WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:06.780 So it is really great to be with you all. I feel like today has already been a day of reunion and homecoming for me and Marianne. 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:10.859 We've said it before, but Advent for us really does feel like something of a home church. 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:15.099 And it's so great to be back here with you all this evening. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:21.280 We're currently serving at Church of the Holy Cross, which is in Crozet, Virginia, just to the west of Charlottesville. 00:00:21.580 --> 00:00:23.940 And we've been at that work for the last 18 months. 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:27.480 And thank you for your prayers and support of our mission there in Crozet. 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:29.800 Today, I can report to you things are going well. 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.119 We really sense and feel the Lord's blessing. 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:36.359 We're going to be looking at this gospel reading that Dan just read for us. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:38.000 So if you have a Bible, please turn there. 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:39.659 Before we do that, let's pray together. 00:00:45.260 --> 00:00:53.880 Father, we pray that you would help us to see the compassion and power of your son, Jesus Christ, 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:58.200 especially as he's revealed to us in this passage we just read from Mark, 00:00:59.260 --> 00:01:01.960 and that you would help us, Lord, in our unbelief. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.820 Strengthen our faith, we pray, through Christ our Lord. 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:05.659 Amen. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:13.240 In 2003, I boarded a plane from New York to Athens, Greece for a school trip. 00:01:13.300 --> 00:01:14.540 We were going to spend about a month there. 00:01:15.020 --> 00:01:16.500 And it was an overnight flight. 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:21.000 We took off, and we didn't know it, but we took off right into a thunderstorm. 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:26.620 And about 10 seconds into the flight, the plane was shaking violently. 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:32.719 And to make matters worse, there was a loud boom and a big flash of light, 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:34.340 and the power went off on the plane. 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:37.700 For what seemed like an eternity, but it was actually only a few seconds, 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:39.659 the plane was struck by lightning. 00:01:40.460 --> 00:01:43.299 This, by the way, was the pinnacle of my prayer life, I think. 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:47.299 I thought for sure that plane was going to drop right out of the sky. 00:01:48.399 --> 00:01:49.539 But everything was okay. 00:01:50.679 --> 00:01:52.439 Smooth flight for the next eight hours. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:56.159 But while the plane settled down, I certainly was not settled down. 00:01:56.259 --> 00:02:00.759 It was a pretty tense next rest of the flight for me. 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:03.620 I was completely unprepared for what happened. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:07.340 And since that time, every time I've gotten on a plane, 00:02:07.579 --> 00:02:11.780 I've always appreciated it when the pilot extends the just very basic courtesy 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:14.039 of letting us know if there's going to be turbulence. 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:16.479 Just let me know if we're going to hit rough air. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.900 I can kind of prepare for it, and it'll be much easier to handle. 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:24.099 In the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of Mark, 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:28.099 Jesus consistently prepares his disciples. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.199 He prepares his followers for turbulence. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:36.560 The Christian life is a life of faith in Jesus Christ, 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:41.460 and that faith is formed through what is so often a struggle, 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:44.759 a struggle in our journey with Jesus. 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:51.259 Because Christian faith is constantly contested and challenged. 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:53.719 For some of us, it's challenged at an intellectual level. 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:57.640 For others, it's just in a personal life experience level. 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:02.020 Flannery O'Connor, the great Catholic writer from the last century, 00:03:02.020 --> 00:03:06.080 she wrote very honestly and openly about her own struggles with faith. 00:03:06.200 --> 00:03:09.939 She felt this constant tension in her life between belief and unbelief. 00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:13.020 And she said that unbelief was sort of the air that she breathed. 00:03:14.060 --> 00:03:16.260 And she captured, I think, really well in her writings 00:03:16.260 --> 00:03:18.500 sort of the malaise of modernity. 00:03:18.760 --> 00:03:20.560 And she writes this, quote, 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.120 It's hard to believe always, 00:03:23.200 --> 00:03:25.000 and she's here talking about Christian faith. 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:26.540 It's hard to believe always, 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:28.560 but more so in the world we live in now. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:36.060 There are some of us who have to pay for our faith every step of the way. 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:40.020 In this episode we just read in our gospel lesson, 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.219 we see the struggle of faith. 