Four Homies, For God

Introduction

Fast food is seen as a bargain, might not be the best food for you but one of the best deals in Fast food history is the Four for Four dollars meal at Wendy’s you get a choice of four items, four items…a sandwhich, nuggets, fries and a drink.

Many things we need in life we need come in fours, you need four tires on your car, there are four seasons in a year, winter, spring, summer and fall. You have four limbs on your body, arms and legs, four cardinal directions, north, south, east and west. There are four ninja turtles, leonardo, donatello, michaelangelo, and rapheal. There are four classical elements, earth, fire, wire, and air. There are four members of a Tribe Called Quest, Ali, Jarobi, Phife Dawg and Q Tip. When we sing there is four part harmony, Altos, Bass, Soprano and Tenor. The original Destiny’s child had four members, Boyz II Men had four members, Shawn, Wanya, Michael and Nathan. And for some of you seasoned saints remember the melodious tunes of the Four Tops. Many things in life come in fours and many things we need come in fours. Truth be told based on this biblical narrative we need a good core group of four people to get through this this called life.

A little over 5 million people in the United States suffer from paralysis of some sort. The top two causes of paralysis are stroke and spinal cord injuries. This tells me that more often than not paralysis is not something many people are born with but the effect or consequence of injury or sickness. It’s really difficult to find a blessing in loss, but when I was in college I had a professor that suffered from partial paralysis due to a freak accident when he was a young man. Nonetheless, being resilient after accepting the injury, he has been able to accomplish things in life that he never thought or intended to accomplish. This professor has been one of the biggest inspirations on my life.

Typically, we do not see blessing in a loss of faculty but sometimes losing something of importance like the ability to move can lead to some of the best resilience we ever imagined.

This story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man is documented in Matthew, Mark and believe there is a message available for us as it pertains to our life. There are times that we find ourselves emotionally hurt, or spiritually scarred to the place in which it leaves us without the ability to move forward, or move toward anything Jesus.

It is interesting that we can even be in the same place as Jesus, with followers of Christ and be spiritually stuck to the point where we cannot come to Jesus on our own. No matter how much church you attend, how many scriptures you need, everyone needs to be surrounded by a good group of people in order to survive.

We serve a Jesus that has the ability to heal our bodies but also sustain our spirits so that it last forever. Jesus not only forgave the sin but paid the price for the miracle.

Alone in a Room Full of People

Surrounding ourselves around people does not guarantee healing. Sometimes we can go to church, the praise is high and the message is on point and we leave just as broken as we came.

They heard Jesus was in town, “and it was heard He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And he preached the word to them.

Church is packed, service is jumping, and here I am broken to a place in which I’m in the same room as Jesus but I’m incapable of coming to him.

It’s interesting that this man was a paralytic, who was in the same place as Jesus. Meaning someone had to bring him to church, but understand family, bringing someone to church is not enough to change their life.

Had it not been for those four men, the paralytic would have left the same way he came. We can no longer allow paralyzed folks to just be okay with being here, if they are going to be here we need to do enough to help them reach their life changing blessing by truly coming to Jesus.

I was not strong enough to come here on my own, what makes you think I have the power to get to Jesus on my own?

The bible says they carried him:

“to raise to a higher place or position, lift up, take up, pick up.”

To raise up, similar to a sense of lifting hands in prayer. If you are around folks that do not lift you up, you are around the wrong folks.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Do Not Be Afraid of the Demolition Process

Sometimes folks are going to have to tear somethings up in the place you are laying in effort to get you to Jesus. The roof could be fixed, but this man’s life could never be fixed unless he came to Christ.

We try to fix our lives with memes, self help books, diets, workout plans, false senses of hope. Meanwhile if our help does not mean getting closer to Jesus, we will never get the help we need.

“4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.”

We need some friends that are going to break through some stabilized hindrances to get us where we need to be.

They not only had to tear out, but they had to dig through, the obstacles in your life that are hindering you need to be torn out. We have to be willing to dig through the mess to help each other get to Jesus.

I’m paralyzed, I cannot move on my own, not only do I need someone to carry me, but I need someone who is going to be willing to dig through some stuff.

Dig through the addictions that are paralyzing me.

Dig through the toxic relationship that is paralyzing me.

Dig through the depression that is paralyzing me.

If I want the help I cannot be afraid of the demolition that has to take place in effort to get me to Jesus. We can be so afraid of tearing stuff up, we get to caught up in what other people think. What other people think we continue to hinder you.

Understand what type of breakthrough has to happen for good friends to bring you to Jesus. These roofs weren’t flimsy typically they were made in a fashion that was strong enough for people to sleep on.

Their desperation to get their friend to Jesus was more important than worrying about what other people think.

People are always going to have an opinion about you, and what Jesus does for you. Living MY best life means I’m no longer worried about what you think, I’m concerned about what Jesus can do.

See they had to go over the heads of people in the room to get the paralyzed to Jesus. Sometimes how people help you will be hard for other folks to comprehend, but we cannot worry about that, people will always have something to say. “And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hears, Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone.”

It’s funny when people help you, folks are no longer worried about your healing, but worried about what you might be taking from them.

Watch how Jesus blesses us further when folks start hating:

Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

I "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

Surround Yourself around Faithful Friends

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven”.

What is a table used for? Typically a table has four legs or a center structure underneath that holds the table up.

The legs in order for the table to work properly have to be level, You need some level friends.

The legs in order for the table to work properly can’t be bent out of shape, you do not need crooked friends.

The legs also have to be sturdy, typically the legs on a table are more sturdy than the table top.

When the legs are stable anyone who sits at your table will know something is off, they may be able to prop a leg up so it balances everything else but it’s still not a good table because it is imbalanced.

Removed the imbalanced people from your life. Tables are used for the top, but sustained by the legs underneath, if the legs holding me up are unstable than my table top is not as useful as it should be.

You need friends that will balance you in effort to live your best life.

There is no greater balance than Jesus, The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.

Although friends may hold you up and carry you to your blessing, Jesus has to be that foundation for each leg, and the table itself.

Some of us don’t need a new table top, we need new legs, we need a new foundation.