Call to Commitment

 

Shelley and Dan

Here are a few thoughts, before we get into Dan’s message. I am thinking of a song in Spanish about the lost sheep. The last verse states, “The same story is repeated today. There are still sheep, who go astray, but there are still shepherds, who search for them in the wilderness. They find them bleating, trembling from the cold, carry them on their shoulders and take them to the fold.”

 You will read about a drunk in Dan’s story, who interrupted a Christmas program, and how a little boy found Christ, resulting from that interruption. Here’s good news that Dan could not tell at the time he gave his message. At 80 years old, that man, who came to church drunk, found Jesus, was transformed, and is a vibrant witness for Christ.  

 On the site, where I listened to Dan’s message and wrote it for all of you, I discovered in the comments, one from the lady, of whom Dan speaks, at the end of his message, Deb Reynolds. She writes: “I came upon this video just as Dan was speaking about my life. I know that I am here today because of my church family and my belief in God. I am truly blessed.” In his first chapter, Mark tells us that many were healed in Capernaum. Dan mentions that the son of a nobleman in the town was also healed. There is a story in the Gospels about a Roman centurion in Capernaum, who believed. Now, we will follow in Mark, verse by verse, as Dan relates another story of what surely can be called, a revival in Capernaum… 

 

The Capernaum Paralytic (Mark 2:1-12)

 Dan Brueckner during the first days of Covid

And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.  

Jesus has moved from Nazareth to Capernaum and after being there a short time, it was reported that He was at home. Many people gathered and in Luke’s account in chapter 5, verse 17, you find that the scribes are coming from every village in Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem. Quite a crowd gathered and there was no room, even at the door to get in. 

It is key to see that Jesus preached the word to them. It’s easy to go over that and get into the part about the man’s healing, but you find it throughout the gospels that Jesus preached the word. In one place, when people were looking for Jesus and trying to get Him to stay with them, He said to them, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, for that reason I have been sent.”

 Capernaum was a dark place and it seems to me that every place, where Jesus went, He fulfilled Scripture. The Scripture said that He would be born in Bethlehem. Then He fled to Egypt and that fulfilled Scripture. It said that He would be called a Nazarene, so He lived in Nazareth. Even making Capernaum His home, fulfilled Scripture.

Light in the darkness

 I want to tell you a little about Capernaum, and if you want to turn to Matthew 4, verses 13-17, it will tell why I say that it was a dark place, spiritually. “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles (That wasn’t a compliment… it was derogatory.). The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

 We get an idea of what Jesus was preaching, when He moved from Nazareth to Capernaum, making it His headquarters. It was a dark place, people living in their trespasses and sins, dead to the things of God, willingly ignorant of the gospel. It was a horrible place to live. They dwelt in darkness, because their deeds were evil. The shadow of death loomed over them, not just the first death, but the second. His message was, "Repent.”

 Jesus goes to a dark, dark place and I’m so glad that He did, because it shows that there is no place that is too dark, to which He will not go. The Bible says that God is light and Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Wherever He went, He affected the darkness around Him. The people saw a great light, something they had never seen and their eyes began to open.

 The only hope for them was to repent from their sins and put their faith in Him, so He preached the word to them. We are asking about Corona Virus and things we are experiencing today. What does Jesus have to say about it?” Of course, we can pray for God to have mercy, but we have a privilege to preach to those around us, asking them, as Jesus did on this occasion, “What about you? Unless you repent you shall likewise perish.”

 In one place in Luke’s Gospel, the people said to Him, “What do you think about Pilate killing people in Galilee and sacrificing their blood along with their offering?” I suppose they were really putting Pilate down for what he did. Jesus didn’t mention Pilate, He just said, “Do you think they were worse sinners than others, because they died in this way? Then He said, “Unless you repent, you will perish likewise.” He put the responsibility for repentance on His hearers. He couldn´t effect those who had died at Pilate’s hand, but He could affect his listeners that day.

