Faith is Called Into Action

You know the feeling…

You show up late to something important, and the place is already full.

The door’s jammed. The line’s long. You crane your neck, but you can’t see a thing.

And there always seems to be that clock ticking in the back of your mind… this delay is going to cost me…

Into a moment just like that enter our four friends.

…

Jesus is teaching in a house so packed that not even one more person can squeeze in.

They’ve brought a man who can’t walk. They’re carrying him — literally — on a mat.

Four corners, four hands, one hope.

And they’re too late. The door is blocked. The line’s too long. They desperately need to be seen.

Faith, if it’s going to be active, will have to get creative.

Faith in Consultation

“Maybe we wait,” one suggests.

“Maybe the Rabbi will come out.”

Another shakes his head. “He’s healing people. Nobody’s leaving.”

“Then shout.”

“Over this noise? Forget it.”

They stand there in the heat, each man holding his corner of the mat, sweat streaking through the dust. Their friend looks up at them, helpless.

Then someone says it.

“The roof.”

The others laugh… until they realize he’s serious.

“You mean dig through it?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s insane.”

“Yes, but it might just work.”

And so they climb.

…

It wasn’t a tiled roof like ours.

Most houses had flat roofs made from wooden beams covered with branches, reeds, and packed clay. 

A ladder or steps made the climb seem routine… until they were carrying a body.

…they made it to the roof…

They could walk on it. They could even dig through it.

But it wouldn’t be quiet, or quick, or dignified.

They start scraping away the hardened clay. 

The first handful of dirt falls through the ceiling. 

“What will the homeowners think?”

“Surely they’ll make us put this back together…”

A few heads turn. Then larger pieces. Dust fills the air.

Jesus pauses mid-sentence.

And in that silence, a rectangle of sunlight opens overhead.

It’s a preposterous plan. But this is faith in action. 

Faith, specifically.

“There is something of utmost urgency that only Jesus of Nazareth can handle.”

Faith like that leads to action.

When Jesus Saw Their Faith

The mat begins to descend.

Four ropes. Four trembling hands. A man who cannot move, being lowered through the dust and laughter and murmurs of the crowd.

And Jesus looks up.

“Seeing their faith…”

He doesn’t see ingenuity. He doesn’t see audacity, or strength, or commitment.

Well actually, Jesus sees everything. But that’s beside the point.

Among all of the things Jesus sees, the Gospel wants us to know that Jesus sees their faith.

He sees faith. He sees it in part because it has sprung into action.

But the main reason He sees faith is because He is faith’s author.

This is the faith that God authors: 

Faith that moves, 

not because it’s strong, 

but because of the strength of the One who draws all unto Himself.

These men’s actions don’t earn Jesus’ attention; they reveal His work in them.

“Seeing their faith…”

“Son,” He says, “your sins are forgiven.”

Faith Finds the Deeper Need

It almost seems cruelly ironic.

They tore open a roof for healing; Jesus forgives him instead.

But then again, this was faith in action. 

Faith, motivated by Jesus, on behalf of someone else whom Jesus desires to save.

Jesus will soon happily heal the man’s legs. 

He does that as much for the man’s friends as for the man himself!

But before he does that, he heals the man’s very soul.

If we learn nothing else, we must learn this: a person is brought to faith when they are brought to Jesus.

Moments later, the man rises, rolls up his mat, and walks out through the very door that had once been blocked.

Four friends, peering down from a hole in the roof, grinning through tears, their hands still covered in dust.

That’s faith in action.

It doesn’t always know what God will do, but it won’t stop bringing people to Him.

Sometimes faith climbs a roof. Sometimes faith carries.

Sometimes faith gets our hands dirty.

And every time, it finds Jesus.

Takeaway

Jesus is the object of our faith.

We are faith’s recipients.

And the beneficiaries of our faith are the people around us in need.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

You see faith even when it’s covered in dust.

Give us courage to carry others when they cannot walk,

and persistence to bring them to You when the way seems blocked.

Teach us to act, not out of pride, but out of love —

because You first acted in love toward us.

Amen.