A Bridge Too Far?

A Bridge too Far?

Mark 9:14-29

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Whether one is on the mountaintop of blessings or in the valleys of trials and tribulations, keeping one’s faith in Jesus is not an easy task! When we are the recipients of blessings it is easy to forget whom secured one’s feet and enabled one to reach such great heights. “Swimming” in blessings, is it not easy to take credit for our “good fortune” while forgetting the frailties of life and our utter dependence on our Creator? Is it any easier to have faith when in the valleys of trials and tribulations? While difficulties sometimes force us to cry out “Abba, Father I need You,” when these times are viewed as punishment from God for our repeated failures to be holy as He is holy, do they not promote in us unbelief not in God’s grace but in our ability to please Him? It is not that we do not believe that God cannot remove the habitual sins that so easily entangle us but our reluctance to believe that He will get involved or “interfere” in our personal lives that weakens our faith. This leads us with a hard question to answer: is it possible to have faith in God both on the mountaintops and in the valleys? Today’s sermon is going to review the story of Jesus healing the boy possessed by an impure spirit as found in Mark 9:14-29 and in doing so will show that true faith in God is not to be contingent on experiencing either the mountains or valleys of life but on the continual faith in a living Savior who will do good to those who love Him!

Failure Breeds Unbelief (9:14-19)

Upon descent from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, Jesus was immediately confronted by a dispute between the scribes, His disciples and a “large crowd ringing the combatants.” While we are not told the nature of the argument, it was most likely the disciple’s failure to heal a boy possessed by an impure spirit that lead to a dispute over the theological credentials of the disciples, Jesus’ overall ministry or what must be done to have an effective exorcism. Seeing Jesus arrive on the scene we are told the crowds were overwhelmed with wonder either due to the radiance of His face being similar to that of Moses (Exodus 34:29), His authority or His sudden presence. Jesus pulled the attention away from the humiliated disciples by asking the scribes “what are you arguing with them about?” A “confrontation between Jesus and the scribes was preempted” by a desperate father who stated his son was “possessed by a spirit that had robbed him of speech” (verse 17). Whenever the spirit seized him, the father explained, it threw his son to the ground, he foamed at the mouth, gnashed his teeth and became rigid. The father had taken his son to be healed by the disciples but they could not drive the spirit out (verse 18). Either to the unbelieving crowd or most likely the disciples Jesus said “you unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you, how long shall I put up with you? Bring the child to Me” (verse 19).

The first thing that we learn from the above discourse is that “repetition” can become an impediment to faith. Earlier in Mark we are told that Jesus sent out the disciples two by two with the authority to drive out demons (3:15; 6:7). Even though they had initial success (6:13-14), they were not able to cast the demon out of this boy. The disciples learned that belief in the “infinite superiority of their Master,” not repetition of past methods of exorcisms, was the key to seeing His power demonstrated in their lives. Likewise, singing, reading the Bible and serving one another will not lead to a closer walk with God when it is done without reverence or awe of the Recipient of our praise! While success in this world is often seen as “the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out,” for the living stones to be effective in God’s kingdom they must rely on Jesus for their success. Too many of today’s Christians are merely “moving in ruts,” mechanically repeating the same words and actions without even acknowledging it is through the power of Christ that they were freed their sins (Romans 8:2) and enabled to do greater miracles than Jesus ever did (John 14:12-14)! Not giving God the honor and the glory for success in ministry leads to failure and subsequent decrease in faith for without God nothing is possible (Matthew 19:26)!

The second thing that we learn from the above discourse is that failure can destroy our faith! Imagine how humiliating it must have been to be in front of such a large crowd and command a demon to exit a boy only to have nothing happen? When they asked Jesus “why couldn’t we drive it (the demon) out”? were not the disciples pleading for Jesus to not take His Spirit from them but to renew their former ability to cast out demons again? At no time is Satan more successful in planting seeds of unbelief into our minds than during our failures! To sing, pray, read the Bible and help the poor and not see the fields ripen is not only discouraging but makes us feel like “WE” have in some way personally failed to serve our God. Amidst perceived defeat the “father of lies” (John 8:44) tells us that “ineffective service” is proof that our Creator has written us off as being altogether worthless. Flooded with negative feelings of depression, pain, stress, anger, frustration and grief; it is very difficult to have faith even as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20)! To combat these lies we must not forget that Christ’s love is not contingent on our holiness (Romans 5:10) but His and it is Christ alone, not us, who is responsible for ripening the fields all around us (1 Corinthians 3:6)!