In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Can you picture the headlines in the local newspaper?
'Crowds flock to be in the presence of miracle worker', or 'faithful friends resort to desperate measures'; or 'we have never seen anything like this before', even 'the rebel preacher causes a 'stir'.
The 12 verses from this morning's passage from the gospel of Mark have it all - the people, the drama, the tension and the powerful outcome, but this is not an ending - rather a staging post on the journey, and an important one at that!
What would it have felt like to have been there - where would you have been in the crowd, would you have been one of the many who came knocking at the door when you heard that Jesus had returned - he was the local celebrity and people camped out where he was or where he was thought to be going.
Would you have been someone who was desperate to be near Jesus, someone seeking the truth or perhaps looking for healing? Perhaps you were curious about this new way that Jesus speaks and teaches of so different from the old ways - as we heard of in our first reading from Isaiah God has committed his power to save and restore and looked for new ways of doing so 'I am about to do a new thing'. Perhaps you had heard reports from others and were curious to find out more or were you perhaps one of the scribes, the only category in the crowd who we know of as being seated making sure that they had their place, were you one of them, there to try to catch him out?
If you were one of the household what did you think when your roof was being broken open?
Then again, perhaps you were Jesus, back in your adopted home town of Capernaum as Chrysostom spoke of 'Bethlehem bare him, Nazareth nurtured him, Capernaum had him continuously as an inhabitant'. You had been forced out by the crowds for a while but now were back drawing crowds and teaching. Or perhaps you were one of the friends bringing your sick friend or even the sick man himself?
Whatever role you choose you were part of the crowd and suddenly there was a noise above and dust and dirt fell down around you. Sunlight and fresh air streamed in through the room as the roof was taken apart and a man on a stretcher parachuted in and landed near Jesus.
You looked at Jesus' face and it did not bear the reaction you may have expected from a member of the household - anger at the destruction and the interruption of your teaching. No, this is no ordinary miracle worker, this is Jesus who calmly and compassionately looked at the friends, silently recognized and acknowledged their faith and then turned his attention to the man lying on the stretcher. We hear nothing of the faith of this man but Jesus responded by saying 'Son, your sins are forgiven'. This is the only promise of forgiveness in this gospel. As one of the crowd you may not have known, what we know now, that in pronouncing forgiveness Jesus was healing the man and you may have been puzzled by this announcement. As a scribe you would have certainly questioned the authority of this man - only God can forgive sins.
And it is to these questions that Jesus responded - he, with his divine faculty, had seen into the hearts of all who were gathered and openly articulates the link between sin and healing - the grace of forgiveness before the power of healing. 'Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, or to say, stand up and take your mat and walk?' And after Jesus speaks the words 'I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home, there before your very eyes, the sufferer stood up and immediately walked before you all. You were all amazed and glorified God saying 'we have never seen anything like this'.
This passage acts as a bridge between the miracle stories earlier in the gospel - the man with the unclean spirit, the healing of Simon's mother in law and later of the leper - and the controversy stories that will lead to Jesus' death and ultimate victory - a victory that we all share in. The scribes may not have spoken out against Jesus in our passage today but they soon will!
In this passage we see the connection between faith, forgiveness and healing - major features of Jesus' earthly ministry. We are reminded that we all are in need of forgiveness - there are no exceptions. Mark tells us in the previous chapter of Jesus pronouncing that 'the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news'.
This account of Jesus' healing ministry is recounted in Matthew and Luke's gospels as well, a recognition of the impact that this event had on his earliest followers and is reinforced by Paul in his letter to the people of Corinth that in Christ every one of God's promises is Yes.
Through the teaching of scripture, the traditions of The Church and the work of God in the world Christians have grown in faith and sought healing which when accomplished, as in the case of the paralysed man, verifies the power of God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness of sins and healing for wholeness have been have been prayed for down the centuries by Christians all around the world. Shortly we will pray together the prayer that Jesus taught, including the lines 'forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us'.
And we, as members in the Body of Christ, at the start of our worship together this morning, together confessed our sins and received absolution. And it is into this Body - the Church that baby Alasdair will shortly be baptized and welcomed into as he begins his journey of faith.
Public displays of faith are very powerful as we heard in our gospel reading and, many years ago, I witnessed such a display of faith.
My sister studied French at university and as part of her course she spent a year as a French assistant in a school in Tarbe which is just north of Lourdes. In the April of the year she was there my parents and I went to visit her and while we were there we spent an afternoon in Lourdes. It may have be 35 + years ago but I was left with 2 very strong impressions. The first being an overwhelming feeling of intrusion into other people's suffering until I realized that the pilgrims weren't interested in us, they were focused on the getting themselves and their loved ones to the place of healing. Theirs was such a public display of faith - streams of pilgrims - the able bodied pushing the sick in huge chairs to the shrine. They were some of the 5 million pilgrims who flock there each year to take the spring waters from the grotto. I felt like the curious, one of the bystanders in today's gospel passage.
The second impression that I have been left with is the faith and determination displayed by those I witnessed - the parents of children and people of all ages, part of a collective group with one thing in common - faith in Jesus Christ and the hope of healing for their loved ones.
In a few days time we will begin our walk of the way of the cross with Jesus in the penitential season of Lent, our six week period of spiritual preparation for our celebration of Easter. A time for us as individuals, as a congregation of All Saints, and as members of the world wide church to bring ourselves and each other to be near to Jesus. Not perhaps in the way that the crowds who filled the house in Capernaum or the way the pilgrims journeyed to Lourdes for healing but in our own ways.
And just as Jesus recognized the faith of the friends of the paralysed man and saw into the hearts of the scribes He too will see into our hearts. And in so doing draw us closer to Him where we will receive His love, His forgiveness and healing and in so receiving grow in faith. And at our glorious Easter Celebrations gather together to glorify God and sing Halleluiah.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Sermon by: Christine Barclay