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St Oswald’s
Rugby 16th Oct 2022
(Baptism of
Ambrose and Asa Naish)
‘Hope for a
broken world’ – Luke 5: 17-26
During the length of this Service 60 men across the world will have died by suicide.
On the 1st January of this year a young man, who had recently returned home to the family farm having just completed his studies at Agricultural College, in the early hours told his parents he was going out. They thought he might be giving a friend a lift. Tragically he was discovered dead later having died by suicide. He was 21.
In
Stafford Prison there are notices in several prominent places that say, ‘we do
not release ex-offenders, but community members back into the community.’ Which is a laudable idea except Stafford
Prison is for male sex offenders. Would they really be welcomed back into the
community. Would we welcome them into the Church community? As a Volunteer with
Prison Fellowship, I preached several times on a Sunday morning in the Prison
Chapel. The lead Chaplain, Jo and I were chatting about support structures upon
release. She told me of one resident who had been released, reoffended, and
brought back into prison. He admitted that prison was the best place for him so
that others would be safe from him, and he would be safe from himself. The revolving door syndrome is a real issue across
all prisons.
In Greenwich, London, there are areas of real deprivation and a strong gang culture. A mild-mannered man from Gloucester called Nick Russel has chosen to live there, and indeed has been ministering in this part of London for a good number of years now. Nick is a Church Army Evangelist and heads up the Greenwich Mission Centre. Into a gang culture that says the only hope of surviving and being safe is to join a gang, into an area with seriously dysfunctional families, Nick and the team are trying to offer a different narrative, to offer a different hope.
He wrote - “Those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man, his courage and hope, or lack of them and the state of immunity of his body will understand that sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect”.
In our Gospel story we are told about a group of friends one of
whom was a paralytic and unable to walk.
The situation for their paralytic friend probably looked hopeless. But
they hear about Jesus and the things he is doing and saying. So, they carry their friend to Jesus. But
getting him through the press of the crowd was hopeless. They hit upon another
plan. Most of the buildings at this time had flat roofs, often serving as an
extra outdoor space, sometimes with an outside staircase. Up they go with their friend being carried on
a stretcher. They begin to make a hole in the roof, and when it was big enough,
they lowered their friend down at the feet of Jesus.
Let that thought and image enter your mind and settle in your
heart.
Collectively they took their burden of hopelessness and laid it
down at Jesus’ feet.
Low at his feet lay thy burden of carefulness,
high on his heart he will bear it for thee,
and comfort thy sorrows, and answer thy prayerfulness,
guiding thy steps as may best for thee be.
Jesus responds by saying, ‘friend, your sins are forgiven.’
Now in the crowd are Pharisee’s and teachers of the law and they knew as everyone else would have known, that forgiveness came only from God mediated by the Priests and in some cases only by the High Priest. Jesus was not a Priest or of the Levitical tribe of Priest. The Pharisee’s are right in what they say as according to the law, tradition and Scripture stretching back thousands of years. However, to receive such forgiveness, he would have to travel 120 miles to Jerusalem and offer a sacrificial animal. How on earth was a paralytic person supposed to do that.
This is an important point Luke is making in his telling of the
Jesus story.
But time prevents us from delving deeper into this today.
But note Jesus’ response, “But that you might know that the Son
of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralysed man, “get
up, take up your mat and go home.”
The Son of Man and having authority referenced here is from Daniel
7: 13-14
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
(And check out Mathew 28.18.)
Jesus is demonstrating his authority as the hope of all Israel, the
promised Royal Priest King who would fulfil all of God’s promises.
Jesus brings hope, light and life into the world.
And it is into the company of Jesus’ followers that Anna and Murray
have brought Ambrose and Asa to be baptised today. So that a seed of hope may
be planted in the lives of Ambrose and Asa and that they may grow in their love
and knowledge of God and have an ongoing hope in their lives going forward.
But note that after Jesus’ offers forgiveness, he tells the man to
walk. To walk into a new life freed from whatever it was that was causing his paralyses,
possibly something arising out of guilt carried for years until it brought on
the paralysis. What we today would refer to as psychosomatic paralysis. Hence Jesus dealing with that issue.
Both Ambrose and Asa will
have to actualise the promises made on their behalf today. In due course they
will have to choose whether they will continue to look to Jesus as their one
true hope.
Lying at the feet of Jesus and
receiving forgiveness of our sins is only the start. We are then invited to get
up and go live a life that speaks of the hope we carry.
That through his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension, King
Jesus reigns and that - His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will
not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
As we close let me leave you with these related questions…
1) Have you knelt before Jesus and known his
forgiveness?
Have you stood up and walked into a new life with hope in your heart?
And then thirdly whom do you know, or what situation are you are aware of, that appears to be hopeless?
If we are we weak and heavy
laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
The Precious Saviour is still
our refuge
Let’s take it to the Lord in
prayer!
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