February 12

Isaiah 43:18-25 p. 586
18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.19I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
22Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!23You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.24You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.25I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

This is the word of the Lord…….Thanks be to God

Mark 2:1-12 p. 813
2When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.2So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them.3Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.4And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,7“Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”8Immediately, Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’?10But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he said to the paralytic—11“I say to you, rise up, take your mat and go to your home.”12And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
This is the word of the Lord……Thanks be to God




This morning’s story is the next in a series of healings that Jesus performs. And he has gone from simple to complex, or at least from straight forward to confusing: for before, the healings were relatively clear: the demons were cast out, Peter’s mother in law is cured, the leper is restored. In this morning’s story, we hear talk about forgiveness of sin mixed in with the healing. And we’re not sure what that’s doing in there.
The man, the paralytic, is brought to Jesus by his friends. And Jesus, upon seeing the man come down thru a hole in the roof, notices and commends the friend’s faith. He does not comment on the faith of the paralytic, who remains nameless, and, in fact, never speaks. We don’t know anything about the faith of the paralytic. We don’t know if he begged his friends to bring him, we don’t know if he resisted the idea, we don’t even know what his name was. It is the faith of the friends that Jesus notices. But Jesus words are addressed to the paralytic: “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
Which I think are pretty strange words to utter to someone who has just been lowered through the roof. Really? That’s the first thing you would say to someone who cannot walk, who has been carried on a litter, all the way up to the roof and down on ropes….”your sins are forgiven?”
Why not “be healed” or, “I do choose”, or even hello. Welcome. Glad you have such good friends. Thanks for dropping in.
Many preachers throughout the centuries have seen in this text a relationship between sin and disease. And, in fact, in Jesus’ time, sin and disease were considered related: last week we said that if someone had leprosy, the question was “how did you sin?” not, how did you catch this disease. So, for Jesus’ context, this makes sense.
But for us, with our understanding of genetics, and science, and neurobiology, it doesn’t resonate as true.
But we do know there is an interplay between physical healing and forgiveness.
The Greek language has no real word for “forgive”—at least not in the way we use it. The word Jesus uses here is “to release, or let go”—you are released from your sins, he says to the man.
Sins are the things we need to be released from. Sins are the things which bind us, sin is broken relationships, with God and with others. Sin is what closes off the future……unless there is an act of release.
Now, forgiveness isn’t just saying “its ok, no big deal.” Forgiveness is release—it is trying to break open a situation, making something new in place of what was, so that there can be a future. In Isaiah, God says to us: I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Release from sin is what allows us to move forward.
When I was a beginning chaplain my supervisor gave me a pin that is shaped like a fishhook. Now, she got it at a religious store, where it was sold as a reminder to be “fishers of men.” But Laurie used it—because she had one, too—as a reminder not to get stuck on the past, not to get hung up on the old resentments and patterns, but to be released, to be free.
The four friends knew what they were doing, in their audacious move. Climbing up on the roof, taking apart the roof tiles, lowering their friend. They knew their paralyzed friend was trapped, was bound, and had very little foreseeable future. They knew they had to find a new way. They knew that the only future their friend had was in Jesus. So they did what they had to—they did the outrageous—they did the unusual in order to get their friend inside the house.
For a long time, now, there has been talk about the church dying. All over, and in Presbyterian circles, we hear that fewer and fewer people are coming in the doors. And they are certainly not lining up outside, straining to hear a word, to get a glimpse. So perhaps what we need to do is find ways—unusual ways—outrageous ways—to get people in to Jesus.
Some of these, most of these, will not be the way we have been doing church, the way we grew up with church. They will involve media- facebook, twitter, an internet presence—this church has a website, and a blog. We email our Session agendas, and people, mostly outsiders, email us about what they see or hear on the web.
In Hector, we have teens who are not members of our church working with us in youth group. Here at Lodi, there is growth going on in a Community Youth Group.
Another way this church is making a new way is through the support of Camp Whitman, and its ministry for young people, and for adults with developmental disabilities. I know that in the Presbytery there are voices saying that we should not be doing this ministry, we should not bother having a camp, that in these financial times, the Presbytery could sell off the lakefront property, make a bundle, and be free of debt for quite some time. But perhaps camp is a backdoor way, an opening up the roof way, to bring people to Christ, people who would not necessarily hear this message any other way.
Nick Warnes pastors a new church development in a Los Angeles neighborhood that is 40 percent white, 40 percent Latina-o and 20 percent Asian and composed primarily of de-churched people. “Many told us it would be impossible to plant Northland Village here, because they would not welcome us,” says Warnes.
In the neighborhood, Warnes saw that people were concerned about justice. Working with its de-churched neighbors, Northland began to recognize an injustice in how funding was distributed to schools in the neighborhood. “Instead of complaining, we wanted to help spring justice,” says Warnes. “So we created a way where computers could be donated and money could be given to the schools that were receiving inequitable funding.”
Recently a guy in the neighborhood came to Warnes saying, “I want nothing to do with church, but I feel like I need to give to your church.” Warnes could see there were lots of layers to this man, who had been spiritually hurt by the church. “I have no money,” he continued, “but I make beer.” Warnes told him, “You came to the right church.” Northland partnered with a local winery, throwing a party for the neighborhood. “I think it was quite appropriate,” says Warnes. “Historically Christians have been known for making the best beer. Right in the middle of the bar, while everyone was trying a Belgian IPA, an intern at Northland delivered a sermon, talking about the radical hospitality of Jesus.”
Now, I know the idea of church and beer makes many of us uncomfortable. But this is a way the Northland church found, a different way, a backdoor way, perhaps an outrageous way, to help people connect with Christ, hear the Good News.
At the end of the story, Jesus turns to the paralytic- who has been declared forgiven, released. Jesus knows there is skepticism about his ability—and right—to proclaim someone forgiven and restored. So Jesus turns to the paralyzed man—and says “Stand up, take up your mat, and go to your home.” And immediately—there’s that word again- immediately, the man stands up, rolls up his mat, in front of God and everybody, and walks home. Jesus commands the man to stand up- but what the text actually says is that the man “was raised up”. The language uses the passive—as a reminder to us that it is not the man’s will, or force of self, or his choice—it is God’s action that raised the man up. It is the exact same language used about Christ: that God raised him up from the dead.
This is our calling: to tell people about the Good News of God, that God is always about raising people up, to glorify God, and to tell others, even if it is by unusual, outrageous way