What Matters Most
Introduction
Hello everyone! Thanks for the introduction and for the welcome this morning. Trinity feels like a home away from home. For those who may not know, I grew up in Walpole, just next door. I attended Young Life and also youth group here at TCC. I have so many memories of hanging out here, attending youth groups, playing hide and seek, and floor hockey in the basement. I remember once we had a candlelight worship night up here in the sanctuary. We managed to spill candle wax all over the carpet. I think we needed to end the night in a rush to clean the carpet. I also remember many meaningful and deep conversations with my leaders who really helped me in my faith. Thank you.
Fast forward to today, I am on Young Life Staff. In case you don’t know about Young Life, Young Life is a para-church organization that comes alongside churches in a particular community and focuses on outreach. We focus on building relationships with students who don’t know Jesus yet. This includes going to sporting events, hanging out, volunteering at the school, and also going to Young Life camp.
I just wanted to share a few photos from back then, when a bunch of us went to Saranac Village, a Young Life Camp. Young Life camp is an amazing place where we have lots of fun, but most of all we share the news about Jesus to those who have not heard of him yet. There are always a ton of super fun activities including parasailing. Here are some photos of us parasailing. We also have fun themed dress-up nights. Here is me and a couple of guys from 50’s night. And here is another one from someone you may know: Eric!
And here is our whole group.
Believe it or not, these photos were from 2002. And here is one of my most recent photos from last fall, 22 years later. Same camp, but this time I am working for Young Life and serving as Head Leader for a weekend trip. My wife Caitlin and my two girls, Leah and Ellie got to join me.
My family and I live in Upton, MA, about 45 minutes away. A few of you may have seen me at the Lippies at Cornerstone Church. This is our home church. And if you don't know what the Lippies are, ask one of the students here.
We feel called to start a Young Life area right where we live. We are calling the area Young Life Blackstone Valley. After much prayer we also feel called to start the area with Young Life’s ministry to friends with disabilities. This ministry is called Young Life Capernaum. In addition to this, I am volunteering every week at the local high school with my friend who is one of the art teachers there. I have a huge sense of peace when I am at the High School, meeting kids on their own turf and building relationships with them.
Feel free to scan the QR code, or go to ylblackstonevalley.org and sign up for our newsletter. We would love to keep you up to date, and we need as much prayer as possible.
Luke 5:17-26
And now let’s dive into today’s passage. As we just read, we will look at Luke 5:17-26. This is one of my favorite passages. Also, this year, as I was starting on young life staff, this passage kept appearing during our staff devotionals as well as at different conferences and sermons. I'm so grateful for this passage of scripture, as well as all the different men and women who have shared their wisdom with me after they encountered Jesus in this section of the Bible.
17 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…
On one of those days, as he was teaching…
It's easy to skip over these introductory phrases, but they do help you understand where this passage is and help you understand the passage in a deeper way.
For example, a question that is really easy to ask is how does this story relate to the stories directly before or after? In this particular case, this story is placed with three other stories.
Sometimes the gospel writers were really concerned about telling the story of Jesus in a chronological order: whatever happened next is what they wrote down. But sometimes they weren't super concerned about this. They were more concerned about putting stories together that all had a similar theme. And this is exactly what we have here.
In this group of four stories, first, we have the calling of Peter. Jesus performs a miracle with the miraculous catch of fish. After this miracle, Peter has a moment of self-realization. He realizes how sinful he is in front of Jesus. And even though Peter is a sinful fisherman, Jesus calls Peter to be one of his apostles.
Second, we have the healing of a man with leprosy. This man was an outcast. And he was unsure if Jesus would even heal him. But Jesus says I am willing to heal you and he performs another miracle.
In today's story, we have the healing of a paralytic. Another outcast.
And the story immediately after this one is when Jesus calls. Matthew, a tax collector. A person hated by almost everyone. Another outcast. Another person on the edge of society.
Are you catching the theme? Jesus loving the “wrong” people
He is performing miracles, and teaching with authority. He is gaining attention. The religious leaders of the day are also taking notice and they are feeling threatened by Jesus. Jesus is packing out this house. He is drawing a crowd.
…some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed…
He is so well known, that four friends (according to Mark) hear about Jesus and that he is in town. And they know that Jesus can heal their other friend who is paralyzed.
You may have heard this story before, but the four friends can't get into the house because of the crowd. But they don't give up. They bring their friend up to the roof and start digging through the roof. Houses were made a little bit differently back then. It would have been a little annoying for the homeowner, but not quite as annoying if they dug through my roof. They just had to move some tiles and maybe some sticks and pitch out of the way.
And they lower their friend through the roof right in front of Jesus.
20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
He saw…
This is one of my favorite parts of the whole story. Jesus looked up and saw them. Honestly, it's probably hard to miss. You can envision bits of sticks and mud falling down.
Using a little bit of imagination, what expression do you think was on Jesus's face?
The Bible doesn't specifically say, but I envision him being a little bit surprised but impressed. It definitely very loving though. Maybe a similar expression to when my girls surprise me on Father's Day with coffee in bed. Jesus is interrupted, but there's a loving connection there.
…their faith
And he doesn't just look at them, He doesn’t just notice their actions. He doesn't just look at the hole in the ceiling. He doesn't just think about their ingenuity and their unwillingness to give up.
These two words are crazy. Jesus sees their faith.
Jesus is able to look directly into their hearts and see their belief. He's able to see what drove them to carry their friend up a flight of stairs. Especially in that society, when having a friend with disabilities might have caused people to overlook them, Jesus doesn't overlook them. He notices them. But he also looks deep into their hearts – sees them in the deepest possible way. What an amazing connection.
And I believe that all five of them had faith. It's not that the four of them had enough faith spill over to the man who was paralyzed. The Christian faith doesn't work like that. We are part of the community, but we all need to make our individual choice about Jesus. We can't have someone else make a choice for us.
The five of them have faith.
And then Jesus looks at the paralyzed man and says, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Your sins are forgiven.
And just like how Jesus is able to look at the group of friends and look at the deepest parts of their heart, Jesus is able to look at this man and see his deepest need.
The first time I read this and probably the first time you read this, we were surprised. We would think that his greatest need is to be physically healed. Especially in that culture, being paralyzed meant that you had practically nothing.
But Jesus looks at this man, sees his faith, sees his need, and says “your sins are forgiven.”
Our greatest need as a human being is to have a relationship with God. Everything else comes second to this. And instead of this man's sins standing in the way between him and God, this man's relationship with God is restored.
If we were laying there in front of Jesus, would we realize that our greatest need is a relationship with God? Or would we be tempted to ask about something else? A health problem? A new job? A relationship issue? More money? A good sports record? Good grades? A problem with our family?
Similarly, when we bring our friends to Jesus in prayer, are we praying that their relationship with God is the most important thing in their life? Or are we distracted by whatever problem or disability? Do we see that as the main thing that they are struggling with?
The same thing applies to us all. Our relationship with God is the most important thing. Everything else is second.
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Who is this?
You can just feel the disgust in their question as the religious leaders ask, “Who is this?” I like how another translation who puts it, “Who does he think he is?”
In some ways, this is a great question to ask, but without the dripping disgust. We all need to ask “Who is Jesus?” We all need to discover him on our own.
But we should have a similar attitude to Jesus's apostles when Jesus calms the storm. They are amazed at Jesus's power and they ask later in Luke chapter 8, “Who is this man? …Even the winds and waves obey him!”
Even though the religious leaders and the apostles ask very similar questions, they have a very different outcome because they have a different attitude.
The apostles' humble amazement led them to realize that Jesus is God and the savior of the universe.
The religious leaders, pride and limited knowledge of the Bible kept them from knowing who Jesus really is. They knew that only God can forgive sins. Even though they knew the Bible really well, they didn't know Jesus even though he was right there in front of them.
A true understanding of the Bible leads you to a relationship with Jesus and to becoming a new person and to loving others.
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’?
When Jesus perceived their thoughts…
I think this is a funny line. Earlier in our section of the Bible, it's clear that Jesus is able to look into people's hearts. Maybe that is what is going on here. Jesus is able to look into the religious leaders’ hearts and see their lack of faith.
But I wonder if everyone in the room could just see the look on the religious leader's face. They could tell that the tension of the room was getting hotter. It was something obvious.
Jesus doesn't have to be God to realize that these guys are wrestling with who Jesus claims to be. You can almost picture Jesus giving a sigh or rolling his eyes a little bit when he says
22 “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?”
