When we gather as the family of God, we have the blessing to bring people to Christ who need His help and healing. When Christ saw the faith of four friends of a paralyzed man, He healed the man and forgave his sins. Our responsibility to God is bring people to the Church so they can be healed and forgiven.
My brothers and sisters, on the second Sunday of the great and Holy Lent, our Lord gives us an important message about my words now, church unity and church family. Because the story of the paralytic is not just about the paralytic, but it is about the four friends. It is about the family of God. In the image of Christ being at home and the house was so filled with people they couldn’t even get in the doorway. Now we know what that feels like. At Epiphany, you can’t even get in the doors of our church. At Anastasi, you can’t even get in the doors of our church. So we know what it is like to be inside the church when it is full. And yet my brothers and sisters, still these four men found a way to bring their friend to Christ. That’s our job. Our job is not just about ourselves.
Our job is to bring our friends, our neighbors, strangers that we meet, anyone who needs help from God, our responsibility is to bring them to the church so they can see God. We spend so much time bringing ourselves that we don’t pay attention to the needs of those around us. And yet, it was because of the faith of the four friends that Jesus healed the paralytic. It was because of their faith that he said, “Your sins are forgiven.” You see, my brothers and sisters, we don’t only need physical healing from God, we need spiritual healing from God. And this is why the church offers us the sacrament of holy confession. For us to come because God gave the authority to the church to forgive sins.
Sure, we can stand in front of our icons. Sure, we can stand in the middle of a prairie with a tree and say, “God, forgive me.” But we’re standing in front of a tree. When we come to the church for holy confession, we are standing in front of God himself in the holy icons, in the church, and God gave the church the authority to forgive sins as a family. When I am blessed to hear confessions and I’m hearing them every Friday afternoon during great Lent. When I am blessed to hear confessions, it’s not me they are confessing to. You’re not confessing to me. You’re confessing to God. I represent the church, the family, the people of God. You see my brothers and sisters because we are all in this thing together, none of us is a lone ranger. None of us are solo actors. We are all part of the same family. We are all on the same team.
We are all part of the body of Christ. And so if we can learn anything from this morning’s gospel, learn the power of unity as a family in the church. Learn the power, my brothers and sisters, that when God sees our faith, others are healed and helped. When God sees our willingness to make room in the pews… How many of you worry about your pew? Someone sat in my seat today, father. You’re laughing because it’s true. Just last week, I heard a story. Someone took my seat and I was upset. You see, my brothers and sisters, we know what it’s like to have a full church, but the four friends made room to bring their friend to Christ. Our job is to make room not just in the church, but in our hearts. We have to make room in our hearts for everyone who needs God. We can no longer worry about just ourselves and just our immediate family.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of people outside the doors of this church needing help from God. Paralyzed, maybe even in their fear. Maybe they’re sitting in the parking lot right now watching the internet, afraid to come inside. Do you know that happens? Do you know people watch us week after week after week, finally have the courage to come inside and visit because they’re paralyzed with the fear of what it might be like to come inside and be greeted by others that they do not know. This is our opportunity to show our love and faith. So here is our challenge, and I’m sorry to tell you it’s not an easy one. The first challenge my brothers and sisters is to go this week, not next week, this week, and find at least one person who needs God and invite them and bring them to church. Don’t wait for next week. Find one person this week who needs God.
Be the friend in this morning’s gospel. Be the one who Christ will say, “Because of her faith. His faith, their faith, your sins are forgiven.” Challenge number two, and this is the hard one. Give up your seat. Allow visitors, allow those who need God to come and sit where we sit. I won’t tell you which church, but there is a church that keeps the front row open just for visitors. So visitors always have a place to sit. I’m not going to force them to sit in the front row, but I am going to ask, make room not only in the church, but in our hearts for the people who need God. And then we will see the power of healing and the power of forgiveness because of our faith and our willingness to love.
This is what Great Lent is all about. It’s not about the rules of fasting, although we fast. It’s not about the rules of how many matanoias that we do, although we do our matanoias, its about opening our hearts and loving others and bringing them to meet Christ so they too can be healed and forgiven of their sins. It’s a great and difficult challenge, but it’s one that I know we can do with God’s help. Glory to God for all things.
