Lent #14

Luke 5:17-20

There was nothing that these men wouldn't do for their friend. No matter how difficult, how challenging, they would help him. So they picked him up and off they went.

He was a stranger to the paralyzed man, but his friends planned on getting him before this stranger anyway. It was just one more thing they did for their friend. They didn't know the outcome or even how to carry out the plan. They were just faithful.

When they arrived and saw the large crowd, they were not discouraged. They simply sought another way, and that other way meant climbing a wall carrying a friend on their backs, digging a large hole in someone else's roof and after acquiring all that they would need, did the work of lowering him down into the crowd.

Good friends are like that.

I can only imagine the walk home among these friends.

All of them...walking!

And their conversation must have been exhilarating. They probably talked about how it felt, what it means, about the future. I'm sure they didn't complain about their sore hands and bad backs. They definitely didn't complain about the distance they carried the bed, or that they have to return to their homes. Their conversation, I am sure, focused on the nature of true friends and the power and grace of this stranger...who called him friend.

We may not recognize all the times that Jesus has been working to help us. We may not have witnessed the work of his hands or distance he's walked behind us. We probably haven't even realized what his healing touch cost him. But he has been working, walking, touching us all along our journey.

Good friends are like that.

Peace ><>
Pastor Chris