I Believe. Help My Unbelief.

It's 2015, and next year is 2016, which is a Presidential Election year, which of course means that, if you happen to be watching the news, reading Facebook, having a conversation with someone at work, listening to the radio, or just conscious at all, someone, somewhere is talking about Presidential Candidates. Maybe it's been like this forever, but I don't remember the campaigning starting a full year before any actual votes being cast. It seems that all the political signs are finally taken down, and then the next week new ones are put back up. So we have these men and women all in our face, and we will from now until November of next year. Ain't that grand?

Election seasons always seem to circle around questions about belief, especially if the candidate in question is relatively unknown, and doesn't have a voting or record of achievements to examine. And so the media, people on facebook, and people around the water cooler at work all aask questions to the candidates, to his or her supporters, and to each other, "Do you believe this?" "What do you believe about this?" or "Do you believe like this guy does?" Most often, and I'm just as guilty, people scream (at the TV or computer) CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS IDIOT?

Here in the church, we're also very concerned about belief. Some churches, thankfully not this one, require their members to believe a certain way or else. We also teach our children to believe a certain way, to see the world in a certain way according to our beliefs. If we don't, after all, who will carry on our faith? Belief is of vital importance, and it touches all aspect of our lives. Even those that claim there is no God still hold a system of beliefs.

Belief was also a big thing in Scripture, and I think that our text tonight is a key passage in the Bible's discussion of belief.

Mark 5.14-24

When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. And He asked them, "What are you discussing with them?" And one of the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it." And He answered them and said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!" They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."

A man brings his son to Jesus' disciples. The boy is afflicted by "a spirit" that seems to try and kill the boy, throwing him into fire and water, throwing him on the ground, among other things. He takes his son to the disciples, and according to the story, they are unable to get the spirit to leave. Upon hearing this, Jesus criticizes "their" faith.

"And He answered them and said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!" - Mark 5.14-19

Many times, too often I think, this verse is used to beat people over the head about how their belief is inadequate. To get there, people point to this verse and claim that Jesus is chastising the disciples. But is he? Based on what we see in the text, it's hard to tell. All we get is a "them" as an indication of who he is speaking to, and the only one we see that talked to him earlier was the father. So the question becomes, who is he chastising? Who is the unbelieving generation? Is it the disciples, the father, or the crowd? I think the answer is, "yes."

Jesus has the boy brought to him, and the spirit starts going nuts, throwing the boy around on the ground. Jesus asks how long the boy has been afflicted. And it's at this point, I would like for us to consider the perspective of the father.

This man has a son that has been disturbed, in anguish, tormented, since he was small. Posession is probably how we would term it now. There is no indication from the bible that the parents were pagans or worshipped Satan or did anything themselves to invite this spirit onto the child. All we know is that the boy was suffering, and one would assume, so was the father. Here is this man, who has seen his son's suffering for years upon years and has been helpless to do anything to stop it. He has seen all of the doctors in the region, and none of them have a diagnosis. He's been to all the temples of the Roman gods and goddesses and none of the oracles or priests have been able to do much more than offer up prayers to their gods that go unheard. He's been to the synagogue, and had them offer sacrifices on his son's behalf. And yet his son remains afflicted, burning, drowning. I can imagine him hearing his son throwing himself into the water late in the night, and the father pulling him out, screaming, convulsing, foaming. If he were a Jew, I can imagine him screaming himself - at his son, at the gods, at his God for allowing this to happen to his son - his pride and joy, the one he wished and prayed so hard for. And then, stories begin to circulate. There is a man. Some think he's crazy, and others think he's the son of God. But what they do know is that he has worked miracles in the land. And one day, the rumor reaches his ears that the miracle worker's followers are in town. Can you feel his excitement grow? "It is our last chance, son! Maybe this time you can be free!" I hear him tell his son. So he carries his son to the disciples. He waits through the lines of people, carrying his boy, restraining him, whispering, "It's going to be OK, reief is in sight." And he gets to the disciples, and they pray, and they work with the boy, emulating what they've seen their friend Jesus d. And the waves of the father's hope crash again as the boy convulses still. Imagine his despair. All his pain swells again, filling him again with hopelessness. But then, the Miracle Worker himself appears. It's possible that the father considers this a further waste of time. "How long has he been like this?" The father recounts the story for what is probably the 100th time to another healer, prophet, or as has been his experience so far, a fake. But this is his son, and he is desperate. The disciples had worked miracles themselves - I'm sure the stories had preceded them. But they were unable to help his son. And maybe he wasn't sure that their Master could do any better. And so, the father, here at his most desperate but his most disappointed says to Jesus in verse 22, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"