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:48.060 We see how often we have to pay for it every step of the way on our journey with Jesus. 00:03:48.420 --> 00:03:53.980 And actually, you see, I think, a progression of faith in what we just read. 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:59.859 First, you see failing faith, a faith that seems to fail. 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.819 It's like it's a flame that's just been extinguished. 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:06.699 But second, with the Father, we see a doubting faith. 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:10.959 This is a frail faith that's like a flickering light that wants to become a flame. 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:17.459 And finally, we get an idea of what praying faith looks like. 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:20.519 This is the kind of faith Jesus calls us to, 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:23.099 a strong burning flame in the darkness. 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:25.160 So I want to spend some time just even looking at this passage, 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.620 the struggle of faith under these three headings, 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:32.760 failing faith, doubting faith, and praying faith. 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:36.700 A few years ago, as some of you know, 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:41.560 Marianne and I moved to South Alabama with the hopes of planting a church out of another church. 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.400 And we were so excited to venture out on this new journey. 00:04:44.520 --> 00:04:47.740 We felt sure and confident that this is what the Lord had for us. 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:50.220 And we had all of our plans in order. 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:53.220 We knew exactly how all of this was going to unfold for us. 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:58.680 But almost as soon as we got there, we were faced with all sorts of challenges we didn't anticipate. 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:02.220 We were faced with lots of difficulty, turbulence. 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:05.820 And ultimately, for a number of reasons, it just didn't work out. 00:05:06.140 --> 00:05:09.640 It was very disappointing to experience that sort of failure. 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.639 It felt like for us, we moved from an experience of flourishing to an experience of failing. 00:05:15.419 --> 00:05:16.459 And it raised all sorts of questions. 00:05:16.539 --> 00:05:17.219 Why did this happen? 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:18.360 Why do we have to go through this? 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:23.740 Many of us know what it's like to move out confidently into something new 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:28.839 with all sorts of ideas about how this is going to succeed and work out. 00:05:29.479 --> 00:05:31.219 Can't even imagine how it wouldn't. 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:35.700 But we know what it's like to do that and to quickly realize, maybe it's our inadequacy, 00:05:36.440 --> 00:05:40.020 quickly realize the difficulty of whatever it is we're setting out to do 00:05:40.020 --> 00:05:42.780 and experience some sort of failure. 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:48.100 In our gospel lesson, Jesus, right before what Dan read, 00:05:48.340 --> 00:05:50.600 has been up on the mountain, the Mount of Transfiguration, 00:05:50.700 --> 00:05:53.480 with his inner circle, with his three closest disciples, 00:05:53.700 --> 00:05:56.600 where he was gloriously transfigured in their presence. 00:05:56.660 --> 00:05:59.240 It was literally a mountaintop experience. 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:02.560 They got to see Jesus in all of his radiant glory. 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.980 But now, as the three disciples and Jesus are coming off the mountain, 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:07.900 it's a completely different situation. 00:06:08.900 --> 00:06:10.600 On the mountain, off the mountain. 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:14.040 The Transfiguration actually echoes a time in the Old Testament 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:17.379 when Moses and his companions went up on another mountain 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:19.579 and experienced God's glorious presence. 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:21.139 And if you know the story in Exodus, 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:23.400 Moses, when he comes down off the mountain, 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.720 he finds a loud, raucous situation. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.720 He finds a situation of faithlessness. 00:06:30.400 --> 00:06:31.760 Faith has failed. 00:06:33.060 --> 00:06:36.240 This was tremendously discouraging and frustrating for Moses. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.560 I'm sure he himself felt a sense of failure and responsibility 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:40.580 for what happened then. 00:06:40.960 --> 00:06:43.780 And now Jesus, who, by the way, on the mountain is identified 00:06:43.780 --> 00:06:45.160 as a new and greater Moses, 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:49.300 he comes down from the mountain to find another noisy, 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:53.860 raucous situation, one that's characterized by unbelief. 00:06:53.860 --> 00:06:56.199 When Moses was gone for a bit, 00:06:56.280 --> 00:06:58.160 the people of Israel began to lose their faith. 00:06:58.900 --> 00:06:59.920 And in Jesus' absence, 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.600 something similar is happening here in Mark 9, 14 and following. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:05.600 And we learn what all the fuss is about. 00:07:06.520 --> 00:07:09.580 Jesus sees the remaining nine disciples arguing with the scribes. 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:10.600 He says, what are you arguing about? 