Dealing with Unbelief

Prayer: Lord, thank you. It is a good thing to be able to remember your mercies that are new every morning. It is good to be able to see a blue sky with the sun shining. It is even a good thing to hear and to feel the brisk wind. Thank you. Inspire me with the beauty of your world the word I hear today. Amen.

Scripture: Mark 9:14-23 (NIV) *In the interest of space, I ask you to click the link and read the verse before you read the message. Thanks.

Message: These verses have been used in devotions and sermons to discuss everything from mental health, to demon possession. I want to focus on just the last three verses. The father asks Jesus to help in this way, “If you do anything, take pity on us and help us.” I am fascinated by the fact that Jesus answers the father in this way. “If you can?” I have read the scripture many times and heard about a hundred sermons on it. Never have I heard Jesus using you referring to the father of the sick boy. I have always heard in my mind Jesus saying, “I am able to help.” The Greek word translated you in both places is dyne. This word is used throughout the bible to identify ability and power. Here it is combined with you.

            While some might conclude that the father’s belief alone should have been able to heal his son. We all know what it feels like when a loved one is sick. You wish everything, that it could be you instead. I have heard parents told me how much harder they cried than their babies when the babies received their first shots. I am certain this father, wished his son could be healed. Being cut off from his community because having a sick son most likely meant the entire family might be prohibited from worshipping and from being in the worshipping community, there was no one who was going to be able to help them out, physically or spiritually.

            The news that Jesus and his disciples were in the neighborhood must have been not only the answer to his prayers but also provided great fear. He had no doubt tried many home remedies to cure his son. If this didn’t work…what were they going to do? The disciples had tried and failed to cure his son. The source of the argument was if it was impossible for his son to be cured. Like any parent, grandparent, or surrogate, he had to try even if it meant he was going to take his son home in the same state he had been in for years….he had to try. Jesus turns the ability to help his son back on the father. Since the man had tried other cures, what was left? Jesus answers, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Let us again turn to the Greek to “flesh out” the word translated belief. Pisteuó can be translated to believe or to entrust. I often forget that an act of believing in something can be the same as being able to trust or to entrust. The father was self-aware. He recognized that even though he believed, at the same time, he didn’t believe. His belief that his son could be restored to health was confronted with his experiences of all of the attempts and failures. This father honestly admits, “I do believe” but asks “help me overcome my unbelief!” Maybe it is the father's honesty that caused Jesus to have compassion for them. I don’t think so. I think it was just the nature of Jesus' character to answer need. This response has nothing to do with whether the father had enough ability, could believe, or could trust enough. I came to this conclusion because Jesus heals the boy in verses 25-27. Every time Jesus encountered someone with imperfect faith, he responds with healing with presence, with his own faith. He responds to those with imperfect faith in the same ways he responds to those who he describes as having great faith. It is not about our ability to trust or to not trust that gets Jesus attention and presence.

The message I want you to receive today my friends, is this. God knows we don’t have perfect belief. God knows we can’t always trust perfectly or entrust our deepest concerns to him, perfectly. That does not prevent God from answering, from being concerned, from showing compassion, or from showing up! Please pray with me.

Closing Prayer: Lord with this father we ask, “Help our unbelief.” For your answers of which we are sure, we thank you. Amen.

Have a great day! Pastor Yolanda