SERMON | Holy Interruptions
B-Sides
Holy Interruptions
Scripture: Luke 5:17-26
17 One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; 19 but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. 20 When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—“I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.” 25 Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. 26 Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
Questions
What?
1) What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen this week?
2) How do you feel about Holy Interruption at DTC?
So What?
3) When was the last time one of your plans was interrupted? It could be big or small. How did it make you feel in the moment? Did those feelings change later?
Now What?
4) Dawn writes “When Jesus gets interrupted, healing happens… stuck things change” Where do you need healing? Where are you stuck?
5) The scripture and sermon finish with the phrase, “We have seen strange things today.” How would you define strange? Can it be a good thing?
Prayer God of interruptions. You interrupted a blank void with creation. You interrupted an enslaved people with an exodus. You interrupted a world crying out in pain with a Savior. Equip us to be aware of the interruptions in our own lives: The strange moments where we might feel your love, learn to love you, and feel the call to love one another more deeply. Amen.
“We are interrupting ourselves...from our own agendas;
from our own plan; from our own worries and fears.
—Rev. Dawn Hyde