April 18, 2025 • 45 mins
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When four friends tear open a roof to lower their paralyzed companion to Jesus, they demonstrate what truly matters in our faith journey – enduring empathy that refuses to give up on people. Pastor Grantley Martelly unpacks this powerful story from Mark 2, revealing how these determined friends teach us about walking alongside others until they can encounter Jesus for themselves.
In a world reeling from wars, persecution, natural disasters, and even a "loneliness epidemic," we're called not to retreat into our comfortable spiritual bubbles but to bring the world's pain to the throne of grace. While we can't control global turmoil, we absolutely can control who we bring people to meet. That's the heart of enduring empathy – demonstrating such a deep understanding of God's goodness that we're compelled to lend our faith to others until they develop their own.
The paralytic's friends didn't tell him about Jesus – they physically carried him there. Their determination reveals what true discipleship requires: persisting through barriers, causing necessary disruption, and believing that an encounter with Jesus changes everything.
Most striking is Jesus' response: "When he saw their faith" – not the paralyzed man's. Sometimes people need to borrow our faith until they find their own. Jesus first addressed the man's spiritual needs before his physical condition, showing that true transformation happens from inside out.
Are we willing to walk alongside the messy, the broken, the difficult? Or have we become "too holy to be Christ-like," forgetting that Jesus met us in our own mess? Salvation without discipleship is just cheap grace. The Christian walk was never meant to be solitary but about journeying together through the unexpected. Will you tear up some roofs to bring others to the One who transforms?
#empathy #discipleship
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Grantley Martelly (00:08):
This is a message that was given at
Hillside Church in Kent,washington, where Grantley
serves as an associate pastor.
So keep your Bibles open toMark, chapter 2.
We're going to be going throughthat scripture today, that
verse.
My topic is continuing thetopic that we've been discussing
(00:32):
becoming a missional church,and the topic today is enduring
empathy, enduring empathy.
Take up the bed Not your bed,but take up the bed.
But before we begin, I want totalk to you about something.
I want to begin today with arecognition that we live in a
(00:54):
world that is in turmoil.
We don't have the luxury ofcoming to the house of God
without recognizing that we livein a world that can be hurtful
and hostile, devastating to ourfamilies, to our neighbors, to
our children, to the worldaround us.
This past year we've seen, andwe continue to see, wars in
(01:15):
Israel and Gaza, wars in Ukraine, wars in Sudan and South Sudan
and other parts of the world.
We see persecution of believersand Christ followers in many
places.
We've seen devastating floodsand devastating fires.
We have seen political rageposturing selfishness.
(01:36):
We've seen protectionism.
We've seen nationalism.
We've seen hostility towardsthe poor and the immigrant.
There are more people todaydisplaced from their homes in
this country and around theworld than at any other time in
human history.
We live in a world that can beunbelievably hostile at times.
We have an opioid epidemic.
(02:00):
We have more people being humantrafficked today than at any
time in human history, evenduring the European slavery.
We live on one of the largesthuman trafficking corridors in
the nation, interstate 5.
We even have a lonelinessepidemic.
(02:23):
We have more friends than we'veever had clicking on our phones
and stuff and more people arelonely today than at any time
that we've recorded.
We don't have the privilege ofcoming into the house of God
without being concerned aboutwhat's going on in the world.
We are the people who need tobring the world to the throne of
(02:46):
grace.
We don't have the privilege ofpretending of coming in and not
being concerned about our world.
I'm not talking about watchingthe news.
I am talking about beingconcerned about our world to
bring it to Jesus.
As followers of Christ, we'recalled to be his kingdom people,
(03:07):
God's people, peacemakers, notwarriors.
We're called to serve ratherthan to be served.
We're not called to be apolitical persuasion or social
and economic philosophy, aracial or ethnic preference.
We are called to be kingdompeople, Kingdom people, that
(03:29):
kingdom people, we are called topursue justice and love mercy,
to walk humbly with God, to loveGod with all our heart, soul,
mind and strength, and to loveour neighbors as ourselves.
We are called to carry themessage of hope of Jesus Christ
(03:51):
to the world around us.
We are called to put some skinin the game.
We are called to tear someholes in some roofs.
Our message, our testimony, oureffectiveness, our charity
become meaningless andirrelevant to the world.
That can be hostile at times ifwe allow our witness to be
(04:12):
tainted by any other philosophy,doctrine, portent, profit,
cultural or nationalistic bias.
Our call is to berepresentatives of Jesus Christ
and I am calling us as people,as a church that's talking about
becoming missional again toremember we may not be able to
(04:37):
control in the world what'sgoing on in the world.
We're going to talk about thattoday, right, the paralyzed man.
But we surely can control whowe take the world to.
We surely can control who wetake the world to.
We surely can control whosekingdom we promote.
That's our choice and I'mcalling you to join me in being
(05:03):
promoters of the kingdom of Godand let him lead us wherever he
wants to lead us.
Now to our message.
That was a preliminary to themessage, but it's tied to the
message, because what we see isenduring empathy, is
(05:29):
demonstrating a deepunderstanding of the goodness of
God to such an extent that itdrives us to lend our faith to
others until they get to thepoint where they can meet Jesus
for themselves and develop theirown faith.
That's my definition ofenjoying empathy.
It's not on the screen, soyou've got to listen to my
accent right.
Demonstrating a deepunderstanding of the goodness of
(05:54):
God to the point that it drivesus to lend our faith to another
until they can meet Jesus forthemselves and demonstrate their
own faith.
We're going to see that todaywe're talking about the
missional church.
Remember the definition thatwe're using the resurgence of
(06:15):
the missional church.
Developing a robust theology,which means an understanding of
God with radical vulnerability,with enduring empathy through
prevailing prayers in the powerof the Holy Spirit to the glory
of God.
Oh, we have it, thank you, see.
Our technical team is evenahead of me, you know.
(06:37):
I appreciate that very much.
A robust theology,understanding of God with
radical vulnerability, withenduring empathy through
prevailing prayer in the powerof the Holy Spirit, to the glory
of God.
So today we're going to talkabout enduring empathy.
Are we willing to journey withthe lost and with others until
(07:04):
they come into thistransformational relationship
with God and be transformed bythe goodness of God?
Right, what we sang about theevidence of your goodness.
That's what it is right theevidence of God's goodness
become real in their lives.
That caused them to betransformed into the people God
(07:25):
created them to be, so that theycan go out.
You can go out and be theevidence of God's goodness in
somebody else's life until theybecome transformed, and then
that person goes and does itover and over again.
Are we so overcome with thegoodness of God in our lives
that we are willing to see itexpressed in others around us?
Does the goodness of God inyour life move you to action on
(07:55):
behalf of others, or is it allabout me and getting to heaven?
We'll see that, demonstratedtoday by these friends who
brought their friend to Jesus.
So the first point we have isjourney with others until they
meet Jesus.
Journey with others until theymeet Jesus.
(08:27):
In this passage in Mark, chapter2, we see Jesus returning to
his home base of ministry inCapernaum for the second time.
If you read chapter 1, he wenthome and as soon as he got to
Capernaum by the way, capernaumwas not the place where he was
raised, it wasn't even where hewas born.
Remember, right Bible triviawhen was Jesus born?
Where was he raised?
Nazareth and where was hisministry based?
Capernaum, all right, good.
(08:48):
So he's in Capernaum where hewent to base his ministry.
And I believe he went to basehis ministry there because it
put him right at the point wherehe was in contact with Jews and
Gentiles from the verybeginning.
Remember, on the western sidewas Jerusalem, with Judea and
(09:09):
Jerusalem and Samaria, and onthe eastern side of those
mountains was Decapolis.
And he put himself right on theedge.
If he goes left, he goes to hispeople, if he goes right, he
goes to the Gentiles, and hewent back and forth between them
.
So now he returned to hishometown, but the first time he
(09:30):
returned the word had spread somuch that he got crowded.
Everybody brought their people,their friends, to Peter's house
and Jesus was healing people allnight and he got tired, went to
bed and it says that he got upearly in the morning and went to
prayer.
That is a really good point forus when we seem to be overcome
(09:52):
by the cares of the world whenthings seem to be pressing in on
us.
