Desperate times will call for desperate measures

Imagine sitting in a quiet room such as a school, an office, or a waiting room. Then imagine the place is filled with people respecting one another’s personal silence. Now imagine a young mother with a newborn seating across the room. Now imagine that child gets hungry, and the young mother begins to frantically prepare a bottle, but, the desperation in the child outweighs the prep time for feeding, and what you get is a total lack of respect for silence. The baby’s desperation is unaffected by the crowd’s disapproval of his behavior. That child is going to let everyone in that room know he is hungry. When he becomes desperate enough, everyone will know. The best part is - the child isn’t deterred by the atmosphere of the crowd. In other words, desperate times call for desperate measures.

In the book of Luke chapter 5, four men became desperate not for themselves but for their friend. Their friend was completely paralyzed and in need of assistance in everyday tasks. He couldn’t get himself to Jesus so the friends carried him, only to find the room was so full of people that their hopes were dashed before they could ever begin. I’m sure they looked at the crowd, then looked at their friend, and then looked at each other in disbelief. I imagine they could faintly hear the voice of Jesus but was too far away for any impact. Sometimes just being near his voice is still miles away from being in his presence. Desperation took over, and the friends devised a plan. They would attempt the impossible by climbing atop a house, with a paralyzed man in tow. The practical learning opportunity in this story is - planning and commitment can get you to the rooftop but it takes desperation to raise the roof. They ripped the roof apart and lowered their friend to the presence of Jesus. He forgave his sins and healed his body while everyone watched. In this story, the religious leaders of the day rejected and questioned Jesus, while the crowds of people were amazed and accepted. Just because people should accept Jesus doesn’t mean they will.

In another rooftop account in the book of Acts chapter 10, Peter has a vision. God was about to ignite the fuse on his “Holy Spirit all-inclusive Pyro show,” and he needed Peter to strike the match. On Peter’s rooftop, God showed him that he would not disqualify anyone from salvation based upon their race or nationality, and Peter would be the one to lead that charge. God was not about to let everyone witness his outpouring yet leave the inclusion of some out because of their heritage. An explosion of souls was about to begin and would include the gentiles as well.

Peter and the Fab Four did something on their rooftops that defined their hearts and their mission; they positioned themselves to receive from the Lord. Peter began his discourse in a bit of a rebuttal with the Lord but quickly submitted. The Fab Four accepted the liability for the roof repair and sacrificed their resources to position their friend nearest to Jesus. Peter had to rethink everything he had ever known in order to leave his rooftop in obedience; the four had to sacrifice their dignity and everything they knew in order to leave theirs.

What are you doing with your rooftop, because your faith and obedience has the power to save, to heal and to ignite. Join us this Sunday at Christpoint Church. We’re on Liberty Square, in Sparta, and we’ll have the coffee and donuts waiting for you at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. We’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God. Welcome home