Today’s Sermon in a Nutshell: Mark 9:17-31

Today’s Sermon in a Nutshell: Mark 9:17-31

It is amazing how quickly we can move from complete confidence in Christ to having a crisis of faith. All that which we believe so passionately in today, we are tempted to deny tomorrow. As the People of God, we are fickle and inconsistent, turning the acquisition of having faith into the problem of maintaining faith.

Yet we are not alone. The Old and New Testament are full of characters just like us, who have experienced both, a great or fleeting faith at various times in their lives. That is what makes this morning’s gospel so important to us: for the man who desired his son to be healed had tremendous hope that took him everywhere and to anyone who might have been able to help – including our Lord’s disciples. But when the servants were unable to cast out the demon from the boy, in ever-resilient fashion, the man boldly turns to their Master. At this point Jesus tests the man by asking, “Do you believe I am able to do this for you?” To which the man utters the most sincere and truthful response he could: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

What a beautiful expression of faith, even if upon its face it seems pitiful and frail. His honest attempt to believe provides hope and encouragement to each of us who struggle with our own faith. It was a candid, clear-cut declaration issued in humility, expressing the difficulty of maintaining one’s faith. Yet Jesus accepted it for what it was worth and healed the man’s son immediately.

This man’s faith was far from complete, and he obviously struggled daily to believe. What made the difference, however, is that this man “wanted” to believe, which was enough to satisfy our Savior. That additional begging to strengthen his faith made all the difference. For the power of faith is not found in faith itself, but in the one Whom we place our faith in.

Fr. John