Sadly we have had some vandalism at the church and a part of this has involved some tiles being ripped off the roof. This vandalism has resulted in a lot of time and effort being spent on repairs and securing the grounds to try to prevent access to the roof for the young people who have caused the damage.
As I was pondering this hassle recently, I remembered the home owner who offered Jesus a place to stay (read Mark 2). Pretty soon, his house was packed with people who had come to see Jesus and to hear what he had to say but then things suddenly got weird!
We can only imagine the shock that those gathered felt as they sat listening to Jesus only to realize that parts of the ceiling were crumbling and falling around them.
Some people had brought a paralyzed man to Jesus so that he could be healed but when they couldn’t get him into the house, these resourceful friends made a hole in the roof and lowered him in.
It’s an amazing story where Jesus heals the man and also talks about forgiveness and the new start that he offers to us all. The crowd must have been astonished and the man and his friends were ecstatic but how did the home owner feel?
Was he frustrated? He had welcomed the Messiah but instead of receiving blessing, peace and prosperity he had ended up with a hole in his roof!
There is a disneyfied version of Christianity that says that if we follow Jesus then all of our dreams will come true and only nice things will happen. Bizarrely the gospels show us that the opposite is often true!
If you follow Jesus then he will turn your life upside down and you might even end up with a hole in your roof!
Christianity isn’t about us being wrapped in cotton wool by God, it is about God wrapping us in his love as we follow him in a broken, messy and fragile world.
When things go wrong in life, do we feel let down by a disneyfied god that some people have created in their minds or do we look to God to lead us forward?
That home owner had a hole in his roof but he had also experienced a healing and had been promised forgiveness which would lead to a new start in life.
We don’t know if he was just frustrated and angry or whether he was ready to follow Jesus in a great adventure whatever the consequences!
How about us? Are we really ready to follow our Lord and Saviour or are we just looking for a calm and quiet life?
Honest about my faith 
Although we never really know what to expect when we follow God, it’s still the only way to do life successfully and to the fullest. Thanks for sharing. Blessings to you.
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