In my experience with Christ, there is something that I have come to realize about Him - That he will always honor or respond to someone who is honestly seeking him. He will always talk to the one who may be disappointed or disallusioned or all-out mad at Him. He will communicate to them even when they honestly doubt him, and by that I mean that they are upfront and admit they have little or no faith in Him. And I think this is where the father in the story is when he makes that statement. He's saying, essentially, "I am at the end of my rope. I've been to every healer in this area, I've seen every doctor, I've given my son every tonic, I've bathed him in every substance that was supposed to bring him relief, and I even came to you, and you weren't here but your people couldn't even help. So, if you really can do anything, please help me!"

And what is Jesus' response? "What do you mean 'if' I can? All things are possible to him that believes." And perhaps here the father's heart leaps. It says he "cried out." If we can talk like Pentecostals, the Spirit came all over him. And yet he was still hesitant. "I do believe. Help my unbelief." If we go on, we see Jesus' reaction to that statement. And it wasn't to beat the father over the head, or leave the man and go his own way. No, after this father makes his honest confession, Jesus heals the boy, commanding the spirit to leave the boy.

People tend to leave that belief/unbelief part out of sermons and comments about this passage. It's uncomfortable. But I think that it's the most important part of the story. We have a lot of popular people in the church that claim "all you have to do is believe." Maybe they're right. But here, right in the Word of God, we have evidence of the opposite. Or at least a half-hearted attempt at belief and Jesus still does the miracle.

Have you been in that position? Certainly we know of parents who have taken their child all over the country to every specialist they can find, they've gone to all the campmeetings, all the church services, they've sent money to all the guys on TV to get their healing water or whatever it is they sell, they've come forward for prayer cloths, and what have they got? A sick kid. It may not be sickness, it could be a job, an issue with your spouse, your finances, any number of afflictions that we face. We've been everywhere. We've let go and let God, we've trusted and believed, we've paid our tithes, and we're still afflicted. It wears us down. Breaking our resolve and even our faith. Our brains take over, don't they? We're designed to recognize patterns and we make decisions based on our understanding of those patterns. Our brain is fighting our heart and our spirit. We live with that struggle sometimes.

We believe, but we have doubts.

And that's what I believe that God wants you to know tonight that it is OK if you have doubts. Yes, you heard that right. God is OK with your doubts. Jesus is OK with your difficulty believing.

I believe that someone here needs to hear this. The Spirit of the Lord is saying to you, "I know your thoughts. I know your anger. I've heard your complaint against me. I have counted your tears as they've fallen from your eyes. I know your pain and torment you are under. I know you want to believe me, but you're having trouble doing so. I have heard you and I do not condemn you." You've heard this before, in your own spirit. You've heard God whispering to you and you had trouble recognizing his voice. Well, here's your confirmation. God knows every bit of your doubt and he's not mad. He's not mad. But it requires something of you. You need to honestly seek him.

We get this idea in church that we have to hide our true feelings from God. You can't admit any kind of weakness or distress. Have you read the book of Psalms? David was full of grief and pain and he wrote it down. Yet God called him a man after his own heart.

So this this the opportunity I want to give you. Here is your chance to come clean to God. Tell him that you believe, but you're having doubts. Your reality is stomping on your faith and you need help. This is not a weakness. Weakness is not admitting that you feel like you're being defeated. Weakness is pretending that you're invincible and dying anyway.

If you will, if this is you tonight. If you are the father despearte to see your child delivered, or to see yourself delivered from your torment, I invite you to come. Will you come admit that you believe, but you need help with your unbelief? We will pray with you. I won't ask you a single question, but I will admit, with you, that I have trouble believing too. Let us be honest together and seek Jesus. I know he will answer us.