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.780 But before they can answer the question, 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:15.300 a man interrupts and tells us what's going on. 00:07:15.340 --> 00:07:17.060 Verses 17 and 18. 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:17.639 The man says, 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:22.539 Jesus, your disciples are not able to cast out the spirit from my son. 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:24.699 Now, it's likely, too, 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:27.560 that the scribes were kind of rubbing it in on the disciples 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:31.060 because they weren't able to do exactly what Jesus commissioned them to do, 00:07:31.219 --> 00:07:33.819 to bring healing and restoration to the sick, 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:35.039 just a couple chapters before. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:39.539 So the disciples, they have failed in this. 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:42.919 And now, in a way, are kind of being shamed by the scribes. 00:07:43.099 --> 00:07:46.479 And Jesus, he kind of piles on a bit with an added critique. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:47.379 Verse 19. 00:07:48.640 --> 00:07:51.800 Oh, faithless generation, responding here to the disciples, 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:53.300 how long am I to be with you? 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:55.100 How long am I to bear with you? 00:07:55.520 --> 00:07:58.280 Jesus is identifying the root of this problem here. 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:00.520 Faith has failed. 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:05.700 In Jesus' absence, he calls his followers to believe, 00:08:05.819 --> 00:08:08.620 to trust him, to rely on his power, on his commission. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:10.800 And yet, in his absence, the disciples, 00:08:11.520 --> 00:08:13.819 who, by the way, at this point were experiencing great success, 00:08:14.280 --> 00:08:15.860 they seem to fail. 00:08:17.460 --> 00:08:19.600 Now, the situation, I think, is a bit analogous for us, 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:22.700 for those of us who are seeking to follow Christ. 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:24.920 Though Jesus is present with us by his spirit, 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:26.780 we're still waiting on him to come back. 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:29.420 We're living, in a way, with his absence. 00:08:29.640 --> 00:08:32.779 And it's in his absence he calls us to this life of deep faith. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:37.019 But I want to pause here and consider this experience of failure of the disciples. 00:08:37.300 --> 00:08:38.539 Why does this happen? 00:08:38.620 --> 00:08:39.460 Why does failure happen? 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:44.820 What do we do with our failure, especially our failure when we're seeking to follow Jesus? 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:47.019 Or any failure as Christians? 00:08:47.900 --> 00:08:51.360 Charles Spurgeon, he was a great Baptist preacher in the 19th century. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.039 And he preached a wonderful sermon on this passage. 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:56.240 I could have just read his sermon. 00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:00.259 He says this, reflecting on what's happening here. 00:09:00.659 --> 00:09:03.120 And he starts to address pastors. 00:09:03.560 --> 00:09:05.259 But I think this is applicable for everyone. 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:35.240 He says, 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:42.159 And perhaps the disciples here are working out of their own sense of qualifications, 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:44.480 rather than relying on the divine strength by faith. 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:49.340 No matter training, background, experiencing, strategy, it can all be perfect. 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:55.259 Following Christ, we are called to rely on this divine strength that Christ gives us. 00:09:56.220 --> 00:09:56.899 You think about it. 00:09:56.939 --> 00:10:00.460 Why do sometimes parents let their hard-headed kids fail? 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:02.299 Not to be cruel. 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:03.899 Not just to make a point. 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:11.079 Sometimes it's so that our kids will know to ask for help. 00:10:11.959 --> 00:10:18.860 It's a tender thing to see a three-year-old struggle to do something and get upset and frustrated, 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.240 refuse help and assistance, and then finally come and say, 00:10:22.659 --> 00:10:24.759 Daddy, can you help me with this? 00:10:24.959 --> 00:10:26.199 I need help. 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:32.240 The good news is that Jesus is extremely patient with his disciples. 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:36.040 He's extremely patient with those of us who have experienced failure of any kind. 00:10:36.920 --> 00:10:41.160 Those of us who have to come crawling back again and again and asking for help. 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:44.820 This is his interaction with the disciples, as we'll see. 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:51.460 But we're about to meet someone who does ask Jesus for help in a situation where faith is shaken. 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:54.320 Again, it's the second thing I want us to see, doubting faith. 00:10:54.660 --> 00:10:56.360 We've seen the struggle of faith when faith fails. 00:10:56.700 --> 00:10:57.920 But let's look at when faith doubts. 00:10:58.300 --> 00:11:03.780 The father of this boy emerges, I think, as an example of the sort of faith that Jesus responds to. 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:05.980 Jesus takes charge here in this situation. 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:06.860 He says in verse 20, 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:07.820 Bring the boy to me. 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:12.420 And then the father starts to tell Jesus about the long history of this boy's struggle. 