(The video “Open,” by Rob Bell is shown.)

What did you notice or see?

You saw an accident. Who hit who?

What issues were raised for her?

What did Rob Bell have to say about it?

Here are two notable quotations from the video: “For Jesus, prayer was being open to the God who's at work here and now.”

“Jesus' questions assume that he is going to be involved in the answer. Jesus' assumption is there is some role for him to play in this creative, ongoing work of God in the world.”

Let’s think about that as we read together today’s gospel story.

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

When he saw their faith ... Not the faith of the paralyzed man, but the faith of those who carried him to Jesus. We pray because Jesus looks to our faith to bring those in need to him!

he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Four friends have brought a paralyzed man to Jesus. So intent are they that Jesus see their friend that they open the thatched roof where Jesus is so that their sick friend can be lowered to Jesus.

What's fascinating here is that the presenting issue that Jesus sees--the major issue that needs healing in this man's life--is his need for forgiveness. They lower a paralyzed friend in front of Jesus and Jesus says, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” More on that in a minute.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’?

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? It's interesting that both Jesus and his enemies agree that the greatest challenge before them is not in giving life and movement back to a paralyzed body but in granting forgiveness to a soul that cannot let go--or that cannot be allowed to let go--of something in the past that is hindering life now. By comparison, healing paralysis is a breeze!

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

...

Because I brought my ukulele to the Mission Trip, the organizers thought it might be a good idea for my work crew to take a day off from our construction-type work and visit a nearby Nursing Home and sing for the folks there.

Before going to the Home, I had been told to keep my eye out for one resident in particular, a thirty year-old woman in a wheelchair named Melissa. Melissa, I had been told, had been driving with three others on her 18th birthday when the car they were driving in was hit head-on by a car driven by someone else on the reservation, a woman. Of the five people involved in the crash--four in Melissa's car and one in the other--four were drunk and four walked (or crawled) away uninjured. The only person who wasn't drunk was the only person who was injured. And that was Melissa.

Melissa, I was told, was still understandably bitter and angry about what had happened to her. “Make sure you meet her," the people on the trip told me, knowing I was a pastor.

What was I going to be able to do or say to her?

Sure enough, however, my group and I met Melissa and spent a charming hour with her.

Melissa, it turns out, is the equivalent of Indian royalty! She is the great-granddaughter of one of the most famous Sioux indians of all times, the great chief Red Cloud. (It's Red Cloud, by the way, whose profile was the model for the so-called Indian head nickel!)

Anyway, we chatted with Melissa and learned about her life, including her accident. We were getting ready to go when an elderly resident of the home came outside to where we were, asking if we'd play one last song before we left.

For whatever reason--partly because it sounded good on the ukulele and partly because the kids on my work crew knew it--I suggested we sing a song we're all going to sing, called, Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.

Now, truth be told, I don't always pay attention to the words that I'm singing. Not just with contemporary songs like this one, but all songs. I often just kind of sing them mindlessly.

In the midst of singing this song, however, I decided to suddenly stop and explain the words.

We had just finished singing verse 3: Blessed be Your name When the sun’s shining down on me When the world’s all as it should be Blessed be Your name. I explained that the singer was thanking God and was grateful when everything was right with the world. The sun is shining. Everything is great. Blessed be your name.

But, I said, the song goes on! Verse 4 says, Blessed be Your name On the road marked with suffering Though there’s pain in the offering Blessed be Your name. Then come the lines, You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, Blessed be your name.

Immediately, it was like electricity was running through us. "What does that mean?" Melissa asked intently. I said, the writer is choosing to bless God even in the bad times, even in the midst of suffering.

"How do you do that?" Melissa asked. And you could tell she really wanted to know! She said, "I just can't let go of what happened to me."

And then the miracle occurred. Spontaneously--but from the bottom of their hearts--these Southeastern Pennsylvania teenagers began talking about their faith and, in particular, about the forgiveness that they had found in God. Equally astounding to me--to me, who grew up in the Church and who, frankly, often treats forgiveness as if it's rather plain and ordinary--Melissa honestly had never heard about forgiveness like this and how God can set people free from the things that bind and cripple them.

Back to today's reading. Some friends bring a paralyzed man to Jesus. But what Jesus evidently sees in him, more than his paralysis, is his need to be freed by the power of forgiveness. "Son, your sins are forgiven." When this causes a controversy among Jesus' opponents, he says, Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

This week, who might you know who needs to know this and to be freed? In Jesus' name. Amen!