When so many things arepressing in on us, it is a good
thing to get up early in themorning, find that solitude
place and meet with Jesus.
It will change your day, itwill change your life.
If Jesus could do it, we can doit.
(10:13):
If Jesus can do it, we can doit.
There's no excuse for notgetting into the Word of God.
Get up early and do it, becauseif our boss told us to show up
half an hour for work tomorrow,99% of us would show up half an
hour early for work.
So Jesus is telling you show uphalf an hour early to meet to
(10:33):
me, meet with me and spend sometime with me.
That's what the scripture said.
I'm not making this up.
It says he got up early afterdoing that and he went to prayer
.
And then it says the disciplesgot up.
It says he got up early afterdoing that and he went to prayer
.
And then it says the disciplesgot up.
They didn't see him.
So they came and found outwhere he was and he said what
did they say?
The people are looking for you.
And what did Jesus say let's gosomewhere else and preach.
(10:56):
So he took him out to the cityto preach.
So now in chapter two he'scoming back into the city and
he's trying to sneak in.
He's trying to sneak in so hecan get some rest.
Some of the scripture says andwhen the word got out, that he
was there again when peopleheard that he had come home.
(11:18):
Other version says when theword got out that he was home.
So somebody talked.
That should have been quiet.
And the next thing, you know,another crowd of people shows up
and the house is full again,people can't get in.
(11:40):
And what the scripture saidthey brought their people to be
healed and to be raised.
But what did Jesus do?
Jesus preached the word.
You see, if we just receivemiracles and healing without the
word, it's just a demonstration, it's just talk right.
That's why Jesus always had hispriorities first, you want to
be healed, your sins areforgiven.
(12:01):
Let's start with first thingsfirst.
So he started to preach theword and before he started to
heal people.
So here's where we come intothis.
Now he began to do, he began toteach the people and the people
were all gathered aroundlistening to him.
So in the Bible, empathy is theability to understand and share
(12:22):
our feelings of others.
It is closely linked to loveand compassion and is considered
a Christian virtue.
What does the scripture say?
Jesus was moved with compassion.
So some of the verses in theBible that talks about empathy.
If you look at Proverbs 21,verse 13, it says Whoever shuts
his ear to the cries of the poorwill also cry himself and not
(12:45):
be heard.
Wow, that's pretty direct.
We've been talking in ourSunday school class with Rick
about how direct Jesus can be,about some of the things he said
.
And whoever shuts his ears tothe poor, the cries of the poor,
will also himself cry and notbe heard.
Galatians, chapter 2, says bearone another's burdens First.
(13:08):
Peter, chapter 3, verse 8, sayshave compassion for one another
, love as brothers, betender-hearted and be courteous.
Romans 12 15 says rejoice withthose who rejoice and mourn with
those who mourn.
Matthew, chapter 9, verse 36,says seeing the people, he felt
(13:29):
compassion on them because theywere distressed and dispirited,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Luke, chapter 7, verse 13, sayswhen the Lord saw her, he had
compassion for her and said toher do not weep.
See, it's more than pity, it'smore than I'm sorry for you More
than I'm sorry, but I'll seeyou later.
(13:50):
Empathy in the Bible is acentral part of Christ-like
living.
It involves being concernedenough with the well-being of
others that it involves us beingwilling to support them in
their times of need.
It involves relating to thevulnerable.
It involves seeking justice forthose who cannot do so for
themselves Psalm 150.
It mirrors the compassion Godhas shown to humanity, to Jesus
(14:16):
Christ.
So the first thing isunderstanding this need to
journey with others until theyget to the point of meeting
Jesus.
And that takes us to the secondpoint, which is lend our faith
to others until they find theirown.
(14:36):
Lend our faith to others.
So these people, the word gotout and these friends decided to
bring their friend to Jesus,who was crippled.
Now listen to the words here.
They didn't say to him well,we're going to see Jesus.
If you can make it, we'll seeyou over there.
My car's got four seats in it,but I can't pick you up for
(15:03):
church.
What the scripture said.
They picked up their friend andsaid we are going to see Jesus
together, together, even thoughit was inconvenient, even though
it was hard.
Can you imagine carrying aperson on a stretcher all that
(15:25):
distance.
We don't know how long it was.
The scripture doesn't say howlong it was.
You know why?
Because God doesn't want somepeople who are strong to say
well, that's easy, I can do that.
He just leaves it open.
And they picked him up and theycarried him.
They committed to carry him aslong as it took to get him there
, no matter what it took.
(15:47):
Are we willing to get alongsidethe people around us?
Are we willing to get alongsideour friends and our family, and
are we willing to pick them upand carry them until they can
carry themselves?
Or are we just going to say youneed Jesus and walk to church
(16:09):
Like the Good Samaritan?
They just walk by, them right,say yeah, I got to get to church
, I got to get to do this, I gotto get to Bible study, I got to
get here, I got to get there.
No, they said we will pick youup and we will carry you to
Jesus.
Now here's the funny thingabout it is they didn't know if
Jesus was going to heal him ornot.
They were lending him theirfaith, saying if we can get you
(16:32):
there, there's a good chancethat he's going to heal you.
So we're going to act on faith.
We're going to pick you up andwe're going to carry you to see
Jesus, to meet Jesus.
When they got there, the placewas so crowded they said they
couldn't even get to the door.
Now most people would quit andsay, man, we tried hard, maybe
(16:54):
next time.
But no, they said we broughthim to see Jesus, we are not
deterred, he is going to seeJesus, period.
We are staying here until hedoes.
So they couldn't get aroundthat.
So then they decided to go upon the roof right, and it seemed
(17:16):
insurmountable.
Could you imagine that youcarry your friend all of this
distance?
And now you've got to carry himup this?
Most of the houses had a ladderon the outside, because people
would get up on their roof toeat and to sleep, sometimes when
it got too hot, or sometimeseven the trash to eat and stuff
like that.
So according to the script,according to the historic text,
(17:38):
there was probably a ladderthere, but now they got to carry
him up the ladder onto the roofand then they get up on the
roof and it's like, how are wegoing to get him in there?
But think about it.
Why would you carry somebody upon the roof if you can't get
into the house.
Well, they figured it out.
(17:59):
They figured it out.
You see, the question is are wein it for the long haul to see
our friends and family come tomeet Jesus?
How far are we willing to go?
How much disturbance are wewilling to cause?
How much disturbance are wewilling to cause?
How much empathy are we willingto have?
You see, philip said toNathaniel, he said we have found
(18:19):
this one.
We think he's the one.
Come and see.
He went and he got him and hedidn't say go down there and see
Jesus.
He said come and see, I amcarrying you to meet this Jesus.
The woman at the well, whenJesus talked to her, she went
back to her family.
What did she say?
Come and see this man who toldme everything about me.
(18:41):
I think he is the one.
That is radical vulnerability,because Jesus told her
everything about her, what shewanted to know and what she
didn't want to know.
He told her no, and she goesback to her family and the
friends and says come and seethis man, not being deterred by
her past, not being deterred bywhat they were going to think,
(19:03):
not being deterred aboutanything.
They said we are going to getthis man to Jesus.
So they began tearing apart theroof.
Now that is a bold move byanybody roof Now that is a bold
move by anybody's measure.
That's a bold move, right?
And this was not a hut, thiswas a house.
So in those days the house hadlateral things just like ours,
(19:26):
and then they would put catch onit and mud and stuff like that
to harden it.
But it was hard enough, like wesaid, that people could go up
there and sleep, they could eat,they could talk, so it wasn't
just a little thing.
So they had to dismantle theentire roof, a section, to get
him in.
Could you imagine that?
Could you imagine Peter in thehouse saying what is going on?
(19:49):
What are you guys doing upthere?
What are you trying to do?
It's not your house.
So that's like you showing upat my house and he's telling me
you want to get in and you'rejust going to knock out the
window at the back door and comein.
That was the first bold move.
(20:10):
The second bold move the firstbold move was to bring him.
The first bold move was tobring him.
The second bold move was totake him up on the roof.
Now they're opening it.
And now that's what they'redoing.
Can you imagine the commotionand the disturbance this caused
in the meeting?
Jesus is there preaching andthis is teaching and, you know,
the dust began to come down andit's like, okay, what's going on
up there, you know?
And then a little bit of mudbegin to come down.
