Who's Your One? : Healing the Paralytic
Who’s Your One? Message 2: The Healing of the Paralytic
Luke 5:17-26 ESV
Intro: How many of you are Warriors fans? Lakers? How about Giants fans? How many are Jets fans? Yankees? Mets—ah, nevermind. Have you ever said something like, “Yeah, WE really dominated the Redskins this week, didn’t WE? Or, “Oh well, WE’LL get ‘em next year! Why do we use the word “WE,” as though we played with these teams? As though we practiced and perspired and persevered alongside them?
We are really passionate about feeling caught up in something grand, bigger than ourselves—something we are emotionally invested in—some movement, political candidate/party or cause, are we not? We love this idea of big, grand things happening all around us. We love to be a part of something great.
As we celebrate our church this weekend, it can feel a lot like that, right? We love to be part of a church that’s doing great things for the kingdom of God—planting churches, reaching the lost, feeding the homeless, caring for the vulnerable, loving the forgotten, etc. But sometimes we miss our part in it. It’s really easy for us to just say we’re a part of something great, to give a shout out to BCI and to tell others, “Look what we are doing! I’m so proud of my church.” But to actually use our gifting, to invest more than just emotionally, to sacrifice or serve to be a part of that movement is different....
Unfortunately, I’m afraid that a lot of us default to being spectators, cheerleaders—those caught up in the emotion of “We’re number #1”—when in reality we have been standing on the sidelines, not very involved, or hardly invested at all. Perhaps you feel really honored and blessed (and maybe even a little proud) to be part a church that has accomplished so much in its 37-year history. But if you are honest with yourself, you might find that you have been a really good cheerleader, but not a significant contributor to the mission of God being lived out here at BCI.
Many at BCI are hard at work on the frontlines, and the anniversary of the Lord’s church is certainly an occasion for celebration. However, I am hoping that, beginning today—as we enter into our 38th year as a church—every one of us would commit to stop being cheerleaders or spectators only, and to ask ourselves, “What steps would God have me to take in the next year, so that I start becoming a contributor to the great movement of the mission of God, right here in Randolph, Northern NJ, Greater NYC.
You have heard that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, right? The celebration of a 37th anniversary began with one birthday. Even a day one, right? Here’s an important thing to note: Moving off of the sidelines and getting into the game doesn’t start with scoring a touchdown. It’s starts in practice, with learning a position and with developing skills—lots of sweat. And likewise, becoming all in with our church doesn’t begin with the masses. It starts with one—one step, and one person. Your first step is one person. Who is your one?
As we read this passage today, I pray that the Holy Spirit would begin to put on our hearts a desire, a longing, a passion, for the one. For one person in our lives...
Text: “On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
Background: Now Jesus is in the beginning stages of His ministry. As He goes around from place to place, He constantly encounters teachers of the Law and Pharisees. These religious leaders of the day often disagreed with Jesus' teachings, which conflicted with much of their own. They were making it difficult for a person to be right with God. But Jesus came declaring, “I am the way of salvation.”
So Jesus was teaching, and as these friends sought to bring their sick friend to Jesus for healing. Jesus was in a house, and several were gathered to hear him, including several religious leaders. Unfortunately, the Fire Marshall at the door would not let the friends inside, so they did what any good friend would do—they took the sick guy home and said, “Well, we tried. We’ll pray that God heals you anyway.” Right?! No, not right!
Luke says "the power of the Lord was present for him to heal.” The sick man’s friends knew that only Jesus could provide the help he needed. Mark 2:3-4 describes how these friends were not going to be denied the help they sought for their paralyzed friend. "Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 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.”
Now the teachers of the Law in that house were thinking to themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Who is this man?
And this is a question that comes up constantly in the New Testament: Who is Jesus? Even Jesus Himself asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?” It’s one of the most important questions that every human being will have to wrestle with: who is Jesus? And it is a question that every person will have to wrestle with. Who is Jesus? And what does that mean for my life? For your life?
So you’ve likely heard the ad, “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”? Well, friends are not spectators; Friends don’t let friends enter a Christless eternity without a fight.
Main Idea: Our passage in Luke 5 gives us insight into the questions “Who is Jesus?” and “What does that mean for my life and for my friends?” I’d like for us to focus upon 3 things today: Friends who bring their friends to Jesus are not spectators. They (1) have a REASON, (2) they take a RISK, and (3) they experience a REWARD.
I. Friends Who Bring Their Friends to Jesus Have a Reason (a Mission).
Mission helps define us. It gives us direction… in our families, our lives, our culture, our businesses. What was the defining mission for the men in this passage? Their mission was to see their friend walk, right? And it moved them. Jesus Himself had a REASON, a mission statement: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) In our passage, these two missions intersect: The man receives the healing that his friends sought, and he receives forgiveness of His sins.
So what drives you? What moves you forward in life? Is it to have a good job? An early retirement? To leave a good inheritance to your children? Those are good things--many of which the Lord enjoys you to have. But what things, spiritually speaking, drive you? What is at the core of your motivation to serve the Lord? The Bible teaches us that we do not need to work for our salvation, because of grace. But what should we labor for? It is to see God glorified in every life, and to see others to experience the grace, joy, peace and freedom that we have personally experienced in Jesus Christ. Amen?
Did you realize that when BCI was started, there was a compelling REASON? Rev. Keith Cogburn, a former NY pastor writes: "In the early 1980’s, immigration policies favorable to medical personnel brought an influx of Filipino doctors, nurses and their families to the NYC metropolitan area. Pastor Jaime Prieto, an itinerate evangelist from the Philippines, organized some of these new immigrants into the Bible Church International in November 1982. Because of his familiarity with Southern Baptist mission work in the Philippines, he led the group to affiliate with the Metroplitan NY Baptist Association and to participate in the Baptist Convention of New York…. With the sponsorship of Madison Baptist Church, BCI became the first predominantly Filipino congregation on the east coast to relate to Southern Baptists.” (Like the Book of Acts: A History of the Baptist Convention of New York, p. 194)
The REASON that BCI was started was originally to reach and provide a church home—a disciple-making, Great Commission base of operations—for Filipinos immigrating to the NYC Metro area. Because Dr. Prieto, and his successors --including our own Pastor Jerry—, as well as the lay leaders of BCI, possessed a REASON, a sense of mission, BCI is what it is today.
What is the REASON that’s driving you today? Is it God’s mission? Is your mission God’s mission? The driving force for the friends in Luke 5—their REASON—was that their lame friend would walk. As a disciple of Christ, why would we not take on Jesus’ mission for our lives? That God would use us, so that a lost friend—or brother, sister, father, mother, spouse, etc— might be found. That God would use you to present the gospel so that those who are far from Jesus might come to faith in Him.
The friends of the paralytic refused to be spectators while their friend was in need. They made it their mission to see him brought to Jesus. So who is your one? Who does God want you to commitment to seeing forever changed, saved, made whole in Christ?
Jesus’ mission is THE mission; and if we are not devoting our best energies and efforts to make disciples of those who don’t know Him, we must seriously reevaluate our personal mission, as members of the Church Body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But oftentimes, pursing our REASON—to bring our friend to Jesus—means that we will need to take a RISK.
II. People Who Bring Their Friends to Jesus Take a RISK.
These men didn’t just have a mission. They had an expectation—so they took a RISK.
These friends didn’t just possess a REASON. No, that reason—that mission—moved them. They expected that, if they could get their friend to the feet of Jesus, perhaps Jesus would do what only Jesus could do. They ventured a great RISK, because they were passionate about their REASON.
In 1983, Pastor Romy became the second pastor of BCI—at the ripe old age of 25 years. When I spoke with him this week, he told me that he felt the biggest risk that BCI had ever taken was in calling him, as a young man and inexperienced pastor, to lead BCI. Pastor Romy says, “They took a big risk on me.” He shared with me that, because of his youth and inexperience, he had some struggles in leading this new church of Filipino immigrants, beginning from day one. Not only did Pastor Romy feel that the church took a big risk because of his youth and inexperience, but they also took a risk because—as he came to realize during his tenure as pastor of BCI—his primary gifting was NOT that of pastor. Pastor Romy says, “I was and always have been a missionary.”
