Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up o the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” (NIV)

You know you are a parent living the military life when you are writing down the name and phone number of a mom you met two weeks ago at the park as your child’s emergency school contact because you just moved to a new city during the summer and have no friends or family nearby. If this sounds unbelievable to you, ask a military friend, and I bet they will confirm this is how we survive. As a military spouse, God has provided in each of our six military assignments the community I needed for our family to survive. Just a few examples: God sent a friend to walk around Target with me the night I found out my husband’s deployment was going to be extended, and another to watch baby Audrey when Richard was traveling and I had to take Nathan to the ER for a suspicious swelling bug bite. Then there was the one who picked up my puking kid from school while I was out of town because his grandparents were states away. I could go on and on and on about the men and women who have showed up for me, usually in an emergency when you’d normally call your parents or siblings to come. But in their absence, these strangers turned friends showed up.

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Now you might be saying, that’s great for you, Katie, but I don’t have friends like that. I will say, through moving many times, I have learned that part of what you have to do is let people in. I let these women see me at my weakest self and messy life at its most vulnerable, and I asked for help. I didn’t pretend to have it all together. No one will carry you if they don’t know you can’t walk on your own.

The men in our Bible story from the gospel of Luke obviously knew the need of their paralyzed friend. He didn’t have a way to hide it. Now, whether or not these men had been friends since birth or were new neighbors whom he’d just met, they must have had some love for him in their hearts because they made an amazing sacrifice. We also don’t know whether or not the paralyzed man asked them to carry him to Jesus or if he was skeptical, barely convinced to let them try. But, we do know that some type of friendship and love must have compelled them to not only get this man to the house where Jesus was teaching but onto the roof and then lowered into the room. They risked their own physical safety, financial or legal retribution for destroying property, and appearing crazy to other members of their community, not to mention dropping or possibly further injuring their friend. But their faith in the healing that was available from Jesus helped them put all that aside to bring their friend to Jesus.  

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In her book Find Your People, Jennie Allen talks about the anthropology concept called “fictive kinship” or strong social ties that aren’t established by marriage or blood. She says “Scripture is full of flourishing fictive-kinship relationships that ought to inform how we interact today. In other words, there are probably some stand-in family members all around you, ready to accept and encourage and love you, if only you’d choose to see them that way, if you would let them in, if you would commit to them.”  

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She acknowledges that it can be difficult and costly to let people be in your inner circle, but this is what the church was created to do. At ACF, we believe life is better together! We must let people in so we can both give and receive in our friendships just a taste of that sacrificial love Jesus showed to us on the cross. He could not only heal the paralyzed man’s body, but forgive his sins as well, because he came to redeem us and make us part of his family. Now we are called to carry others to Jesus, too – to the foot of the cross where there is hope and healing to be found.

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If you are in a season of needing to be “carried,” how can you allow Christian brothers and sisters into your life? And if you are in a strong, healthy place yourself right now, who will you prayerfully help “carry” to the Savior?

God, thank you that you designed us for community. Thank you for the many friends throughout my life who have pointed me to you and been the hands and feet of Jesus in my life. Help me to see the needs of others and then be brave enough to “climb on the roof,” to get uncomfortable, to take a risk for the sake of one who needs an encounter with you. Grant me the conviction today, by your Holy Spirit, to live out my faith in a way that brings others to Christ. Amen.