(20:31):
You see the light, you know,begin to open up and open up.
You know, I mean, this is realstuff.
It wasn't just magic.
He didn't just say abracadabraand he landed in the middle.
This was a commotion.
They were taking the wholething apart and Jesus is
preaching.
Now the scripture said Jesusdidn't start preaching.
He probably wasn't surprised.
(20:52):
He probably knew they were outthere and what they were going
to do.
But could you imagine theboldness?
And now Peter looks up andthere's a big hole in his roof
and Jesus is preaching and he'slike, well, who's going to fix
that when this is all done?
But the friends wasn't deterred.
(21:14):
In fact, one commentator saystheir desperate desire to get
their friend to the person whocould help him is more important
than the awkwardness of thenarrative of the situation or
the damage to the property.
How much disturbance are youwilling to cause to see people
come to Jesus.
There's no way in the scripturethat they apologize for any of
(21:40):
this.
Not a word about apology.
It's like we.
Our friend is going to meetJesus now we don't know if he's
going to get healed or not, butwhat we control is that we can
take him to Jesus and let Jesustake over from there.
You see, our goal is just toget them there.
(22:02):
We don't have to save them.
We can't save anybody.
We can't give anybody eternallife.
But if we can just get them infront of Jesus, if we can just
get them in front of Jesus andhave enough faith that he can do
what he says he will do, hedoesn't need our help to save
them.
He just needs our help to getthem there.
(22:23):
So they got them there.
So empathy is not pity.
It's not feeling sorry, it'snot passing somebody on to
somebody else.
Well, I brought you to church,so now I'm going to let the
pastor tell you about Jesus.
Well, if you know Jesus, whydon't you tell him about the
Jesus who saved you?
Why don't you start the story?
Let the pastor continue it.
(22:44):
You know it's compassion thatdraws us to action.
It's getting our hands in themud and being willing to skin
our fingers and do whatever ittakes to get them to Jesus.
You see, people don't need ourpity.
They don't need us feelingsorry for them.
They don't need us to beat themdown and tell us how wrong they
(23:06):
are and how bad they are.
They don't need to be beatendown by our Western Christian
philosophies that many timeshave nothing to do with what the
Bible has to say.
Right, they want to do.
All they need is for us to getthem to the place where they can
encounter the enduring goodnessof God and experience His love
and His grace and His mercy.
(23:27):
And he can do all the rest, andhis mercy and he can do all the
rest.
Are we willing not to give upon our friends and family, our
community and our neighbors?
Are we going to say the Biblesays well, in the last days,
(23:48):
there's going to be hard times,so I guess the hard times are
here.
Why bother?
In the last days there's goingto be hard times, so I guess the
hard times are here.
Why bother?
Are we going to continue tobelieve that Jesus can still
save, jesus can still heal,jesus can still restore broken
hearts, he can still heal brokenwounds.
(24:09):
He can still find our childrenwho may be away off in a foreign
land.
He can still save them if welend them our faith until they
find their faith of their own.
Empathy is one of the enduringqualities that God demands of
those who are called to be hisservants.
(24:30):
Anthony Salvaggio said thatit's one of the enduring
qualities that God demands ofthose who are called to be his
servants.
Empathy is communicated byentering into another person's
world, both the thinking, thethoughts and feeling, the
(24:51):
emotions that they feel, enoughto drive us to action.
So then the third point.
Third point take the returnjourney into transformation
through discipleship.
So now we get down to the verseand all the commotion has
settled down because he's inthere.
They've lowered him down rightto the verse and all the
commotion to settle down becausehe's in there.
(25:11):
They have lowered him downright.
And did you wonder where theyget the ropes from?
They didn't know that they weregoing to have to go up on the
roof.
How'd they get him down there?
You know you think about all ofthese things how much effort
these friends had to put forthto make this thing happen.
You know, to make this thinghappen.
(25:32):
So he gets before Jesus andeverything settles down.
The room is a lot brighter nowbecause there's probably a
six-foot-by-four-foot hole inthe roof than there was before.
A lot cooler because it's nowair-conditioned, right, the
(25:53):
temperature dropped.
I mean, could you imagine ahouse that's full with all those
people to the door In that partof the world?
It was probably pretty hot inthere.
So he gets in front of Jesus andwhat's the first thing that
Jesus says?
It says the scripture says whenJesus saw their faith, whose
(26:14):
faith did he see?
The friends, not the mans.
When Jesus saw their faith,when Jesus sees your faith, how
far you're willing to go tobring people to him, he's going
to recognize it.
He's going to recognize it andhe's going to recognize it.
He's going to recognize it andhe's going to look at them and
(26:36):
he's going to say it your sinsare forgiven you.
And isn't that why we wentthrough all the effort in the
first place?
Isn't that why we go throughall the effort in the first
place?
So where they can get to thatpoint and see your sins are
forgiven you.
Now, to some of us we say, well,he didn't bring them there.
(26:56):
They didn't bring him there toget his sins forgiven.
They brought him there to gethim healed.
But you see, jesus alwaysbegins with first things first.
What's the sense of meetingJesus and getting healed and
walking away with a new personand walk away with all your sins
and all your burdens?
What's the sense of meetingJesus and getting healed and
walking away with a new personand walk away with all your sins
and all your burdens?
What's the sense of that?
You're just walking around, nowdifferent, but you're not any
(27:21):
different on the inside.
It's just all outside.
You see, if you're going tobring people to meet Jesus,
we've got to believe thatthey're going to meet Jesus
first and then he's going tochange their life.
It happens in that sequence hechanged them first and then he
changes their lives.
He changes them on the insidefirst and then he changes them
(27:44):
on the outside.
But his friends didn't arguebecause they got their mission
accomplished.
Their mission was to introducehim to Jesus.
They did that.
Now Jesus took over.
He said seeing their faith, hewas moved with compassion and he
said your sins are forgiven.
You being able to walk andstill carrying your sins around
(28:04):
is just walking around, butbeing transformed by the power
of the Holy Spirit is a completenew life.
It's newness to life, it'stransformation, it's eternal
life.
It's a new way of thinking, anew way of talking, a new way of
acting, because now you're notjust able to walk, now you're
able to walk with Jesus.
You guys are so quiet.
So the good old Christians, thechurch board, the board of
(28:37):
deacons and the board ofsuperintendents are in the room
and they see this stuff.
And what do they say?
Instead of rejoicing with theman, instead of having empathy,
instead of rejoicing, what doman?
Instead of having empathy,instead of rejoicing, what do
they say?
Who is this man?
Who can forgive sins?
Only God can forgive sins.
(29:00):
You see, sometimes we can becomeso churchy that we don't even
recognize when Jesus shows up.
We are more worried about therules and the regulations and
how we do all of this stuff.
And he's standing right thereand says you call me and I am
here.
His Shekinah glory is fillingthe house and we're worried
about what time we're going toget out.
It says who can forgive sins?
(29:25):
Only God can forgive sins.
And what dawned on me when Iread this the other day?
And I'm not this brilliant, soit's got to be from God.
I'm not this smart.
God is smart and it sayssometimes the answers to the
questions that we have are rightin the questions themselves.
Sometimes the questions we areasking, the answer is in the
(29:48):
question.
Because we know what the answeris.
We just don't want to accept it.
So we ask the question, hopingwe're going to get a different
answer.
And Jesus said the answer is inthe question.
I am Jesus, I am the Son of God, I have authority to forgive
sins.
(30:08):
So when you ask who is this manwho has authority to forgive
sins, he says I have authorityto forgive sins.
So when you ask who is this manwho has authority to forgive
sins, he says I have authorityto forgive sins.
I answered your question foryou.
You knew that.
You just didn't want to acceptit because you're too holy to be
Christ-like.
Sometimes we can be so holy westop being Christ-like.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
(30:31):
When we fail to empathize withpeople, to walk with people to
give them the same grace thatwas given to us before we came
to meet Jesus.
We are being too holy to beChrist-like Because at one time
our life was a mess too.
So why do we want them to fixtheir life up before they come
(30:54):
to Jesus.
When Jesus took us in our messand our brokenness and all the
crap that we brought to him, allthe fifth that we laid on the
altar, and now we want people toget right before they come to
Jesus, where's the same graceand mercy that was offered to us
at the foot of the cross?