 Then, Jesus brought up His own story from Jerusalem. He said: “What about the tower of Siloam that fell and 18 people were killed? Do you think that tragedy happened, because they were worse sinners than others? But unless you repent, you will likewise perish?” His message always was “repent, people, repent

 This is the background for what is happening here, when Jesus comes to this dark place called Capernaum, lives there and preaches the gospel. Here we enter the story of a paralytic in verse 3: “They came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.” I thought about this man with paralysis… I read about paralysis in that day, which sometimes was very bad, bringing on a quick death. Whatever this paralysis was, it affected the man to the point that he was restricted to his bed. He had no hope of income for his family and I picture him, hearing that Jesus had returned, people running by the house saying, “Jesus is back in town!”

 I wonder what this man thought, but I believe, somehow that he had heard His message, as Jesus preached on repentance. My thought is that he was thinking about his own sin and that he needed to repent of his sin, as well. I think it weighed upon him and that he was under conviction of sin. I will tell you later, why I believe this.

 I’m sure he had a desire in his heart to see Jesus, but he couldn’t get to Him, unless somebody helped him; somebody who cared for him, somebody who loved their neighbor as themselves. Someone to help, as others rushed by, not even giving him a thought. He had a soul and was loved by God. Four men had a desire see this man healed, got together, picked this man up and said, “We’re going to get you to Jesus.” They knew that was the only hope. I wonder if he had a wife, who was thinking, “Oh, don’t get his hopes up, because if he returns home like he is, he’ll be more discouraged than ever.”

Disturbances

Most of the family a few years back

 Verse 4: “When they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.”  Immediately, they ran into an obstacle. The house was full, there were people in the courtyard, and there was no way to get through to the door. I think they tried… tried to push their way through. These men were determined, but a mass of people hindered them from entering.

 When we get concerned for God to do something in a person’s life, we run into obstacles. Have you seen it happen that when you begin to pray for someone, things begin to get worse, instead of better? Not able to come to the door, these men didn’t say to the cripple, “We’re sorry, we tried, but we just can’t make it in.” No, these men wouldn’t take no for an answer. They came with a purpose and they were not going to stop, until they brought this man before Jesus.

 We need to be encouraged, when we run into an obstacle and feel like giving up, this story is here to see the faith of these men. They can’t get to the door, so someone said, “Let’s try the roof.” Houses those days, had a stairway outside that led to the roof, so they went up those stairs.

 Now, Jesus is preaching below, but suddenly there is noise on the roof and dirt and dust began to fall, even in people’s eyes. There was more disturbance than when a baby begins to cry in church during a sermon. This is much worse, and it comes to the point that the people couldn’t hear what Jesus was saying. They’re looking up and wondering, what could be going on above them. These men demolished the roof, making a large enough hole to be able to drop this man through. This was an unorthodox way of doing things that nobody had done before, as far as we know, by Scripture, but the method was effective.

 In some way, they were going to get this man to Jesus, even if it caused a disturbance. I don’t know if you’ve had something like this happen in your services, but I know that God can use disturbances. Right now, a Christmas program comes to my mind, in which the husband of one of our members came a little ‘hammered’… drunk is the common word. Before the service began, this man was already singing. The words he sang to the Christmas carol were not very nice. The sermon began and, after I spoke a little, he interrupted by asking a question. It was something about salvation, so I answered it. In fact, he stopped me a couple times and I simply answered his questions. At one point, he stood up and asked drunkenly, “Well, what about this…?” His wife was very embarrassed, and I was glad, when the program was over.

 A day or two later, we heard about a young boy, who had listened carefully to the questions and answers. Thinking the program more important, we answered the questions hurriedly and impatiently. However, the boy came under conviction of sin and couldn’t sleep that night, which was Christmas Eve. His mother heard him crying and asked why he was so sad. He said, “You remember the man asking questions during the program? The pastor told him to repent of his sins and to get right with God. I can’t sleep because of my sin.” This mother and he got on their knees and he received Christ that night. You see, disturbances can be a good thing and this one certainly was.

