Christ Church Sermon, Unsung: Courage, October 11th, 2026

[music]

You're listening to a message from our

weekly worship at Christ Church in Bethl

Park, Pennsylvania. We're a United

[music] Methodist congregation with the

mission of building inclusive community,

sharing Christ's transforming [music]

love. To learn more about the church,

including how you can join us for

worship online or [music] in person,

visit christummc.net.

Thank you for listening.

>> And today's New Testament reading is

from the book of Luke, chapter 5, verses

Luke 5:18–20

18- 20.

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man

on a mat and tried to take him into the

house to lay him before Jesus.

When they could not find a way to do

this because of the crowd, they went up

on the roof and lowered him on his mat

through the tiles into the middle of the

crowd. Right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said,

"Friend,

your sins are forgiven."

This is the word of God for the people

of God.

Thanks be to God.

>> 87 years ago, movie goers minds were

blown when they sat down in a theater to

watch a black and white movie that all

of a sudden, right in the middle of it,

exploded into color. The film, of

course, was The Wizard of Oz. So, just

take a minute and think that that film

is 87 years old. and the world was

introduced for the first time to Dorothy

and her little dog Toto, to the

scarecrow, to the Tin Man, and to the

cowardly lion. The premise of the movie,

of course, is that all four of these

characters were missing something that

only the Wizard of Oz could provide. And

so, moviegoers watched as the famous

forsome made their way along the yellow

brick road, final destination, the

magical land of Oz with its great and

powerful wizard. I'm sure you remember

that the scarecrow needed a brain, the

Tin Man needed a heart, and Dorothy was

looking for a way home. Then there was

the cowardly lion. He looked brave and

he sounded fierce when we first saw him

on the screen, but it was all a facade.

The lion was missing his courage. And

because he was, it meant that his fears

kept him from doing the things that he

was supposed to do, namely to protect

the pride or to protect his friends and

to defend them against the things evil

that was happening around them.

I wondered if courage today looked a

little different than when Elrank Bomb

wrote the book, The Wizard of Oz, and

when MGM put it on the screen. So, I put

a post out on Facebook about a week ago,

a little more, and I asked what courage

looks like today. And here are some of

the responses that I got. Some were

specific. One person wrote that courage

looked like her mother serving her

church and her community through to the

end of her life, even though she was

battling cancer.

Another referenced the editors and

writers of the Cornell student newspaper

who broke the story of the woman who was

assaulted at the fraternity house.

Some examples that people gave were more

general in nature. And I'm paraphrasing

just a little bit here. Courage looks

like taking the first step. Courage

looks like doing what is right even when

you're scared. Courage is doing what is

right even when you are going against

what everyone else is doing.

One said that courage is when you just

keep going no matter what.

Whether people were specific or general

in their responses, all of them across

the board had a common thread and that

was perseverance.

And sure enough, if you look up the

definition of courage in the dictionary,

perseverance is part of it. Miriam

Webster says that the definition of

courage is the mental or moral strength

to venture, persevere, and withstand

danger, fear, or difficulty.

2,000 years ago, way before Facebook and

way before the cowardly lion, four

ordinary men demonstrated what real

courage looked like when they brought

their friend to Jesus.

You've heard the story before. We just

heard it here. Jesus is preaching and

teaching and the words getting out that

he is doing miracles and he's healing

people. And so, four men who must have

heard about Jesus decided to take their

paralyzed friend to him. Maybe Jesus

could do what the doctors could not.

When they got there, it was so crowded

they couldn't get in. They couldn't get

to Jesus. So, they climbed up on the

roof. They dug a hole and they lowered

their friend through. And he ended up,

as you heard Jenny say, right in the

middle of the room at Jesus's feet. And

Jesus healed the man first of his sin

and then of his paralyzation.

Variations of this story are told three

different times in the four gospels. all

three times. It's told from the

perspective of the four men that took

their friend to Jesus.

Sometimes though, when we look at a

familiar situation from a different

perspective, it changes what we notice.

It has the potential to reveal things

that we may have missed when we always

look at things the same exact way. And I

think that's really true in this case.

The four men in this story displayed a

lot of courage. They fit the definition

of courage that I just gave you. But

looking at this story in a different way

may help, I think, to reveal a greater

depth of that courage and a critical

element of it that is missing from our

original definition.

So I'm going to tell the story again,

but this time from the perspective of

the people sitting inside the house

listening to Jesus.

These were the people that had scored

front row seats to see Jesus. They were

literally sitting at his feet soaking up

the words that he was saying, probably

hopefully waiting for a miracle that

they had heard about. Maybe he was going

to do one of those in that space. There

were lots of people outside that would

have had to crane their necks or strain

their ears in order to see or hear

Jesus. But not those people in the room.

They were golden.

As they were listening, maybe they heard

a little bit of commotion outside

followed by a scuffle on the roof. They

probably ignored it because again, Jesus

is right in front of them.

