Nevertheless Faith

Mark 6:1-6

From time to time we read about some famous person who almost instantaneously moves from anonymity to celebrity. But one of the more touching parts of the story is the hometown parade. The whole town turns out to welcome this local man or woman who has made it big in the larger world. The mayor is there with a brass band and flags and banners and they have a parade down the main street of the town to honor the local boy or girl who made good.

This is what happened in the reading from Mark this morning. Well, not exactly what happened, but the circumstance was the same. Jesus began his public ministry and was an instant success. From the very beginning crowds came to him and followed him. This is a fascinating account but what most fascinates me is the last line in the reading:
And [Jesus] was amazed at their lack of faith.

What does this mean, he was amazed? It means that Jesus did not expect what he encountered. Jesus did not expect that he would be rejected by his home town. Jesus expected that he would be welcomed by them, that they would throw him a parade.

Why would he think that?

Jesus wasn’t born in Nazareth, he was born in Bethlehem and then spent his first years in Egypt. But as a young child he came with his parents to live in Nazareth. His parents had grown up in Nazareth. His earliest memories were probably memories of Nazareth. The friends he played with as a child were from Nazareth. His classmates in the synagogue school were from Nazareth. He worked in his father’s carpentry shop. He delivered finished products to customers who lived in Nazareth. When his father died, the people who came to the funeral were the people of Nazareth.

“Who is this Jesus?” was a question asked by many in Palestine but this was not a question that needed to be asked in Nazareth. They knew Jesus better than anyone else in Palestine. You can see this in the text when Jesus spoke in the synagogue:
“Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”

When Jesus came to Nazareth, he had already demonstrated his power by casting out evil spirits, curing a man of leprosy, healing many who were sick, raising a young girl from the dead, and now he was ready to reveal himself to the people he knew best: his family, his friends, the people of Nazareth. But they took offense at him and
He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
And Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.

Why was Jesus rejected by his home town? And as a matter of fact, why was Jesus rejected by his own family?

When his family heard about the crowds coming to Jesus they were not delighted with his success and accomplishments. In Mark 3 it is recorded that Jesus entered a house and because of the crowd that came, he and his disciples were not even able to eat.
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
And they came to get him and rescue him from this madness. They arrived when Jesus was again in a house surrounded by a crowd so that they were not able to get to him. It is not recorded if they ever saw him on this trip from Nazareth, but the point is that they were not enthusiastic about what he was doing and saying and along with the people of Nazareth, they rejected him.

In John 7 there is an exchange between Jesus and his brothers that has a mocking quality to it. Jesus was not yet at the point that he wanted to reveal himself openly. It was time to go to the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus’ brothers said to him:
“You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.  4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”

And in case the reader misses the mockery of this, Mark added the comment
For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

Why was Jesus rejected in his hometown? Why was Jesus rejected by his own family?

You may have had this experience. When my oldest sister, four years older than I am, went to college, she came home at Christmas with the news that she had become a Christian. She shared with us what that meant and I think amazement might be one of the words she would have used to describe her feelings about our rejection of her.

In my sister’s case, we rejected her message because it seemed strange to us. In the case of Jesus, I think there were other factors at play.

When the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, what is it they said?
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles!  3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”

Why did they call Jesus Mary’s son? Joseph had died sometime in the last eighteen years but even if he was dead, it was normal to call Jesus by the name of his father. Remember Bartimaeus? Bar means son and so Bartimaeus is son of Timaeus. Normally Jesus should have been identified as the son of Joseph, Jesus Barjoseph, and the fact that he was not is significant.

What this means is that the stigma surrounding the birth of Jesus after thirty years was still present. Thirty years later there was still some doubt about who was really the father of Jesus. Mary, who made a decision to obey God as a young teenager and said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” was still paying the price for that decision.

There is still in this modern age of promiscuity and divorce some stigma attached to not knowing who your father is. In the day of Jesus, this was far stronger. I think the stories about the conception of Jesus were an embarrassment to the whole family. James, Joseph, Judas and Simon as well as Jesus’ sisters had to form a protective shield around their mother to protect her and defend her.

