Come and See What We Treasure!
The God Who Helps Us Believe!
Mark 9:14-29

 † In Jesus Name †

The sermon blessing

May the grace, mercy and peace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ encourage you to pray with great confidence, depending on God’s promises!

Introduction

In my devotions this week, I cam across a quote that will help us understand the scene we just heard about in the gospel. A pastor wrote:

Prayer does not fall into a void; neither is it just a kind of psychotherapy that helps us to assemble our spiritual forces and bring them once more into balance; nor is it merely a kind of pious fiction to exercise our souls and calm them. Prayer is directed to reality. It is both heard and heeded. God, then, is someone who has the power, the ability, the will, and the patience to listen to us men. He is so great that he can be present even for those who are small^[1]

I think we need to pay more attention to prayer, not because it is what good people are supposed to do.

In today’s gospel, as Jesus comes down the mountain after a special time of prayer and interaction with those the Father sent to minister to him, this lesson about our need to pray is driven home….

Where did the dad go?

As Mark describes the scene, Jesus comes down the mountain, and the there is a lot of noise, as nine of his apostles and the Jewish teacher of the law are arguing loudly, and the crowd has gathered to see what is going on.

Remember – this isn’t near Jerusalem it’s out in the mountains, so a large crowd gathering is not normal. Jesus sees the argument going on, each side zealously taking their positions – so zealously they forgot who needed the help!

Imagine that, the people arguing were so zealous, so focused on winning the argument that they forgot the poor guy and his son. How do I know that? It says so!

¹⁶ “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked.

¹⁷ One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him.

The guy was lost in the crowd!

It’s one thing for the pharisees and scribes to forget about the poor guy and his son, it’s another for the disciples! Yet how often do we do that – in the middle of arguments, to forget about the very people we are trying to help?

Why were they powerless to help

This is even more ironic when you think about what they were arguing about – how to minister to the son – and free him from the demons which possessed them. They lost track of the people they were called to minister too—in the heat of a battle with those who believed differently

How often do you and I do the same thing as the 9? Where we talk all about ministry to other people and how they need God in their lives, and what we forget to do—is go to them, minister to them, love them, and help them find the healing we have found in Jesus.

By the way, did I mention this is after the time where Jesus sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God, to heal and free people from demons?

So why couldn’t they cast out this demon?

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.”

Why Does prayer give power? 

This is where we get back to where we started, to the power of prayer, to the focus it gives as well. Prayer doesn’t work, it is not powered or made more powerful because of how dedicated we are, or powerful our faith and reason are.

Rather the one prayer that was heard was heard despite how week the man was, how desperate his plea was…

Jesus said, Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

That is the prayer that got answered!

One that was from the heart – that acknowledged the father’s weakness and his dependence on Jesus, even to admitting his unbelief existed, and he needed help with even that.

Jesus died and rose so that we could have a relationship with Him and the Father, one where God is involved in our life,

When I started this message – I included a quote from one of my devotions. Part of it said, “Prayer is directed to reality. It is both heard and heeded. God, then, is someone who has the power, the ability, the will, and the patience to listen to us men.”

This man, this father, needed the reality of God involved in his life. He needed God to help—even when his faith, his belief was challenged to point it didn’t exist. But he had enough faith to cry out for mercy…

As we talk about what we treasure about God—and about the work He does in our life, this is so special. God’s love, His mercy, His grace is poured out on us when we are at our weakest.

That is how much He loves us.

That also means that no one—no matter how weak their faith, no matter how desperate their situation, even with demons oppressing them, can find God’s grace and mercy.

This is what we can share with those around us, who know brokenness as well as we do.

We can reveal to them a relationship with  God who hears us, and helps us, even when we need help to believe.

One More thing

One last thing to consider. When Jesus saw the disciples arguing with the teachers of the Law, he said, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you?”

I have to admit I usually hear this passage with Jesus being a little….hmmm… impatient, or frustrated, or just tired of working with these crazy disciples he couldn’t depend on, who ever talking to him after the resurrection, struggled with doubt… they were still broken…

And that was when He assured us of how long He would be with us, helping and caring for us, how long he would put up with us..

He said, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20 (NLT2)

This is the God we treasure… this is the God we all need.

This is our God amen!

^[1] Ratzinger, Joseph. 1992. Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Edited by Irene Grassl. Translated by Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.