All Things Are Possible for One Who Believes

“I believe!” “I don’t believe!” Which is it? Ever caught in such tension? You believe, but then you are not certain that you really believe. Faith either grows strong, or it becomes weak. It never stands still. Where is your faith on a scale, say, from extra certain and strong, to weak, faltering, on the brink of unbelief? More often than not, we plead as did the man in Mk 9:24: “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Believing, Then Not Believing, Is Resolved When We Look to Jesus Christ, Who Always Sustains Our Faith by His Mighty Acts to Redeem Us.

Faith is Challenged by Real Tensions to the Point of Desperation, Skepticism, Apathy, and Futility.

He was a father. He loved his son. But the young boy was severely disabled. Otherwise healthy and strong, we presume, the boy was afflicted, thwarted—from growing up normally, from having friends, from just having fun like other kids—because he was tormented, overtaken, and dominated in his entire person by an alien spirit, a demon (Mark 9:17-18). And this demon robbed the boy of his speech. The condition only worsened. The boy’s father was desperate. “Who can help us?” “What are we going to do?” Neighbors and friends witnessed this family’s pain, the anguish, but they kept distant, quite helpless. Meanwhile, at intervals the demon would convulse the boy’s body terribly, throw him to the ground and try to kill him, or hurl him into the lake and drown him.

In our nation we have the finest hospitals for children, each equipped with advanced technology for treating many illnesses. But no such help was available anywhere in the ancient world for this family, and even if it had been, this was no matter for technology and medicine.

The father heard what was now widely known, that our Lord healed many with various diseases, and he drove out many demons (Mk 1:34; cf. Mark 3:22–27; 7:37). At this time, Jesus was away in the mountains. But a contingent of his disciples remained in that village. So the father brought his son to them, but they could not drive out the demon (Mark 9:18). Frustrated and disappointed, this father was losing hope, losing his faith.

He and his wife could not comprehend what was happening to their son. All was out of their control. Doctors, specialists, anyone? No help! Their son would never be normal. There was nowhere to turn. How can they continue to believe in God? By the time Jesus and three of the disciples returned to that village, the man was spent. He could only heave an agonizing sigh and cry out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v 24). Such desperation, if not answered, can lead to unbelief.

Unbelief takes many forms. Explanations abound, but few if any are good excuses for lack of faith, unbelief. In fact, God is clear in his judgment. The psalmist deplores the wicked who pursue their evil ways and in their thoughts have no room for God (Ps 10:4). Formerly, assertive thinkers were brash unbelievers.

Unbelief is no respecter of persons. It plays no favorites. It plagues all kinds and sorts of people. This is the devils playground. We should be alert and aware. Did not one of the disciples, Judas, entertain skepticism about the very Lord he pledged to follow? Else how could Judas become a cheap opportunist and betray our Lord for thirty pieces of silver? We hear words from the Doctor as if it is the final word. 20-years ago when our country was under attack by enemy forces, thousands were ready to fight and ran to church buildings to pray. Nearly 2-years ago when we were under attack again by enemy forces, the world told us to stay home for fear that we may get sick. And when church buildings began to reopen so people could gather to fight and pray, skepticism and critical voices became louder and louder.

Unbelief takes many forms, apathy being one of them. Once the term atheism tended to suggest a concrete decision, or a deliberate stance that rejects God outright. But today, the newer term unbelief evokes less clarity and more confusion and doubt, but also a definite condition of indifference. In the movie Charlie Wilson’s War, congressmen and their staffs, agents of the CIA, political activists, engaged in a covert war to support Muslim Afghanistan against the Soviet Union, who are seen as godless invaders. Most of these players claimed in one way or another to be Christians. But that identity never really mattered. You see, their lifestyles betrayed any link to the Christian Gospel. For such persons it can be very true: God remains something irrelevant or, practically speaking, nonexistent, especially when the perception is a matter of life and death. This, too, is subtle rank unbelief.

Unbelief is a taunting temptation also for people who are sincere and do believe. Burdened Christians, carrying heavy crosses, desire sincerely to believe. But they struggle to believe for the reason that they have grown weary of believing when the illness, the condition, the circumstance, the situation only seems to be getting worse. Frankly, they are spent, out of sorts, out of patience, and they are disgusted. Is there help for such believers who understandably are gripped by unbelief as a keen sense of futility?

Faith is Strengthened by the Lord, who takes Command and Gets it Done.

