My Corner of the Cot

7th Sunday after Epiphany

Mark 2:1-12

Last week while I was in Oklahoma City, I stopped at a local bookstore to browse for a while. I picked up a copy of a book by Thomas Long entitled “The Witness of Preaching” – it deals with the art and process of sermon preparation. The author shares a poignant insight when he says, “To be a preacher is to be a midwife of the word, and the midwife has to be comfortable in the labor room; she is skilled and compassionate in the bringing forth of life. The midwife does not create the child; the child has already been formed. The babies she delivers are not her possessions, but a gift that she hands over. The midwife listens attentively to the heartbeat of both the mother and the child . . . The new mother has the opportunity and responsibility to embrace and nurture her gift.[1]

I like that illustration. The sermon this week is not mine. I was given this message early on Tuesday morning – startled awake from my sleep as from a bad dream. I wrestled and prayed in the darkness for about an hour, then I got up and made some notes. This has never happened to me before, and so I can tell you that this is not my message. God’s word to you is the gift – the newborn baby, and you are the waiting mother.

Of course, I would be the midwife in this example, and if that is so, for too much of our time together, I have not done my job very well. Most weeks, I have not done a good enough job of placing this gift of “a word from God” in your arms, and then encouraging you to embrace and nurture it. You watch me each week as I rise from my place. I come from among you, and I am one of you. Too much of the time I am too concerned about being one of you to speak that which we need to hear. Too much of the time I hand you a word that is less than the word of God, and then wonder why you don’t embrace and nurture the gift. I haven’t done my job well – I’ve been too busy trying to be one of you that I haven’t challenged you to be the best you.

Do you remember the first time you heard this story from the scriptures? I remember this as one of the earliest stories of my childhood – most likely from the third grade. As a boy, I liked much of this story – there was a lot of action in this story. Friends carrying a friend – knocking a hole in the roof – lowering their friend to Jesus, because he couldn’t get to Jesus any other way. I liked this story. I still like this story.

The “Jesus part” of this story is easy for us today. We’ve been hearing a lot of healing stories over these past several weeks – Mark spends most of the first and second chapters of his gospel pointing out that Jesus was present and ready to heal in every circumstance. By the time we get to this story, we get the point. Jesus was ready to heal this man. There were certainly barriers. Too many people were crowded around Jesus that day. Too many people were in the way. But He was ready and willing to heal this paralytic. There were those who were standing around, maybe in the doorway, who were ready to condemn Jesus for healing – first the man’s heart, as He said, “Your sins are forgiven,” – and then the man’s physical infirmity, as He said, “Stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” They were ready to condemn Jesus, but He remained present and ready to heal this man. The Jesus part of this story is so very clear to us – Jesus does the healing, which in this story, is more than just a metaphor for “accomplishing our salvation.”

We best understand a story when we can put ourselves in the place of the characters of the story. We have been several of the characters in this story – but we have not been Jesus. If we think we have been Jesus in this story, we must ask for forgiveness. We may have been guilty of sitting back and saying to ourselves, “If he really wants to be healed, he’ll find a way to get himself in here were I can do something about it.” We may have found ourselves sitting in this place – wondering why more people weren’t knocking down our doors to get in here and find healing. I don’t think that was the question Jesus was asking Himself that day. I think He was asking a different question – I think perhaps He was asking Himself, “I wonder when that man’s friends are going to go get him and bring him to me? I wonder when the church is going to find a way to get the people to me who need what I have to offer?” No, I don’t think we have been Jesus in this story.

But we have been this man – this man who needs Jesus, but doesn’t have a clear means by which he can get to Jesus. We have been this man, and much of the time we are still this man. Even after we become Christian, we are always needing to get to where Jesus is – we are always in need of healing and the touch that Jesus offers. There are people in this room this morning who are being carried to Jesus by your sheer presence this morning, or by the kindness of your voice as you listen to their prayer requests, or by the way you lift your voice to God as you sing choruses and hymns of faith to our God. Each week, I am carried to Jesus as I sense your desire and need to hear the word of God, stated by your presence, your gifts, and your words of encouragement. I need you to help me get to Jesus – every week. If we are honest enough to admit it, every person in this room needs the other people in this room to help get us all to Jesus – each and every week.

