Going to the Mat: Friendship

``We're really good at saying you need us, but friendship is saying we need you. And so in this story at the beginning of Mark two, if we're assigning roles, if we're we're doing this play in the church, if we're doing this play in the world, more often than not, the church winds up like all the people surrounding the house. [00:26:58] (20 seconds)  #MutualNeed

Friendship Friendship in Christ is one of the ways that we are able to fight the loneliness, the division, the brokenness that exists in our world. [00:24:59] (16 seconds)  #FriendshipFightsLoneliness

Friendship meaning to tear up the roof of those things that are keeping us apart. That's the role of the church is to say, what's getting in the way? Not only can I help you, not only can I carry you, but what's getting in the way? What can I move for you? [00:25:15] (27 seconds)  #TearDownBarriers

Here are these four friends who carry their hurting neighbor to Christ. And not only do they carry him to Christ, they don't let the barriers and the obstacles stop them. [00:24:05] (17 seconds)  #CarryToChrist

And Jesus, seeing the faith of the one on the cot, but seeing the faith of his friends, seeing the faith of these four people who carried him there, who dug through the roof, who dropped him down in front of Jesus, says, go. Your sins are forgiven. [00:21:40] (16 seconds)  #FaithOfFriendsForgives

And they know these four friends know they have to get their friend in front of Jesus. They they know, like, here is a healer. Here is someone who can provide health to our friend who is suffering, but they can't get through. So they go up to the roof, and the roofs of of Capernaum of of the ancient Middle East in that time, they were clay. They were there were dirt roofs. And so they begin digging a hole through the roof. And they've dug this hole big enough, and they lower their friend down in front of Jesus. [00:21:07] (33 seconds)  #RoofDiggersRescue

So focused on the inside, so focused on on our own stuff that we fail to realize there are people trying to get through who need to be laid in front of the healing Christ. People who need to get through to be told they have a place, that they are loved. So often we wind up being the barrier we're called to tear down. [00:27:18] (32 seconds)  #DontBeTheBarrier

It's hard to say, I need you. We live in a culture that's taught us to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, to be fiercely individualistic, and yet the gospel of Christ over and over and over again in this story in Mark tells us that we need each other. [00:29:41] (24 seconds)  #VulnerableInterdependence