Mark 9:14-23
“Help my unbelief”
September 13th, 2015
“You know what your problem is?”
Don't you just love it when a conversation starts that way?
It's like, "put up your mental dukes" and
get ready for a fight. You're about to be on the receiving end of
some criticism, and when it starts that way, it's usually pretty
ham-handed and indelicate. You're about to get it from both barrels,
guns blazing, no holds barred.
Our Lord Jesus Christ sometimes lets it
loose this way, too. When he encountered the boy with the evil
spirit, in the midst of an argument between his befuddled disciples,
the Jewish scribes and a father at his wit's end. He minces no
words.
“O faithless generation, how
long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?”
In other words, “You know what your problem is? You have no
faith!”
Today people, even
sometimes Christians, speak of faith as if it's a thing in itself. A
sort of spiritual quality of people who can remain optimistic under
difficult circumstances. When something bad happens to you, we are
told, “just have faith”! As if putting on a happy face and
thinking it will all be all right means that it will. Faith in
nothing is really worth just that... nothing.
If the culture
wants us to have faith in anything at all, it's usually in yourself.
Believe in yourself. You can do it (whatever it is). How many
Barbie movies and Sports motivational posters preach this same idea.
But you and I know that we are not worthy of such faith and trust.
Maybe when it comes to getting a degree or making the basket you can
trust your abilities. But when it comes to spiritual things, it's a
different story. If you believe only in yourself, you will soon end
up disappointing yourself. For you are not reliable, trustworthy and
you can't save yourself from yourself.
But for the
Christian, faith has an object, and that object is Jesus Christ. It
is the words and promises he speaks to us. It is that to which he
directs us, in which he tells us to believe. He is the only one
worth trusting because he is the only one with any power at all to
help us, forgive us, save us. But his power to do so is not just
barely enough, it is far more than all we need.
The Father in this
story was exasperated. His poor son was afflicted by the evil spirit
since childhood. The problem had gone on for some time. And like
many others who came to Jesus for help, he must have tried just about
everything else. But even Jesus' disciples, who had been given
authority and had even had unclean spirits obey them in Jesus' name –
even they hit a brick wall with this evil spirit.
But
not Jesus. The father approaches our Lord with his request
directly, “if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help
us.”
“If you can!” Jesus marvels. “All
things are possible for him who believes” And Jesus is back to the
faith thing again. Faith is the real issue. Do you believe, or do
you not?
And a beautiful prayer follows, “Lord
I believe, help my unbelief!” The prayer of every Christian. The
prayer of every imperfect believer who believes in Christ but
imperfectly. We do believe, but only by his grace. We do have
faith, but only by the working of His Spirit. To the extent that we
doubt and struggle, we must repent. To the extent that we fail to
trust in Christ for all good things, we are the problem! But the
solution isn't just to try harder to believe. The answer isn't the
just keep on keepin' on with our doubts and inner turmoil. The
prayer of the father shows us well. “I believe, help my unbelief”
The solution to unbelief isn't more effort or will on our part. The
solution is always Jesus himself. Only he can help.
The evil spirit who stopped up the ears
and paralyzed the tongue would now hear the word spoken by the Son of
God, and ears and tongue and sins would be loosed.
The boy's tormentor had left and he
fell to the ground as if dead, only to be gently raised up by the One
who was tormented to death on a cross and rose from the dead to clear
the way to life for us all.
This is not to say that Jesus will
personally appear to handle every problem you have in your day-to-day
life. This is not to say that he will heal your cancer, make your
husband come back, get you a job, or help you find a girlfriend. He
doesn't promise to take away your stress or turn enemies into friends
or make your children behave, or even your mother-in-law.
But he does better than all of that.
He dies for your sins. He rises for your life. He makes you his
own, makes you holy and righteous. He goes to prepare a place for
you, and someday he'll come back to take you with him. Then he will
wipe every tear from your eye. Then you will live free of sin
forever.
All this he promises in his word. And
all this he sends his Spirit to give you the faith to believe it.
And yet, still we struggle. Still we
doubt. Still we find that Christianity isn't easy-peezy
lemon-squeezy. And if your Christianity is that way, my friend,
you're doing it wrong.
How often does Paul attest to the
struggles within himself – and he an apostle with visions and
direct revelations from Christ! Yet he couldn't do the good he
wanted, and he did the evil he despised. You and I modern Christians
are no different. Sin comes so easy, but faithfulness is hard.
This is another aspect of being both
sinner and saint simultaneously. We want to do good but don't. We
want to stop sinning but we don't. We want to believe, but we still
have unbelief. We are both new creation and fallen sinner, New Adam
and Old Adam at odds in one person.
Lord I believe, help my unbelief! It
acknowledges both the faith that has been given, and the continuing
need for the Savior. This truly is the prayer of every Christian.
Yes, we are baptized, and in baptism
our old nature was drowned. But as one theologian has quipped, the
Old Adam has proven to be a good swimmer. And so Luther would teach
that in baptism the Old Adam is daily... daily drowned and dies with
all sinful desires. And the new man arises from the waters to live
in faith. This is the way it goes for us – repentance and renewal
– our very way of life.
Likewise we come in faith to the altar,
to receive him who can help us, him for whom all things are possible.
We are not worthy in ourselves to receive him, but by faith in these
words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins”.
We believe it is even possible for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to
be present with us under these humble forms of bread and wine. We
believe that he comes to us today with salvation. We believe, Lord,
but help our unbelief. And this sacrament is given to strengthen and
preserve you, and your faith, to life everlasting.
And then think of another way he helps
our unbelief – through the hearing of the Word. Faith comes by
hearing. But that doesn't mean faith comes only once. When we hear
the word of God – proclaimed, taught, even in our private family
devotions – the Spirit is active and faith is strengthened.
The Law cuts us down, and the Gospel
raises us up – like the Savior took the hand of the boy freed from
the demon – they thought he was dead. Jesus restores sinners,
blind, deaf, mute, even dead. And he can certainly restore you. He
will certainly help you. All things are possible for those that
believe – in him. And he who his faithful will do it.
Hebrews tells us Jesus is the author
and perfecter of our faith. Not only does he establish it, but he
also strengthens it, and he brings it to completion. What better
reason do we need to fix our eyes upon him and pray, “Lord I
believe, help my unbelief”.
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