Raise The Roof
By Al Linton, Session Elder
Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. (Mark 2:4)
I know a little bit about roofs from personal experience. Not the type back in Jesus day, but your modern-day roof. But this isn’t about roofs as it is about friends who help each other.
Years ago when my wife and I lived in Kansas, we had a friend who did a “roof raising” party where friends and family came over to replace the shingles on his roof. Kind of like the barn raising parties of the past. It was hard work but it was great comradery.
A year later, we did the same thing on our old farmhouse. We had a bunch of friends over and re-roofed our house in one weekend and afterwards had a great party for all our friends involved.
Five years ago here in Hawaii, we had the roof of our house blown off in the middle of the night by a storm. In the morning it started to rain flooding the inside of the house. Within an hour we had friends from work, church, the neighbors, and the fire department helping to tarp the roof and save our furniture and possessions.
God was with us and we were blessed with help from people, some of who we didn’t know before!
These friends are truly amazing friends. They had a love for the paralyzed man and the faith in Jesus to go to extremes to heal their friend. Jesus saw their faith and healed the man. (I don’t know if they fixed the roof ...)
I thank God every day for friends both known and unknown, and I know when they have a “roof” to raise I will be there to help.
There’s a saying most of us are familiar with: “a friend in need is a friend indeed.” This quote goes back to the 3rd century and is credited to Quintus Ennius, a writer and poet during the Roman Republic. It means when a friend is in need, it’s your deeds that make you a true friend. It works when you help strangers too. Always be willing to help a friend in need.
Prayer: Dear Father, thank You for friends and family to help us in our time of need. Not just physical or materiel needs, but with spiritual needs as well. Help us to recognize that we are here to help each other. In Jesus name, Amen.
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