Sermon (04 Lent, Climacus, 2017) Mark 9:17-31 This morning in the Gospel a father brings his young son to Christ. The boy suffers terribly. Scripture is very graphic, which is unusual. There is a young boy, who suddenly drops to the ground. His body goes rigid, and he shakes violently. The boy falls into fire and burns, or falls into water and suffocates. In Luke s version, the father says that the boy cries out and is shattered by the pain. We know two things about the father. The first is that the father also suffers. He loves his son. And after years of watching the horrible pain, the father himself is shattered. The second thing we know is that the father is no longer sure what he believes. His child suffers, and this changes the father. Jesus tells the father that all things are possible to the one who believes -- healing is possible for the one who believes. But the father confesses that his faith is weak. Maybe his faith was stronger in the past. But now, after watching his child suffer so much, now there is much that he cannot accept. Scripture -- again in moving detail -- scripture says that the father s response to Christ is immediate. He is moved to tears and cries out: Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Lord, I want to believe, but I have seen so much suffering. Belief is not so easy any more. What kind of God allows a child to suffer as my child suffers? What kind of God allows me to suffer as I am suffering? Lord, I used to believe. My faith was once a strong faith, but now I m not so sure. I m confused. I see so much human cruelty. I have endured so much human cruelty. I don t understand all the hatred and the pain and the violence. Lord, I want to believe. I want to believe that I can be one of the good guys. I want to believe that it is possible to turn my life around. To find healing for my soul. I want to believe that I can change all the old patterns that lead to sin and shame. But nothing seems to help. Maybe I am wrong, and maybe I am beyond help. Brothers and sisters, the father who brings his child to Christ is a perfect picture of nearly every human being. The father wants to believe in a God of love and mercy, but life is hard. And it is hard to ignore the suffering, and the pain, and the sense that nothing ever changes. 1
Despair is always knocking at the door. There is always the voice that says You are not strong enough to get through this. Your faith is too shallow and immature. There is nothing in you for God to admire or to love. Nothing ever changes so get used to it. Give up all this foolishness that healing and wholeness and sanity are possible. ****************** And sometimes we feel this way, not just on Wednesdays. Sometimes we feel this way on Sunday morning too. We walk into the doors of the church and we bring with us the same desperation. Like the father we enter the church, not full of faith, but full of doubt. We want to believe -- we want to believe in the power of God s love to make a change -- but the voice of despair follows us and speaks to us even here. We make the sign of the cross, and the voice says The cross has no power. The cross is utter weakness. We kiss the image of a saint, and the voice says The saints don t care about you. You are an embarrassment to the saints and angels. We sing and we pray, and the voice says Do you really believe what you say? Or is this all pretend? *** Brothers and sisters, if you brought a big bag of confusion into church this morning. It s ok. If you entered the doors this morning with more doubt and less certainty. That s ok too. If you are here today with more despair than joy -- if you are here every Sunday with more despair than joy -- you did not make a mistake. You are exactly where you need to be. *** This morning the despairing father turns to Christ and cries out, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. And look / how the Lord / responds. Jesus does not call a time out. He does not stop the scene and start a bible study. Jesus does not give a lecture, or present his resume, or try in any way to teach or convince or to argue with the father. Jesus does not give the father 10 reasons he should believe in the power of God. He does not quote from the bible, he does not recommend a few useful books. No PBS, no google searches, no Ted Talks. 2
Jesus does not try to convince anyone of anything. Instead, the Lord responds by doing what the father cannot. He responds by doing what the disciples cannot. *** Where they cannot believe, Jesus believes for them. Where there faith is weak, Jesus gives them the strength of his own faith. If this sounds weird to you, welcome home. We worship a God who gives all of Himself to us. Yes we know: His body and blood are given to us in the holy mysteries each Liturgy. But Jesus holds nothing back. His body and blood, yes. But this means that he gives us his hands, and his feet. To do his will, and to carry out his mission. He gives us his eyes, so full of radiance and love for each person he sees. Christ gives to us his back and his shoulders, so that he might walk with us and help us as we carry our crosses. He gives us his voice -- his words of life that promise rest for the weary. The ears of the Lord become our ears, so that we too can hear the voice of the Father in all of creation. His arms become our arms, so that we too can welcome the stranger and the outcast when it seems that we don t have the money or the courage. And yes, since our God is God who holds nothing back His faith becomes our faith. He offers his trust and understanding to us as well. As with his body and blood, so also with his mind. He offers to us everything he is and everything he has, so that where we fall short, Jesus picks us up and carries us to the finish line. To the father this morning, Jesus does not offer 5 ways to increase his faith. Jesus completes the man s faith. He says rely on the strength of my belief and let s do this together. ******************** And what is true of Christ is true of each person baptized in His name. What Christ does for the boy s father, we are called to do for one another as well. Jesus says when your faith is weak, rely on my faith. And in turn, to others, we make the same offer. 3
When a baby is baptized. We believe for the baby. They are full members of the church. When our children are young. Same thing. To their young faith, we add our own and we stand as a family before God. We approach the chalice together. And this never stops. In the church, each of us shares the faith we have with one another. We offer our faith to one another just as we would offer a glass of water to the thirsty. If I enter the church and I am hungry, you will offer me your food. If I arrive cold and shivering, you will offer me a coat and a blanket. If someone walks in and they are in need, we offer them our money and our time. And according to the Gospel this morning, when someone struggles to believe, we offer to them the strength of our own belief. ******** There is a wonderful book by Peter France called A Place of Healing. Peter France was a reporter for the BBC, the British Broadcasting Company. He hosted a radio program for many years on faith and science. And France himself was an agnostic. He never really believed in God, and as a journalist who reported on faith and science, it was even good for him to be impartial. But he and his wife fall in love with Greece, and they try and buy a small home on the Island of Patmos. This is the subject of his book. But France does more than fall in love with Greece. He begins to fall in love with the faith of the people of Patmos. This lifelong British agnostic becomes Orthodox. It s a marvelous story. But when it comes time for baptism, France hesitates. His godfather is Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, the famous British elder, and Met. Kallistos himself is celebrating the baptism. France realizes that his faith is not strong enough to recite the Creed at baptism. Maybe, France thinks, maybe I can t go through with this. And Bishop Kallistos responds to his spiritual child and says, If you cannot say the Creed yourself, then trust me, and let me do it for you. 4
*** Brothers and sisters, Christ offers even his own faith to us today. And we in turn, offer our own faiths to one another. The church is the place for all who struggle to believe. And you will find here, not a bunch of arguments and demonstrations. No lectures or proofs or lines of evidence. What you will find here are brothers and sisters who are willing to join their belief to your unbelief and to walk with you into the Kingdom. Christ abides here. It is Christ who reveals Himself and his kingdom here this day. If faith is a struggle, allow Christ to carry you just as he carried the father of the suffering child. If you struggle to believe, this morning let the church believe for you, so that all things might be possible, as Christ proclaims. And don t be so certain that you are the one who needs all the help. Maybe your belief is small and your unbelief is big. But maybe your neighbor struggles more than you. Maybe the person you sit with at coffee hour is at the end of her rope and is totally confused. This morning, your faith -- as small as you think it might be -- your faith is a source of strength and comfort to others who cannot believe. This morning, the strength of your belief is enough to carry another person into the Kingdom. Lord I believe, help my unbelief. 5