I received an e-mail this week that had a picture of a church marquee on it which read, “Staying at home and shouting, Oh God! Does not constitute going to church.” You know that much of my preaching reminds you and me of the wonderful gift which is ours, that we call church – especially “this” church – Cornerstone. You and I have been given a gift. Know this - while I preach often about the value of our church, I do not simply equate “church attendance” as a metaphor for “serving Christ.” But as the same time, I know that the gift that has been given to us is something tremendously important. It is valuable, like a newborn baby, and we must lavishly and consistently nurture our congregation as we would a newborn infant.

In this story, we are also like the four friends. A couple of weeks ago I attended a funeral. At the end of the funeral I watched as the pall bearers lined up to help carry the coffin from the church to the hearse. Five of the pall bearers found their place rather quickly, and then they waited on the sixth person to arrive. It was a poignant moment as they waited for the person to show up to help carry their share of the burden.

The scripture tells us that there were four friends who carried the paralytic. You and I have picked up our corner of the cot for those who need to get to Jesus. I thought on Tuesday morning what those four corners might represent. I think one corner of that cot represents presence. We began the service this morning by talking about the difference between greeting someone at worship, and welcoming someone. When we invite people to our homes, we welcome them – we want them to feel that our home is inviting and warm and safe as they spend time with us. When we welcome people to church, we do much the same. One corner of this cot represents presence as we welcome people who come to Christ.

A second corner represents compassion. That word literally means “with” and “passion.” We welcome people into Christ’s presence, and we show them that we truly and sincerely care. We care about their need, we care about their hopes and dreams, and we intend to walk alongside them as we carry them to Jesus.

The third corner of the cot represents understanding. You know, understanding someone takes a commitment of time and energy. We have all known the touch of someone who took the time to get to know us, because they wanted to help us find what we needed. People need many things. You and I know that the thing they need the most is really a person – our friend, Jesus.

The fourth corner of the cot represents our will. Jesus may have been wondering how these friends were going to get their friend to Jesus. Perhaps they were wondering, too. There were obstacles. Four people carrying one person just a short distance isn’t an easy thing. There were too many people in the way – they couldn’t get in through the front door. So they went up on the roof. The scripture says that they removed the roof and dug through it. That couldn’t have been easy, let alone safe. But they had decided to get their friend to Jesus – whatever it took. He needed help, and they took him to Jesus.

At my pastor’s meeting on Monday, we talked about how people view church today. Far too many people have a consumer mentality of church – they come to church because they perceive that they will “get something out of it.” We must start thinking of the church differently. This is our church. We are all needed. When you don’t show up, one corner of the cot is left unattended. Each one of us has a corner of the cot to take up. It’s hard enough to carry someone when all four corners are covered – but when people start letting go of their corner, it becomes virtually impossible to carry those who need to get to Jesus.

There’s one other question to think about in this story. How did word get to these friends that their paralytic friend wanted to get to Jesus? Did the friend cry out to them, “Help me get to Jesus?” Or did the idea dawn on one of them, and then he recruited three others to help him?

About 20 years ago, I went through a seminar on church growth that advocated “Friendship Evangelism.” They made one important point that has stuck with me for these years. They did research on how people get to church, and more importantly, how they remain at church. Do you know what they found? The people who joined and remained active in a church found and developed seven friendships. That was the critical number. If they had seven or more friends, they were significantly more likely to remain in the church than if they had six or fewer friends.

You and I know people who need to get to Jesus. Don’t try to get them here all by yourself. Using the props from the story, if you do that, you’ll end up dragging them on their cot, and that’s not a pretty picture. Rather, look to others in our church who can help you get your friend, or your relative, or your neighbor to Jesus. We’ll help. We want to help.

I can hear the voices from this story. I can hear the man crying out to his friends, “Help get me to Jesus.” Can you hear him? I can hear Jesus as He sits wondering, “When is the church going to help that guy get here?

And I can hear the church. I can hear us as we say, “I want to help carry his cot. I want to pick up my corner of the cot. Let’s find a way to get him to Jesus. Jesus will help him. All we have to do is get him to Jesus.

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.

[1] Thomas Long, “The Witness of Preaching,” Westminster John Knox Press, p. 13.