Community

"And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

"And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

"And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

"And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." (Luke 5:17-20)

As I read the story told in Luke 5 of the man sick with the palsy whom Jesus healed, I am drawn, not just by the miracle itself, but by what happened before the miracle.

This man was paralyzed. We don’t know to what extent, but can assume that since he was confined to his bed, his legs at least were affected. Even if he had faith to believe that Jesus could heal him, he was unable to go where Jesus was in order for the Lord to pray for him. If it had not been for this man’s friends, he would have been utterly helpless.

Whether the paralytic had heard that Jesus was going to be nearby and asked his friends to take him there, or his friends heard it and decided to take him to Jesus, is irrelevant. The point is: the man’s friends became intimately involved in their friend’s troubles. Scripture doesn’t reveal how far these four friends needed to carry this man and his bed, but it didn’t matter; their resolve was apparent from the story itself. Whether near or far, I believe that they were prepared to do whatever was necessary to get their friend to Jesus.

Just conveying their sick buddy to Jesus turned out to be the least of their problems. Once they arrived at the house where Jesus was teaching, they found it was packed with people. There was no way to bring the man and his bed inside to get close to the Lord. This didn’t stop them, however. Surveying the building, they determined that if they hauled their friend to the roof, and removed enough tiles, they could lower him down right before the Teacher Himself. This is exactly what they did. Many folks would have given up at this point. What an outrageous thing to do to tear a roof apart to lower a bed inside! What an extraordinary effort this took! “And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” When Jesus saw their faith – not the sick man’s faith only, but his friend’s also - then He was moved by it.

Many Christians today are mavericks. It’s a symptom of the age that we’re living in, I suppose. We want to be self-sufficient – not dependant on anyone else. We would rather do without, than ask someone for help. God, however, has called us to community. His Church – His Body – is all about individual members becoming one in Christ, and supplying together what they could not possibly supply independently. The miracle healing of the paralytic man happened only because of these four men who were willing to help where they saw the need.

When Israel faced the armies of the Amalekites in the wilderness, they were able to prevail in battle only as long as Moses held his arms above his head with the rod of God (Exodus 17). When his arms grew weary, and he dropped them to rest, then Amalek would prevail. Aaron and Hur, who were with Moses on the mount that overlooked the battle, sat him on a rock, and stood on either side of him holding his arms up the remainder of that day until Israel won the fight. This is the type of resolve we must have. We are indeed in a battle of historic proportions. The enemy of our souls seeks to destroy the work of God on earth. It is the anointed ministries, and the spiritual gifting that God has given to the members of His body, that will vanquish the enemy and his designs on the human race. We cannot hold this “rod of God” aloft for long in our own strength, however. We need the support of our brothers and sisters as we minister for the Lord just as they need our support as they are used of God. Together we can gain mighty victories in the Lord!

Our strength is in our diversity. Just as the members of the human body are diverse one from another so that they may supply the various needs of the body, so also is the body of Christ. My gifts and calling are different than yours; but so, also, is every aspect of my human-ness. God has placed us in the body with all our differences in gender, ethnicity, education, experience, and culture, so that, what one member can’t supply on his own, another may. We are diverse because the needs of society are diverse.

In the 6^th chapter of Ephesians, Paul tells us to be, “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” (Ephesians 6:10, 11). He goes on to warn us that is a spiritual battle that we are fighting, and that there are unseen forces at work to destroy us and the work that we would do for Christ. Paul then describes the various articles of the armor of God that we are given for our protection. One item that is often overlooked as part of the arsenal, however, is mentioned at the very end of the list. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak,” (Ephesians 6:18-20). We must never cease to pray for one another that God would not only make us strong in the faith, but bold in our declaration of the Gospel.

Like it or not, God has placed us together in this body of Christ. I pray that our faith might be moved for one another as much as it is for our own selves. I pray that as a body we might all look for ways that we can be like the paralytic man’s friends: willing to go to extraordinary means in order to see a miracle worked!

"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." – Hebrews 10:23-25