Epiphany 7-B, February 19, 2006

Texts: Isaiah 43:18-25; Mark 2:1-12

A New Thing (Isaiah 43:18)

One reason I enjoy my work here in this parish is that it never gets boring. God always seems to be doing a new thing around here. There are always new people God brings to our church, people from all over the world and from all walks of life. There are always new opportunities and new challenges God sets before us.

Last fall God brought a man to our church who was looking for a place for a group of Sudanese Christians to gather for worship. Many of his compatriots had been displaced from their native country and even now we hear of the terrible atrocities being committed in the Darfur region. In our initial contacts he showed an interest in the Lutheran doctrine and he has since become a member of our church.

Now he is hoping to begin his studies for the pastoral ministry at our seminary in St. Catharines. Last month our church formed a Sudanese Mission Committee to explore the possibilities and make preparations for this ministry. We have some ideas of what we might like to see happen, but most importantly, I believe this is just one more “new thing” God is working among us.

If by God’s grace this ministry goes ahead, it will impact the way we do ministry here. I believe it is like having a baby—that is, if you can imagine our church having a baby! Welcoming a new ministry into our midst is like having a baby, because it will require our time, resources and attention. But I believe it will also give us a new sense of purpose, of adventure, and joy.

Being confronted with something new isn’t always easy or fun. Sometimes a new thing can seem overwhelming or even threatening. Sometimes I don’t want to be confronted with another “new thing;” I just want to do what I am familiar and comfortable with. At other times I just cannot imagine how God can be at work in certain situations. At times we are blinded to the “new thing” God is doing among us—and we are the poorer for it!

Our Gospel lesson shows us an example of that kind of blindness to God’s work. There it is the teachers of the Law who failed to see the “new thing” God was doing. When a paralyzed man was brought before Him, Jesus told him: “Your sins are forgiven.” The teachers of the Law thought Jesus was committing blasphemy, because only God could say those words. In their eyes Jesus, a mere man, was claiming to be God!

For thinking that Jesus confronts them with the question: “What is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’” To show them that He has the authority to forgive sins, Jesus heals the paralyzed man. The power to heal someone with an incurable condition, is alone God’s. Therefore if Jesus has the authority to heal someone after saying “Your sins are forgiven,” it shows that He is not committing blasphemy, but that His words have God’s blessing. For how could God give the authority to heal to one who blasphemes?

Even though many people rejoiced and exclaimed, “We have never seen anything like this!” the teachers of the Law remained sceptical about this new thing God was supposedly doing. Why did they find it so difficult to recognize the new thing God was indeed doing?

A big part had to do with their profession. They were experts in the Law. They lived their lives by the law-book Moses gave them. And they knew that breaking God’s Law brought consequences. Now imagine Jesus appearing on the scene and He begins to forgive people their sins without reference to the Law! Without requiring them to first prove that they deserved to be forgiven! Understandably, these Jewish lawyers are shocked. It seemed that Jesus was disregarding the laws which God gave them. You could not just forgive people their sins. They had to earn that forgiveness and demonstrate a proper respect for and obedience to God’s law.

Another important aspect of their reluctance to accept Jesus was that He, a mere man, acted as if He were God! For one, it was questionable how He healed people. Instead of praying to God and asking God to heal a person, Jesus simply commanded the sickness or demons to leave. He was behaving as if He were God!

And now they catch Jesus even forgiving people their sins without the proper rituals that Moses had prescribed for them to follow. In order to obtain forgiveness for sins, a Jewish person had to go to the temple in Jerusalem and have a priest make certain sacrifices for him. Jesus seemed to be ignoring all the rules and the proper etiquette in dealing with spiritual matters.

Now, was Jesus really disrespecting God’s law by forgiving people their sins without using the proper channels? Was Jesus being reckless by not requiring people to first show a change of attitude and behaviour before pronouncing their sins forgiven? Not really. For in Jesus God was doing a new thing. The new thing God was doing here was to introduce His own Son into our world. Jesus would establish God’s kingdom in the world, not on the basis of the Law, but based on His grace.

The perfection lacking in those whom Jesus forgave, He Himself would provide. And the sin that needed dealing with, Jesus Himself would make payment for. This did not mean that Jesus was setting aside the demands of God’s Law, as the teachers of the Law presumed. Rather, Jesus fully meets those demands with His own perfect obedience to His Father’s will and with His sacrifice for sins on the cross.

Unfortunately, the eyes of the lawyers were blinded to this new reality of God, because they could simply not fathom God’s kingdom functioning by grace. Nevertheless, the kingdom of God’s grace had broken into their world in the person of Jesus. It was among them, but they failed to recognize it. They were blinded by their own distorted perception of God’s character.

For they perceived God primarily as the Judge of all people. And God certainly is a judge—but is that the kind of relationship we can take comfort in? Who among us can stand before God and live! For God declares that all people have sinned and fallen short of His glory. It is certainly a terrible thing for a sinner to come before the presence of the one true, holy and just God.

But the good news is that God does not want to condemn us! Even though we were outsiders, God wants us to become family! He wants to become our Heavenly Father and make us His perfect children through Christ Jesus. Though we deserve His eternal displeasure He has made us His most beloved people. God has truly done a new thing, a most amazingly new thing!

It is sad that people can be so blind to this new thing God is doing! In Jesus’ time it was the teachers of the Law. In our day it might be our own pride in our place in God’s kingdom. It might be our indifference to those who feel excluded or towards those who do not yet know of this great new thing God is doing, those who have not yet heard this good news.

I know that I do not have to look far to find resistance to the new thing God is doing. I know that it lurks within my own heart, within my own sinful nature. It is truly sad, because I know how it must break God’s heart to see how uncaring and indifferent I can be towards those for whom He sacrificed His own beloved Son. What a wretched person I am! But thanks be to God, for His Spirit moves me to cry for help and He gladly forgives and restores me! God truly continues to do a “new thing” even within my own heart!

Not only that, God also invites me, unworthy as I am, to be His representative, to cooperate with Him in making known to others this “new thing” of His gracious rule in Christ our Lord. Yes, God invites me and each of you to live in His grace and to let His grace move us to share the new things we have experienced with all who still live in fear and darkness. May that be our mission and may we encourage each other to welcome the “new thing” God is doing among us. Amen