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:15.419 This, by the way, is demon possession. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:17.639 And it's been this way since childhood. 00:11:18.379 --> 00:11:23.019 And imagine the father's pain to see his child suffer in such a way. 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:29.439 With these seizures and being mute and becoming stiff as a board and throwing himself to the ground. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.599 Imagine the tragedy this must have been for his family. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:37.559 To see this happen and to feel so powerless to do anything about it. 00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:41.740 The disciples' struggle with faith is related to this experience of failure. 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:48.519 But this dad's struggle with faith as he approaches the disciples and Jesus is related to an experience of suffering. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:49.879 Personal tragedy. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:53.360 And as we'll see, he wants to believe. 00:11:53.419 --> 00:11:54.960 He wants to believe that someone can help. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.720 But he is struggling to believe that anyone can help him. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:59.980 And can you fault him in this situation? 00:12:00.680 --> 00:12:06.139 Whether it's some personal or professional failure or perhaps experience with tragedy or suffering. 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:08.580 Ourselves or with a loved one. 00:12:08.580 --> 00:12:14.780 One way that we can respond to these situations spiritually is to just simply doubt and be skeptical. 00:12:15.680 --> 00:12:16.460 Doubt God's power. 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:17.320 Doubt God's goodness. 00:12:17.420 --> 00:12:19.580 Or just simply doubt God altogether. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:26.680 But what happens here with the father is really remarkable as this unfolds. 00:12:26.680 --> 00:12:31.540 Because what's happening is that the dad is discovering the true focus of faith. 00:12:31.539 --> 00:12:34.719 As he engages and encounters Jesus. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:35.519 Verse 22. 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:38.059 He says, but if you can do anything. 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:40.159 It's like we're at the end of our rope, Jesus. 00:12:40.219 --> 00:12:41.219 We've tried all the options. 00:12:41.319 --> 00:12:45.459 If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. 00:12:46.459 --> 00:12:51.419 And Jesus responds perhaps sharply, but I think tenderly in verse 23. 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:54.979 When he says, if you can, all things are possible. 00:12:55.639 --> 00:12:58.419 All things are possible for the one who believes. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.799 Jesus is saying, look, absolutely. 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:02.559 I can do something about this situation. 00:13:02.979 --> 00:13:06.039 This is what the Messiah has come to do in bringing salvation to the world. 00:13:06.299 --> 00:13:08.959 And anyone with just a drop of faith who comes to me. 00:13:09.059 --> 00:13:10.860 Jesus is saying, look, you've got my help. 00:13:11.259 --> 00:13:12.500 You've got my compassion. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:15.620 The father doesn't just respond. 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:17.219 Notice he cries out. 00:13:17.220 --> 00:13:21.779 He says, I believe, but then it's almost like he catches his help. 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:24.700 It's like, but help my unbelief. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:26.779 I believe, help my unbelief. 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:30.519 Do you hear his struggle of faith in coming to Jesus? 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:37.560 He's saying, I believe on one level, yes, but help those parts of me that persistently just aren't there yet. 00:13:38.560 --> 00:13:46.120 His faith may be wavering and doubting and struggling, but he's brought his faith to the right person, Jesus Christ. 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:48.360 Then what happens? 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:49.240 What does Jesus do? 00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:53.720 Jesus responds to this wavering, struggling, failing faith. 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:56.860 Jesus rebukes the spirit and the child. 00:13:56.980 --> 00:14:01.360 In verse 25, the demon convulses the boy, comes out of him and leaves him. 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:02.300 It's interesting. 00:14:02.420 --> 00:14:03.980 It says as a corpse. 00:14:04.660 --> 00:14:06.320 And the folks around thought he was dead. 00:14:06.420 --> 00:14:08.519 Wait, has Jesus here made things actually worse? 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:17.199 But then as the story progresses, though it looks like he's dead, having driven out the demons, Jesus now resurrects the boy. 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:18.340 Verse 27. 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:23.220 Jesus took him by the hand and raised him up and he arose. 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:26.679 Now note here the resurrection language. 00:14:27.220 --> 00:14:30.460 Jesus took him by the hand, raised him up, and he arose. 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:33.879 This is a resurrection scene in the gospel. 00:14:34.300 --> 00:14:39.639 And it's all a preview for a greater deliverance, a greater miracle, a greater resurrection. 00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:44.980 Jesus, especially we see this in Mark's gospel, he comes to do battle with the demons. 00:14:45.160 --> 00:14:47.780 He comes to take evil head on and defeat it. 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:54.300 And Jesus will allow himself to be overrun by evil when he suffers on the cross. 00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:59.240 It's as though Jesus draws out all the evil that's been loosed in the world onto himself. 