Ah! The lake!

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Mark 2:13-17 (NIV)
Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. [14] As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. [15] While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. [16] When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [17] On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I like Jesus. I known he is

not a tame lion

as CS Lewis would say, but I trust his personality. I draw comfort from his anger and his grief, his compassion and his sense of humor. The best way to see Matthew is as a money launderer or an IRS auditor. Maybe an unscrupulous politician. He had sold out for cold cash. All these people Jesus was hanging out with were bad guys. Why would God hang out with the bad guys?

He answers the question with an incisive elegance: the sick need a doctor, the sinner needs a savior.

Good news for me, I am a dying mess, a real disaster. So grateful he is willing to hang with me.

Not just with…for.

The cowboy and the judge

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Mark 2:1-12 (NIV)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. [2] They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. [3] Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. [4] Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. [5] When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” [6] Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, [7] “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” [8] Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? [9] Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? [10] But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, [11] “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” [12] He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

I love this story and I especially love the way it is portrayed in the movie The Miracle Maker, so I have been somewhat puzzled by why I could not finish this story. I have talked about it numerous times. It is not that complicated.

This is a story about waiting with or without hope. It is a story about faith and urgency. It is a story about love, value and forgiveness. And it is a story about willfully refusing to see.

Someone I love has a prominent tattoo on his chest. He likes to go shirtless a lot so it is easy to see. It says,

only God can judge me

His tattoo is true, but somehow incomplete. What it is missing is any understanding of love, fear, and holiness.

Love carries the man to Jesus
Love pushes through the crowd
Love punches through the roof
Love lowers the mat
Love forgives the man his sins
Love heals the man on the mat
Love never fails
But…
When love shows his power and his judgment.
You better duck.

Because the guy who crushed the gates of hell and death for us?
He don’t play, cowboy, he sure don’t play.

The cool mom’s club

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Someone I have never met before came up to me today and said, you must be the cool mom.

A wonderful compliment, undeserved…

When she said it I thought several things at once–
I want to get to know this lady better.

I wonder if she would still think I was cool if she knew my whole awful story?

And maniacal laugh…I am about to go make a fool of myself on a dock for 2 hours. I will not look cool.

But there is something cool in not accepting failure and there is something cool in public humiliation for a good reason.

Perseverance is cool. Not giving up is cool.

Most of the time it is lonely and many times the stakes are way too high, so I am grateful for my patient community.

One day I may master things even harder than launching off a dock at 20 mph.

That will be cool, and I will know exactly who to thank.

Breaking and entering!!!

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Remember I left this story at trespassing.. Let’s see what happens next…

Mark 2:3-4 (NIV)
Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. [4] Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.

Huh…. Breaking and entering?!! Destruction of property?!? This story gets more violent and illegal by the minute.

And what does Jesus do? More calls to the po-po? Vigilante justice?

Nope…

Mark 2:5 (NIV)
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

I once preached a sermon on this passage. My daughter’s favorite part was when I said that we neglect the violent, intrusive nature of what the men did breaking through the roof of the house

…but it turns out ok because luckily, there was a carpenter in it.

I can obsess over the damage we fallen, messy humans can unleash on each other. The truth is Jesus: fixer, healer, resurrectionist.

He rises from hell to save us.
The messy rest is a cakewalk for him.
Roof repair and all.

Entertaining Angels

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The sheer mind-bending stress of being your foster mom led to iconic images lodged in my head–

You two sitting across the table from me the first day I met you. Sizing me up over peanut butter sandwiches.

You eyeing your brother suspiciously. A lot.

You waking up one night when he woke up screaming (night terrrors) and looking at him with sleepy exasperation and then flopping down in relief when I scooped him up and took him to another room to ride out the storm–your body language was not my problem, back to sleep.

One night when you were ready for bed in your winter jammies. Your hair curly and adorable. I tickled you and you giggled, for a rare moment of laughter and peace.

You can be angry at me all you want. But you can’t stop love.

Your other mom

Door-to-door salesmen

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Mark 2:1-2 (NIV)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. [2] So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

…and then called the cops because they were trespassing, dog-gone it.

I think you get where I am going with this<3

Celebrity Perils

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Mark 1:38-45 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” [39] So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. [40] A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” [41] Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” [42] Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. [43] Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: [44] “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” [45] Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Jesus came to seek and rescue people. He is a superhero, the only real one…

The guy could have been anything, done anything. He could have ruled the world. Instead he wandered the lonely hills of an agrarian outpost casting out demons?. Curing skin diseases?

Yep. He loves people so he helps us with our sadness, our loneliness, our hunger. But for him that is not enough. He came to take away our curse–death itself. He came to restore the kingdom of life.

So the strong injunctions to varies entities to shut up about his superhero identity make more sense.

He did not want us to be so blinded by his bling, his miraculous events, that we lost sight of his heart.

Jesus is in love with each of us
I am afraid not all of us get close enough to him to love him back.

The comfort zone

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Mark 1:35-39 (NIV)
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. [36] Simon and his companions went to look for him, [37] and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” [38] Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” [39] So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Jesus left his comfort zone.

The poet in me says–don’t write anymore. That sentence covers all the territory–homesickness, poverty and misunderstanding. Betrayal. Torture. Death. Hell.

He did it all for us.

The whole town gathered at his door

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Mark 1:32-34 (NIV)
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. [33] The whole town gathered at the door, [34] and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

His door?
The whole town gathered at his door?

It is a beautiful image–a crowd of people. Some have bunions or arthritis, others have problems with acne or depression. Some might be paralyzed, others deaf or blind. They would have had cancer, depression, disease.

In the course of a 24 hour period a man has a demonic outburst in church and then the whole town sees/hears/responds to Jesus healing power by trucking out their infirmities.

A very good thing.

Imagine if the story went like this–

They saw what Jesus did for the demon possessed man but they did not want their neighbors to know about their weaknesses, illness, and grief, so they stayed home. Pretended they didn’t have any problems. Died prematurely.

Welcome to the American Christianity. Sure, we have hand sanitizer and flu shots now….But the truth is you have to have the courage, honesty, and desperation to admit you have a problem if you want to get healed.

I have a problem. I do not trust easily anymore. I used to be very trusting. Too trusting, you could say. But then that trust was broken, not by one or two people but a lot of people and my children were hurt. I watch my children in pain.

The loneliness and grief can seem overwhelming. So every day I go to Jesus’ door and I wait for him to heal me.

And he does, thank God.

Sabbath healing

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Mark 1:29-34 (NIV)
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. [30] Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. [31] So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. [32] That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. [33] The whole town gathered at the door, [34] and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

I have always loved the story of Peter’s MIL getting healed and popping up to serve people. Just now I was reviewing the chronology of her healing and I thought–aha! even on the sabbath mamas gotta work.

Jesus gets in trouble for healing people on the sabbath. In an effort to keep the letter of the law they had made a day of celebration into a swampy mess.

Of course God can heal on the sabbath. It is the day of each week that should most resemble heaven.

But we know that rules were hindering that because Jesus gets ambushed by miracle seekers after the sabbath–after sundown they flocked to him.

I would too.