JP16: HEALING FAITH FOUND WITH FRIENDS

Love attracts a crowd, doesn’t it?  People knew that Jesus was for them because he routinely approached his neighbors with love and compassion while living a simple life that projected purpose and hope to everyone.  It was this no-limits hope that inspired a group of friends to approach barriers as mere stepping stones.

Mark observed the friends’ unfolding faith this way,

“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.  And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.  And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.  And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.”  Mark 2:1-4

Unheard of, Unpolished, Unrehearsed

The four men believed that Jesus could make their paralyzed friend whole again, resulting in relentless action.  They created a plan, moved toward Jesus, and trusted that he would come through without knowing how.  That’s when belief became faith, and confidence resulted in action - though their actions were unheard of, unpolished, and unrehearsed.

James wrote to the church in Jerusalem about the relationship of faith and action this way,

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,  and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:14-17  

James explains that faith is more than voicing approval of spiritual principles.  Instead, faith manifests itself by barrier-busting action.  Faith lived out in costly love changes people, neighborhoods, and cities.

The paralyzed man needed faithful friends to find spiritual and physical healing.  Living by faith meant ignoring convention, tradition, and physical barriers while making themselves available to help.

Healing Faith Flows Through Christ-centered Community

The spiritual strength and healing we need now or in the future will flow through God’s gift of Christ-centered community, just like it did for the paralyzed man.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,  “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—  “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”  And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Mark 2:5-12

Jesus responds to the faith of these friends by forgiving the man's sins and miraculously healing his paralyzed body.  In doing so, Jesus has now demonstrated his control over demons, disease, and all kinds of physical disorders.  These powerful displays point to the most significant authority of all - Jesus’ power to forgive sins.  As God's son, Jesus is both our physical and spiritual healer.  Only he can make us whole; mind, body, and soul.

Spirit-Led Faith

Like the scribes who watched this scene unfold, we can block the grace that God wants to provide in our lives by patterns of thinking and acting that are self-led instead of Spirit-led. Pride, anger, bitterness, and hatred block the loving grace that Jesus wants to extend.      

As the author and perfecter of our faith, let us bring our needs to his feet, allowing him to overcome our faith barriers and release the paralyzing chains of disbelief.

May we exercise the faith of these four friends and determine to get our family, friends, and neighbors to Jesus by all means possible.  Let us plan to love the people God has placed around us and trust the authority of Jesus to work through us and the truth of his life so that friends find healing faith all over our city.

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, thank you for your faithfulness in delivering me from sin and shame.  Show me the way into a community of Christ-followers who can encourage me in love.  Give me eyes to see the spiritual and physical needs of my neighbors, coworkers, and friends in ways that I haven’t before.  Most of all, give me a love for you that shows up in action more and more each day.   Amen.

Steps to Healing Faith

1. Surround yourself with faithful, encouraging friends who follow Christ.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25

2. Start moving toward Jesus in Spirit-led faith before sorting all of the details.

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8

3. Trust Jesus to heal you; mind, body, and soul.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

4. Build habits of trusting Jesus with the small things.  

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” Proverbs 3:5-7