A Corner of the Stretcher
Blog / Produced by The High Calling
In his wonderfully readable book Everybody’s Normal ‘Til You Get to Know Them, author John Ortberg uses the story of the Capernaum invalid to illustrate friendship.
“Jesus was the sensation in Capernaum,” Ortberg writes. Amazed crowds spread news of the Nazarene’s teaching and miracles. Just as quickly, word spread now of Jesus’ return to Capernaum and the house where he would teach. Talk fueled curiosity, and curiosity drew crowds. On the day of his appearance, inside and out, a certain house in Capernaum was carpeted with men, women, and children. By evening, when a chance to glimpse the main attraction seemed most remote, “four people came, carrying a paralyzed man.” The man on the stretcher couldn’t have come alone; his friends must have thought a lot of him just to battle the crowds. Unable to reach the speaker conventionally, the cripple’s four determined friends turned creative. Hoisting him to the top of the house, they lowered him through the roof into the middle of the packed room. “When Jesus saw the faith of these people . . . ," says verse five (from the second chapter of Mark), "He forgave the man’s sins and healed his paralysis.”
“Without his friends, he never makes it to Jesus, never gets healed, never gets forgiven,” Ortberg writes. “All these things flow out of some wise decisions made many years ago—to have great friends.” The loyalty, courage, creativity, confidence, and shameless desire to help their friend fueled action. And a man was reborn.
When television’s Mr. Rogers spoke to people off-camera, he made a habit of taking his audiences through an important exercise. “Pause for a minute of silence and think about all the people who have helped you become who you are,” he’d say, and many people left renewed.
So pause for a moment to think about who God has placed in your path, and along your path. Who has helped you become who you are? Touched your life? More important, who helped bring you to Jesus? Who knew that the One you really needed was God himself? Living this up-and-down life, we all yearn for someone to come alongside and be a true neighbor, to be “Jesus with skin on.”
Two millennia ago, four good friends persisted until their friend received Jesus’ touch. Ordinary people—you and I—also stand at a corner of someone’s stretcher. We are the friends, the neighbors, the hands and feet of God’s kingdom on earth.
“Jesus was the sensation in Capernaum,” Ortberg writes. Amazed crowds spread news of the Nazarene’s teaching and miracles. Just as quickly, word spread now of Jesus’ return to Capernaum and the house where he would teach. Talk fueled curiosity, and curiosity drew crowds. On the day of his appearance, inside and out, a certain house in Capernaum was carpeted with men, women, and children. By evening, when a chance to glimpse the main attraction seemed most remote, “four people came, carrying a paralyzed man.” The man on the stretcher couldn’t have come alone; his friends must have thought a lot of him just to battle the crowds. Unable to reach the speaker conventionally, the cripple’s four determined friends turned creative. Hoisting him to the top of the house, they lowered him through the roof into the middle of the packed room. “When Jesus saw the faith of these people . . . ," says verse five (from the second chapter of Mark), "He forgave the man’s sins and healed his paralysis.”
“Without his friends, he never makes it to Jesus, never gets healed, never gets forgiven,” Ortberg writes. “All these things flow out of some wise decisions made many years ago—to have great friends.” The loyalty, courage, creativity, confidence, and shameless desire to help their friend fueled action. And a man was reborn.
When television’s Mr. Rogers spoke to people off-camera, he made a habit of taking his audiences through an important exercise. “Pause for a minute of silence and think about all the people who have helped you become who you are,” he’d say, and many people left renewed.
So pause for a moment to think about who God has placed in your path, and along your path. Who has helped you become who you are? Touched your life? More important, who helped bring you to Jesus? Who knew that the One you really needed was God himself? Living this up-and-down life, we all yearn for someone to come alongside and be a true neighbor, to be “Jesus with skin on.”
Two millennia ago, four good friends persisted until their friend received Jesus’ touch. Ordinary people—you and I—also stand at a corner of someone’s stretcher. We are the friends, the neighbors, the hands and feet of God’s kingdom on earth.
The demands, pressures and stress of work can put a huge strain on relationships with our coworkers. This 4-day plan from Theology of Work Project and Workmatters provides simple steps you can take to be more loving to your coworkers that will transform those relationships and increase both joy and productivity at work.