Tear Open the Roof

As my blog has begun to get off the ground, my wife has suggested that I should  explain why I named my blog Tear Open the Roof.   Tear Open the Roof alludes to one of my all-time favorite gospel stories.  Both Mark and Luke include the story in their gospels.  Here's Mark's version of the story.  

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!”  Mark 2:1-12

Perhaps what I like most about this story, is the persistence of the paralyzed man's friends. Undeterred by the crowds blocking their way to Jesus, the four men scramble onto the roof, tear a hole in it, and lower their helpless friend into the arms of Jesus. The story reminds me that there will be times when we will be called to persistently and doggedly bring our friends to Jesus.  Sometimes that will mean lowering our friends through the roof into the arms of Jesus by getting on our knees and interceding on their behalf. Other times that may mean offering the love of Christ to our friends by lovingly serving them when they are most in need.   Not only though are we called to be friends, carrying and bringing the paralyzed and hopeless to Christ, but there are also times when will find ourselves on the mat hopelessly and helplessly paralyzed by the circumstances of our life. It is then, that we begin to know the true nature of God's love for as we watch helplessly from our mats as our friends tear open roof and lower us into the arms of Christ.