UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST in SIMI VALLEY
Seventh Sunday After Epiphany - February 23, 2003
A Season of Healing
Anne G. Cohen
Mark 2:1-12
For Our Reflection:
Allah, Most High, says: He [sic] who approaches near to me one span, I
will approach to him one cubit; and he who approaches near to me one
cubit, I will approach near to him one fathom; and whoever approaches me
walking, I will come to him running, and he who meets me with sins
equivalent to the whole world, I will greet him with forgiveness equal
to it.
- Mishkat-ul-Masabih, 7th century
We witness... by being a community of reconciliation,
a forgiving
community of the forgiven.
- Bishop Desmond Tutu,
Crying in the Wilderness (1982)
Forgiven
This story, like many stories in Mark, is two stories
- one embedded in
the other. Story A is the Healing of the Paralyzed Man. Story B is
the
Controversy between Jesus and the
authority. Story A is about faith and risk and forgiveness. Story B
is
about power and dogma and judgmentalism.
Jesus is back at Peter's house in
healed Peter's mother-in-law from a fever. There are fishermen and
family members, other disciples and friends. And because word was out
about his presence in the neighborhood, there are all kinds of people
there - from every walk of life - seeking and hoping for healing - the
silencing of demons, the lifting up of the fevered, the cleansing of
contagious skin disease, the forgiveness of sins that had brought about
divine punishment in the form of illness or paralysis.
We don't know why the temple scribes are there - perhaps for healing or
to witness a miracle or to spy on this rogue rabbinical rabble rouser.
But they are there too. God's Beloved Community has gathered at this
house, lion and lamb, dove and hawk, leper and
community leader alike.
At the very descriptive level of the story, a miracle is in progress.
These people have - for the moment - forgiven each other for
BEING -
long enough to share a small space with each other. The common
denominator is Jesus and, for the time being, this is enough.
Page Two
A man paralyzed - apparently by his own misdeeds,
judging by the cure -
this man is brought into this crowded situation by another small crowd.
"Some people came bringing to [Jesus] a paralyzed
man, carried by four
of them." (v.3) So this guy has a lot of
friends and family - gender
and class unknown. A bunch of them accompany him, four of them bearing
his weight. The friends and family seem to have forgiven ANY trespass
on this man's part - and they are seeking - on his behalf - a lifting of
this persistent paralysis.
In Judaism, there are three essential components to forgiveness. One
must be right with oneself - recognize and come to terms with our
wrongdoing and be in the process of repairing our integrity. One must
be right with one's community - make amends to any persons we have
harmed - make restitution and ask for forgiveness. And one must be
right with God - humbly seek God's understanding and forgiveness as
well.
Our man in
community. So the problem is either with himself or God or both.
The crowd is dense, they can't get near the
door. So some of the folks
climb up the ladder to the flat roof and dig through the thatch and
dried mud creating a large opening. The four pall bearers pass their
friend to the roof - the lower him through the hole - right into the
main room, right down to the floor at Jesus' feet.
Jesus, being an observant kind of person, is struck by the persistence
and loyalty of this man's community, their faith in Jesus' healing power
and in God's capacity for forgiveness, the paralyzed man's faith in his
friends, his willingness to risk further physical injury at their hands
for a healing at the hands of Jesus. Jesus makes a judgment. He
chooses to inform this man that God has already forgiven him -
information that is the antidote to paralysis.
Story B interrupts us here - as Jesus has a psychic moment. He hears
the scribes thinking judgmental thoughts and pulls the rabbinical trick
of asking them several questions in rapid succession. It is an odd
argument about power and authority and the interpretation of God's
activity in the world.
Then he turns back to Story A - our flying carpet, well-befriended man
and says, "Stand, pick up your stuff and go home." At this
point we
know that the problem is the man's relationship with himself. He is
right with his community, right with God - but still paralyzed by
himself.
Page Three
Jesus urges him to forgive himself and get moving. Who is HE to hold a
grudge when God and all those who love him will not? Finally, all three
components of forgiveness are in place. The man chooses to get up,
carry his own burdens, and take up the tasks of living again. All is
well - for him, anyway - although not necessarily for Jesus - who has
frightened and annoyed some powerful people - enough to make them want
him dead. But then, that is Story X - which comes later in Mark - at
the end of Lent.