It's not there.
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That's becoming too holy to beChrist like, because we forget
where we came from.
We forget what Jesus saved usfrom and we forgot what he saved
us to.
So Jesus says just to show youand to demonstrate to these
people that the answer that youwant is right here, he says I'm
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not just going to heal him, I'mgoing to give them what they
came to get.
And he said to the man get upand walk, get up and walk, get
up and walk.
You see, since I don't onlyhave the power to forgive sins,
I can restore what was broken.
(32:01):
You came in here broken.
You came in here unable to walk.
You came in here on thisstretcher.
Your friends were carrying you,but when you walk out of here,
you're going to be walking.
You're going to be carryingthat stretcher.
Your friends were carrying you.
But when you walk out of here,you're going to be walking.
You're going to be carryingthat stretcher.
You're not going to be carryingyou anymore.
Now you can go out and betransformed.
You've been transformed by mypower, so now you can go to work
(32:23):
.
You see, jesus said to get upand walk.
Get up and walk.
Get up and walk intoforgiveness.
Get up and walk into newness oflife.
Get up and walk into hope.
Get up and walk into newness oflife.
Get up and walk into hope.
Get up and walk into a brandnew life with transformed
possibilities.
Get up and walk into yourfuture.
Get up and walk with someoneelse until they too come to
Jesus, to meet Jesus.
(32:43):
Get up and walk with boldness.
Get up and walk in theauthority that God has given you
.
Forget what people said youwere, because he was an outcast.
Jesus says I have healed you.
Now get up and walk.
Walk away from church people andwalk to Jesus people.
Walk to the people who aregoing to help you, to take you
to Jesus Christ.
Get up and walk where you'venever walked before.
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Come on church, get up and walkuntil you become a full
disciple of Jesus Christ.
Get up out of your seats andwalk.
Walk to the places where you'venever been before.
Walk with the outcasts.
Walk with those who need JesusChrist.
Walk to reach your heights thatyou've never reached before.
Walk with somebody else anddisciple them in the ways of
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Jesus Christ.
Get up and walk.
Get up.
I'm wrong.
Too many times Jesus gives uswhat we want or we just sit down
there and nobody to get up andwalk in it.
We got to get up and walk.
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What does the scripture say?
He did he get up and walk.
He got up and he walked intothe fullness of that thing.
What does it say?
Read it.
It says he got up and walked.
He walked out in front of allthe people.
Jesus is calling you to get upand walk.
Get up and walk.
Get up and walk.
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Don't stay where you are.
He's called you to somethingnew.
Get up and walk.
Get up and walk.
Don't stay where you are.
He's called you to somethingnew.
Get up and walk.
Somebody needs to get up andwalk.
Don't just sit there and clap.
Get up and walk, because Godhas called you to be different.
Enjoying empathy is walking ina growing understanding of the
(34:27):
goodness of God with othersuntil they get their faith and
they begin to walk too.
That's how we become amissional church.
That's how we become amissional church, god.
I ask the worship team to comeon up.
Sometimes we don't want to walkwith other people because we
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don't want to be called names.
We don't.
They may not be the mostpleasant people, they may not be
whatever you may think.
We don't want to walk with thembecause we're afraid of may not
be whatever you may think.
We don't want to walk with thembecause we're afraid of what
other people are going to think.
If we don't walk with them,who's going to walk with them If
we're not willing to get besidethe lowly, the outcasts, the
(35:21):
people around us that peoplethink are not cool, people that
we don't want in ourneighborhoods or in our schools?
We're not willing to walk withthe gang members and the drug
addicts, the opioid addicts, theprostitute.
We're not willing to walk withthe teachers and the doctors and
(35:45):
the bankers If we're notwilling to walk with a person
who abuses their wife and theirchildren, if we're not willing
to walk with those who drink andthose who smoke and those who
do all the things that we, asholy people, don't like to do,
if you're not willing to go inthe bars and on the highways and
byways of life and take theHoly Spirit and not believe not
(36:07):
believing you're going to becontaminated.
Well, we don't get contaminatedwhen we go in those places.
We take the Holy Spirit in.
If you're afraid to getinvolved with people because
you're afraid you're going tobecome like them, first of all
your faith is too weak.
Secondly, your discipleship ismissing and thirdly, you don't
trust the Holy Spirit Becausethe apostles never went into any
(36:29):
place and they came out likethe people they went in after.
The people came out different.
In fact, in the book ofEphesians it says when the
apostles showed up in Ephesus,what did they say?
These people who've beencausing commotion all over the
world have now come to our city.
What would happen if you walkinto work tomorrow and somebody
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says this person who's beencausing commotion all over the
place is now in this workplaceand somebody's going to get
saved this week?
Or you got a friend or familymember who's been going through
a tough time and you need to bepraying for them.
You need to pick up the phoneand call them and say I'm
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praying for you, I'm prayingwith you.
I don't know what the answer is, but I know somebody who knows
what the answer is.
I may not be able to help youwith everything you have, but I
can help you to the throne ofgrace until he reveals to you
(37:32):
what he's got in store for you.
Are we willing to bring thatperson in our lives who we don't
agree with, we can't talk with.
We have whatever it is likeJeff testified this morning that
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broken relationship?
They may not return our phonecalls or answer our messages,
but are you still willing tocarry them to Jesus Until they
meet Jesus and they pick up thephone and call you and say thank
you for praying for me for allof those years and not giving up
(38:13):
on me, not giving up on me?
Are you willing to walk withyour children who turn away from
God until they come back to God?
Are you willing to walk withyour son or your daughter or
your grandchild or your cousinor your aunt, your nephew, who
is heterosexual, who ishomosexual, who is LGBTQ and we
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don't like that?
Are we willing to walk withthem until they meet Jesus?
The Scripture doesn't say weneed to like the people around
us.
It doesn't say we need to bringthem to Jesus.
It doesn't say we need to likewhat they do or how they live.
It says we need to bring themto Jesus.
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And we don't have to walkaround with a big sign and a big
fish on our car or a chain onour neck or a tattoo with a big
cross to demonstrate thegoodness of God.
We need to engage with people.
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Engage with people, be willingto get into the mess, be willing
to hear stories, be willing tolisten to their stories, be
willing to engage people in themess, because God saved us from
our mess and if he could save mefrom my mess, he can save
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somebody else from their mess.
We don't even need to like howthey smell somebody else from
their mess.
We don't even need to like howthey smell.
Prodigal son right, came homefrom a pig pen, smelling and
walking all that distance.
What does the scripture say?
His father put his arms aroundhim.
Do you think he had a bathbefore he went home?
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And he put perfume on?
His father put his arms aroundhim, just how he was.
He says come in, come in, youcan get cleaned up after you
come into the house, after theycome into the house of God,
after they come into arelationship with him.
After they come in is when theyget the cleaning up.
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Because cleaning up and puttingperfume on and new clothes, you
still got the mess.
You just cover it up with asmell, a new smell.
But when you meet Jesus, whenthey meet Jesus, when they come
into the house and he changedthem, changed them from the
inside out they don't needperfume anymore because the
(40:48):
perfume is a perfume of the HolySpirit.
So, as I wrap this up, billyGraham said that salvation is
free, but discipleship costs useverything.
If we're going to be a truedisciple, it will cost us
(41:11):
everything.
Diedrich Bonhoeffer sayssalvation without discipleship
is just cheap grace.
That's like getting walkingagain and not be saved, you just
walk it.
And then NT Wright saiddiscipleship always involves the
(41:31):
unexpected and sometimes thatcan scare us because we like to
know everything before we go infirst and when we get engaged
with people there's a lot ofthings we're not going to know
until we engage.
So if we're afraid of theunexpected, we're going to be
(41:52):
afraid to engage with people.
But if we believe that God isable, that the goodness of God
is able to overshadow all, wecan walk into the unexpected
with the expectation that thesame God who brought us there
will take us through and he willenable us to be a fruit and a
salvation and a witness to otherpeople.
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If you try to walk by yourself,you're going to fail
Christianity.
Our price-like walk is notabout walking by ourselves.
It's about walking with others.
We call it discipleship or wecall it whatever you want to
call it, but it's about walkingtogether.
