On Sunday, my pastor’s wife Mrs Juliet Mukulu (she is, by the way, the only Ugandan pastor’s wife I know, who is also not a pastor… and they have been married for almost 30 years!) challenged us to think about whether we have ‘four men in our lives.
She was referencing that paralysed man the Bible talks about in Mark 2:1-5: “A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’.”
That is some serious love that pushes one to such lengths for a helpless man. Remember, this was not their house; they vandalised a stranger’s house to get their friend help, not caring what the repercussions could be.
Mrs Mukulu asked us on Sunday, “Do you have ‘four men’? That person [or people] you can count on through thick and thin to have your back, no matter what?” How do you treat them? The church was silent as we retreated into reflection. I was happy to realise I actually had my ‘four men’.
At the same time I wondered, am I among their ‘four men’? Would they, in turn, count on me, or am I always too busy when it is my turn to stand up and be counted? That was one interesting service. So. I pass the challenge to you now.
Do you have those ‘four men’? Are you someone’s ‘four men’? This kind of trust and love is earned, you see. The paralysed man in the Bible must have been special to the four before he met his misfortune, just like the biblical Dorcus/Tabitha, whose death was rebuked by the countless people she had helped, and the apostle peter was moved to pray her back to life. Time for your own self-check, my friend.