Because Pastor Romy realized that he is a missionary at heart and by calling, he also led BCI to take what he feels was the second-largest risk our church has ever taken. He only stayed at BCI a handful of years, however, Pastor Romy share with me that, through the ministry of BCI, a man by the name of Ned Caspe was led to Christ. Ned was a diplomat of the Philippines, and he became chairman of the church board at BCI. Bro. Ned shared the vision of "starting a string of Filipino churches from Boston, down the East Coast and all the way to Florida.” And out of this vision, BCI took the risk of setting the goal to start a new daughter church every year of its existence.
This vision continued even after Pastor Romy left the pastorate of BCI to become the State Missions Director for the Baptist Convention of NY. While BCI was being pastored by Rev. Kenneth Tan, Pastor Romy remained as a member of BCI. As a member, he assisted BCI in pursuing this vision and continually taking risks to start new churches. Because of these God-sized risks, BCI today is the mother of many churches world-wide, and many other granddaughter churches, all along the East Coast and globally.
When was the last time you took a risk for the Lord? When was the last time you stepped out in faith? The guys in this passage had an eager expectation that their friend would walk, but they just had a hunch. They thought, "maybe Jesus can do it. Maybe Jesus will do it—maybe He will heal our friend.” And so they took a RISK. Maybe they suspected that, “Fortune favors the bold.”
As believers, we’ve got more than a hunch. We can read the Scriptures and understand how God has worked in the past. We have a hope that believes Jesus is who He says He is, and that He will do what only He can do.
Does that sort of expectation drive you? Does it move you to takes risks for God? Do you believe that Jesus can save, that He can heal, that He can move mountains, that He will do great things to bring glory and honor to God, and that He still desires today to seek and save those who are lost? What are you willing to risk, so that your friend might know Jesus? Are you willing to risk rejection? Embarrassment? Misunderstanding?
So what is your BHAG? What is your Big Hairy Audacious Goal for the glory of God and for the mission of Christ? If your REASON isn’t moving you to take God-sized Kingdom RISKs, you’re not really following Jesus Christ. Your mission isn’t His mission, and you’re just digesting information week after week, as you stand on the sidelines at BCI. The gospel moves us forward, and the kingdom moves us forward. We’re not just cheerleaders. We’re competitors, we are competing with the enemy Satan, for the hearts and minds of men and women.
But the men who tried to bring their paralyzed friend by carrying him on a mat encountered an obstacle. They tried, but the door was blocked. It was crowded, and they couldn’t get in. At this point, it would have been easy to throw up their hands and to wave the white flag and surrender. It would be easy to start speaking Christianese, right: “I guess the Lord doesn’t want this to happen.” But do we really believe that God wants anyone to NOT have the opportunity to know Him and receive Jesus?!
God does some of His best work when doors seem closed. He receives so much glory when these doors are blown off of their hinges. If you look at the life of Paul, half of the New Testament would not have been written if he didn’t have a REASON to RISK greatly. Paul and others were rejected, beaten, thrown in prison, shipwrecked and even martyred for the sake of the gospel. Does that sound like an open door to you?
When you encounter resistance, or a closed door, you may need to take a risk. Instead of letting a closed door stop them, the man’s friends decided to dig a hole in the roof!
Sometimes you need to improvise and find another way to get someone to the feet of Jesus. Sometimes you’ve got to kick the door open and not just give up and throw your white flag up in the air and say, “the door is closed, oh well.” You are going to encounter obstacles when you’re trying to share Jesus with the one. Don’t surrender because of an obstacle there. Dig a hole in the roof, do whatever it takes, don’t fear ridicule!
Do you know why we should take a risk, when we encounter a closed door or fear rejection? Because there is a great REWARD.
III. People Who Bring Their Friends to Jesus Experience a REWARD
Here’s the last thing: These friends and the paralytic experienced an amazing REWARD. They got way more than they bargained for. Luke 5:20 tells us about Jesus’ response, as the friends lowered their friend through the hole in the roof that they had cut: “And when he saw their faith, he said, 'Man, your sins are forgiven you.’”