But then all of a sudden, pieces of the

roof started coming down on their heads.

A roof back then was comprised of a few

large beams and then interspersed

between those beams was thatch, which is

a mixture of vegetation and grasses.

It's all dried. And then what tied that

together or held that together was clay.

And that clay was mixed with straw.

If you remember in the scripture we just

heard, it says that the men removed

tiles on the roof. And just so we don't

get hung up on details, let me pause for

a second and say that the word tiles

does not mean tiles like we all know

tiles, our wall, our wall and our floor

tiles today. Instead, biblical scholars

believe that Luke was using a

construction term that would have been

familiar and used often in Jesus's day.

They believe he was using it to refer to

general building materials, which would

have been the clay and the thatch that I

just talked about.

Back to our people in the house. So,

while it's not literal tiles that are

falling down, it is not a small amount

of ceiling elements that were coming

down. dry grass and clay chunks and

straw were just falling on them. And the

people inside could not have known it.

But these men were not digging a small

hole. They were digging a big enough

hole to lower a fully grown man through

it.

I want you to imagine for a second the

frustration, the annoyance, maybe even

the anger of these people on the floor

as the roof just kept falling down. And

maybe Jesus wasn't even speaking anymore

because everyone's attention had shifted

to the rapidly enlarging hole on the

roof. They came to hear Jesus and now

something was distracting them.

To take it even further, imagine the

frustration of the homeowner who was

probably there watching all of this

happen. All of a sudden, he's getting a

skylight that he didn't even ask for in

his living room ceiling. It's likely he

just wanted to offer Jesus a place to

stay during his time in Capernaum. And

now they people were ripping an

unauthorized hole in his roof.

When when the downpour of material

stopped, everyone probably looked up to

see what was happening. Sorry, I have

material on my face. Okay. Um and so

above them, what I want you to imagine

is there's the hole in the ceiling. And

then I want you to imagine four faces

peeking their way over and looking in

down into the hole. And then those four

faces reached around and they started to

lower something through the hole. So now

that we have that picture in our heads

of what it must have been like inside

the house, let's shift our perspective

back to the four men on the roof.

All they saw below them as they would

have looked into that hole was a sea of

angry faces and Jesus.

And still they made their decision to

lower their friend to the floor.

What got them that far was not just

plain courage. True, they met the

definition of courage that we said

earlier, but their courage had something

else.

This courage propelled them to brave the

anger of the people in the house. This

courage had faith.

When you add faith to courage, now we

have a different definition.

Courage means deciding to take a risk of

faith to do what you know is right.

The four men believed that Jesus could

heal their friend. Nothing could stop

them from getting their friend in front

of Jesus. In doing so, they had to make

a decision to risk their reputations, to

risk the consequences of ripping a hole

in a roof, to risk the wrath of the

crowd below. If this potential visit

with Jesus had not had the promise to

completely transform their friend's

life, it's entirely possible that the

four men don't decide to take the risks

I just listed.

But on behalf of their friend though,

the men decided to take the risk.

Because at the end of the day, here is

what they understood.

The reward of getting their friend to

Jesus made the risk worthwhile.

The reward of getting their friend in

front of Jesus was that he could be

healed and a new chapter of his life

could start.

But real faithfilled courage doesn't

stop at just knowing what is right. If

the four men had just thought to

themselves, "Hey, it'd be great if our

friend could get to Jesus because we

know what Jesus can do and we believe

Jesus could heal him." The man never

would have been healed.

In order for it to make a difference,

you have to take action. You have to act

on what you know to be right. And so to

that end, courage also means putting our

faith into action.

The men took their friend to Jesus. They

didn't stop when their first plan didn't

go well. They didn't stop in the face of

all the risks we talked about. Their

faith in Jesus drove them to keep going.

They kept taking action after action,

carrying, climbing, digging, lowering

until their friend was laying at the

feet of Jesus.

And they were ultimately rewarded for

taking that risk and for putting their

faith into action. How do we know that?

Remember the words that Jenny just read

from today's scripture from the last

verse, Luke 5 20. When Jesus saw their

faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are

forgiven."

If I were to ask you what the most

important word of that verse is, what do

you think you would say? Faith,

forgiven, maybe friend, you'd be wrong.

Those are all great words. But not in

this verse, none of those is the most

important. The most important word in

that verse is the word there. When Jesus

saw their faith

in most other miracles where Jesus heals

someone, he does it because of the faith

of the person who needs healed.

This time Jesus heals because of the

faith of the four men who brought to

Jesus their friend who needed to be

healed.

Courage is on our list of unsung traits

that disciples of Jesus should have

because real courage, the kind that

decides to take a risk of faith and then

acts on that risk, is rare.

It's rare, but it is a vital trait that

a follower of Jesus must possess.