 If God can use a disturbance, He might even use Corona Virus in situations today for His glory. I wonder what people saw in the cripple and the four men, who carried him; I think some only saw four guys causing trouble, demolishing a roof. They saw a roof destroyed and that was their concern. The man, lying on his cot, when he is down far enough, sees the face of Jesus and it says that Jesus saw their faith and “without faith it is impossible to please God.”

Your sins are forgiven

 The men brought the cripple to the right person and the first thing that Jesus said to the man was, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” I don’t know, if the four are thinking, “We didn’t bring him for forgiveness, we brought him for healing.” But it shows you that man’s greatest need is the forgiveness of his sin. No matter what he might be experiencing physically, his greatest need is and has always been, the forgiveness of his sin.

 I believe he was under conviction of sin and the reason that I say that is because in Matthews Gospel, chapter 9, before forgiving his sins, Jesus said, “Son, be of good cheer.” … take heart. So this man, who had heard Jesus preaching and had conviction of sin, hears first of all from Him, “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.” He jumped with joy inside, although he could not physically jump, but that, which was his greatest need, was met and the Bible teaches that “there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents”. Angels in heaven rejoiced, this man begins to rejoice, and the Amplified New Testament says, “The penalty is remitted, the sense of guilt removed, and you are made upright and in right standing with God.”

 To have your sins forgiven means that you are in right standing with God. When Jesus said it, it happened at the snap of a finger. There was no waiting for a period of time, to see if this would prove true. One moment he was on his way to hell, the next moment, he was on his way to heaven. He was not asked to do something to merit this salvation.

 More important than to be healed of Corona Virus, is to be healed from the cancer of the soul. Jesus is the only One, Who can forgive your sins. No priest, no pastor can do it. This story tells that only God can forgive sins. There must have been a gasp from certain listeners in the room, when Jesus said it. In verses 6 and 7: “Some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ‘Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’" Quite a statement!

 In verse 8, “Immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?” Jesus knew the thoughts of the scribes and Pharisees, who had no concern for their sins, but were just sitting there, occupying space, questioning and criticizing. He knows your thoughts right now, whatever you are thinking. That can be scary, but how many times do the Gospels declare, “Jesus knowing their thoughts, said…”?

 Let me illustrate by a story that happened in Macedonia. I was sharing the gospel with a young man, named Bosco and his wife. He received the gospel gladly, but his wife didn’t care for such things. I began to open the Scriptures with them, sharing that they were sinners that needed a Savior.  He told me later that he thought I was God in the flesh, because he thought I could read his mind. I read from Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians that give a list of sins, and he asked me later, “How did you know that I was doing those things?”

 He was so blunt and open about them, because he thought I could read his thoughts anyway. There weren’t too many gospel tracts in Macedonian, but I had a new one just published. I didn’t have time that day to talk to him, so I just drove to his house, knocked on the door, he answered, and I said, “I don’t have time to visit right now, but here’s a new tract, read it.” He told me later, that he had just been thinking about the issues that the tract mentioned, and it answered every question. Now he was really convinced, that God really knew what he was thinking. He got a job packing tomatoes and friends from a church worked with him. They shared the gospel with him and he said, “I just couldn’t get away from God. He was in my home and at my work.”

 His wife was dying of cancer about two years later. Before that, she would make fun of me, but now, I was shocked that she wanted him to call me and invite me to come to their house. I should not have been home, because I was scheduled to preach that night in the north of Macedonia. I was so exhausted that I called the pastor and told him that I was just too tired to drive up there. I was sitting on my bed early in the evening, ready to crash on my pillow and the phone rang. I said to Shelley, “Oh no, what now?”  She told me, who was on the phone and I said, “Give it to me!”

