When [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 

Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. 

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’

When [Jesus] returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. 

Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. 

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’

Son Your Sins are Forgiven

The word gets out that Jesus is in town, so a crowd gathers around the house where he is staying,

…such a crowd, so many people, that no one can get to him…

…they blocked the door so no one could get in

…near the front, closest to him?  People who got there first or muscled their way forward..

..not women and children, not those who lacked the strength and mobility to push their way to the head of the line.

It is not really fair, if you think about it….

Jesus is there to heal the sick, to lift up those who are cast down, to take care of the least among them…

Like the paralyzed man…

His four friends carry him to Jesus, believing if they can get him near,
Jesus will heal him.

They believe what Jesus says–he comes for the sake of their paralyzed friend, not to be gawked at and fawned over by an adoring crowd…

So these four friends hatch a plan, tearing apart the roof and lowering their friend down to him, in front of the crowd,

this friend who could not stand up for himself,
could not by his own power press his way forward,
but depends on his friends to look out for him…

***

We are not given the names of these four sturdy and faithful friends who lower the paralyzed man to Jesus, but one of them might as well have been named Chase.

From the beginning, he was a sweet, loving, sensitive boy, concerned about those who were teased, belittled or bullied, or who needed an advocate to speak up for them.

When Chase was 14 years old, an 8th grader, he was in the final year of our confirmation program.

Doug Steiner, who read for us today, was his small group guide.

Chase loved our program, admired Doug, and took to heart the final assignment of the program–writing a faith statement, putting into words his own sense of who he was and how God in Christ called him to act in the world.

Here is what Chase wrote:

I want to be the kind of guy who does things the way God thinks is fair–the guy who stands up for someone getting bullied, looks out for others, speaks out for others, isn’t afraid to be honest, and encourages others who need confidence or are afraid.

Chase was the kind of guy who would come up with the idea of tearing apart a roof for the sake of a friend.

If there were any doubt of what to do, his confidence would have inspired the others, because if there was anything Chase was sure of,

it was that God wants to protect those who are pushed around and bullied, those who are too paralyzed by fear to stand up for themselves.

And now here we are today to tear apart the roof for Chase,

We are the friends lowering him down to the feet of Jesus where he hears these words:

Chase, your sins are forgiven.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 
I have called you by name, you are mine.

We are together in a paralyzing moment, forced to encounter a meaningless and senseless and unfair death of a young man, a boy,
who needed more time to find his way…more time. More time.

He needed more time.

As we lower him to the feet of Jesus,
we ourselves hear the same words Chase hears,

Son, daughter, your sins are forgiven…

We might well be paralyzed by the pain of this moment,

we might seek to make sense of it by blaming ourselves . . . or others,

or by the misbegotten belief that this loss is part of God’s plan somehow…

It is not…

What Jesus says to heal the paralyzed man are the words God wants us to hear and to trust today.

Chase was a child of God who was welcomed into eternity by a loving God whose power raised him up; he is with God, standing strong and confident…

This resurrection power of God is not for Chase alone, it is not only for us at the end of our days,

but the power of resurrection will raise us up in paralyzing moments of doubt and anger and despair and blame.

This power set us free from failures and mistakes and losses and pain and all the ways we are paralyzed and unable to live the life God intends for us,

not a life that insists the world confirm to our sense of what should be
but the life we are given to live,

…which now includes the senseless loss of this young man.

We free to mourn and to grieve,
to shake our fist at the heavens if that we need to do,
to lay down and to give up,
and to be raised up to live again,

God is big enough for all our pain and anger and sorrows and keeps on saying to us what God says to Chase,

our sins are forgiven..

This is resurrection, here, in this moment, for all time, and for every time, setting us free and raising us up to live again.

Thanks be to God. Amen.