Lingering for a moment on Story A, the healing power of forgiveness and
the three essential components of that process in Judaism - which make a
whole lot of sense to me - I am moved (of course) to examine my own
experience. And it is interesting to note that the Christian view of
forgiveness - already mine because of Jesus' sacrificial death - has
less influence over my emotional process than the Jewish formula for
forgiveness. God may have forgiven me tenfold. But it is difficult
for
me to accept that fact until I have earned the forgiveness of my
community - and, over time, forgiveness of myself.
I have found that often, if I am unable to forgive someone else, it is
because I haven't really seen them yet. My enemies and abusers,
betrayers and murderers of my spirit are more like me than I can
initially admit. Persistently looking at them through the filters of my
anger and hurt feelings is a spiritual discipline - which allows me to
recognize their wounds, their messy spiritual house -
which, in turn -
eventually - leads me into forgiveness. Seeing in the other a miserable
twining of my own miserable soul brings me to the task of cleaning up my
own house, wiping up the residue of my hoarded, smelly, vengeful, rotten
refrigerator leftovers. I've never enjoyed housework. This
may be why.
A woman [once] complained to a visiting friend that her neighbor was a
poor housekeeper. "You should see how dirty her children are - and
her
house. It is almost a disgrace to be living in the same neighborhood as
her. Take a look at those clothes she has hung out on the line. See
the black streaks on the sheets and towels!" The friend walked up to
the window and said, "I think the clothes are quite clean, my dear.
The
streaks are on your window."
- Anthony de Mello, The Heart of the Enlightened, Brusatt
p.495
If I am unable to forgive someone, it is often because I haven't really
seen them yet. And the hardest person of all to forgive is the one who
is most like myself - which happens to be
myself.
Page Four
The spiritual discipline of searching out the truth of
myself is
extraordinarily difficult. I usually need help - from a therapist or an
Al Anon group or a friend. It is through my community that I experience
the miracle of Christ's healing words.
A good friend, tired of my kvetching about how the world was against me,
once told me to "Look at your unhappy situation, find the similarities
to other painful situations - and figure out how you've contributed to
them. Then change your contribution." "Stand up," he
said, "bear your
own burden of responsibility and find your way home."
A therapist once challenged the way that I clung to guilt over something
I'd done 15 years earlier. "Do you believe that God has already
forgiven you?" "Of course, a long time
ago!" "Then what makes you
bigger than God?" Taking responsibility for one's own choices is an
act
of humility. Forgiving oneself is also an act of humility - allowing
God to have God's way with us.
It's a life time of work to be right with oneself, to
be right with
one's community, to be right with God. To be right with
God. There's
another piece to this - for me. In order to be right with God, I also
need to be able to forgive God. And this is not the easiest of
spiritual disciplines. How can I ever forgive God for the necessary
existence of evil and all the allowances made for free will, God's
relinquishment of control - making room for death and suffering and the
wounding of the world? How can I forgive God for giving humans the
power to commit crimes against humanity and crimes against nature and
crimes against the very foundations of creation? How can I forgive God
for making life so fragile and the soul so mysterious?
The spiritual discipline of trying to see the truth of God - to see God
qualities in myself and my own qualities in God - is arduous. It is
easily preempted by the immediate gratification of blaming God and
seeking revenge and railing bitterly against the gates of mortality.
Forgiving God may be just about the hardest part of cleaning house -
which may be why Story B - the scribal argument with Jesus - is embedded
in Story A - the healing of a well-loved man. It is an uneasy peace
that we make with our Creator. And that peace must be prayed for and
struggled for and won every day of our lives.
Who am I to hold a grudge when God does not? But then, where is the
evidence of God's remorse, God's restitution and request for forgiveness
from us?
Page Five
I'm still working on this one.
And these are the things that I have come to believe and rely on.
I am aware that I am not separate from the world and that the world is
not separate from God.
Therefore, whatever wounds the world, wounds me and wounds God.
And all acts of healing in the world are part of my own healing, part of
God's healing.
To forgive is to be an agent of wholeness, a source of life; it is to
participate in the healing of the world - which includes ourselves
and
God.
