WHAT ABOUT WHEN MY FAITH FEELS WEAK?

Sermon Text, St. Mark 9:14-29 (ESV).  ¹⁴ And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to Him and greeted Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ And someone from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸ And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” ¹⁹ And He answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to Me.” ²⁰ And they brought the boy to Him. And when the spirit saw Him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶ And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸ And when He had entered the house, His disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. O God, we know the Holy Spirit doesn’t just come to give faith once, but daily increases our faith. Lead us to also pray: “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief.” Answer our prayer for Jesus’ sake! Amen.

In the name of Jesus by whom we find, when we are weak, that we are strong: Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

“Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief.” Only Mark has these golden words. What would we do without these words?

We meet a man who’s unsure of himself. He’s unsure of Jesus. He says, “If You can do anything …” to Jesus. The man says, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” He admits his lack of faith, that he does believe but he also doesn’t believe, and he isn’t too sure how this struggle within himself will end, if believing or not believing will win out. He says, “Help!”

This is a favorite Bible story since we have a lot in common with this man and his weak, trembling faith. Aren’t there times you’re unsure of yourself? When you’re uncertain about where God is for you? When you too would say you believe yet you don’t? When you’re not sure if believing will win out, how this struggle inside you will end up? When all you can pray is: “Help!”

The situation, as we find out from the father’s description of it to Jesus, is that the boy had been afflicted by this demon “from childhood,” so, for years. Think of this father not only worrying, but hurting, for all those years as he saw the demon throw his boy into shaking fits that the father couldn’t stop. The demon even kept the boy from speaking, and used his inability to cry out to try to get the boy killed by fire or drowning when the father wasn’t looking.

The father was probably filled with guilt too: since the Bible indicates that the devil doesn’t just grab somebody out of the blue, but goes around seeking targets to devour, it makes us wonder how this boy had become a target for the devil: had his father been careless, negligent with his son’s faith in some way, providing an open door for the devil? 

The father sounds hopeless when he says, “I brought my son to You.” – At the time Jesus was up on the mountain with Peter, James and John in His transfiguration, so the other disciples – all of whom Jesus previously sent out and who had cast out demons – tried to cast out this demon but couldn’t.

So this father is at a point where he might say it’s all too much for his faith. We sympathize with him. Haven’t you been there? Haven’t you quoted that Bible verse to yourself about God not testing you or giving you more than you are able to bear, but frankly you think you’ve reached that point, and you say, “No more, God, my faith can’t handle any more than this!” 

Just like the man almost accuses Jesus of negligence – “I brought my son to You, but ahem, You weren’t here, You were busy elsewhere,” in your frustration you’ll have these unspoken accusations against God who seems to be doing nothing about your problem, or silent, when you need Him the most. We know we shouldn’t do that. We know something is lacking in our faith, or faulty in our faith, when we feel that way. 

Notice also how pathetically the man words his prayer to Jesus: “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” He isn’t certain of Jesus. He says “if You can” – betraying doubt that Jesus is omnipotent. 

But while we might criticize this, because we believe that God is all-powerful, don’t you admit there are times when you doubt that He can or will help you? Don’t you have this same “if You can”kind of faith that is so timid?

This realization leads to us condemn ourselves, or feel judgment, because of the quality of our faith – how strong or weak it is, if you have enough faith. This is the temptation to measure your faith. This is why we ask: 

“What About When My Faith Feels Weak?”

First, we accept what the Law says about how we are guilty of sinning against the 1^stcommandment: We acknowledge that we aren’t trusting in God above all things. But the purpose of this is to repent. We’re sorry for not trusting God better and believing what He promises about taking care of us.

But second, we have to make sure we’re not seeing this the wrong way. We have to see our situation as God sees it. God sees why you experience weakness in your faith: it’s because your faith is being attacked, because you are under attack by the devil. See how the devil had possession of the boy and at the same time it had control over the boy’s father too? God sees how you are under pressure, under attack. Do you think God is hard on you? Do you think He’s measuring your faith and demanding that you measure up, or else?

No, not at all! For see what Jesus does here. In response to the man’s weak “if-You-can” faith, He says his words back to him, “ ‘if You can!’ ” – to show that the man’s faith isn’t in the right place – then Jesus connects the man’s faith to Jesus’ word: “All things are possible to him who believes.” Jesus gives him a promise, He speaks His Word, so the man will believe, and in so doing Jesus encourages him to keep believing. Then He encourages his faith by casting out the demon, by answering the prayer, even a prayer of weak faith. 

See yourself the way Jesus sees you. See, and agree with God, that you are too weak, that you cannot by your own reason or strength believe. See that God has compassion on you, that He sees you under attack and under pressure and wants to help you. He wants you to say: “Help my unbelief!” and He will.

Third, and finally, we need to say what faith actually is. It isn’t how strong or weak it is, or how much faith you have. Instead of looking inward for faith and how good or strong it is – which plays into the devil’s hands, who wants you to look away from Christ and instead, idolatrously, look to yourself – faith comes from looking outside yourself, looking to Jesus, looking to the cross. 

Faith is just clinging to Jesus. Faith is connected to what God says, His promises of the Gospel. His Word gives you faith. So what if it feels weak? Faith saves. Learn this truth, that even weak faith is saving faith. God says He will not break the bruised reed. Jesus said, “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” To the weak-in-faith person, Jesus says, “You are Mine.”

You just cling to Jesus. You trust that you are God’s child by faith in Christ Jesus – not a certain kind or quality of faith, not faith that is strong or weak, but simply trust in Jesus that “He is my Lord, who has redeemed me.” The faith that matters most is Jesus’ faith. The only faith good enough is His faith. That’s the faith to rely on, that His faith counts for you as good enough for God and everything lacking in your faith is taken away.

And while Jesus is calming your weak trembling faith, making it stronger, this story shows that at the same time He is making the devil shake. Did you catch that Jesus’ just being present was enough to enrage this demon, so that as soon as the demon saw Jesus, it says “immediately the spirit convulsed him.” The devil is angry that the Lord stands by a weak-in-faith Christian. 

When you’re in Jesus’ presence, you have access to this power of Jesus over the devil, His power when He’s present in His Word and the power of His real presence in the Lord’s Supper when He takes away your sins and even comes into you as you eat and drink with faith. It makes the devil shake in fear of Jesus and in hatred of Him. But you are made stronger, you stop trembling in your faith, the more Jesus is with you. He helps your unbelief. Amen!

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