Access is important!! 

“...when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” --Mark 2:1-5

a bit of set up... homes in Galilee at this time were one story with a flat roof, thatched roof, made of straw and mud dried to form a nice solid roof that is good insulation. there was usually steps or a ladder up to the roof, and you could sit up there in the cool of an evening. You lived with your extended family, and houses were built around a small courtyard. Scholars believe that Jesus was staying with Peter and his family, in part because the story just before this tells of him healing Peter’s mother-in-law.

Don’t you just love this story? Picture the scene! First the men try to push through the crowd, then they venture up onto and down through the roof! Can you imagine the reactions of all the other people? Did thatch and dried mud fall onto Jesus as the men dug through above him? I wonder if Peter’s Mother-in-law was there--asking Peter how he planned to make the repairs to her house?

The friends of the paralyzed man are deeply determined. They worked HARD to get their buddy to Jesus.

Jesus told the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Remember in this time, it was believed that if you had an illness or disability, it was because you were not right with God, you were a sinner. So Jesus assured the man, with affection, that he was restored to the family of God. He did so, in large part because, “Jesus saw their faith,” --the faith of the friends so very determined to get him made well!

Accessibility to Jesus is important! One of the huge changes of this season of pandemic is that churches had to get online and reach beyond the buildings. Most of us had been preaching more outreach, then we had to quickly make it happen! Just an example of the effect; this online Bible study group has members across the US! (Thank you!!)

There are still people who doubt the effectiveness of online worship-thinking it can’t be a “real” community. I believe that is small thinking, disbelieving God’s ability to reach our hearts through any and all means. God is MORE than we can imagine, after all! Online bible and worship is unexpected and different, but so is digging thru a roof! And Jesus blessed it. I believe Jesus blesses our outreach in various ways, if we are sincere! Do i wish we could all be back in our beautiful church buildings? Yes, absolutely. But i know that we’ve got real community here too, and that people are not always able to be in the church building on Sunday morning. People work, have to stay safe from crowds, are unable to sit comfortably in a pew for an hour, may have kids with sensory overload, there are myriad reasons. And online services are one way of busting thru the roof to bring people to Jesus.

May we have the creativity and determination to do whatever it takes to make access to Jesus available to all! Amen!