That's why the text began withtheir walk together.
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They brought him together.
Many scriptures say that Jesuswalked with his disciples and
when he was walking with them,he taught them.
On the road to Emmaus, theywere walking and the Holy Spirit
said Jesus went up to them andwalked with them.
As they were walking, it wasrevealed to them who he was.
(42:58):
Our relationship with Christgrows by walking with him and
walking with others.
Walk in with him and walk inwith others.
So today I want to ask you areyou willing to engage in
enduring empathy?
It may not be easy, it may notbe comfortable, it may be
(43:23):
unexpected.
You may have to do some hardwork.
You may have to do some hardwork, Maybe have to tear up a
few roofs, get some people madat you, but are you willing to
walk?
Are you willing to do whateverit takes to see our world won to
Jesus Christ?
This is a message that was given at
Hillside Church in Kent,washington, where Grantley
serves as an associate pastor.
So keep your Bibles open toMark, chapter 2.
We're going to be going throughthat scripture today, that
verse.
My topic is continuing thetopic that we've been discussing
(00:32):
becoming a missional church,and the topic today is enduring
empathy, enduring empathy.
Take up the bed Not your bed,but take up the bed.
But before we begin, I want totalk to you about something.
I want to begin today with arecognition that we live in a
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world that is in turmoil.
We don't have the luxury ofcoming to the house of God
without recognizing that we livein a world that can be hurtful
and hostile, devastating to ourfamilies, to our neighbors, to
our children, to the worldaround us.
This past year we've seen, andwe continue to see, wars in
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Israel and Gaza, wars in Ukraine, wars in Sudan and South Sudan
and other parts of the world.
We see persecution of believersand Christ followers in many
places.
We've seen devastating floodsand devastating fires.
We have seen political rageposturing selfishness.
(01:36):
We've seen protectionism.
We've seen nationalism.
We've seen hostility towardsthe poor and the immigrant.
There are more people todaydisplaced from their homes in
this country and around theworld than at any other time in
human history.
We live in a world that can beunbelievably hostile at times.
We have an opioid epidemic.
(02:00):
We have more people being humantrafficked today than at any
time in human history, evenduring the European slavery.
We live on one of the largesthuman trafficking corridors in
the nation, interstate 5.
We even have a lonelinessepidemic.
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We have more friends than we'veever had clicking on our phones
and stuff and more people arelonely today than at any time
that we've recorded.
We don't have the privilege ofcoming into the house of God
without being concerned aboutwhat's going on in the world.
We are the people who need tobring the world to the throne of
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grace.
We don't have the privilege ofpretending of coming in and not
being concerned about our world.
I'm not talking about watchingthe news.
I am talking about beingconcerned about our world to
bring it to Jesus.
As followers of Christ, we'recalled to be his kingdom people,
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God's people, peacemakers, notwarriors.
We're called to serve ratherthan to be served.
We're not called to be apolitical persuasion or social
and economic philosophy, aracial or ethnic preference.
We are called to be kingdompeople, Kingdom people, that
(03:29):
kingdom people, we are called topursue justice and love mercy,
to walk humbly with God, to loveGod with all our heart, soul,
mind and strength, and to loveour neighbors as ourselves.
We are called to carry themessage of hope of Jesus Christ
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to the world around us.
We are called to put some skinin the game.
We are called to tear someholes in some roofs.
Our message, our testimony, oureffectiveness, our charity
become meaningless andirrelevant to the world.
That can be hostile at times ifwe allow our witness to be
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tainted by any other philosophy,doctrine, portent, profit,
cultural or nationalistic bias.
Our call is to berepresentatives of Jesus Christ
and I am calling us as people,as a church that's talking about
becoming missional again toremember we may not be able to
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control in the world what'sgoing on in the world.
We're going to talk about thattoday, right, the paralyzed man.
But we surely can control whowe take the world to.
We surely can control who wetake the world to.
We surely can control whosekingdom we promote.
That's our choice and I'mcalling you to join me in being
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promoters of the kingdom of Godand let him lead us wherever he
wants to lead us.
Now to our message.
That was a preliminary to themessage, but it's tied to the
message, because what we see isenduring empathy, is
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demonstrating a deepunderstanding of the goodness of
God to such an extent that itdrives us to lend our faith to
others until they get to thepoint where they can meet Jesus
for themselves and develop theirown faith.
That's my definition ofenjoying empathy.
It's not on the screen, soyou've got to listen to my
accent right.
Demonstrating a deepunderstanding of the goodness of
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God to the point that it drivesus to lend our faith to another
until they can meet Jesus forthemselves and demonstrate their
own faith.
We're going to see that todaywe're talking about the
missional church.
Remember the definition thatwe're using the resurgence of
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the missional church.
Developing a robust theology,which means an understanding of
God with radical vulnerability,with enduring empathy through
prevailing prayers in the powerof the Holy Spirit to the glory
of God.
Oh, we have it, thank you, see.
Our technical team is evenahead of me, you know.
(06:37):
I appreciate that very much.
A robust theology,understanding of God with
radical vulnerability, withenduring empathy through
prevailing prayer in the powerof the Holy Spirit, to the glory
of God.
So today we're going to talkabout enduring empathy.
Are we willing to journey withthe lost and with others until
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they come into thistransformational relationship
with God and be transformed bythe goodness of God?
Right, what we sang about theevidence of your goodness.
That's what it is right theevidence of God's goodness
become real in their lives.
That caused them to betransformed into the people God
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created them to be, so that theycan go out.
You can go out and be theevidence of God's goodness in
somebody else's life until theybecome transformed, and then
that person goes and does itover and over again.
Are we so overcome with thegoodness of God in our lives
that we are willing to see itexpressed in others around us?
Does the goodness of God inyour life move you to action on
(07:55):
behalf of others, or is it allabout me and getting to heaven?
We'll see that, demonstratedtoday by these friends who
brought their friend to Jesus.
So the first point we have isjourney with others until they
meet Jesus.
Journey with others until theymeet Jesus.
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In this passage in Mark, chapter2, we see Jesus returning to
his home base of ministry inCapernaum for the second time.
If you read chapter 1, he wenthome and as soon as he got to
Capernaum by the way, capernaumwas not the place where he was
raised, it wasn't even where hewas born.
Remember, right Bible triviawhen was Jesus born?
Where was he raised?
Nazareth and where was hisministry based?
Capernaum, all right, good.
(08:48):
So he's in Capernaum where hewent to base his ministry.
And I believe he went to basehis ministry there because it
put him right at the point wherehe was in contact with Jews and
Gentiles from the verybeginning.
Remember, on the western sidewas Jerusalem, with Judea and
(09:09):
Jerusalem and Samaria, and onthe eastern side of those
mountains was Decapolis.
And he put himself right on theedge.
If he goes left, he goes to hispeople, if he goes right, he
goes to the Gentiles, and hewent back and forth between them
.
So now he returned to hishometown, but the first time he
(09:30):
returned the word had spread somuch that he got crowded.
Everybody brought their people,their friends, to Peter's house
and Jesus was healing people allnight and he got tired, went to
bed and it says that he got upearly in the morning and went to
prayer.
That is a really good point forus when we seem to be overcome
(09:52):
by the cares of the world whenthings seem to be pressing in on
us.
When so many things arepressing in on us, it is a good
thing to get up early in themorning, find that solitude
place and meet with Jesus.
It will change your day, itwill change your life.
If Jesus could do it, we can doit.
(10:13):
If Jesus can do it, we can doit.
There's no excuse for notgetting into the Word of God.
Get up early and do it, becauseif our boss told us to show up
half an hour for work tomorrow,99% of us would show up half an
hour early for work.
So Jesus is telling you show uphalf an hour early to meet to
(10:33):
me, meet with me and spend sometime with me.
That's what the scripture said.
I'm not making this up.
It says he got up early afterdoing that and he went to prayer
.
And then it says the disciplesgot up.
It says he got up early afterdoing that and he went to prayer
.
And then it says the disciplesgot up.
They didn't see him.
So they came and found outwhere he was and he said what
did they say?
The people are looking for you.
And what did Jesus say let's gosomewhere else and preach.
(10:56):
So he took him out to the cityto preach.
So now in chapter two he'scoming back into the city and
he's trying to sneak in.
