Meet a man who has no money, no job, no influence, no family, and no future. He is a paralyzed man living in first century Israel. He has spent his life on a mat that was maybe 3 by 6 feet. That’s his world. Someone has to feed him, clothe him, carry him, move him from getting bedsores and clean him up when he soils himself. It’s humbling; it’s humiliating. He is a grown man who will never be independent.
He cannot contribute to society so he is forced to be a beggar. Most depressing is that there is no real solution. There are no medicines, surgeries, rehab, or treatment centers that can help him. It’s only in his dreams, really, that he walks, has a job, enjoys a woman as a wife, or plays with kids.
But the one thing he has going for him in life is that he has friends … and great friends. According to Mark 2, his friends courageously go for broke and with a “whatever it takes attitude” they manage to carry their paralyzed friend to see Jesus. Since the house Jesus was teaching at had drawn a crowd, they are forced to be creative:
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.”
Imagine that? Jesus directly alludes to the faith of paralyzed man’s friends. There were a lot of things that were completely out of this man’s control, but he knew that having friends was a choice he had to make. And the paralytic’s friends had to make the same choice as well. Imagine how costly it was to be the friend of a paralytic. Truth be told, it’s a choice we all have to make. Waiting for a convenient time to invest in friendships is like waiting for a convenient time to give birth. Simply put, it’s going to cost you no matter what.
But the pay-off is huge …. because all of us have a need for someone to carry us in one way or another. We may not be paralyzed but we will not experience all of what God has for us without a close circle of friends. Friends do to your soul what water does for your body on a hot day. We are designed and shaped to be interdependent on each other and there are no short cuts.
So who carries you? Who encourages you? Who allows you to be real? Who tells you what you need to hear? Who listens to you? Who visits you? Who eats with you? Who laughs with you? Who cries with you? Who care for you?
Life Groups at BridgePointe are small circles of friends that commit to meet once a week to share life together. There is a Life Group waiting for you to belong to so that someone can carry you and you can carry another. Sign up this Sunday or sign up online. There is a group that fits your availability, community, and interest. Make the choice to have friends.
Who will carry you?
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