The Rev. Robert Lundquist VII after Epiphany B 2/19/06 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

“Mind the gap.” On our trip to England last month, this was the first thing we heard announced on the train from Heathrow to London. “Mind the gap.” At first I couldn’t figure out what was being said, that was how novel it was to my ears. “Mind the gap” between the train and the platform, that was the full message. Where we would probably say “Watch you step” here in the States, the British turn the phrase just a bit differently. I find myself pondering this phrase, looking at the space between what we think God can do, and what God is really all about. “Mind the gap.”

In today’s Gospel reading we find ourselves – finally! – in chapter two. Mark’s telling of the Good News continues to proceed at a breathless pace. And so, in this story of the healing of the paralytic, what do our 21^st century ears hear? Mind the gap now – what do we learn about God? I see three miracles in play.

1) The Miracle of Intercession: having faith for one another. Look again at the story – we learn nothing about the paralyzed man. We don’t know if he was born maimed or injured in an accident, we don’t know how old he is or where he lived. But we learn plenty about his faithful friends. One can imagine a fuller tale – the friendship of the five, the decision to seek out the healer in Capernaum, the long journey and disappointment upon first seeing the crowd, the imaginative problem-solving and the action plan, the trip to the roof… And then: “Forgiveness? I want to be healed!” might have been the first thought through the mind of the man on the mat. What Jesus is about, we should be learning, is healing from the inside out. “Pick up your mat, put on those still-new sandals, and go on home,” says Jesus.

And the four friends? How industrious, persistent and single-minded they must have been, bringing their friend to Jesus. Just like our intercessory prayer. For isn’t that what we’re doing when we pray for another? The lesson for us is this: When you pray, be intentional and innovative. Your prayer must be more than “thinking of” another, or making a wish when it’s convenient. Mind the gap – the gap between our often-low expectations and what God truly wants for us and is fully capable of doing. Our intercessions call for focused, sacrificial, beat-down-the-roof prayers to God. Bring your prayer to Christ, for we now know that your faith is a conduit.

2) The Miracle of Confrontation: Jesus defies the status quo and the powers that be. In our reading last Sunday we see Jesus set apart from society, changing places with the outcast leper. So while the leper is made clean and returned to community, the pressure upon Jesus to be simply a healer rather than the Living Word forces him to stay away from the population centers. In today’s scripture lesson Jesus heals the paralytic, and we do not know whether the man is himself a sinner or an inheritor of sin from his parents. Note that Jesus is ministering in a crowd of poor people, without the resources for private healthcare. Off to one side are the scribes, the religious officials, perhaps taking notes and certainly appalled by the whole scene. When Jesus pronounces forgiveness – the release from debt to God and a rebuke of the power and control held by the scribes, they lose their cool.

“How dare you? Blasphemer!” This is no idle charge, as the sin of blasphemy is punishable by death, according to Leviticus 24:16. http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=7721348 In this exchange with the scribes, Jesus ups the ante. He identifies himself and his actions with the Son of Man, the Human One, the figure of apocalyptic judgment found in the book of Daniel. Jesus forgives and heals. Mind the gap – what Jesus is about is healing the entire culture.

3) The Miracle of Healing: the hunger for wholeness. This is what draws the people to Jesus, the deep need for healing. But healing is not Jesus’ purpose. Forgiveness, mercy, the new thing that God is doing! This is Jesus’ mission. We heard it in today’s reading from Isaiah – “I am the one who blots out your sins for my sake; I will not remember your trespasses.” Imagine that – God forgives us for God’s sake! And Jesus came to tell us that forgiveness is healing – that’s his point. So while we humans are skilled in forgiving and remembering, it is God alone who truly forgives and forgets.

Once again look for the part that the community plays in healing and forgiving. Even now we must lift each other up, and lower each other through the roof. Yes, it’s the opposite of the way of the world, the reverse of “Everyone for themselves” and “Look out for #1.” Mind the gap – Look for the Human One when you’ve been spared undeservedly, and when you’ve been saved despite your shortcomings. Look for the Son of Man when you receive mercy, when you’ve been helpless and found yourself carried to a gracious God, a loving Savior.

Mind the gap, says Jesus. Be aware of the difference between your assumptions and Divine Reality. Because your faithfulness matters, and the status quo doesn’t. God is love, and forgets your sins. The gap is in your comprehension of the Holy, because for God, there is no gap between earth and heaven. Amen.

A Parish For All People!