Pastor's Column March 2006

The Faith of a Few Friends
by K Karpen

"Some people came, bringing to Jesus a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him in to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him and let down the mat."
Mark 2

This was part of the Gospel lesson last Sunday. As usual, only after I was done preaching did I begin to realize what it is really all about. Had I to preach it over, I'd call my sermon, "The Faith of a Few Friends."

The paralyzed man had a lot going against him. He couldn't move. He got to the place where Jesus was too late. He couldn't get into the house.

But he had one thing going for him: The faith of a few friends.

I think that's the point of the story. And that's the point of the church also.

I've often run into people who say they have a close relationship with God, they just don't come to church. They prefer to follow their faith on their own. That's fine. It's just not Christian. And it's sure not Methodist. If you want to follow Jesus, you're going to need more than that. You.ll need the faith of a few friends.

The friends of the paralyzed man are just not going to rest until they get their friend into the presence of Jesus. They are not going to be satisfied until they literally drop him onto Jesus. lap.

Jesus is amazed and impressed with their faith. So impressed, he declares the man's sins forgiven. So amazed, he tells the paralyzed man to get up and walk. But there.s really nothing special about that man. He just has a few special friends.

Lately I've been reading the story of George Loveless, a Methodist lay preacher in the village of Tolpuddle, England. Fed up with the exploitation he and other farm laborers were forced to endure at the hands of the wealthy classes, in 1834 he got together with five of his friends and founded the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers to protest the lowering of wages. When Loveless was arrested, his friends stuck with him. The six were deported to Australia. The case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, as they became known, aroused outrage in people of all classes across England. The sentences were commuted. And the Labor Movement was born.

There was really nothing terribly special about George Loveless. Except the faith of a few friends.

None of us can get very far on our own. Sometimes we think we can. Sometimes we imagine that we have whatever we need to move ahead in our lives and in our faith. That's kind of funny. I don.t care who you are, you need help. You need the faith of friends.

Lent is a good time to stop kidding ourselves: stop what we.re doing, come together and lean on the faith of a few friends. See you in church.