I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief! Mark 9:14-29 Sept 16, 2012

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today we look at an amazing story that occurs in the valley after the Transfiguration on Mt. Hermon! We see Jesus returning with Peter, James and John to his other 9 disciples around Ceasarea Philippi where the Gates of Hell or Hades are located in the northern part of Galilee and finds crowds gathered and his disciples arguing with the scribes:

Mark 9:14-29

The Healing of a Boy With an Evil Spirit

¹⁴ When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
¹⁹ “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil^[a] spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
²⁸ After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
²⁹ He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.^[b]”

Footnotes: Mark 9:25 Greek unclean  Mark 9:29 Some manuscripts prayer and fasting 

 

It is telling how the people run to meet Jesus. Jesus then asked the disciples what they were arguing about? They and the scribes seem mute? They don't answer. The man in the crowd then explains how he had brought his demon possessed son to be healed by having the demon driven out. He must have known that the disciples have cast out demons and healed people. We hear in Mark 6

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

They had experience but they could not cast out this demon. They are on the defensive and they are surrounded by their critics and they are not able.

Jesus takes over and asks the father "How long has he been like this?" It is a really important question because Jesus wants to hear the story. He knows the answer, but as our loving God he wants us to tell the story. He is not just a magician or a dispenser of power and healing. As a matter of fact after the Transfiguration he does not want to be the center of attention. For in a few months the disciples will need to be on their own and they will need the faith that does not see. Jesus wants the father to know he is helping because he is a personal savior and has compassion for this man and his son!!


After he hears the father's story and hears how the demon has, from childhood, taken over his son at times so as to cause brain damage which manifested in these violent seizures. The man says something that many people who have been hurt and unsure of success say: "if you can." This causes Jesus to respond in an exclamation and divine frustration and responds "IF YOU CAN??" He is frustrated by this mans lack of faith. The man doesn't say "if you will" but "if you can." Realizing what he is saying: probably one of the most honest and transparent sentences in Scripture, he replies: "I DO BELIEVE! HELP ME OVERCOME MY UNBELIEF!!" May we be so honest, if we do not have the spiritual gift of faith, to admit that even when we believe we still have doubt, as sinful human beings we will have to deal with doubt all our lives!

After this statement of sincere faith it says in Luke 9:42 that as soon as Jesus sees the boy the demon starts to cause him to do his convulsions. Jesus commands the demon to leave and rebukes it. The spirit leaves and never comes back. The boy is so relaxed by the exit he looks dead. Jesus gives the son back to his father and then leaves before he is overwhelmed by the crowd. After all this is the time he has to prepare his disciples for his departure he will bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem that Jesus discussed with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Mark continues by telling us they went away from the crowd and the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast this demon out when they had cast out many. Jesus says something that is so essential for us today:
"This kind can only come out by prayer (and fasting)".   I think this means they were trying to do things on their own and Jesus was out of sight and out of mind. They tried to follow the formula, like the Sons of Sceva in Acts 19 at Ephesus, but they were trying to do things on their own strength, in their own power.

We in the church act like this when we ask God to bless what we are doing rather than do what God is blessing! We need to connect with our God through prayer and yes, fasting, to align our will with HIS WILL, HIS PASSION, and HIS DESIRE! May we be open to spending time in the Word, partaking of the Sacraments which offer us proof of who we are and the Grace that saves us so that we can use this relationship through the "means of POWER," that is prayer to walk in our Lord's strength and power.

This is a great story for us to understand the posture we are to have with the Lord: "I believe, help my unbelief!" and then spending the time in worship, prayer and fasting to connect with our Lord in order to be the ambassadors we are called to be!

May God bless each one of us with such transparent and honest faith!

Pastor Bryan

Putting on the Armor and Standing Firm in the Lord, Sept 2, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we look at the full armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-20

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

It is important to note that after St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reminds us to live and life worthy of our calling, to submit to one another out of reverence or fear of the Lord, and turns the whole concept of marriage and family from a pecking order into serving one another in submission to Christ he tackles the most important practical purpose for which we are called.

St. Paul reminds us that we are in a battle. It is hard for us to remember when we spend so much time working, paying bills, hoping to work in order to pay bills, raising families, running around trying to catch up, going to class, studying etc.... that we are in a war! I think Satan has worked overtime to keep us from seeing the battles around us. We set up all kinds of protections in order to keep safe and secure yet what St. Paul is reminding the people in Ephesus, a city with many retired soldiers, writing as he is in Prison in Rome surrounded by soldiers that we are soldiers of the Cross. He is looking at the guards and thinking of the people in Ephesus a major city with soldiers, the governor the temple to Diana and many other things:
Wikipedia notes:
 When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus instead of Pergamum the capital of proconsular Asia, which covered western Asia Minor. Ephesus entered an era of prosperity. It became the seat of the governor, growing into a metropolis and a major center of commerce. According to Strabo, it was second in importance and size only to Rome.^[20] Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100, making it the largest city in Roman Asia and of the day. Ephesus was at its peak during the 1st and 2nd century AD.
The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (Diana),^[21] who had her chief shrine there, the Library of Celsus, and its theatre, which was capable of holding 25,000 spectators.^[22] This open-air theater was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage, with the first archaeological evidence of a gladiator graveyard found in May 2007.^[23] The population of Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes to supply different areas of the city, including 4 major aqueducts. They fed a multiple set of water mills, one of which has been identified as a sawmill for marble.
Ephesus was similar to us in North America. They felt secure, they were important. From a worldly point of view they had it all. But as Paul remembered these saints he wanted them to not be fooled by having a worldview that did not take into account the SPIRITUAL reality all around.

He exhorts them to look at things with a heavenly perspective. That Satan is real and he is at work even when we think we are safe. He wants to lull us into the false sense of security that money, a war that is far away in Afghanistan, Syria etc.. but not here, means we are safe. He wants us to think that we are secure as he plans to strike. St. Peter reminded us that we should humble ourselves and recognize that "our enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8) St. Paul and St. Peter understood that we are all targets and like Job the Lord does allow us to be tested. Although not beyond our abilities:

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

So Christ spoke through Peter and Paul to remind us of the battle but also to remember HE WON THE WAR! THEREFORE WE WIN IN CHRIST!!

May this reminder to put on the Full Armor of God and Stand Firm in Christ help us to dress up with the knowledge we are at war but we know the outcome and WE WIN!

AMEN! COME LORD JESUS!

Love in Christ,
Pastor