Digging Through the Roof

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  — From Mark 2 (NRSV)

I’m at the church early on Tuesday mornings and I am startled by a big jolt to the Community House around 7:30 today.

Boom, boom, thump, step, step, step. There is a huge ruckus on the roof! I jump up from the desk and head to the front door—blocked by a big piece of plywood. I look out the windows and other big pieces of plywood surround the building to protect the windows. Big tarps hang off the side of the building. All this in a matter of a few minutes.

There’s a whole team!
The roofing guys are here! 
Digging through the roof. 

Maybe some of them are trying to get to Jesus—and I appreciate that. Can’t help but think of this story from Mark. But I know they are digging through the roof on the Community House to replace it. 

It’s all a part of the plan. The last roof replacements took place in the 90's when preparing for our 250th Anniversary in 1997. (thanks for the history, Steve!) 

I’m sure some of you are aware that both roofs have been leaking at some point for years now. We’ve done some stopgap repairs in those years that made things better, but obviously we were just putting off the inevitable replacement. We even prayed to dodge a bullet with the massive rainfall over the last couple days from Hurricane Henri (if you speak French, you know and understand how to say that right.) But, dodge the bullet we did not!

They were supposed to start the roofing project yesterday and ended up calling the day a rain-out because it was expected to rain all day Monday. Didn’t turn out to be so—yet, it still rained so much all day and night Sunday, and half of yesterday. It rained enough that the waters came digging through the roof (again) all on their own before the repair work even began!

No, I do not suspect the rain water is living water digging its way through the roof to get to Jesus. That’s not even a good dad joke. And I never thought about building a boat—another bad dad joke. My kids will be mortified if they read this!

Nevertheless, I do think the contractors are digging through the roof so people can get to Jesus. A new roof ensures that the Fairmount Presbyterian Church Community House will live to get people to Jesus for the next generation. It’s part of the plan.

So be watching your inbox and mailbox for communication from session about the mini-capital campaign we’re doing to finance it. We need your help with this. Can’t do it without you. We’ve just gotta!

We’re not the first, and we won’t be the last--
Digging through the roof to get people to Jesus. 
Call me crazy, but it’s what we do.

Peace,
Scott