Perhaps this is one reason why they reacted so strongly when Jesus began his public ministry and crowds came to him. Jesus was already the strange one, the one about whom there was mystery concerning his birth. It was better to be low-key and not make waves. Work hard, be respectful, be good citizens and maybe people will forget the old rumors. But here was Jesus defying family policy. By Jesus being so public, he was risking raising his mother’s profile and opening her up once again to the old accusations.

If I am right in my thinking, this is one reason why the people of Nazareth rejected him. If the Messiah were to come from Nazareth, there were more respectable people to choose from. Why pick this man who was the son of Mary but the son of who knows what father?

A second reason the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus is that he was too familiar to them.

I’ve talked before about a Dutch chemist who worked with me in my company. I first met him when I was six or seven years old. He came to work with my father and Ed had memories of me as a little boy standing there with all my sisters.

Thirty years later when I came to work with my father and later took over the business, this was a difficulty for Ed. He now worked for me and yet he remembered me still as a six year old.

When Jesus came to speak in Nazareth, the people listened to him. They heard him speak with wisdom. They had heard the reports of his healings and miracles. And yet they remembered him as a child. They remembered him as he grew up in their midst.

It is much easier to believe in a Messiah you meet for the first time than to have him revealed from among the people you grew up with.

I think this reality caught Jesus by surprise. He did not expect this. And so:
he was amazed at their lack of faith.

After Jesus resurrected from the dead, he appeared to many but among those was the brother closest to him in age. The conversation is not recorded in Scripture, but I would love to have a video of that encounter. James went on from that resurrection appearance to become bishop of the church in Jerusalem. He was known as “camel knees” because he prayed so often his knees were calloused and he was well respected in Jerusalem until eventually the high priest, in opposition to the emerging Christian faith, had him cast down from the pinnacle of the temple. When that did not kill him, they stoned him to death.

This James wrote the book of James in our Bible and another brother of Jesus, Judas, wrote the brief letter of Jude found just before Revelation.

The encouragement this offers us is this: Do not be dismayed if you are rejected by your family because of your faith. Believe nevertheless. Hold on to Christ and persevere in your faith. The story of your family and friends is not yet over and you may well one day be able to celebrate with them in heaven.

That’s the first half of the sermon. In this second half, I want to look at this statement that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. This raises the question for me, how much faith is needed?

This is not a purely intellectual question for me. When I pray for someone, how much faith do I need to have for God to work in their life? Last week many people came forward as we were having communion to ask me to pray for them and I prayed for many different requests. Did I have enough faith for those prayers to be answered?

I pray with someone who wants to be married or someone who wants to have a child or someone who wants to be healed from a disease. How much faith is required on my part for that prayer to be answered?

There are some who based on this passage say, “If anyone does not have enough faith, leave the room because God cannot work when faith is not present.” That’s a pretty intimidating statement. What happens if we pray and what we pray for does not happen? Do we each then examine our faith to see if we were the problem?

What do I do when it comes time for me to pray for someone? Do I sit back and measure how much faith I have and then based on my analysis decide whether or not I can pray that day?

To help us get at what I believe is the truth about this matter of faith, I want to look at a story of Jesus in the Gospels and then a story from the Hebrew Testament.

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, after Jesus came down with Peter, James and John from the Mount of Transfiguration, he came to a scene that had drawn a large crowd. Jesus asked what was going on and
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.  18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
19 “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

Do you hear the frustration in the voice of Jesus? He had already given his disciples authority to cast out demons and heal. He had demonstrated over and over again how to do this and still they were stuck in the mud, unable to do what he wanted them to do.

It’s reminiscent of God’s frustration with Israel in Numbers 14
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?

God grieves for our unbelief. Our unbelief causes God pain and so it is important for us to learn how to have faith in what God plans to do. This is not just an academic question.

Jesus expressed his frustration with the unbelief of his disciples, the crowd, the teachers of the law and then he called for the boy to be brought to him.
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered.  22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 ”‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Do you see where Jesus took offense? The boy’s father said, If you can. Contrast this with last week’s examination of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She did not think, “If I can touch Jesus perhaps he can heal me.” She said, If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Many times Jesus commended the faith of those who came to him and what he commended was their confidence that he could heal them.

”‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

I find this response of the father greatly encouraging. I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! Our faith is not dependent on us alone. It is not up to us to heal or deliver someone. It is God who does it and we need only to believe that he can do it and even in that, we can be helped by God to believe. So we cry out with the disciples, Lord, increase our faith.

Jesus came and took control, casting out the spirit and afterwards,
the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
And Jesus responded with this parable:
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Why did the disciples fail in their attempt to cast out the demon from this boy? Because they did not have enough faith. God helps us to believe but again, how much faith do we need?

There is a lot about us we can measure. We can weigh ourselves and find out how many kilos or pounds we are overweight. We can check our blood pressure and find out if it is too high or too low. We can measure our cholesterol and find out if it is too high in bad cholesterol and too low in good cholesterol. But how do we measure faith?

We don’t apparently need a lot but we need a little, just the tiniest bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed. With this small amount of faith, nothing will be impossible for you.

I need faith the size of a mustard seed but my faith does not need to be perfect. We believe with the help of Jesus and with the help of Jesus, healing does take place.
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.”  27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

This miracle took place with the faith of the father who said, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

In this story of Jesus we learn that we need faith the size of a mustard seed. We need just a tiny amount of faith. And we learn that Jesus will help us to believe as he brings healing and deliverance.

Now I want to take you to the Hebrew Testament and the book of Daniel. In this book, Nebuchadnezzar is a powerful king of what is today Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. Daniel and three of his friends were among the Jews taken captive in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon. Daniel was brought to the king’s attention when he was able to interpret a dream for him. As a consequence Daniel was put in a high position as ruler of an entire province of Babylon and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were appointed as administrators of Babylon.

In the story I want to look at, Daniel was apparently away on business of some sort when Nebuchadnezzar decided he wanted to create a golden image of himself. In Nebuchadnezzar fashion, he made this statue 90 feet or 27 meters tall and 9 feet or 2.7 meters wide. And then he commanded that at the sound of the trumpet, everyone should bow down before this statue. Anyone who did not bow down would be thrown into a blazing furnace.

There were officials jealous of these Jews who had been put in high positions and when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow to this idol, they were accused and brought before Nebuchadnezzar.
Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,  14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?  15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Here is the test. How much faith did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have? Was it faith the size of a mustard seed?

Listen to their response and learn about the faith needed for God to work his miracles.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God could save them. They did not say they would see if God could save them, they knew God could save them. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But at the same time their faith was not dependant on God saving them. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.

This is what I call nevertheless faith and this I think is the key to how we approach prayer for healing, deliverance, and petitions. God has his purposes for us. Most importantly he wants us to grow in faith. Sometimes that means we will not be healed in this life. Sometimes that means we will not receive what we pray for. But when we believe, despite not getting what we want, then our faith grows and that is what God desires for us first and foremost.

Nevertheless faith. We don’t need a lot of it. God will help us in our unbelief and still work his miracles. We believe God can but do not lose faith when he does not.

We are encouraged in scripture to come to God with the things that are on our heart. Last week I encouraged us to cry out to God in desperation for the things we want. Each week in the bulletin we read this admonition from Paul in his letter to the Philippians:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

But guard your heart against making your request your ultimate goal. There are some here this morning whose goal is to get to Spain. That is not a bad goal but the danger is that the prayer request is to have a more powerful relationship with God so that God will honor that request. In this case, God is being used as a tool to get what you really want. Spain is the first and greatest desire and God is used to get there.

There are some who pray for healing and then when the healing does not take place, they back away from God who has disappointed them. In this case, what was most desired was not to grow closer to God. The healing was most important. God took a secondary position. God was being used to get what was most wanted.

There are some who want to get married or have a child and that becomes the most important thing in their life. When the spouse or child does not come, some choose to distrust the love of God in their life. What does this reflect about what is most important in that person’s life?

I call you this morning to practice nevertheless faith. Call out to God. Believe that God can do what you ask. Don’t be shy about asking. Ask over and over and over again. Be persistent in asking of God what is on your heart. But don’t make your request a condition of your faith.

Know that God can but even if he does not act in the way you want, he still is the God who can but has chosen not to in this instance. God loves you. He is at work in your life. You can trust him. We believe in him nevertheless.