We have to possess it because it's that

kind of courage that prompts us to make

sure that the people we know who need to

know Jesus have that opportunity to meet

him because we know that Jesus

transforms lives. It's that courage that

gets people in front of Jesus.

The fact of the matter is this.

You are here today because someone in

your life had the courage to bring you

to Jesus.

Let me say that again. You are here

today worshiping in this space, singing

praises to God, praying to your savior

because someone in your life had the

courage to bring you to Jesus.

Maybe it was a grandparent who took you

to vacation Bible school and prayed your

first prayer with you.

Maybe it was a parent who prioritized

faith over everything, who said that

church is more important than sports or

other activities that have taken over

Sunday morning.

Maybe it was a friend who risked

ridicule to invite you to church or to

youth group where you could hear for

yourself how much Jesus loves you.

Maybe it was your child. We have heard

of this happening in our preschool where

children come here and they hear about

Jesus and then they bring their parents

back on Sunday because they want to know

more.

Someone took a risk of faith on you.

Someone summoned up their courage and

put their faith in action to get you in

front of Jesus at a worship service, a

Wednesday night class, a retreat, VBS,

or any of a hundred other places so that

you would have the chance to meet your

savior.

Obviously only Jesus can heal

the pain and the hurt of sin. We are not

responsible for doing that. But it is

our responsibility as disciples of

Christ to use our courage to get the

people we know who need to know Jesus in

front of Jesus so that Jesus can do the

work.

In the Gospel of John 1:es 39-42, we

read about the disciple Andrew who spent

one day with Jesus. He was so changed by

that one single solitary day that do you

know what he did? He immediately went to

find his brother Simon. And in verse 41,

he tells Simon, "We have found the

Messiah."

But Andrew doesn't leave it at that.

Verse 42 says, "And he brought him to

Jesus." meaning Andrew brought Simon to

Jesus.

Andrew took a risk of faith with his

brother. Andrew himself was already so

transformed by that one interaction that

he had with Jesus that he knew his

brother had to see Jesus, too. So he

told Simon, "We found the Messiah." And

then he put his faith into action and he

took Simon to Jesus.

And what happens next gives me the

chills. Jesus looked at Simon and said,

"You are Simon, son of John. You will be

called Cphus," which means Peter.

When Simon got in front of Jesus, Jesus

knew exactly who Simon was. He didn't

need a backstory. He didn't need an

introduction. He took one look at Simon,

identified him, and then renamed him

Peter as if to signify the magnitude of

that interaction.

Later on in that same chapter of John,

we meet Philillip who had also

apparently been with Jesus at some

point. And like Andrew, he is so changed

by what he hears that he went to find

his friend Nathaniel. And he told

Nathaniel, "We have found the one that

Moses wrote about in the law and about

whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of

Nazareth, son of Joseph."

Nazareth must Nazareth must have been a

little bit of a wacky place because

Nathaniel's response doesn't have

anything to do with Jesus, the one about

whom Moses wrote. Instead, he replies,

"Nazareth. Can anything good come from

Nazareth?"

And to that, Philillip simply says,

"Come and see."

And Nathaniel went he met Jesus and he

became a disciple of Jesus.

The invitation to meet Jesus does not

have to be complicated.

Sometimes it is simply saying to someone

else, "Come and see."

Courage comes in all forms.

Sometimes courage shouts from the

rooftops and sometimes courage lowers a

man through it.

Sometimes courage forces things to

happen and sometimes courage takes

someone's hand and gently leads.

Sometimes courage is loud and bold and

sometimes it whispers, "Come and see."

Spoiler alert about The Wizard of Oz.

So, if you haven't managed to watch it

in the 87 years it's been out, cover

your ears because I'm going to tell you

what happens at the end.

The Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly

Lion, and Dorothy, they all get what

they're searching for at the end of the

movie.

But remember that everything that they

receive, intelligence, love, courage,

the way home, they actually had inside

themselves all along.

And so do you.

You do not have to be a preacher to get

someone in front of Jesus.

All you need is courage.

What all of the people that we talked

about today had in common, the four men,

Andrew, Philillip, was courage. They

made a decision to take a risk of faith

in inviting someone to meet Jesus. And

then they put their faith into action.

And Jesus did the work. Remember,

you are here today because someone in

your life had the courage to bring you

to Jesus.

And so the question I want to leave you

with is this. Who in your life is

waiting for you to have the courage to

bring them to meet Jesus?

Let's pray.

Holy and living God,

it is hard in this world to have

courage. When we are told constantly to

stay in our lane, to not worry about

others and think only of ourselves, it

is challenging to take that risk of

faith and put our faith into action. But

today, we pray boldly that we might be

able to do just that

because we know that lives are at stake.

We know that you are waiting to

transform others just by an introduction

with you. And so we pray for the courage

to be able to help people come and meet

you.

Thank you for that gift of courage and

we pray that you might help us use it

for the transformation of the world. In

Jesus name we pray.

Amen.