Meet a man in the Bible 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 is humbling and humiliating. He is a grown man but 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 that he walks, has a job, enjoys a woman as a wife, or plays with kids.
But the one thing he’s got 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” manage to carry their paralyzed man to see Jesus. Since the house Jesus is teaching in has drawn a large crowed, 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 the 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 at your church is like waiting for a convenient time to give birth.
Connecting more deeply with people at BridgePointe will require a step out of our comfort zone, but the pay-off is huge! 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 to your body on a hot day. We are designed and shaped to be interdependent in each other and there are no short cuts.
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 so that someone can carry you and you can carry another. Our sign ups for Winter/Spring Session start this Sunday online at the web site and in lobby. Best yet, this time around, all the groups will be going through the same book. If you are new to Life Groups or considering a new group, we are hosting a party called “Inside Life Groups” on January 13, Sunday night. Childcare is provided. In a relaxed setting of food and drinks, you’ll meet others more naturally and have a chance to meet and see what Life Group leaders you connect with. There is no pressure to sign up that night so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
So …who will carry you?
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