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:05.779 And on the cross in Mark 15, he becomes mute, refusing to speak in his moment of suffering. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.959 It's as though Jesus will trade places with this boy. 00:15:09.479 --> 00:15:11.740 And he trades places with all of us. 00:15:11.839 --> 00:15:12.019 Why? 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:13.039 To deliver us. 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:14.759 And that's not all. 00:15:15.459 --> 00:15:20.479 Just like the boy who was left for dead for a moment when it seemed evil had won a great victory against him. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.240 Jesus will be raised from the dead also, delivering a final blow to evil. 00:15:26.800 --> 00:15:31.600 The father has come to the right person with his doubting, struggling faith. 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:36.779 The one who brings not just some temporary relief from suffering, but one who will suffer himself. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.580 And one through his suffering will defeat it as he is raised from the dead. 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:46.000 And here I think the father's doubting faith is an entry point for all of us. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.039 This father gives us a prayer. 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.279 I believe, but help my unbelief. 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:56.099 Jesus invites our struggling, doubting, frail faith. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.039 Frail faith, doubting faith is Christian faith. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.679 You don't have to have all your questions answered before you follow Jesus. 00:16:04.719 --> 00:16:09.899 Christian faith is much more like knowing a person than knowing the answers for a test. 00:16:10.719 --> 00:16:17.019 And in fact, Christianity is built on the reality of a person who lived, died, and rose again and ascended into heaven. 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:21.100 And this person, Jesus, invites us to follow him. 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:25.439 And this involves the risk and the struggle of faith. 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:28.799 Getting to know anyone involves faith. 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:29.720 It involves risk. 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:30.720 You want to get to know someone? 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:32.399 You've got to take a risk. 00:16:32.819 --> 00:16:33.939 You've got to trust. 00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:38.620 Leslie Newbigin, the great missionary from the last century, he talks about this. 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:42.080 And he says, quote, personal knowledge is impossible without risk. 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:45.159 It cannot begin without an act of trust. 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:49.379 In a greater knowing of someone, it comes by greater trusting. 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:52.159 And so it is with our faith in Christ. 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:54.639 We come to Christ much like the father. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:56.799 I believe, but help me in my unbelief. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:00.979 I want to believe more so that I can know and understand more. 00:17:02.179 --> 00:17:07.279 St. Augustine said that we don't understand and then believe. 00:17:07.379 --> 00:17:08.799 He says, actually, it works the other way around. 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:10.139 We believe. 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:14.279 We have this initial trust so that we can know, so that we can understand. 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:17.859 And this is, I think, what's happening here with the father. 00:17:18.139 --> 00:17:21.559 He's coming to Jesus with this frail, doubting faith, even when he doesn't fully understand. 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:26.740 But he's hoping that Jesus can help him in this situation and help him in his unbelief. 00:17:27.179 --> 00:17:29.359 Jesus responds to doubting faith. 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:32.759 Frail faith, doubting faith, it's true Christian faith. 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:39.799 But it's possible to be in a place where we're not always in failing faith. 00:17:39.919 --> 00:17:42.059 We're not always in existential crisis of doubt. 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:47.619 And Jesus points us in the direction to where our faith can be strengthened proactively, 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:49.139 where it can be nurtured and sustained. 00:17:49.639 --> 00:17:49.879 How? 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:49.960 How? 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:52.020 Jesus says prayer. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:53.860 Now, it's interesting here. 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:56.360 Jesus doesn't give us a technique for prayer. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.300 He doesn't tell us what type of prayer that we should pray, 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:02.560 whether this is contemplative prayer, liturgical prayer, extemporaneous prayer. 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:04.560 Jesus just gets us set on prayer. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.780 Prayer is the way that faith is strengthened. 00:18:07.260 --> 00:18:09.120 So Jesus goes back home and his disciples, 00:18:09.280 --> 00:18:12.240 they are amazed when they see what Jesus is able to do with the boy. 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:16.040 And they were wondering, why couldn't we cast him out, Jesus? 00:18:16.340 --> 00:18:17.160 What went wrong? 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.640 And notice the disciples are, they're wanting to learn. 00:18:20.840 --> 00:18:22.019 They're wanting to learn from Jesus. 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:23.720 And Jesus says in verse 29, 00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:28.340 this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. 