When our Lord returned from the mountains and approached the village, his disciples were engaged in a heated discussion with certain scribes (Mark 9:14). In fact, these disciples were under attack because they could not deliver this young boy from the demon and return him to normalcy. Our Lord had empowered them to cast out demons (Mark 6:7–13). But they could not get it done here. Now Jesus arrives. Cheers fill the air. Everyone expectantly looked to Jesus. He asks what is all the fuss about? From the crowd, the poor man, father of the boy, calls out, “I asked your disciples to cast [the demon] out, and they were not able” (Mark 9:18). “O faithless generation,” Jesus exclaimed (v 19), probably chiding his disciples, who may have slipped into thinking such powers were their own, and such false thinking was their failure. Then Jesus looks for the boy. “Bring him to me.”

On many counts, the scene here is the greatest help, where our Lord comes upon a situation and takes command. In whatever dire circumstances, desperate and frustrating, you are never out of reach of our Lord, never beyond his presence. And wherever He is present, He takes command.

The disciples fail, and Jesus calls for the boy: “Bring him to me.” The disciples had been successful. On earlier occasions they had cast out demons. But here, no, they could not get it done. It seems that they themselves had slipped out of faith into unbelief. That is, the disciples took for granted the power vested in them, as if they possessed such power in their own right. Momentarily, their hubris took over. They became faithless, going on their own, and accomplished nothing. The demon would not budge, and the young boy continued to suffer. Only Jesus in this scene is believable.

Only Jesus gets it done! Skeptics, do not like narratives such as Mark 9. What happened that day is indisputable. A crowd gathered. The people pressed to see the outcome. Here is a desperate father, pleading for help, crying out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Jesus’ disciples had failed. What will Jesus himself do? The crowd grows larger, the situation is tense. There is going to be an incident here on the streets, but Jesus takes command and directs stern loud words to the demon. “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again” (Mark 9:25). What happened then caused the crowd to be terrified. The demon thrashed the boy violently, so that he lay on the ground. Some shouted, “He is dead” (Mark 9:26). “But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose” (Mark 9:27). The father lunged forward and reached for the boy and began carrying him to their home. Quietly, the crowd began to disperse. And when Jesus entered the house nearby, he addressed the disciples and said, “This kind [of demon] cannot be driven out by anything but prayer,” meaning complete dependence on God and his power (v 29). Not by our puny powers, but by trust in and dependence on the Lord who gets the job done for His people — all the great works, with the highest and most sweeping work, even our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins, by the cross, a work completed in the power of his life-giving resurrection from the dead!

Skeptics miss out because they are so busy challenging the Lord with their petty criticisms and scoffing. They miss the victory of faith. We may go from moments of faith to moments of unbelief, caught in that miserable tension. But help is at hand. The help is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who takes command, who is believable, and who acts for us powerfully as he is gracious and merciful always.

Help our unbelief? Who is not helped today? From the details of this Gospel, by the Holy Spirit, there is new faith, strong faith for all. Amen.

Prayer of the Church—Responsive Form

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19B)

12 September 2021

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Lord God, we believe; help our unbelief! Sustain us through the many troubles and trials of this world. When unclean spirits afflict us and those that we love, protect us from the evil one whose desire it is to throw is into apathy and unbelief. Revive our trust in You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord, knowing that those who teach in the Church will be judged with greater strictness, bless the teachers of school, and our seminaries. Preserve them faithful to Your Word, that they may not stumble in what they say. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord and Father, tame our tongues so that they are not a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Turn them by Your Spirit from cursing the people made in Your likeness to instead blessing You, and keep us from stumbling in what we say. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, guard the tongues of our governing authorities, especially our President and Governor and all who hold elected offices, that they may not stumble in what they say, but speak wisely and truthfully, leading in accord with Your will. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord God, You have promised that “all things are possible for one who believes.” In such faith, we bring before You our brother Larry Wooldridge, and all others in need, asking You to grant them health and healing. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, Your Son, who suffered unjustly for our sins and was vindicated in His resurrection. Assure us that no one can contend against or declare guilty those who have been reconciled to God in Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Finally dear Lord, You are our hope and refuge, in our distress we turn to you. The shock and horror of that tragic day 20-years ago may have subsided, but for many it has been replaced now with an emptiness, a longing for an innocence lost.

This day, dear Lord, we remember those who lost their lives in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.

We are mindful of the sacrifice of public servants who demonstrated the greatest love of all by laying down their lives for friends.

We come before You this day remembering, and we come in hope, not in ourselves, but in you.

As foundations we once thought secure have been shaken, we are reminded of the illusion of security. Our only security is in You. Forgive us when we think otherwise.

As we reflect on this 20th anniversary of September 11th, we give you thanks for your presence in our time of need. Lord, in Your mercy; hear our prayer.

All these things and whatever else You know that we need, grant us, Father, for the sake of Him who died and rose again Who taught us to pray:

Our Father....