 God had worked out the circumstances and I went to their house. She wanted prayer for cancer, but I told her, you have a cancer in your soul that’s worse than the cancer in your body. I went through the gospel again, with her husband also listening. I asked if she would repent of her sins and find life in Christ and she said, “Yes, we will.” He heard that and knowing already the gospel, he said, “Wait a minute. You included me, but this is a personal thing and you have to decide for yourself and I have to decide for myself.”  I said to her, “What do you say” and she said “Yes” for herself. The husband had been hearing the gospel now for three years and hadn’t repented of his sins. We sat for what seemed like 10 minutes, while I waited for him to answer, and finally he said, “Yes, I want to give my life to Christ.” We prayed that they would receive Him that night and the next day, they came to my house, her symptoms having been removed. She did die of cancer, but she wanted to come to our house, just from gratefulness for feeling so much better. We had a time of thanksgiving.

Dan teaching in Sweden for a week

 Why do I say these things? For one thing, I mention that someone gets brutally honest, when he sees that he cannot hide from God. Jesus, in this passage, shows that he knows their thoughts, and then said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?”

 Which is easier for omnipotence? One is as easy as the other. He could say, on the one hand, your sins are forgiven, but no one would know what happened inside. However, if He tells that man to get up and walk, it will be something obvious. So Jesus goes on, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"—He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." He gets up, but the purpose is so that they might know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins. Both circumstances are impossible with man. Man cannot forgive sins, nor heal paralysis, but God can.

Glorifying God

 “Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!" In Luke’s Gospel it says, “He rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.” He, specifically, glorified God, along with the people. I love the words to the song, “It Is Well with My Soul.” I can picture Mr. Stafford writing this verse, “My sin” and he writes it down. He puts a comma, but he gets excited and continues, “Oh the bliss of this glorious thought!”  He starts again, “My sin” another comma, “not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.” Again, praise overcomes him, as he finishes, “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul!”

 Probably, a better title for this message is “The Healing of a Sinner.” He goes home rejoicing, his sins are forgiven and he glorifies God. In Psalm 103, a Psalm of David, he contemplates along the same lines as the paralytic: “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.” When we know that our sins, not in part, but the whole, has been nailed to the cross, we listen, as the Psalmist counsels, “Don’t forget all His benefits.” David praises, “Bless the Lord… bless His holy name… bless the Lord.” 

 The man goes home, bragging about Jesus. 1 Peter 2:9: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Jesus went into a dark place, found a man, living in darkness and death, telling Him, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” He goes out “proclaiming the praises of Him who called him out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

 The land of Naphtali and Zebulon did see a marvelous light. Already in Capernaum, there was an official with a son on his deathbed, who made a trip 15-20 miles to Cana to find Jesus and He told him to go, that his son lived. He returns, meets servants on the way, who said, “Your son lives.” He inquires and hears that it happened at the hour that Jesus proclaimed, “Your son lives.” Not only he believes, but his whole household. Already, before Jesus moves into Capernaum, there is a family who believes. Light begins to shine and people are being transformed by the gospel. There are people to reflect the light in the darkness, ambassadors for Him.

 Are there people, listening today, just occupying space, criticizing, always trying to find fault with the church, with His people, with the pastor, like the scribes? They don’t care about their sins, because they think that they are good people, who don’t need Jesus to forgive their sins. If you would leave that group today, Jesus said that whoever would come to Him, He would never cast out. Child or adult, what a privilege, if at the end of your life, to know that your sins are forgiven? It doesn’t matter, how you may die, if a tower falls on you or if you are murdered. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You will die in your sins.” I want to die, free from my sins, in right relationship with God.

 I want to say one thing more about the four, who carried the man to Jesus: You know, they had no intention of pulling him back through the hole. If you are praying for someone and you bring that one before the throne of grace, have their determination. Share the burden and ask others to join in prayer with you. Covenant that you will bring that one to Jesus, in spite of obstacles, so that people can comment, “We’ve never seen anything like this before.” God is still in the business of doing the impossible.