00:18:28.339 --> 00:18:32.720 On the one hand, earlier Jesus said, look, the problem is faithlessness. 00:18:33.659 --> 00:18:34.579 There was a faith breakdown. 00:18:35.379 --> 00:18:37.980 But on the other hand here, he's calling them to prayer. 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:39.539 You need prayer. 00:18:39.659 --> 00:18:40.539 We need prayer. 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.179 St. Augustine, once again, he captures the relationship between faith and prayer. 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:47.980 He says, where faith fails, prayer perishes. 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:51.620 For who prays for that in which he does not believe? 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.480 So that in order that we may pray, let us believe. 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:59.860 And let us pray that this same faith by which we pray may not falter. 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:04.620 In other words, prayer fuels faith and faith fuels prayer. 00:19:04.700 --> 00:19:06.740 There's a dynamic relationship between these two. 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:14.880 And a great prayer to consistently and constantly pray is, Lord, I believe, but help, help my unbelief. 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:21.460 Some of us, when we come to faith in Christ or early on in our Christian journey, we have lots of early successes. 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:23.319 Mountaintop experiences. 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:26.079 Sense of God's presence and goodness. 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:27.579 All seems right. 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:32.299 Maybe experience what we might call victory in our lives. 00:19:32.299 --> 00:19:33.680 Our faith seems alive. 00:19:33.779 --> 00:19:37.259 It all seems so real and true and good and genuine. 00:19:38.339 --> 00:19:46.059 But many of us know the longer we go, the longer we go on this journey with Jesus, the Christian life gets harder in many ways. 00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:49.200 I love watching our kids play. 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:52.500 It's so innocent and joyful. 00:19:52.639 --> 00:19:54.819 I love to watch our imaginations run wild. 00:19:55.659 --> 00:19:59.399 Not a care in the world to just watch kids play. 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:06.600 And some of my more morose moments, I watch them and I think, this is going to get a lot harder for them the older they get. 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:08.840 Life is going to get more difficult. 00:20:09.540 --> 00:20:16.300 And it's easy for all of us, I think, to look back on earlier periods of our life and think, oh, the good old days when we didn't have many cares. 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:22.300 For me, I look back to college when my biggest care was, what are we going to do this weekend? 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.759 Or maybe trying to cram for a test. 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:27.360 But life gets harder. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:32.139 And the Christian faith gets more difficult and more complex. 00:20:32.979 --> 00:20:37.579 And Jesus prepares his disciples for this life of faith. 00:20:37.659 --> 00:20:39.859 A life of faith that can be a struggle. 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:44.240 The disciples here have a budding, partial, struggling faith. 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:52.699 And Jesus is saying to them and he's saying to us, look, it's prayer where the struggle of faith begins to be resolved. 00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:56.379 Things get increasingly difficult for Jesus too. 00:20:56.380 --> 00:21:03.340 And we find Jesus in the gospel strategically withdrawing and intentionally giving himself to prayer. 00:21:03.760 --> 00:21:04.400 Think about it. 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.780 How is Jesus' mission and faith sustained? 00:21:06.779 --> 00:21:09.839 In the gospels, we see Jesus praying. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:19.799 In the next chapter in Mark, or later on in Mark, we see Jesus praying in agony, knowing what's coming for him at the crucifixion. 00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:26.440 He prays, my soul is very sorrowful even to death, Abba Father, but all things are possible for you. 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:28.000 Remove this cup from me. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:33.720 Then he says, yet not what I will, but your will be done. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:38.819 Jesus meets us in our failures. 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:41.720 In our failures of faith. 00:21:42.940 --> 00:21:47.000 Jesus welcomes our frail, struggling, doubting faith. 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:55.160 But he calls us to the hard, but yet deeply rewarding and joyful path of prayer that builds faith over time. 00:21:55.579 --> 00:22:01.559 It's like every time we enter into prayer, whatever kind of prayer it is, a prayer that's focused on Jesus, honest prayer. 00:22:02.259 --> 00:22:06.259 It's like we're laying down another brick in a fortress of faith. 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:11.379 Jesus prepares his disciples. 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:13.140 He prepares us for turbulence. 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.759 He says, look, don't be surprised when things get bumpy. 00:22:15.859 --> 00:22:18.839 Don't be surprised when you don't understand things. 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:19.220 That's okay. 00:22:19.299 --> 00:22:23.460 Don't be surprised when there are doubts, when there are failures, when your faith is tested. 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:27.000 But here's what you should do in those moments, especially. 00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:30.920 You should watch and pray and your faith will grow. 00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:34.279 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:35.500 Amen. 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:37.259 Amen.