The Commitment to Help Somebody
3. And they came to Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, who was carried by four.
4. When they could not come near to Him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy was laid.
5. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick of the palsy, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Mark 2:3-5
What is Christian Duty?
Those in the Church need to be reminded of several things. We first need to be reminded that ministry does not end when you are seated in the pew. It is actually started at that point. There are many who feel that if they can get into a praise and worship atmosphere on Sunday or whenever they have the opportunity, that satisfies their spiritual duty as a Christian. Some have even argued that we were created for worship and concluded that is our only earthly assignment. Jesus reminds us, however, that we are to go into all the world and seek those who are lost. Mark 16:15.
The Church must also be reminded that their duties are not restricted to within the four walls of the local assembly. There is an abundance of needs in the communities in which we live. We should be praying that God would give us a fresh vision of how we can help in a world that is filled with trouble and confusion. To reach out a helping hand is not only a duty but it is also a joy to touch the lives of the hurting in Jesus Name. We recall the parable of the goats and sheep from Matthew 25. There was a statement made by both the sheep and the goats that I believe applies to everyone. They both asked, “Lord, when did we see you in need?” To this Jesus gave the reply, “In as much as you have done unto the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me.” So, the mission of the Church, to say the least, must include helping the homeless, the prison population, the poor, the hurting, the sick, and the stranger. With that being said, those who serve others are carrying out the assignment given by our Lord.
The other thing the Church should be reminded of is the joy or reaching our potential in Christ Jesus. What drove the early Church was not a sense of obligation but rather a sense of opportunity to serve the Lord. Jubilant and vibrant service can only come from those who claim the Joy of the Lord as their strength. Did you know that helping others is one of the greatest ways of experiencing the Power of God in your life. In other words, God uses His people to accomplish His great work. For that reason, serve God with gladness. The four individuals who brought a lame man to Jesus gives us a vivid picture of this level of commitment to help others and bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, here are some of the things we need to consider today. What is your motivation for serving the Lord? Why are you doing it? Second, you and I must consider whether or not our method of serving is actually working. What do you do if the way you are doing things is not working? The obvious answer is to change. The third consideration would be to ask, where is God in our work? It is true that work is destined to succeed if God is directing it.
Who Needs Help?
This event of the four individuals and the lame man helps us understand that there are needs in this world. For instance, we will probably not be called upon to meet the needs on a global level. You and I will probably not come up with some life-saving medication that can cure the masses. That’s probably not on your life agenda. It is probable that you nor I will be called upon to serve in some high-ranking position, and that is okay. Somehow people have been duped into thinking that you have to do something on the large scale in order to be noticed and used by God. That is simply not true. The truth of the matter is that there are people who are doing ordinary things that make a tremendous difference in the lives of people they touch. Calling a senior to ask them how they are doing. Or stopping to help them get their groceries in the house can make a world of difference. Sending a card to some lonely college student who just may need that little bit of encouragement. While we must never rule out the possibility that God will use us in a greater way, serve God in the small matters and that will give you ample practice to handle the larger assignments IF and when they present themselves.
So, it would be wise to ask, who needs my help? You will be amazed of two things when you ask that question. First, you will be amazed at the opportunities that God will send your way. Second, you will be amazed to know how much God has prepared you for the assignment that has come your way. At some point, the four individuals had to ask the question, who needs help? Do not rule out the fact that on some days, the one who needs help will be you. I would also caution that you not make the needs of everyday to be just about you. That would lead to selfishness. Everyone is capable of helping someone else if they trust God to direct their footsteps.
At this point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, He was encountering massive crowds and this meant that He was being constantly thronged by people desperate for help. When our Lord gathered in one of the homes in the town of Capernaum, the multitude was so large that there was very little standing room, thus preventing anyone from entering through the door. Jesus preached the Word to the masses. Then the four showed up at the home and tried to enter. And they came to Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, who was carried by four … they could not come near to Him for the crowd.
The Scripture text does not give us details as to how the four came across this paralytic, but it does provide a great deal of information in a few words as to their motivation, their method, and ministry to someone who could not help themselves. Since their names are not given, let’s use the four to symbolize the elements that are critical if we are to serve others. Jesus saw something in these four that demonstrated the power of faith. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick of the palsy, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” While we go to great lengths to demonstrate our faith and even to verbalize how we express our love for God, Jesus saw their faith and not a word was uttered. Their actions spoke boldly of what they believed. May we learn a valuable lesson from this. It is not what you say that proves your faith – it is what you do.
What did they do that was so dynamic? They brought the man to Jesus. They overcame obstacles. They forgot about themselves long enough to care about someone else’s needs. They helped someone find the answer. They served. They honored the Lord by bringing a soul to Christ. They did it in a way that spoke volumes of what they believed in their heart. These four individuals demonstrated what it means to live the life of faith. If you and I are committed to helping others, we too can demonstrate this life of faith. By doing so, the Lord will also commend us by seeing our faith in action.
