You held the room in the palm of your hand. They got more than they bargained for that day.
The man beside you kept his eyes lowered, his limp arm tucked safely into his belt.
But you were slowly surveying the room, eyes lighting on the hard faces of the men who had come to love the law more than the God who gave it.
What does the law allow, you said. And maybe your voice carried some anger. What does the law allow? To help or to harm?
And that’s a question we must hear today. For there’s a Pharisee in every one of us.
There’s a part in each of us that’s always right, even when we’re wrong
A part that sees the fault in everyone but ourselves.
A part that’s closed its mind to other viewpoints, and its ears to other voices.
It’s there in all of us. But with God’s help it needn’t rule us.
What will it be? says Jesus. What attitude will you take?
Will you help, or will you harm?
In that choice that has to be made; that situation that has to be handled; that person who has to be worked with; that task that has to be accomplished.
Will your attitude help, or will it harm?
When the stranger sits in your place. when the baby cries in the church; when they start asking for volunteers; when you realise there’s a new person around today.
Will your attitude help or will it harm?
When people judge the church by your way of life; when you’re tempted to slip the knife in when no-ones looking; when you want to lash out because your pride’s been wounded. When it would be so much easier not to stand up and be counted.
Will you help or will you harm?
What does the law allow? Two things only, says Jesus. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul strength and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. Anything beyond this is harm.
Lord, have mercy.
Having looked them in the eye, Jesus turned to the man with the paralysis and said “Stretch out your hand”.
He unbound his arm, with its sickly, white pallor, and, for the first time in years, flexed his fingers. Within moments colour and energy had returned; veins stood up on the back of his hand as he curled and uncurled his fingers with a childlike joy.
“Stretch Out Your Hand”, Jesus says to us, addressing the places where we feel paralysed.
Some of us are stuck because no-ones really shown us how to live well.
Some are holding back because they’re scared to fail or be found wanting.
Some feel their lives are in limbo until a decision is made, or a situation changes.
Some are hemmed in by circumstances over which they’ve no control.
Where are you paralysed? What does God want to bring to life within you?
(Pause)
Lord set us free – help us stretch out our hands. And help our congregation do the same, for there are ways in which we as a community are paralysed too.
There are tasks we need to do here; initiatives that could benefit the people in our parish and give the gospel a good name.
But we are too busy, too afraid, too reticent to get involved. And our witness, as a congregation, withers.
Lord, set us free. Help us stretch out our hands, that what you do in and through us might be seen and acknowledged in this place and beyond.
Because we ask it all in Christ’s name.
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