluding Reflections

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)

“Mrs. Woodrum, 55, was a widow living in Chicago. Her life ended when she leaped from her twelfth-floor apartment home.

 

She smiled and waved at the janitor and then leaped.

 

The note in her room read as follows: ‘I cannot stand one more day of this loneliness. I have no friends. I receive no mail. No one calls me on the telephone. I cannot stand it any longer.’

 

Her neighbors said, “’We did not know she felt that way.’” (Douglas Cooper in Living God’s Love, p.147)

Mrs. Woodrum’s neighbors illustrate how we Christians miss opportunities to minister as Jesus would have. People often exist on the level of feelings and emotions. When they do, their hopes, dreams, needs, and personalities are exposed. When we become aware of this human tendency, we can learn to accept them, but we need to act to gently help them find the purpose for which they have been created.  

 

When we minister as Jesus would we see one another as Jesus does and that makes all the difference.

“If we wish to do good to souls, our success with these souls will be in proportion to their belief in our belief in, and appreciation of, them. Respect shown to the struggling human soul is the sure means through Christ Jesus of the restoration of the self-respect the man has lost. Our advancing ideas of what he may become are a help we cannot ourselves fully appreciate. —Ellen White in Fundamentals of Christian Education, 280, 281