There has always been
that type of person
who likes to put
a downer on everything.
"I'm just trying
to be realistic here,"
they say.
While it is truth to say
that life is not always
a bed of roses,
life is not always
not a bed of roses
either.
Our bed of roses
has thorns
but it has gorgeous flowers, too.
... if you like roses, that is.
There will always be
someone who doesn't
and will take great glee
in telling you why not.
[PAUSE]
A paralysed man
is brought to Jesus.
What's the first thing
Our Lord says to him?
"Son, be of good cheer!"
He doesn't say
"thy sins are forgiven thee"
- not straightaway.
He doesn't say
"Arise, take up thy bed,
and go unto thine house"
- not straightaway.
No.
Straightaway it's,
"Son, be of good cheer!"
In this first clause,
Our Lord calls the man, "Son".
A term of familiarity,
a term of acceptance,
a term of love.
Then, He says,
"Be of good cheer!"
A message of hope!
A message of healing!
And a message of intention.
Our Lord wants the man
to be joyful
and live a life
freed from the shackles
of his condition.
But,
rather than allow
joy its rightful place
in this encounter
between the patient
and the Eternal Doctor,
there are those
who can see
only sin,
only transgression,
only condemnation.
And they seek to steal this joy
to fill the emptiness
of their being right.
And so the Lord
shows them the truth
that He is God
by healing not only
the spiritual paralysis of sin
but also
the physical paralysis of disease.
Jesus is showing us
that sin is a sickness
of the soul
and He can save
both soul and body.
[PAUSE]
The trouble is
that there are
thieves of joy
among Christians too.
These are those Christians
who see nothing but sin
in human beings
These are those Christians
who try to spread the Gospel
by focussing on
Man's total depravity
and our need for Salvation.
Every conversation
with this sort of Christian
involves the words
sin, heresy, immoral,
and even Hell!
How can we expect
to share the Good News
if the only thing that is good
about what we say
is the full stop
at the end of our
final sentence?
[PAUSE]
We Christians know
that we are sinners
but we also know
that God made us,
that God loves us,
and that
the Creator of this magnificent universe
with all its complexity,
variety,
from supernova
to neutrino
wants us never to be
separated from Him so badly
that He will become
one of us,
die for us,
rise from the dead for us.
We are dead to sin and,
if we live the life of faith,
sin need never be a real problem
because if we do sin
then we have an advocate in heaven
who will save us from it.
Of course,
sin is serious
and we must repent,
but we are given the opportunity
to get up from our sickness
take up our beds
and walk in joy
at knowing Christ Himself.
We are not to be killjoys
but bringers of true joy
in Christ.
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