Which is easier?
And this is a tricky question here. What is Jesus getting at here? He’s trying to get them to think.
When I am processing Jesus's question here, I think he's talking about two related qualities that Jesus has. And both are mentioned in this section of the Bible, if you look carefully.
Jesus has authority and Jesus has power.
Have you ever thought about the difference between authority and power?
A policeman has authority to stop traffic. But doesn't necessarily have the power to stop traffic. Is someone really wanted to? They could just drive through the traffic stop.
Superman on the other hand has power to stop traffic but doesn't necessarily have the authority. I'm not a huge comic book guy. I don't mean to start any debates. But Superman was an alien. He doesn't have authority here on this planet. But he does have the power to freeze a car or pick it up.
A policeman has authority but no power. Superman has authority but no power.
But Jesus has both. He has authority and power. And they are both linked because they are both from God.
It's easy to claim you have authority of God, but it's a whole nother thing to miraculously heal someone and prove that you have the power of God.
And this is what he does here.
Jesus has the authority to forgive someone because he is God. Jesus has the power to heal someone because he is God.
“He demonstrates his power to prove his authority.”
And then he says to the man, “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.
Circling back to Young Life camp, there are lots of super fun things that we do at camp. Every camp is a little different, but there are ropes courses, mountain bikes, zip lines, obstacle courses, parasailing, tubing. The food is amazing. The friends you make there last for a lifetime. There are 20 Young Life camps in America.
One time, the Young Life social media guys were polling everyone on Instagram a few years back. They asked all of the followers on Instagram, “In one word, tell us what Young Life [camp] means to you.”
When I heard about this, part of me was expecting all the fun parts of camp to rise to the top. “Parasailing” or “Tubing” or “Friends.” Something like that.
But I love the one word that rose to top instantly and more than any other.
It was the word “home.”
People love Young Life and Young Life camp not just because of all the fun things we get to do, but because it feels like home. It’s where people encounter Jesus like the man who was lowered down from the roof. It’s where they experience Jesus meeting their biggest need. It’s where they feel at home for the first time because they have their relationship with God restored.
Not that the other things in life are not important, it's just that they are not the most important thing. Our relationship with God is the most important thing.
He went home…
And now turning back to the Bible passage. Can you imagine how amazing it must have felt for this man when he “rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.”
He was able to travel home in more ways than one. He was healed and able to walk home with his own legs. But more importantly, his heart was healed and he found his home in God.
And we all can have this. We all can have our relationship with God restored. We don't need young life or a fancy camp. All we need is a relationship with Jesus. And we can travel home.
Application - Who do we want to be like?
In closing, we are going to have a longer application section. Instead of three quick ideas, let’s look at the different characters in this passage and ask ourselves, “Who do we want to be like?” What are some possessive traits that we can try and copy and what are some negative traits that we want to avoid.
Pharisees
😀 Knew the Bible
😞 Didn’t know Jesus
😞 “Separatists”
Note: They defined themselves by who they weren’t.
The Crowd
😀 Gathered to hear Jesus
😞 Didn’t make a way for the man
😞 Didn’t Ask Jesus to forgive them
Note: Amazed! Don't be so entertained that we forget to love others around us and we forget about the most important thing.
The Four Friends
😀 Friends with a man with disabilities
😀 Didn’t give up
😀 Had faith in Jesus
😀 Pure expression of “church”
Note: The Pharisees and the crowd all were focused on Jesus, but had very different outcomes.
The Man with Disabilities
😀 Received the help of others
😀 Let Jesus meet his deepest need
Note: We are all spiritually paralyzed. Only Jesus can heal our hearts.
Jesus
😀 Able to be interrupted
⚠️ Only Jesus can forgive and heal
We don't save people. We bring people to Jesus to be saved. If we feel like we have to save people, this creates so much pressure. We are going to give up. But the pressure isn't on us.
If we can give our brokenness to Jesus, then we will be able to help others give their brokenness to Jesus.
All we have to do is let Jesus heal us and bring others to Jesus.
In closing, I would encourage you all to find your one friend that you can bring to Jesus. Ask God to put just one person on your heart to build a relationship with, pray for, and ask them, “Who is this man Jesus to you?” And let God take care of the rest.
Let’s pray.
