Up On the Roof

Tags

Capernaum, faith, forgiveness, God's grace, Jesus, labor, Mark, opportunity, paralytic, roof, surrender control, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

We recently had the roof over our kitchen repaired. It wasn’t just the addition of a new layer of shingles. Because it had been leaking, the roofers had to take off what was there down to the wood layer to make sure everything was tight and secure so we would be warm and dry this winter. Having helped with a roof myself once, I know what a labor-intensive job it can be.

Clearly, construction in the time and location of today’s gospel story was different. Mark (2:1-12) talks about the great crowd that had gathered to listen to Jesus at his home in Capernaum such that there was no room for everyone “even around the door.”  When four men who arrived carrying a paralytic on a mat couldn’t find any way in, they just “opened up the roof above him and after they had broken through, let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.” I always found that a rather stunning line both because it was an ingenious way to get the attention of Jesus and because of their ability to actually accomplish the feat – to say nothing of the fact that they were defacing someone else’s property. It didn’t seem to faze Jesus, however, so I’m thinking that the roof was easily repaired. It appears that Jesus was impressed by the ingenuity and the faith of the four men and his response speaks to the importance of community as well, I think. Mark says, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.'”

Sometimes we need to rely on others when we are unable to manage on our own. Whether it be someone to drive us to Church or to sit with us during a time of suffering, perhaps it is our willingness to surrender our need for control of the situation that will bring us the solution or the peace that we need. The by-product is giving someone else the opportunity to be God’s grace for us in that moment in whatever creative way s/he is able and willing to be. But I’d suggest trying to find a solution that keeps us on the ground.

The Greatest and the Least

Tags

Capernaum, deeper lessons, first will be last, Jesus, Mark, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Last evening, for want of a better choice, we watched an episode of The Waltons before retiring. You can always count on their story to teach a lesson great or small. Last night it was about change, frustration and acceptance of “what is.” Illustrations of the themes were many but in reading the gospel this morning I was reminded of Grandma Esther who stopped going to church (a monumental shift for her) because the minister had offered another woman in the congregation a share in organist duties, a position that Grandma had performed solo for fifty years. In her anger and hurt she even told “the Reverend” that she was going to become a Methodist! (Quite a threat for such a determined Baptist!) It took awhile and a bit of wisdom from her son-in-law, John, but she finally swallowed her pride and walked out her distress all the way to Sunday service.

In the gospel for today (Mk 9:30-37) we find Jesus and the disciples walking through Galilee in a rare moment when they had been able to escape the crowds. He began to talk about his future – that he would be handed over and killed and then rise again after three days. They didn’t understand what he was talking about (and, honestly, would we, if we had been in their shoes?) but the gospel said they were afraid to question him. They must’ve been having rather animated conversation though, out of his hearing, because he asked them when they reached Capernaum, “What were you arguing about on the way?” Nobody spoke because, in the face of his predictions about his fate, they had preferred to talk about who was the greatest among them – maybe because when they heard him say he was going to be killed they wanted to be sure they were chosen to take over leadership. Pretty rude and thoughtless on their part, right?

It seems to me that until we learn to wake up to the deeper lessons in the events of our lives, we often grab onto what seems most beneficial to ourselves without considering the feelings or the effects on other people. What about the love of God that Grandma’s rival wished to express through music? What about the feelings of Jesus in the face of his enemies? Today is a good day to ponder the words of Jesus to the disciples in this situation:

If anyone wishes to be first, he [she] shall be the last of all and the servant of all.