The religionists who got there early for the best seats in the house (Mark 2:6-12) did not take kindly to Jesus forgiving this man’s sin, but I don’t want to focus entirely on the behavior of these religionists and miss the message proclaimed through Jesus’ actions.  The first thing we need to notice is that Jesus was moved by the faith of the paralytic and friends.  It took faith for the paralytic to allow these friends to take him to Jesus and his friend’s faith is obvious as they used their expendable time to minister to their friend and take him to where his needs could be met.

Beloved, faith without action is dead faith and nothing will come of it.  Putting our faith in action will yield abundant results as we utilize our expendable time helping people and getting their needs met.  What would happen in our cities if everyone who attended church on Sundays would put their faith in action during the week utilizing their expendable time to help others?  It may be as simple as taking an elderly person to the doctor, coaching a little league team, providing a meal for a shut in or volunteering at a homeless shelter, hospital, nursing home, prison or jail. 

It seems that in our day, churches pride their self on getting parishioners to volunteer their expendable time within the walls of the church building in programs and events designed to bring people to the building.  I think we have missed something vital in this strategy and people in our cities are suffering as a result.  If we put our faith in action throughout the week, Jesus will do the rest and the needs of people will be met in our cities.

Let's always put our faith into action and see Jesus do wonderful things outside the walls of a church building and beyond the confines of a service.

Know that you are loved,
gaj