Now, these men were surely not expecting this. They just knew that their friend needed to walk. But Jesus tells them, this man’s spiritual need is even greater than his physical need, but because of your faith, I will meet his spiritual need—“your sins are forgiven."
This drove the religious leaders bonkers, right? They though, “who does He think He is?! Only God can forgive sins!” But look again at what Jesus says in vv. 22-25:
22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
That’s what they were hoping for--That their friend would walk. Immediately he stood up in front of them, took his mat, and went home praising God. But not only was he healed; his sins were forgiven. And not only that, but everyone gave praise to God. (v. 26)
Don’t settle for a boring, everyday life. Ask God for the BHAG. Ask God to do what only He can do in the life of the one.
Note: these guys thought their friend needed to walk. The external circumstance was the most important thing. What Jesus looked at was the man’s internal posture, his heart. First he said, "friend, your sins are forgiven." And then, “Take up your mat and walk.” The greatest need that you and I have--the greatest need that the ONE has--is not an external adjustment. You and I don’t need an external tweak; you and I need a heart change. And the our ONE needs a heart change. God doesn’t want a tweaked life; He’s after a changed life. The inner disposition of the paralyzed man is the most thing in this passage, not the external circumstance. And Jesus’ greatest work is in the heart.
At some point, you and I were the paralyzed man on the mat. We were the ones who needed an internal heart change rather than an external tweak. You actually may be the paralytic on the mat, and today you realized for the first time, “Oh, my gosh. My friend keeps inviting me to church because he or she thinks that I need Jesus.” That’s exactly right. That’s why your friends are doing that. They want to offer you the greatest hope for life, which is only found in Jesus Christ. They want you to see and to know that the Lord is good. But at some point, we were all the paralytic on the mat, and someone in your life looked at you and said, “My reason—my mission-- is to see that person come to faith in Christ.” And they were eager and expectant that God could do what only God can do in your life, even despite a lot of obstacles. When the door was shut, they dug a hole through the roof. And because our friend took that RISK for us, we know the sweet hope found in Jesus today.
CONCLUSION:
Who’s your one? Is it a parent? Is it a friend? Is it a child? Jesus told His disciples if they were going to follow Him, He would give them a new REASON, a new mission. Jesus said to His followers, “Follow Me, and I’m going to make you fishers of men.”
In People Sharing Jesus by Darrell Robinson, there’s a story:
“Now, it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around, and in fact the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry. Week after week, month after month and year after year, those who call themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish and how they might go about the task of fishing. Year after year, they carefully defined what fishing means, they defended fishing as an occupation, and they declared that fishing is always to be the primary task of a fisherman.
“Continually, they searched for new and better methods of fishing, for new and better definitions of fishing. They created witty slogans and displayed them on big, beautiful banners. These fishermen built large beautiful buildings called fishing headquarters, and the plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish, but the one thing they didn’t do, they did not fish. In addition to meeting regularly, they organized the board to send out fishermen to other places where there were many fish. They hired staff and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, defend fishing and decide what new streams should be thought about, but the staff and committee members didn’t fish. Large, elaborate, expensive training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach fisherman how to fish.
“Over the years, courses were offered in the needs of fish, the nature of fish, where to find fish, the reactions of fish and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given the fishing license that they were hoping for. They were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters which were filled with many fish. Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and prayed over and sent to fish, but like the fishermen back home, they never fished.
“They engaged in all kinds of other occupations. Some felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way, so the fish would know the difference between a good and a bad fisherman. Others felt that simply letting the fish know they were nice, land-loving neighbors and how loving and kind they were were surely enough. Now, it’s true that many fishermen sacrificed. They put up with all kinds of difficulties and some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every single day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen, yet they never fished. Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t fish were really not fisherman at all. No matter how much they claimed to be, yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if, year after year, he never finishes. Or more plainly stated, is one really following if he isn’t fishing?”
BCI, It’s time to start casting your nets. It’s time to start fishing. It’s time to stop talking about fishing, and it’s time to start doing the fishing. And fishing starts with one. Who’s your one? Who’s the one person that you want to see God do in them what only God can do?