"What We Really Need" - Mark 2:1-12 - February 20, 2000

In the early 90’s my wife and I had a dog. He was a golden retriever, full of affection for everyone in the family but also full of energy. One summer, stormy afternoon, Jake, was extremely nervous because of the thunder and lightening. We kept him in the garage during the storm. While we were gone, Jake became desperate to find security in the house and clawed his way through the garage wall into the kitchen. When we returned Jake’s head was peering at us through a hole he had made in the wall. Of course we wanted to send him to the pound on the spot, but you should have seen the look of guilt in his big brown eyes. He was pathetic.

Actually, we humans are really no different than Jake. When there is something we really need we will do just about anything to get it, especially if it will improve our health or personal welfare. People will pay a huge price to be treated at the Cleveland Clinic or some other specialty hospital to be cured of their diseases. People will "sell the farm" to find a simpler life in the city or retirement community. Why do folks move to Florida, but to escape the harsh, cold winters in the Midwest. People who are determined to make their lives better will go to great lengths no matter what the cost.

This is a story about a man who was lowered through the roof to receive healing from Jesus. Imagine the scene as the paralytic appeared in the middle of that crowded room. Jesus is preaching with all eyes focused on his message. Suddenly the roof opens and a pallet is seen dangling on ropes from above. He was coming down and no one could stop his descent. This is a man who is desperate for help.

But, what the man received was a surprise to everyone. Jesus says to him, "Son, your sins are forgiven." They were amazed at what Jesus said. And Jesus responds to them by basically saying you can have miracles all over the place, but forgiveness is a lot harder to receive. He then says, "Which is easier, to say ‘your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘stand up and take your mat and walk?’" The implication is that it is easier to heal paralysis than to forgive sins.

I believe that all of us seek many things and we will do whatever it takes to get them. But, like the man in our story, forgiveness is what we all really need but we are not in the habit of receiving it. Nor are we in the habit of giving it. We regularly face opportunities to grant forgiveness but we generally withhold it. The sweetness of revenge usually wins out over the richness of reconciliation.

Forgiveness is at the heart of this story. Healing happens, but only afterwards and only incidentally. That is because healing apart from forgiveness is empty. The paralytic did not ask for forgiveness but forgiveness is what Jesus gave. Notice, like on other occasions, Jesus did not say, "Your faith has made you well." Here he forgives because forgiveness is absolute and given. It is not earned. And it is not forgetting, minimizing, tolerating, excusing or legally pardoning. Forgiveness involves relinquishing vengeance and adopting merciful thoughts, feelings and behavior toward the sinner.

When we are forgiven we respond by repentance. In other words, there is a change of heart. We have been freed to walk in a new direction. The paralytic is forgiven and free. He now can get up and walk away. The outward visible behavior is a sign of an inner transformation which has occurred.

We cannot fix ourselves, but many are trying to do just that. New life begins for us when we hear Jesus’ words of forgiveness and we graciously receive them. When we recite the Lord’s Prayer, we say the words, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Do we really take these words to heart or are they just words we say out of habit?

How do we receive the forgiveness God gives and how will we know if its real?

First, forgiveness is free. You can’t buy it. You can’t borrow it. You can’t even steal it. It is freely given. They say "nothing in life is free." Except for forgiveness that may be true. The forgiveness God gives is what God chooses to do. There is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness. It is not a matter of humbling ourselves or giving up the right things. And repentance is only in response to the awareness that forgiveness has already been received.

When our dog, Jake, destroyed our kitchen wall we wanted to punish him. But, how do you punish a dog? What the dog needed was freedom. To be cooped up in a garage all day was cruel enough. A few months later we gave him to a family who lived on a farm. Jake is now free to roam the fields to his hearts content. Which is easier, to yell at a dog, cut out his doggy treats, or take off his leash and let him go?

Secondly, to receive God’s forgiveness we have to be aware of our pathetic state of existence. The man in our story was paralyzed. He had no freedom, he had no life. The reason we don’t ask God for forgiveness is because we don’t think we need it. We live in a world which awards you for what you earn. We live as though the things that happen to us happen because we deserve them. We believe that the bad things that happen to us are punishment. We are pathetic, but we are unaware of our pathetic state. It is impossible to hear that God wants to forgive us until we realize that forgiveness is what we need.

A man who was a Korean War Veteran once came to me for counseling. During the session he told me of the time he had to kill a North Korean soldier to escape prison camp. This had happened forty years earlier. He still felt guilty about what he had done. He had shared his experience with very few people and nothing seemed to help. It just so happened that I am a Vietnam War Veteran and the two of us had something in common. I have felt guilty about that experience too, but fortunately I have to kill anyone. Near the end of our session I told him that God forgives him for what happened. I told him that I also forgave him. What happened next was shocking. The man said, that in all the time since the war no one had ever said, "He was forgiven."

Third, not only do we need the grace of God, we are dependent upon others to help us. Jesus noticed the faith of the man’s friends who brought him to the house and lowered him through the roof. The man needed their help. He was not in a position to seek Jesus alone. This illustrates the importance of the fact that forgiveness is received within the community of faith. We cannot live in isolation. It is not a "Jesus and me" thing. The forgiving word of God is conveyed through the community of faith.

The story illustrates the power of forgiveness and how it made a difference for desperate individual. Forgiveness can impact us also when we are willing to accept it as a free gift of God. And it will spread when we are willing to give it to others.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio