Last week, I wrote about becoming fully and authentically human (click here).
For me, Jesus Christ is the person we look to in order to see authentic humanity, and he does this through his sacrificial death on the cross.
But, we often fall short of the sort of love that Christ demonstrates. We often rebel against God, choosing instead to do things that please us. We sort of miss the mark for what it means to be a true human being
However, confession is the means by which we restore the fallen image of God in ourselves. This “baptism of tears” restores us and makes us whole again.
But confession is scary! And, you may not know where to begin. What are we supposed to be confessing
The bottom line is that just as we get to know God through his actions in the world, we can get to know ourselves through our actions.
By seeing ourselves as we authentically are, we have the means to change and move towards God.
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Sunday’s Gospel was the story of how vandalism leads to healing.
The story begins with Jesus doing what he does best: teaching the crowds. Though, this time, he was “at home” and the crowds were so big, there was no room for everyone in the
Along comes a paralyzed man who just wants Jesus to heal him.
But, the crowd is so large there’s no way he can get to Jesus.
This is when his friends decide to vandalize the house
They take their paralyzed friend up onto the roof, cut a hole in it, and lower him down to Jesus.
The American in me says . . . “Sue them!”
But, Jesus has compassion. He sees their faith and says,
“My son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5 GNT)
Not everyone is convinced.
The religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, think it’s all a sham. Only God can truly forgive sins. This Jesus fellow, they imagine, is all bark and no bite.
They don’t believe the paralyzed man’s sins are really forgiven.
But, Jesus sees into their hearts. He sees their secret thoughts.
To demonstrate to them that he is doing God’s work, Mark tells us that Jesus responds to the Pharisees and makes the paralyzed man walk again.
At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home!” (Mark 2:8-11 GNT)
Jesus demonstrates that the forgiveness of sins isn’t just a legal acquittal, but true healing.
We are made whole again when our sins are forgiven. This makes us an authentic human being.
But notice one important aspect: before Jesus could forgive and heal this man, he first had to realize his brokenness. He had to realize that he was paralyzed.
For us, today, I believe that we’re all paralyzed.
We may not be physically paralyzed, unable to walk, but we are all paralyzed in one way or another.
In short, our souls are paralyzed.
But, is this really true? How do we know? How can we discover if we’re really paralyzed or not?
Today’s commemoration for the second Sunday of Lent is St. Gregory Palamas, and I think he can help us determine both if we are paralyzed and to what extent we’re paralyzed.
After all, if we don’t first realize our own paralysis, how can we find healing?
Gregory is, first and foremost, known for articulating Orthodox theology in the midst of a
It’s quite complex, but it can successfully be summarized in two points:
- God is truly present in the world through his energies,
- and, through stillness, hesychia, God is able to manifest himself and work through us.
The first point may sound like theological jargon–after all, what does “energies” mean?–but it’s not.
Put simply, Gregory is telling us that we can’t know who God is his being.
But, we can get to know God through his actions in the world. We know what he does, and what he does shows us that he loves and cares for us.
I think this is an important point in our efforts to realize our own paralysis, to see ourselves as we truly are
In other words, we learn about who we are through what we do and what we want.
And, if we’re honest with ourselves, we see that we too need friends to lower us through the roof so that we can be healed by Christ.
Being paralyzed means that we are sinners.
We’ve rebelled against God.
We’ve fallen short of our full potential. Or, as the Church Fathers sometimes say, we’ve tarnished the image of God, the very image we were created in.
Worst of all, we’ve done this of our own free will.
One of the passages from the lectionary reading last week (Proverbs 6:16-20) says we’ve messed up in a variety of ways.
- We’ve had a proud look,
- a lying tongue,
- hands that killed innocent people,
- a mind that thought up wicked plans
- feet that hurried off to do evil
- bore false witness through lies,
- and, stirred up trouble for our friends.
We’ve allowed our pride and greed to rule our lives. They’ve become idols that we’ve chased through life.
The Good News is that once we’ve seen who we authentically are, and how far we’ve fallen from the ideal, we can demonstrate our faith!
It’s possible to put a hole in the roof so that Jesus can heal us.
As Orthodox Christians, this sort of healing is sacramental . . . the mystery of confession.
The Church Fathers call confession a “baptism of tears.”
Our sins are forgiven in our baptism, which remakes us so that we are a new creation.
And, even though life got in the way and we returned to our old ways, the Church offers us another chance.
Confession is the friend who cuts the hole in the roof for us.
Confession is the friend who lowers us into the house, past the crowds, and places us before Christ.
I know confession is scary.
I know it’s hard to bring yourself to admit that you’re paralyzed, especially in the presence of a priest
But, if we muster up the faith to examine our souls, realize our paralysis, and repent through confession, then the result is freedom
By repenting of our sins, we can walk again. We will no longer be lying on a mat begging others for our basic needs.
Jesus will say to us,
“My child, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5)
We will be changed, made whole, and draw closer to Christ.
To deepen your faith, click here to see the “Take Your Faith Home” handout that goes with this sermon.
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