the Gospel of Mark: on the road with Jesus (29)

“Believe and Pray”
Mark 9:14-29

1. in 1978 I visited Niagara Falls. You have to see it to believe it. Mark Buchanan, I was agog at the wild terror and pure beauty of it, the spectacle of white torrent hurtling into deep chasm. 1 mile upstream from the falls the Welland River joins the Niagara River. Right where those 2 rivers meet a passenger bridge arches across the Welland River. Boaters are allowed to navigate underneath this bridge & enter the wide flow of the Niagara River. There is a large sign posted on the bridge’s pylon. It asks boaters 2 questions: Do you have an anchor? Do you know how to use it?

2. you see, there is white water ahead, trouble, and you’d better be prepared.

3. the Jesus story before us this morning reminds us that we need an anchor and we’d better know how to use it when we find ourselves in the white water of life. I’ll come back to this at the end of my message.

Read Mark 9:14-29

9:14-19: 1st movement
1. in today’s Jesus story Peter James John & Jesus are thrust back into reality – white water – after their mountain-top experience with God the Father & Moses & Elijah [Kyle’s message spoke last week]. They quickly move from sublime glory to human & demonic discord.

2. when signals a huge change of events. From the mountain top. Jesus – Peter – James – John – Moses – Elijah. The Father’s voice, This is my son, whom I love, listen to him! Jesus countenance changed to a glorious, dazzling white. His Divinity flooded his humanity. Heaven on earth…

3. …to hell on earth. Large crowd. The rest of his disciples (9) arguing with the teachers of the law. A distraught father with a demon possessed son. The failure of the disciples to cast out the demon. And a flood of unbelief washing over the scene.

4. Jesus is deeply troubled, disturbed, exasperated. O unbelieving generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?

5. just a few verses earlier Jesus is basking in his Father’s love. Now he is confronting evil wrecking the life of a human being. An evil spirit, a demon, is in possession of a boy.

6. we love vacations, getaways, don’t we? Time to seek rest, refreshment, renewal. 4 years ago this summer we spent 3 weeks in Europe. We packed our time with photo ops, restaurants, museums, climbing to the top of cathedrals, Euro rail trips & gelato. We created a mountain of family memories in France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland & Italy.

we came back exhausted but refreshed, if you know what I mean. Bruce Landon picked us up at PDX on Sunday afternoon.

I went back to work Monday morning. I found a 3-page letter sitting on my desk waiting for me. It was not a good letter. Conflict. So much for getting away. My mountain top Europe vacation abruptly came to an end that morning. White water.

[Our Women’s Retreat at Canby Grove is this coming weekend. I would encourage as many of you as possible to attend. You just might need it for what lies ahead]

possessed by a spirit…
1. the white water Jesus faced was a demon-possessed boy – an evil spirit turned him mute, seized him, threw him to the ground, made him foam at the mouth, gnash his teeth, turn rigid, would try to kill him.

2. what are we to make of this? The Scriptures are very clear that there is a dark, oppressive power in our world that is opposed to everything God. His name is Satan or the devil. He floods our world with evil.

3. one of his strategies is sending an evil spirit, a demon, to possess someone’s life, control this life, shape this life for his evil purpose.

7. after what happened at Virginia Tech this past week we don’t have to be convinced that evil lurks in the hearts of men and women. I saw a brief clip of an interview with a wounded student. He was describing what happened in the classroom. He made eye contact with Cho Seung-Hui. He said, I saw evil in his eyes.

8. I think all of us would agree that evil was on the rampage this past Tuesday at Virginia Tech.

9:20-24: 2nd movement
1. Jesus calls for the demon-possessed boy. The very presence of Jesus stirs up the evil spirit – it threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. This had been going on since he was a child – it has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him.

2. his father must have been in terrible agony. Imagine what he must have felt. Must have thought. The evil spirit has stone-walled him. Jesus’ disciples have failed him. And now, can Jesus do any better?
3. Jesus, if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. This is a prayer of ‘guarded hope.’ A cry for Jesus to show his compassion & power. If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes, answers Jesus.

4. this promise has been widely misunderstood. Some grab onto it and say that if you have enough faith you can obtain anything you want. Faith to get:
§ rich
§ healthy
§ a job promotion
§ the good life
§ that bigger house
§ that new boat
§ off those extra pounds
§ a life of unending happiness

5. this is not what Jesus means by everything is possible for him who believes. Faith is NOT a magic wand we wave before God to get whatever we want. The faith Jesus talks about here is faith that sets no limits to God’s power. Yes. But God’s power always works within God’s will. Not my will but Thine be done. What does God want for my life?

6. our faith & God’s power coalesce at the point of God’s will.

7. I love the father’s response, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! The boy’s father tethers what little faith he has to Jesus. This mix of doubt & faith is very real for some of us.

8. Dwight Moody once described 3 experiences of faith: there is struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming; clinging faith, like a person hanging on to the side of a boat; resting faith, like a person safely seated in the boat & able to reach out & help others get in.
9. what I love about this story is that Jesus takes us where we’re at. I believe, Jesus, please help me overcome my unbelief!

9:25-27: 3rd movement
1. Jesus honored the father’s mixture of believe & unbelief.

2. You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. Immediate deliverance. The boy was healed through deliverance.

9:28-29: 4th movement
1. privately, when Jesus & his disciples are alone indoors, his disciples asked him, Why couldn’t we drive it out? This is a learning opportunity, a teachable moment for the disciples. They show us something here – they want to learn from their failures.

2. do you ask the “why” question when you fail?

3. Jesus answers. Whatever the disciples did or didn’t do to drive out the demon, they didn’t pray. Maybe their past successes of casting out demons gave them a false sense of competence. “We can do this, we’ve done it before!”

4. and Jesus says to their self-effort, This kind can come out only by prayer. Which is to say – this kind can only come out when you full out, flat out, trust in me and not in yourselves.

5. and that’s where the story ends, with a reminder of the importance of prayer.

Believe and Pray
1. the boy’s father needed greater faith. The disciples needed greater prayer. To the father Jesus said, everything is possible for him who believes. To the disciples Jesus said, this kind can come out only by prayer.

2. a call to believe & a call to pray.

3. what do we do when we approach white water or find ourselves engulfed by it? Do you have an anchor? Our anchor is this Jesus story is our faith. Our faith in God’s power that has no limits. He can beat the power of evil & darkness.

4. do you know how to use it? The way we use our anchor of faith in this Jesus story is by praying. To pray is to lead a movement of resistance & revolution. We depend not upon ourselves BUT upon God alone.

5. personally, what kind of white water are you fighting this morning? Pull out your faith in Jesus anchor. And use it. Pray, pray, pray.

6. as a church, what kind of white water are we facing?

7. time to pull out our anchor & use it. Pray in faith for –
§ a fresh movement of the Spirit of God upon / in us
§ healing of bodies minds spirits
§ deliverance from strongholds that shackle us
§ provision of $724,272 to complete the new building without borrowing money
§ a missional thrust into our community & world

8. come Holy Spirit, come! Sign-up for May 4th 24 hrs of prayer!