#28 - Kyle Thompson // Godly Companionship is ACTIVE

Joby is going to cover the first part of Mark 2 in tremendous detail next week , so we won't steal any of his thunder today . Jobi is going to cover the first part of Mark 2 in tremendous detail next week , so we won't steal any of his thunder today .

But I do want to prepare you for that by locking in on the first four verses of Mark 2 , and I'll read them here . And when he returned to Capernaum after some days , it was reported that he was at home and many were gathered there so that there was no more room , not even at the door , and he was preaching the word to them .

And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men . And when they could not get near him because of the crowd , they removed the roof above him and when they had made an opening , they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay . Now , as men , many of our modern relationships or connections are very passive .

There are , you know , a few fellas that you know you'll go to lunch with on occasion . These are guys from work . You know you got a group of guys that you always play Call of Duty with . Or you know you have some buddies that you'll say what's up to at the gym , but it's all very surface level , super laid back , you know , always at an arm's distance .

That's not what we see in Mark 2 . We see a group of four men that are willing to destroy a stranger's house , right , in order to get their buddy to the feet of a rabbi that they think might be able to help him . And we can see from the text of Mark 2 that these men are actually convinced that he will help their buddy .

Now , these men are not passive . They don't seem like they would be easily deterred , right . They are active in how they approach this situation . They are active in getting their friend the help he needs . They are active in their godly companionship . Again , let's go back to what we see these men and what we see them do .

They made a hole in a stranger's roof in order to lower their friend down . But we need to talk about the roof a little bit , the typical roof during the first century in Israel was thick and pretty complicated , not easy to get through .

Okay , people and furniture would often be on the tops of these roofs , so they had to be sturdy enough to not just cave in . The roofs had huge wooden beams that would brace on top of the walls of the structure .

On top of the beams would be a layer of branches or thatch that would create a framework , and then there would be a very thick layer of mud or clay that was mixed with straw , which would create a solid and watertight surface , and many of these roofs would have an additional layer of plaster or something similar for more waterproofing .

So ultimately , you could not passively get through a roof like this . Also , there is no record of these men having any tools with them during this process , of four men that are using their hands to dig their way through a thick roof to make an opening just big enough for their paralyzed friend to be lowered through Active , not passive .

So to wrap up this week's consideration , I've got to ask you this Do you have a group of men in your life that are present , sacrificial , uncomfortable , confrontational and active ? Do they have those elements ? For some of you , that is a haunting question and , to be honest , I hope it does haunt you . That just means it's time for you to fix it .