Sunday 7 Ordinary Time
Cycle B
Mark 9:1-12
February 19, 2012
Can you remember a time when you really... really messed up?
I'm not talking about the times we bump into someone or spill our coffee on someone's table cloth and say, "I'm sorry."
I'm talking about those times when our actions have brought about major hurt or disappointment or anguish to someone.
There is something inside each of us that does not want to look at the ways we have hurt others.
It makes us squirm inside to think about ways we have contributed to someone else's pain.
It's called denial. We would just as soon forget about:
* A broken vow * A promise not kept * A friendship betrayed * A life damaged
It takes honesty with ourselves and courage to go to another person and say, "Please forgive me."
Nowhere in the New Testament are the two themes of forgiveness and healing brought together more dramatically than in today's gospel lesson.
You have to wonder here what in the world people were thinking, but let me ask you. Do you have four friends like the ones in the Gospel?
Then there is a surprising reaction that Jesus has to the actions of these men and their paralyzed friend.
You can imagine several things that might have taken place.
There are likely people in the crowd who are casting looks of disdain toward those who so rudely interrupt the Master's teaching session.
Jesus might have said something like, "Excuse me, but we're in the middle of an important class here!"
Or if things worked out the way the four friends were hoping, Jesus might have said, "Now this is commitment people..." Then to the paralytic, "Take up you bed and walk!"
But no one could have guessed what Jesus said.
Would you have figured this? "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Now if I'm the person lying paralyzed on a mat, this is not exactly what I want to hear!
I'm thinking that forgiveness of sin is the farthest thing from my problems.
How much trouble can a paralyzed man cause anyway?
Meanwhile the official bible teachers of the day the scribes — are thinking to themselves that this carpenter from Nazareth is way out of bounds pronouncing someone's sins forgiven. "Only God can forgive sins," they are thinking.
What Jesus does is blasphemy -- unless... (what?)
Unless Jesus has the authority and the ability to bring about forgiveness of sin and healing.
Then there is a surprising event that takes place.
Jesus knows very well what is going on in the hearts and minds of these scribes.
As we progress through the gospel of Mark this year, you will see conflict and anger rising over the person and power of Jesus almost immediately.
These people aren't really here to honestly hear what Jesus has to say -- they have come to find out why so many people are following this man.
And they don't have long to wait.
Knowing what they are thinking, Jesus answers their questions by asking a question, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic. 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?"
If he simply tells the man to walk, he is a miracle worker.
But if he pronounces the man "forgiven" he is the one who brings about the spiritual and physical wholeness which is a mark of the kingdom of God — evidence of the "good news."
In the surprising event that follows, Jesus says — not with words, but with deeds -- who he is and what his ministry is all about. He turns from the crowd and the questioners to the man and says,
"I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home!"
Try to imagine what is going on with the crowd when the words are spoken. Everyone is waiting to see what will happen.
If the man just lays there, the scribes and religious officials are delighted and can laugh off the whole Jesus phenomenon.
But... if the man gets up and takes his mat and walks out the door... then someone and something extraordinary has occurred that has to do with the Lord God showing up in their town.
Capemaum would never be the same!
The gathered crowd said it all, "We have never seen anything like this!"
The gospel story from Mark points out how it is that there is a tightly woven relationship between healing, forgiveness and wholeness.
One of the unfortunate things about our highly specialized, fragmented culture we live in is the loss of relationship between the various dimensions of our lives.
We are physical, social, intellectual, emotional and spiritual beings.
If any of these five dimensions are neglected or disturbed, there is a resulting loss of the sense of wholeness we were designed to have.
Jesus focused on the issue of sin and sickness in the story from Mark.
His teaching and preaching were inseparable from his ministry of healing.
Every incident of healing was intended to bring praise and glory to God.
That is -- healing was never accomplished for the sake of healing alone.
Healing was a sign of the presence and power of God.
The amazement the people in Capernaum experienced the day Jesus forgave the sins of the paralyzed man and then sent him home carrying his mat, was all intended to bring the people to the point of glorifying God.
So how can all of this apply to you and me today?
First of all, we need to understand that Jesus never conducted a healing ministry apart from a teaching and preaching ministry.
He never focused on one dimension of the person to the exclusion of the others.
When he brought healing, that healing was directed at a sense of wholeness, unity and harmony for the whole person.
When I am sick, I want to feel better. I want to experience physical healing.
I suspect you can relate very well to that.
And -- when people I love are sick, I pray for them to experience healing.
I regularly pray for healing for people I know and love.
Likewise, when I am feeling low or blue, I want to feel good again.
I ask God to help me sense the goodness and freshness of life.
I regularly pray for you -- that God will give you a deep faith and sense of comfort in the Lord's care for you.
When times are tough, I pray for relief from pressure, economic hardship or broken relationships.
And when I feel badly over a wrong committed — or even devastated when a major blunder has overtaken me -- I ask for forgiveness.
And in all of this, I discover that there is such a connection between all these parts of my life.
We are created by God to have a center -- a soul which encompasses the whole of who we are as physical, social, emotional, spiritual beings.
When we need forgiveness and do not ask it of God, the consequences will reverberate throughout our physical, social and intellectual being.
This is not to say that God makes us sick or sends disease to punish us for our sin.
If that were the case, no one would report for work tomorrow!
It is true, however, that the issue of forgiveness is at the heart of our relationship with God and with each other.
When relationships are strong and solid, there is a free flowing forgiveness and reconciliation that is a part of our life in community... as families and as a community of faith.
If you do a careful search though the corridors of your living, you may find some places where forgiveness is needed.
Some you will need to receive.
Some you will need to give.
It is as though Jesus were standing right here today, offering us an opportunity for new life as he offered the paralytic new life.
He might say the words:
"Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven — or rise up, and go to your home, forgiven, renewed, refreshed and recreated?"
May God grant to us the grace of experiencing the wholeness and healing that come from giving and receiving forgiveness.
