HOSPITAL OR MUSEUM?

Sermon Notes, September 27, 2015

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

            Rev. McGlinchy’s sermon was titled “Hospital or Museum?”  Pastor Garry told about a school trip to a museum when he was a child, and contrasted that with time spent in a hospital when he was suffering from a lack of blood platelets later.    

            We have some churches that are like museums, focusing on outward appearances and man-made rules and traditions.  Others are more like hospitals, focusing on the inward spiritual health of the people.  When you think about it, the church was always meant to look more like a hospital and less like a museum.  The Pharisees were good at DOING church, more like a museum: they spent a lot of time defining and discussing religious tradition.  They were concerned about upholding the man-made traditions, and often lost sight of the scripture.

            In Luke 5:17-27, 31 & 32, we get a great example of what the Church should look like.  The friends brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing.  When they couldn’t get in to the house where Jesus was teaching, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and lowered their friend down to Jesus, and He not only healed him, but forgave his sins.  We can take two things from this story: 1. our faith affects everyone around us, and 2. God’s forgiveness far surpasses all human understanding.

            Let’s focus on the faith of the friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus.  They were tenacious: they knew Jesus was in town and they knew that He had healed others.  The door was blocked with people, but they didn’t let that stop them.  Sometimes we allow life to dictate our faith: because we have been rejected in the past when we’ve presented the Gospel to a friend or family member, we tend to hide our faith.  Or we let our personal limitations dictate how we live a life of faith. 

            The friends in this story brought their friend to Jesus so that he could be healed.  We all know someone who can use a healing touch from the Great Doctor.  Emotionally: people who have suffered from abuse or mental ailments, people who need reconciliation. Physically: people who suffer from illness or trauma, etc.  Spiritually: This is where many Christians get tripped up.  We put on a mask every Sunday in hopes that people won’t find out how spiritually bankrupt we really are.

            It was the incredible FAITH of the paralyzed man’s friends that impressed Jesus.  For better or worse, our faith affects others.  Our words, actions and love have a great impact on how the world responds to Jesus.  Our church should resemble a HOSPITAL, not a MUSEUM!  We need to go from doing church to being the church.