He's trying to sneak in so hecan get some rest.
Some of the scripture says andwhen the word got out, that he
was there again when peopleheard that he had come home.
(11:18):
Other version says when theword got out that he was home.
So somebody talked.
That should have been quiet.
And the next thing, you know,another crowd of people shows up
and the house is full again,people can't get in.
(11:40):
And what the scripture saidthey brought their people to be
healed and to be raised.
But what did Jesus do?
Jesus preached the word.
You see, if we just receivemiracles and healing without the
word, it's just a demonstration, it's just talk right.
That's why Jesus always had hispriorities first, you want to
be healed, your sins areforgiven.
(12:01):
Let's start with first thingsfirst.
So he started to preach theword and before he started to
heal people.
So here's where we come intothis.
Now he began to do, he began toteach the people and the people
were all gathered aroundlistening to him.
So in the Bible, empathy is theability to understand and share
(12:22):
our feelings of others.
It is closely linked to loveand compassion and is considered
a Christian virtue.
What does the scripture say?
Jesus was moved with compassion.
So some of the verses in theBible that talks about empathy.
If you look at Proverbs 21,verse 13, it says Whoever shuts
his ear to the cries of the poorwill also cry himself and not
(12:45):
be heard.
Wow, that's pretty direct.
We've been talking in ourSunday school class with Rick
about how direct Jesus can be,about some of the things he said
.
And whoever shuts his ears tothe poor, the cries of the poor,
will also himself cry and notbe heard.
Galatians, chapter 2, says bearone another's burdens First.
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Peter, chapter 3, verse 8, sayshave compassion for one another
, love as brothers, betender-hearted and be courteous.
Romans 12 15 says rejoice withthose who rejoice and mourn with
those who mourn.
Matthew, chapter 9, verse 36,says seeing the people, he felt
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compassion on them because theywere distressed and dispirited,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Luke, chapter 7, verse 13, sayswhen the Lord saw her, he had
compassion for her and said toher do not weep.
See, it's more than pity, it'smore than I'm sorry for you More
than I'm sorry, but I'll seeyou later.
(13:50):
Empathy in the Bible is acentral part of Christ-like
living.
It involves being concernedenough with the well-being of
others that it involves us beingwilling to support them in
their times of need.
It involves relating to thevulnerable.
It involves seeking justice forthose who cannot do so for
themselves Psalm 150.
It mirrors the compassion Godhas shown to humanity, to Jesus
(14:16):
Christ.
So the first thing isunderstanding this need to
journey with others until theyget to the point of meeting
Jesus.
And that takes us to the secondpoint, which is lend our faith
to others until they find theirown.
(14:36):
Lend our faith to others.
So these people, the word gotout and these friends decided to
bring their friend to Jesus,who was crippled.
Now listen to the words here.
They didn't say to him well,we're going to see Jesus.
If you can make it, we'll seeyou over there.
My car's got four seats in it,but I can't pick you up for
(15:03):
church.
What the scripture said.
They picked up their friend andsaid we are going to see Jesus
together, together, even thoughit was inconvenient, even though
it was hard.
Can you imagine carrying aperson on a stretcher all that
(15:25):
distance.
We don't know how long it was.
The scripture doesn't say howlong it was.
You know why?
Because God doesn't want somepeople who are strong to say
well, that's easy, I can do that.
He just leaves it open.
And they picked him up and theycarried him.
They committed to carry him aslong as it took to get him there
, no matter what it took.
(15:47):
Are we willing to get alongsidethe people around us?
Are we willing to get alongsideour friends and our family, and
are we willing to pick them upand carry them until they can
carry themselves?
Or are we just going to say youneed Jesus and walk to church
(16:09):
Like the Good Samaritan?
They just walk by, them right,say yeah, I got to get to church
, I got to get to do this, I gotto get to Bible study, I got to
get here, I got to get there.
No, they said we will pick youup and we will carry you to
Jesus.
Now here's the funny thingabout it is they didn't know if
Jesus was going to heal him ornot.
They were lending him theirfaith, saying if we can get you
(16:32):
there, there's a good chancethat he's going to heal you.
So we're going to act on faith.
We're going to pick you up andwe're going to carry you to see
Jesus, to meet Jesus.
When they got there, the placewas so crowded they said they
couldn't even get to the door.
Now most people would quit andsay, man, we tried hard, maybe
(16:54):
next time.
But no, they said we broughthim to see Jesus, we are not
deterred, he is going to seeJesus, period.
We are staying here until hedoes.
So they couldn't get aroundthat.
So then they decided to go upon the roof right, and it seemed
(17:16):
insurmountable.
Could you imagine that youcarry your friend all of this
distance?
And now you've got to carry himup this?
Most of the houses had a ladderon the outside, because people
would get up on their roof toeat and to sleep, sometimes when
it got too hot, or sometimeseven the trash to eat and stuff
like that.
So according to the script,according to the historic text,
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there was probably a ladderthere, but now they got to carry
him up the ladder onto the roofand then they get up on the
roof and it's like, how are wegoing to get him in there?
But think about it.
Why would you carry somebody upon the roof if you can't get
into the house.
Well, they figured it out.
(17:59):
They figured it out.
You see, the question is are wein it for the long haul to see
our friends and family come tomeet Jesus?
How far are we willing to go?
How much disturbance are wewilling to cause?
How much disturbance are wewilling to cause?
How much empathy are we willingto have?
You see, philip said toNathaniel, he said we have found
(18:19):
this one.
We think he's the one.
Come and see.
He went and he got him and hedidn't say go down there and see
Jesus.
He said come and see, I amcarrying you to meet this Jesus.
The woman at the well, whenJesus talked to her, she went
back to her family.
What did she say?
Come and see this man who toldme everything about me.
(18:41):
I think he is the one.
That is radical vulnerability,because Jesus told her
everything about her, what shewanted to know and what she
didn't want to know.
He told her no, and she goesback to her family and the
friends and says come and seethis man, not being deterred by
her past, not being deterred bywhat they were going to think,
(19:03):
not being deterred aboutanything.
They said we are going to getthis man to Jesus.
So they began tearing apart theroof.
Now that is a bold move byanybody roof Now that is a bold
move by anybody's measure.
That's a bold move, right?
And this was not a hut, thiswas a house.
So in those days the house hadlateral things just like ours,
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and then they would put catch onit and mud and stuff like that
to harden it.
But it was hard enough, like wesaid, that people could go up
there and sleep, they could eat,they could talk, so it wasn't
just a little thing.
So they had to dismantle theentire roof, a section, to get
him in.
Could you imagine that?
Could you imagine Peter in thehouse saying what is going on?
(19:49):
What are you guys doing upthere?
What are you trying to do?
It's not your house.
So that's like you showing upat my house and he's telling me
you want to get in and you'rejust going to knock out the
window at the back door and comein.
That was the first bold move.
(20:10):
The second bold move the firstbold move was to bring him.
The first bold move was tobring him.
The second bold move was totake him up on the roof.
Now they're opening it.
And now that's what they'redoing.
Can you imagine the commotionand the disturbance this caused
in the meeting?
Jesus is there preaching andthis is teaching and, you know,
the dust began to come down andit's like, okay, what's going on
up there, you know?
And then a little bit of mudbegin to come down.
(20:31):
You see the light, you know,begin to open up and open up.
You know, I mean, this is realstuff.
It wasn't just magic.
He didn't just say abracadabraand he landed in the middle.
This was a commotion.
They were taking the wholething apart and Jesus is
preaching.
Now the scripture said Jesusdidn't start preaching.
He probably wasn't surprised.
(20:52):
He probably knew they were outthere and what they were going
to do.
But could you imagine theboldness?
And now Peter looks up andthere's a big hole in his roof
and Jesus is preaching and he'slike, well, who's going to fix
that when this is all done?
But the friends wasn't deterred.
(21:14):
In fact, one commentator saystheir desperate desire to get
their friend to the person whocould help him is more important
than the awkwardness of thenarrative of the situation or
the damage to the property.
How much disturbance are youwilling to cause to see people
come to Jesus.
There's no way in the scripturethat they apologize for any of
(21:40):
this.
Not a word about apology.
It's like we.