It is a choice, a process, a spiritual discipline.
To forgive is to see others for who they truly are and
who they are not
- to find in every person a member of our community and reconcile
through recognition.
It is to take responsibility for our own ability to injure, and to learn
to trust our community to be an agent of healing when we are unable to
heal ourselves.
To forgive is to choose life, to choose peace, to choose awareness of
ourselves in all things and all things in ourselves.
It is to argue with God - right in the middle of a miracle - and plot
revenge on God for all our suffering.
It is, ultimately, to make our peace with God in order to heal what we
can while we're still strong enough to make a difference.
May God forgive our poor housekeeping.
May our community forgive the streaks on our windows.
May we forgive ourselves and learn to see our internal housekeeping as a
holy occupation, a way of healing the world.
******************************************************************
Sunday Bulletin
Music for Gathering
Welcome and Perspective on the Day
Musical Preparation for Worship - A Time for Centering
+ Call to Worship (unison)
Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven; rise and walk."
Forgiveness is an unlocked door to walk through
into a wide-whoopee-open world.
Forgiveness is a seed to water with new dreams and wild risks
until it bears unexpected fruit.
Forgiveness is an enemy-friend to be born out of, a quietness beneath
the clamor.
Forgiveness is a flower to smell, a wind at my back
a gull to scream with, a pain to laugh beneath, a burden that carries
me.
It is I - becoming We - becoming Yours.
Forgiveness is a song to sing.
O God, unlock the door of my heart.
+ Hymn of Unity This Is My Song Hymnal # 591
+ Opening Prayer (unison)
Disturb us, O Lord
When we are too well pleased with ourselves;
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed only our own dreams,
When we have arrived in safety
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord
When with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the waters of Life;
When, having fallen in love with time,
We have ceased to dream of eternity;
And when, in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the New Heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord to dare to love more boldly,
To venture more seas, where storms shall show your mastery,
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
In the name of the One who opens the horizon of all who hope
And invites us to share hope with all the world. Amen
Time for Silent Reflection
One: My soul waits in silence.
All: God is my rock and my fortress. I will be at peace.
Silent Reflection
The Assurance of Good News (unison)
Who are we not to forgive ourselves,
if God has already forgiven us tenfold?
Sung Response
Hallelujah! God be praised!
Conversation with Our
Children Peace
Medley of African American Spirituals
Billie Dierking, vocal
Rebecca Dekker, piano
Reading from the Christian Gospels Mark 2:1-12
Teaching and Proclamation Forgiven
Intercessions, Celebrations and Encouragements
Call to Prayer The Gift of Love Insert
Time for Silence
Our Joys and Concerns and an Offering of Prayer
Sung Response In Solitude Hymnal #521 vv. 1 & 2
We Offer Our Gifts So That Our Lives May Be Our Prayer
Offertory
Prayer of Dedication (unison)
May our gifts flow easily from our hands because we accept compassion
and sharing as appropriate to the life of faith. May our gifts flow
easily from
us because we identify with Christ's gracious and supportive ministry to
others. May gifts flow easily from us because the Spirit of God desires
to heal the world and repair its brokenness through our work, even now,
even here. Amen.
+ Sending Hymn May the Sending One Defend You Hymnal # 79
+ Commissioning (unison)
Christ in my mind that I may see what is true;
Christ in my mouth that I may speak with power;
Christ in my heart that I may learn to be touched;
Christ in my hands that I may work with tenderness;
Christ in my soul that I may know my desire;
Christ in my arms that I may embrace without fear;
Christ in my face that I may shine with God.
+ Sung Response Hymnal #775
And God will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn,
make you to shine like the sun,
and hold you in the palm of God’s hand.
+ Postlude
WORSHIP NOTES
The cross marks (+) in the order of service are an invitation
for those in the congregation who are able to stand to do so.
The New Century Hymnal or "Hymnal" has a black cover.
The Chapel Songbook is a blue, looseleaf notebook.
Call to Worship is from Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder,
p.55
Opening Prayer is Adapted from Prayer for Parish Groups by Donal
Harrington and Julie Kavanagh
Commissioning is from All Desires Known by Janet Morley, p. 73