Faith in Action
It is absolutely important that you have these four elements in order to provide effective service. Faith is more than a noun. A noun is a state of being, a proper name for something, a place, or even an idea. Faith is both a noun and a verb. When Jesus saw their faith, our Lord saw the actions of the four individuals. If you recall, Jesus spoke of faith as having action. When the woman with the issue of blood was seeking healing, she touched the hem of His garment to which Jesus replied, “your faith has made you well.” In another passage, Jesus said that “if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to that mountain be removed and cast into the sea and it shall obey you.” Faith, if it is real faith, involves action, movement, and a sincere effort to find God.
The Apostle James referenced faith as actions to help others. James 2:15-17, If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food … and you say “depart in peace, be warmed and filled” and you do not give them the things that are needful … what does it profit … even so faith without works is dead, being alone. It is clear that faith must be accompanied by action if it is to accomplish the work that God intended. That is what Jesus saw in the four individuals who brought the paralytic and laid him at His Feet.
So, let us consider the four actions or attributes of their faith: Consciousness, Compassion, Cooperation, and Creativity. They don’t sound very religious, do they? Yet it is what they represent that really matters. Consider consciousness and how it applies to the demonstration of faith. How will really notice anything on the spiritual level without God opening our eyes? God opened the eyes of the four and they were able to not only see the need of the individual; they also saw how the condition of the man would change if they could only get him to Jesus. Consciousness is when you are well aware that there is a problem, but you are even more aware of how the problem can be resolved. Can you remember when you were in school and the teacher asked a question that you knew the answer to? The person with the correct answer would quickly raise their hand first because they were conscious. What motivated these four individuals on that particular day to respond to the paralytic? They were conscious of the need and they were also conscious of what needed to happen to resolve that need. The absolute greatest source of consciousness comes from God. God literally opens your eyes to see something that you have previously overlooked. God opens our eyes that we might see our sin, but then He opens our eyes to see that by confessing our sin, we can be forgiven. God opens our eyes so that we would realize that without Him we can do nothing. But then God opens our eyes to see that we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. Phil. 4:13.
Let us also consider the relevance of compassion and how it must be a part of one’s faith. There is little doubt that the four individuals must have had compassion regarding the lame person due to their willingness to take him up and physically transport him into the presence of Jesus. Whether or not they used other means (like a donkey or horse), we don’t know. What we do know is the fact they brought the man to Jesus. Compassion is an investment of time, of energy, as well as encouragement. Can you imagine having the consciousness to help someone without compassion? That would have been traumatic for the paralyzed man had they not explained to him that they were taking him to get help from the Lord. Remember, the man could not move his hands or feet. He could not object and was therefore vulnerable. Compassion is that gift we give to others that says to the person being helped is that we have come with the good news. As a credit to our medical doctors, they take an oath prior to entering their profession: to do no harm. Compassion is the message of love that goes along with our faith. When Jesus healed the leper, He had compassion on him and reached out His hand and touched Him. That compassion is poured out when we demonstrate true faith. The other word for compassion is mercy. We know what that means because God had mercy on all of us. Compassion is just the way we share God’s mercy with someone else.
Then there is cooperation or the ability to work well with others. The level of cooperation was very high because we see the success of the four individual’s efforts as they lower the man in the presence of Jesus. Mission accomplished! Cooperation is what God expects in the Body of Christ. The Bible calls this “being on one accord.” The concept embraces both unity and fellowship. We get to enjoy working with other brothers and sisters who have a passion for serving God. The Scripture does not mention any barriers that the four individuals encountered, but as you can imagine, there were at least four different ideas or plans that could have been used. Not to mention that there was the potential for disagreement over who was going to go first and who would be last. The good news is that the possibility for difference did not interfere with the paralyzed person from receiving the help he needed. One of the best ways to avoid barriers to cooperation is to keep your eyes focused on the end goal. The most important issue on their mind was to get this man to Jesus. That is what drives cooperation. Our cooperation with others must be driven by the desire to bring glory to God and help to those who need Him.
Lastly, faith must rely on creativity. Creativity is the ability to overcome challenges by imagination, inspiration, and perspiration. The three words that will always beat “it’s not possible” is to say, “it is possible.” All things are possible for those who believe. The four individuals had imagination. They did not just see the crowd, they saw a roof top and knew that there was an opening in the roof. They could see Jesus but had to overcome some challenges to get to Him. That meant that some inspiration was needed. Inspiration is not just taking a deep breath, but it is breathing in the promises of Almighty God. They were inspired by knowing that Jesus was in the house. They were inspired by knowing that they had come this far by faith. They were inspired to know that they were just a little ways from seeing God’s miracle. They could not only hear Jesus preaching to the masses, they could also hear Jesus saying to them, “Come unto Me.” Then their creativity required some perspiration: getting the man to the rooftop in order to lower Him in front of Jesus. Creativity created the energy. Creativity created a way where it seemed there was no way. While everyone else saw the dust and dirt falling to the floor, Jesus saw their faith. The man heard a message that He had never heard before. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick of the palsy, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
What happens when God sees our faith? That is the sermon for next time. God bless you until then.