 I’ll close, telling the story of a lady who came to my mind this morning, as I was thinking over these things. Her name is Deb and she lives kitty-corner from the church in Swanton. She is in her 60’s and to give a little of her background, she was abused by her husband and other men, physically, emotionally and in many ways. She was suicidal and an alcoholic, living in fear. She tried to come to church, but for three months she couldn’t come through the door. (Her obstacles were multitudes of fears.) She stood outside to listen, but was too afraid to enter the building.

 After three months, she finally found enough courage to go in and sat in the back, with a look of fear on her face. As soon as the service ended, she was out of there. She came more and more. One meeting, I invited everyone to a meal downstairs, but she had a fear of basements and couldn’t come down. We had prayer meetings in the basement, but in her fear, she would not come. Little by little, as people spent time with her, the women in the church gathering around her, really praying for her.

 Her husband now is in a nursing home and has been on hospice care for over a year. They wonder how he continues to be alive. Deb would occasionally visit him in the past, but even there, he would get violent with her. He was a Vietnam veteran, and has been totally bedridden, and is in and out of consciousness.

 Eventually, Deb came to prayer meetings downstairs in the church. One Wednesday night, after the meeting, she came to me and said, “Dan, I gave my life to Christ.” Obviously, all of us were excited for her, but she had a long road ahead of her, and it was amazing how people were willing to help her through this time. It was like breaking through the roof, with time and effort.

 She wanted to go to visit her husband, but counsellors told her not to do that, because of past experience and depression that would follow. But she did go back and tell her husband that she forgave him. I went into the home one day, and she had her arms around him, she read Scripture incessantly to him, and prayed with him. She said that there was a physical effect in his body, when she read the Scripture. She read Psalm 23, and when she came to the last verse, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” he remarked, “I hope so.”

 She read the entire book of Romans to him. One day feeling sad, she began to cry while with him. Now that was something, he couldn’t tolerate all their lives together and would make him angry. But this time, he said, “Oh Debbie, what’s wrong?” He drew her head close and began to pat it and gave her a little kiss. She came to prayer meeting that night and told the story, very excited and said, “That was the first time in 40 years that he kissed me.” God is moving mightily in the lady and she was able to forgive.

 The chaplain in the residence passed by and noticed her with him. She asked him if he would pray with her and her husband. He agreed, but as she prayed, the chaplain eyes filled with tears. Later, he said, “I read your husband’s history and I can’t understand why you’re here and how you can forgive him.” She was a little shocked, thinking, “Aren’t you a chaplain? Aren’t you supposed to know these things?”  

 She wanted to serve God anyway that she could, so we gave her a key to the church. She was given the ministry of toilet-cleaning. This is an idea for new people in your church… let them clean the toilets! 😊 She was willing to do what she could… clean the sanctuary, whatever. She would go to her job and brag about it, like she’d won a gold medal at the Olympics, or something. She was so excited that we had given her a key and she told everyone about it. I want to emphasize again, the ones, who came alongside her and prayed with her. That wasn’t easy, because it would take time out of the day… one hour, or two hours. They shared the burden and led her to Christ.  

 At her baptism, she said, “Dan, I want to get baptized in obedience to Christ, but don’t be surprised, if I pull you under with me. I’m scared to death of water and I never go in it.” We prayed and another person and I baptized her, and she did just fine. She came out of the water, representing her new life in Christ.

 There are so many applications to this story that I’m having trouble bringing it to an end. Children, if you haven’t repented of your sins, Jesus will forgive you today. Any adult or elderly person, if you never have before, you can repent and Jesus will still forgive you today. At the time of your death, what you have accomplished in life doesn’t matter, but only that your sins are forgiven.

 Let’s pray. “Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for a man, who we will some day meet up in heaven. His sins were forgiven and he will better tell the story of how it happened to him. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that your word does not return to you void. First of all, I thank you for forgiveness of my sins… all my sins. I praise you for it, Lord, and want to go from here, knowing more stories, in which I can say, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’ Testimonies like Deb’s and like many, who are listening today. You are a merciful God and you care about us. Help us to be faithful in compassion to bring others to You, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to affect the dark area in which we live with the light of the gospel for the glory of God. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.