Our friend is going to meetJesus now we don't know if he's
going to get healed or not, butwhat we control is that we can
take him to Jesus and let Jesustake over from there.
You see, our goal is just toget them there.
(22:02):
We don't have to save them.
We can't save anybody.
We can't give anybody eternallife.
But if we can just get them infront of Jesus, if we can just
get them in front of Jesus andhave enough faith that he can do
what he says he will do, hedoesn't need our help to save
them.
He just needs our help to getthem there.
(22:23):
So they got them there.
So empathy is not pity.
It's not feeling sorry, it'snot passing somebody on to
somebody else.
Well, I brought you to church,so now I'm going to let the
pastor tell you about Jesus.
Well, if you know Jesus, whydon't you tell him about the
Jesus who saved you?
Why don't you start the story?
Let the pastor continue it.
(22:44):
You know it's compassion thatdraws us to action.
It's getting our hands in themud and being willing to skin
our fingers and do whatever ittakes to get them to Jesus.
You see, people don't need ourpity.
They don't need us feelingsorry for them.
They don't need us to beat themdown and tell us how wrong they
(23:06):
are and how bad they are.
They don't need to be beatendown by our Western Christian
philosophies that many timeshave nothing to do with what the
Bible has to say.
Right, they want to do.
All they need is for us to getthem to the place where they can
encounter the enduring goodnessof God and experience His love
and His grace and His mercy.
(23:27):
And he can do all the rest, andhis mercy and he can do all the
rest.
Are we willing not to give upon our friends and family, our
community and our neighbors?
Are we going to say the Biblesays well, in the last days,
(23:48):
there's going to be hard times,so I guess the hard times are
here.
Why bother?
In the last days there's goingto be hard times, so I guess the
hard times are here.
Why bother?
Are we going to continue tobelieve that Jesus can still
save, jesus can still heal,jesus can still restore broken
hearts, he can still heal brokenwounds.
(24:09):
He can still find our childrenwho may be away off in a foreign
land.
He can still save them if welend them our faith until they
find their faith of their own.
Empathy is one of the enduringqualities that God demands of
those who are called to be hisservants.
(24:30):
Anthony Salvaggio said thatit's one of the enduring
qualities that God demands ofthose who are called to be his
servants.
Empathy is communicated byentering into another person's
world, both the thinking, thethoughts and feeling, the
(24:51):
emotions that they feel, enoughto drive us to action.
So then the third point.
Third point take the returnjourney into transformation
through discipleship.
So now we get down to the verseand all the commotion has
settled down because he's inthere.
They've lowered him down rightto the verse and all the
commotion to settle down becausehe's in there.
(25:11):
They have lowered him downright.
And did you wonder where theyget the ropes from?
They didn't know that they weregoing to have to go up on the
roof.
How'd they get him down there?
You know you think about all ofthese things how much effort
these friends had to put forthto make this thing happen.
You know, to make this thinghappen.
(25:32):
So he gets before Jesus andeverything settles down.
The room is a lot brighter nowbecause there's probably a
six-foot-by-four-foot hole inthe roof than there was before.
A lot cooler because it's nowair-conditioned, right, the
(25:53):
temperature dropped.
I mean, could you imagine ahouse that's full with all those
people to the door In that partof the world?
It was probably pretty hot inthere.
So he gets in front of Jesus andwhat's the first thing that
Jesus says?
It says the scripture says whenJesus saw their faith, whose
(26:14):
faith did he see?
The friends, not the mans.
When Jesus saw their faith,when Jesus sees your faith, how
far you're willing to go tobring people to him, he's going
to recognize it.
He's going to recognize it andhe's going to recognize it.
He's going to recognize it andhe's going to look at them and
(26:36):
he's going to say it your sinsare forgiven you.
And isn't that why we wentthrough all the effort in the
first place?
Isn't that why we go throughall the effort in the first
place?
So where they can get to thatpoint and see your sins are
forgiven you.
Now, to some of us we say, well,he didn't bring them there.
(26:56):
They didn't bring him there toget his sins forgiven.
They brought him there to gethim healed.
But you see, jesus alwaysbegins with first things first.
What's the sense of meetingJesus and getting healed and
walking away with a new personand walk away with all your sins
and all your burdens?
What's the sense of meetingJesus and getting healed and
walking away with a new personand walk away with all your sins
and all your burdens?
What's the sense of that?
You're just walking around, nowdifferent, but you're not any
(27:21):
different on the inside.
It's just all outside.
You see, if you're going tobring people to meet Jesus,
we've got to believe thatthey're going to meet Jesus
first and then he's going tochange their life.
It happens in that sequence hechanged them first and then he
changes their lives.
He changes them on the insidefirst and then he changes them
(27:44):
on the outside.
But his friends didn't arguebecause they got their mission
accomplished.
Their mission was to introducehim to Jesus.
They did that.
Now Jesus took over.
He said seeing their faith, hewas moved with compassion and he
said your sins are forgiven.
You being able to walk andstill carrying your sins around
(28:04):
is just walking around, butbeing transformed by the power
of the Holy Spirit is a completenew life.
It's newness to life, it'stransformation, it's eternal
life.
It's a new way of thinking, anew way of talking, a new way of
acting, because now you're notjust able to walk, now you're
able to walk with Jesus.
You guys are so quiet.
So the good old Christians, thechurch board, the board of
(28:37):
deacons and the board ofsuperintendents are in the room
and they see this stuff.
And what do they say?
Instead of rejoicing with theman, instead of having empathy,
instead of rejoicing, what doman?
Instead of having empathy,instead of rejoicing, what do
they say?
Who is this man?
Who can forgive sins?
Only God can forgive sins.
(29:00):
You see, sometimes we can becomeso churchy that we don't even
recognize when Jesus shows up.
We are more worried about therules and the regulations and
how we do all of this stuff.
And he's standing right thereand says you call me and I am
here.
His Shekinah glory is fillingthe house and we're worried
about what time we're going toget out.
It says who can forgive sins?
(29:25):
Only God can forgive sins.
And what dawned on me when Iread this the other day?
And I'm not this brilliant, soit's got to be from God.
I'm not this smart.
God is smart and it sayssometimes the answers to the
questions that we have are rightin the questions themselves.
Sometimes the questions we areasking, the answer is in the
(29:48):
question.
Because we know what the answeris.
We just don't want to accept it.
So we ask the question, hopingwe're going to get a different
answer.
And Jesus said the answer is inthe question.
I am Jesus, I am the Son of God, I have authority to forgive
sins.
(30:08):
So when you ask who is this manwho has authority to forgive
sins, he says I have authorityto forgive sins.
So when you ask who is this manwho has authority to forgive
sins, he says I have authorityto forgive sins.
I answered your question foryou.
You knew that.
You just didn't want to acceptit because you're too holy to be
Christ-like.
Sometimes we can be so holy westop being Christ-like.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
(30:31):
When we fail to empathize withpeople, to walk with people to
give them the same grace thatwas given to us before we came
to meet Jesus.
We are being too holy to beChrist-like Because at one time
our life was a mess too.
So why do we want them to fixtheir life up before they come
(30:54):
to Jesus.
When Jesus took us in our messand our brokenness and all the
crap that we brought to him, allthe fifth that we laid on the
altar, and now we want people toget right before they come to
Jesus, where's the same graceand mercy that was offered to us
at the foot of the cross?
It's not there.
(31:16):
That's becoming too holy to beChrist like, because we forget
where we came from.
We forget what Jesus saved usfrom and we forgot what he saved
us to.
So Jesus says just to show youand to demonstrate to these
people that the answer that youwant is right here, he says I'm
(31:41):
not just going to heal him, I'mgoing to give them what they
came to get.
And he said to the man get upand walk, get up and walk, get
up and walk.
You see, since I don't onlyhave the power to forgive sins,
I can restore what was broken.
(32:01):
You came in here broken.
You came in here unable to walk.
You came in here on thisstretcher.
Your friends were carrying you,but when you walk out of here,
you're going to be walking.
You're going to be carryingthat stretcher.
Your friends were carrying you.
But when you walk out of here,you're going to be walking.
You're going to be carryingthat stretcher.
You're not going to be carryingyou anymore.
Now you can go out and betransformed.
You've been transformed by mypower, so now you can go to work
(32:23):
.
