Homily 605 – 6 APE
Holy Transfiguration, Ames, Iowa
August 4, 2024
Epistle:  (110) Romans 12:6-14
Gospel:  (29) Matthew 9:1-8

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

The account of the paralytic brings to us insight into the priorities of the Kingdom of God.  I’ve spoken about this before.  God says “My ways are not your ways.”  But living by a different set of ways is difficult.

We, most of us, have lived our lives with a certain truth.  We can sometimes call that a “paradigm.”  We generally are raised with that set of truths, and changing them can be traumatic.

That was the resistance Jesus encountered throughout His ministry and indeed throughout His Earthly life.  He lived within a different paradigm.

Now it may be helpful to back up a bit.  This account of the paralytic is found in the three “synoptic” Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Matthew give us the briefest account, and leaves out some of the details.  Matthew was generally writing to a Jewish audience, and so perhaps the story was already familiar and didn’t need the detail.

In the Marcian and Lukan accounts, the story becomes more recognizable.  They add the details about the friends, not just bringing their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but how they managed it.  The house was crowded, and the friends lowered the paralyzed man from a hole they made in the roof.

So maybe that rings a bell now.  The account says, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer!  Your sins are forgiven!”

Let’s pause for a moment and think about what this says.  What this tells us is that faith can be, let’s say, transferred.  What Christ saw wasn’t just the faith of the paralytic.  He also saw the faith of the friends who brought the man, carried the man onto the roof, and let the man down through a hole in that roof.

Whenever anyone asks about the value of praying for one another, think about this story.  Would the paralytic have been in front of Christ on his own?  Doubtful.

Sometimes, we can’t do things alone.  Oftentimes – maybe even every time – we need the help of others to get us in front of Christ.  The Church does that, in our prayers and commemorations for all the people we pray for in the litanies, and for all the people we pray for in our private prayers as well.

Knowing that the holy ones before us are physically dead, but still alive in Christ Jesus, they too intercede for us, and bring us before Christ.  Just like these friends brought their friend, a paralytic, before Christ.

That’s important.  We sometimes minimize the impact of praying for one another.  We shouldn’t.  When I prepare the gifts we will offer during the proskomedia service, typically before anyone gets here, each of you are remembered by name.  Some of you have offered names of loved ones, both here and those departed before us.  They are all remembered.  A small particle of the prosphora, the loaf of bread, is taken out for each Orthodox name and placed on the discos with Christ.

The names of those not visibly part of the Church are also remembered during this service.  I find such joy and comfort praying for my mother, and my father in law, departed before, who lived apart from the Church but in the hope of the resurrection.  And for my dad and mother in law, still alive, and my brothers, and sisters and godchildren and friends.

And the whole parish.  Knowing that we can bring those people to Christ just as this paralytic’s friends took him to Christ.  It doesn’t have to be the priest remembering them at the proskomedia – all of us can intercede for one another, and everyone we encounter, and ask God’s mercy and healing for them.

Here comes the tricky bit – the paradigm shift.  We do this, and most often ask and expect for something in this life, in this kingdom, to be given.

But what Christ does here – He says, Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.

When we pray for one another, for our families and friends, and even our enemies, we want them to change, don’t we?  We want them to be healed, or to stop being mean, or to be generous or loving.  We want change.

What we may get is God’s logic, God’s ways.  His ways are not our ways.  His ways are eternal, not temporal.  Not of this world, but of the Kingdom which is eternal.

God is focused on reconciling us to Him.  He is focused on forgiveness.  Even in the midst of physical trial and want and need, His focus is unchanged.  He forgives and loves us.  So that we, in turn, can repent, and love Him back rather than love ourselves.

Knowing God’s ways, knowing God’s focus, we need to also shift our focus and our expectations.  This life is a gift, but it isn’t our ultimate life.  Our ultimate life is with Him, and in Him, in the Kingdom which is to come – but is also here now.

That is the priority.

The physical healing, if any, is only to show the authority of Christ to forgive.

When we approach God, we mustn’t think that if I have enough faith, I will be healed.  That’s not God’s way.  We approach God and with enough faith, with any faith, even as the mustard seed, even as the grain of salt, with any faith we are forgiven.  And we are able to repent, and live our lives with the constant repentance of turning to Christ as the sole focus and object of our desire.

All of our desire.

So, brothers and sisters, pray for one another.  When someone is in need around you, if you are able, meet their need.  If you cannot meet their need, then bring their name before Christ in prayer, knowing with confidence that God will bring that person into Himself, if the person permits.

And live a life of good cheer, and great joy, experiencing the healing of our spirit, and occasionally, our earthly existence.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.  Glory to Jesus Christ.