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Spiritual Honks: A Sermon

A Sermon Preached at Boonsboro Christian Church in the early spring of 2006

Since I've moved to DC from Oklahoma, I've noticed a few unique things about the area. To start, people around these parts like to make continuous use of their car horn. I figure in a typical 30 minute drive from campus to work, I hear up to 2 dozen car horns. Often, the car horns are being honked at me, for not accelerating quick enough at a stop sign or because I refuse to go triple the speed limit on certain roads.

I guess this horn honking does what it supposed to do - I tend to pay attention to what is going on. If I'm thinking about my day ahead, the car horn can jerk me back to reality, rather than being lost in my thoughts.

I want to suggest that our gospel story this morning is also a spiritual honk. Imagine the story like this - Jesus and his disciples are in Capernaum, a bustling little city on the Galilee Sea. They've retreated into a private home, to escape the heat of the sun, and there Jesus begins to teach, to provoke discussion, to engage those in that hot room with nourishing spiritual wisdom.

Amidst the crowd, there are those who are there to truly learn and wrestle with what Jesus is saying. There are also those in the crowd who are probably there to see what all the rumors spreading about this Jesus guy is about. Others might even be there with an argument ready to try to throw this new teacher into confusion. It was a diverse group, packed in, listening and watching with utmost care.

Then, suddenly, plaster falls from the ceiling. The people, packed in as they are, shriek in surprise. Jesus stops talking and looks up with an eager smile on his face. And slowly lowered in is this sick man on a mat.

I think the reactions on the crowd would have been worth the price of admission, right? Some of the onlookers were probably on the edge of their seat, excited at what just occurred. Were they going to witness a miracle today? A healing?

Another group of the crowd might have responded in anger - how dare you interrupt this time of spiritual dialogue? Can't you see we were in the middle of something? Why can't you wait outside like the rest of them?

Others might have been in their own fantasyland. Maybe they weren't impressed with what Jesus was saying - maybe they were just trying to figure out what the heck he was talking about. And when this man comes in, it throws them for a loop - what does this fancy talk about the kingdom of God have to do with this sick man? What are you trying to do here, Jesus?

Don't you hate when you are in the middle of a good conversation and everything gets interrupted?

This story reminds me of our personal and communal walks with God. From time to time, I know we can get comfortable with God. We can feel like we have a one-on-one conversation going, and then something pops in that throws it all off. In our churches, the same thing can happen - we get a minister that we like, a schedule and worship style that we enjoy, and we crowd around it. It is nice to have that stability, to be able to draw up that spiritual nourishment. But, then something happens, and reality pokes in to interrupt our blessed gathering.

I think the paralyzed man in our passage, in a way, represents this unexpected reality. In that crowded room, it was probably pretty easy to focus in on Jesus and forget about the world that was going on behind them. But the paralyzed man was a representative of that world, a world where there are people who are hurting, suffering, and dying. So when his friends lowered him in, it was probably shocking.

Except that it probably wasn't shocking to Jesus.

To Jesus, this unexpected reality was why he was here. The Kingdom of God that he was teaching about - it wasn't about just an internal spiritual nourishment - it was about affecting the world out there, the world beyond that little crowd.

In our world, we have seen the way reality hits us hard. The devastating effects of the tsunami - the frightening power of Hurricane Katrina - the suffering and poverty of those around the world and even around our corners! When I walk around in DC, reality always hits me hard - I always see homeless men and women, and my heart throbs in pain. Sometimes, I wish I didn't have to see, but it is God giving me a little car honk to wake me up.

The struggle for Christians is what to do when this happens - what do we do when a paralyzed man comes through our roof in the middle of worship? What do we do when horrible tragedies remind us that there is a larger world beyond our comfortable little room?

Today, I think many people watch the church for our reactions to what is going on in the world. In the work I do with young adults, I know many young adults are craving a spirituality that struggles with these issues, a spirituality that is not just intent on - being in a little room with Jesus, but intent on dealing with the reality of the world. A spirituality that is intent on doing something, to the best of our ability, wherever we are.

In the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees, we see a great example of two lines of thought. We see sort of the 'can dos' and the 'can't dos'. For the Pharisees, they seem more focused on what they cannot do for this paralyzed man. For Jesus, he is simply focused on what he can do.

Each day, our spiritual struggle as people living in this time must be to figure out what we can do. Yeah, maybe our church hasn't been the stage for any miraculous healings lately, but many people in this world merely need a pair of gloves and a warm coat to get by. Others need a box of food or a warm meal. Others need a hug, a handshake, or a friend. It can be really simple.

So this is what we take home today - has God given us a spiritual honk lately? Has reality poked in and made us a little bit uncomfortable? And when it happens, if it hasn't happened lately, how are we going to respond? What can and will we do to share Jesus with the world?

I hope and pray that we will have ears and eyes and hearts that are open to God's spiritual honks, to wake us up as a people of faith so we may spring into action and be love to the unloved.

Amen.