You see, jesus said to get upand walk.
Get up and walk.
Get up and walk intoforgiveness.
Get up and walk into newness oflife.
Get up and walk into hope.
Get up and walk into newness oflife.
Get up and walk into hope.
Get up and walk into a brandnew life with transformed
possibilities.
Get up and walk into yourfuture.
Get up and walk with someoneelse until they too come to
Jesus, to meet Jesus.
(32:43):
Get up and walk with boldness.
Get up and walk in theauthority that God has given you
.
Forget what people said youwere, because he was an outcast.
Jesus says I have healed you.
Now get up and walk.
Walk away from church people andwalk to Jesus people.
Walk to the people who aregoing to help you, to take you
to Jesus Christ.
Get up and walk where you'venever walked before.
(33:04):
Come on church, get up and walkuntil you become a full
disciple of Jesus Christ.
Get up out of your seats andwalk.
Walk to the places where you'venever been before.
Walk with the outcasts.
Walk with those who need JesusChrist.
Walk to reach your heights thatyou've never reached before.
Walk with somebody else anddisciple them in the ways of
(33:25):
Jesus Christ.
Get up and walk.
Get up.
I'm wrong.
Too many times Jesus gives uswhat we want or we just sit down
there and nobody to get up andwalk in it.
We got to get up and walk.
(33:46):
What does the scripture say?
He did he get up and walk.
He got up and he walked intothe fullness of that thing.
What does it say?
Read it.
It says he got up and walked.
He walked out in front of allthe people.
Jesus is calling you to get upand walk.
Get up and walk.
Get up and walk.
(34:06):
Don't stay where you are.
He's called you to somethingnew.
Get up and walk.
Get up and walk.
Don't stay where you are.
He's called you to somethingnew.
Get up and walk.
Somebody needs to get up andwalk.
Don't just sit there and clap.
Get up and walk, because Godhas called you to be different.
Enjoying empathy is walking ina growing understanding of the
(34:27):
goodness of God with othersuntil they get their faith and
they begin to walk too.
That's how we become amissional church.
That's how we become amissional church, god.
I ask the worship team to comeon up.
Sometimes we don't want to walkwith other people because we
(35:00):
don't want to be called names.
We don't.
They may not be the mostpleasant people, they may not be
whatever you may think.
We don't want to walk with thembecause we're afraid of may not
be whatever you may think.
We don't want to walk with thembecause we're afraid of what
other people are going to think.
If we don't walk with them,who's going to walk with them If
we're not willing to get besidethe lowly, the outcasts, the
(35:21):
people around us that peoplethink are not cool, people that
we don't want in ourneighborhoods or in our schools?
We're not willing to walk withthe gang members and the drug
addicts, the opioid addicts, theprostitute.
We're not willing to walk withthe teachers and the doctors and
(35:45):
the bankers If we're notwilling to walk with a person
who abuses their wife and theirchildren, if we're not willing
to walk with those who drink andthose who smoke and those who
do all the things that we, asholy people, don't like to do,
if you're not willing to go inthe bars and on the highways and
byways of life and take theHoly Spirit and not believe not
(36:07):
believing you're going to becontaminated.
Well, we don't get contaminatedwhen we go in those places.
We take the Holy Spirit in.
If you're afraid to getinvolved with people because
you're afraid you're going tobecome like them, first of all
your faith is too weak.
Secondly, your discipleship ismissing and thirdly, you don't
trust the Holy Spirit Becausethe apostles never went into any
(36:29):
place and they came out likethe people they went in after.
The people came out different.
In fact, in the book ofEphesians it says when the
apostles showed up in Ephesus,what did they say?
These people who've beencausing commotion all over the
world have now come to our city.
What would happen if you walkinto work tomorrow and somebody
(36:51):
says this person who's beencausing commotion all over the
place is now in this workplaceand somebody's going to get
saved this week?
Or you got a friend or familymember who's been going through
a tough time and you need to bepraying for them.
You need to pick up the phoneand call them and say I'm
(37:11):
praying for you, I'm prayingwith you.
I don't know what the answer is, but I know somebody who knows
what the answer is.
I may not be able to help youwith everything you have, but I
can help you to the throne ofgrace until he reveals to you
(37:32):
what he's got in store for you.
Are we willing to bring thatperson in our lives who we don't
agree with, we can't talk with.
We have whatever it is likeJeff testified this morning that
(37:53):
broken relationship?
They may not return our phonecalls or answer our messages,
but are you still willing tocarry them to Jesus Until they
meet Jesus and they pick up thephone and call you and say thank
you for praying for me for allof those years and not giving up
(38:13):
on me, not giving up on me?
Are you willing to walk withyour children who turn away from
God until they come back to God?
Are you willing to walk withyour son or your daughter or
your grandchild or your cousinor your aunt, your nephew, who
is heterosexual, who ishomosexual, who is LGBTQ and we
(38:34):
don't like that?
Are we willing to walk withthem until they meet Jesus?
The Scripture doesn't say weneed to like the people around
us.
It doesn't say we need to bringthem to Jesus.
It doesn't say we need to likewhat they do or how they live.
It says we need to bring themto Jesus.
(38:57):
And we don't have to walkaround with a big sign and a big
fish on our car or a chain onour neck or a tattoo with a big
cross to demonstrate thegoodness of God.
We need to engage with people.
(39:20):
Engage with people, be willingto get into the mess, be willing
to hear stories, be willing tolisten to their stories, be
willing to engage people in themess, because God saved us from
our mess and if he could save mefrom my mess, he can save
(39:42):
somebody else from their mess.
We don't even need to like howthey smell somebody else from
their mess.
We don't even need to like howthey smell.
Prodigal son right, came homefrom a pig pen, smelling and
walking all that distance.
What does the scripture say?
His father put his arms aroundhim.
Do you think he had a bathbefore he went home?
(40:05):
And he put perfume on?
His father put his arms aroundhim, just how he was.
He says come in, come in, youcan get cleaned up after you
come into the house, after theycome into the house of God,
after they come into arelationship with him.
After they come in is when theyget the cleaning up.
(40:26):
Because cleaning up and puttingperfume on and new clothes, you
still got the mess.
You just cover it up with asmell, a new smell.
But when you meet Jesus, whenthey meet Jesus, when they come
into the house and he changedthem, changed them from the
inside out they don't needperfume anymore because the
(40:48):
perfume is a perfume of the HolySpirit.
So, as I wrap this up, billyGraham said that salvation is
free, but discipleship costs useverything.
If we're going to be a truedisciple, it will cost us
(41:11):
everything.
Diedrich Bonhoeffer sayssalvation without discipleship
is just cheap grace.
That's like getting walkingagain and not be saved, you just
walk it.
And then NT Wright saiddiscipleship always involves the
(41:31):
unexpected and sometimes thatcan scare us because we like to
know everything before we go infirst and when we get engaged
with people there's a lot ofthings we're not going to know
until we engage.
So if we're afraid of theunexpected, we're going to be
(41:52):
afraid to engage with people.
But if we believe that God isable, that the goodness of God
is able to overshadow all, wecan walk into the unexpected
with the expectation that thesame God who brought us there
will take us through and he willenable us to be a fruit and a
salvation and a witness to otherpeople.
(42:13):
If you try to walk by yourself,you're going to fail
Christianity.
Our price-like walk is notabout walking by ourselves.
It's about walking with others.
We call it discipleship or wecall it whatever you want to
call it, but it's about walkingtogether.
That's why the text began withtheir walk together.
(42:35):
They brought him together.
Many scriptures say that Jesuswalked with his disciples and
when he was walking with them,he taught them.
On the road to Emmaus, theywere walking and the Holy Spirit
said Jesus went up to them andwalked with them.
As they were walking, it wasrevealed to them who he was.
(42:58):
Our relationship with Christgrows by walking with him and
walking with others.
Walk in with him and walk inwith others.
So today I want to ask you areyou willing to engage in
enduring empathy?
It may not be easy, it may notbe comfortable, it may be
(43:23):
unexpected.
You may have to do some hardwork.
You may have to do some hardwork, Maybe have to tear up a
few roofs, get some people madat you, but are you willing to
walk?
Are you willing to do whateverit takes to see our world won to
Jesus Christ?
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