March 15, 2022 – “Confession: Lord, Help my Unbelief”

“When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boyto him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” 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.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.” Mark 9:14-29

“I believe; help my unbelief”. This statement is so true for so many people. Yes, we are believers. And yet we, like the disciples, go through times when we cannot believe what we see, or read, or experience. It is at the times of our unbelief, the times when we are most tested, and our belief is most challenged, that we cry to G-d with the same words… “help my unbelief.” 

One of the purposes of confession is to allow us to go to G-d with all our doubts, fears, wrongful deeds and thoughts, and, of course, our hopes as well. People often wonder if it is okay to question G-d – to turn to G-d and seek answers to the things that trouble them most. Just because we have questions about our faith, and seek deeper meaning and understanding about our faith, does not mean that we are unbelievers.  There is a great difference between being an “Unbeliever” and having periods of “unbelief”.

Jesus recognized this same problem in his own disciples…and yet they still experience the gift of G-d’s Grace in the day of Pentecost – when all are given the Holy Spirit. This season of Lent, consider including in your nightly or morning prayers the statement, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief”.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, we are called to turn to you in trust, hope, and of course in doubt. We all have things that are just hard for us to believe – both in life and faith. Lord, help us in our unbelief. Amen.

Pastor Dave

March 14, 2022 – “Temptation”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”            John 3:16-17

“My hope is built on nothing less – than Jesus and His righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame – but wholly lean in Jesus’ Name

On Christ the solid Rock I stand – All other ground is sinking sand

 (My Hope is Built, hymn  Edward Mote, 1797-1874)

Lent is marked by the themes of temptation, confession, forgiveness, denial, and prayer. There is a longing for deliverance from sin, death and the devil experienced by persecution, tyranny, injustice and hatred in this world. Our hope is that G-d will redeem all creation – begun in the birth of Jesus and completed when Christ comes again. It is the hope that G-d will come again in  righteousness to reign over G-d’s people and creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign Christ will come to renew all things.

Temptation: “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” Luke 4:1

Sure, we have to begin Lent with temptation – it is appropriate – but it also seems like rubbing salt into the wounds of our Lenten denial. Did you ever think of the temptation of Jesus as a miracle story? Yes, it is a miracle that Jesus could withstand the devil. And yes, it is a miracle that the devil could quote scripture.  But that is not what I am talking about. Going 40 days without eating – that, my friends is a miracle. And so when Jesus is at his hungriest, the Devil tempts him to turn stone into bread.

If you think about it, this is how the devil is so successful in this world – the devil knows just when to strike: when we are at our weakest. The devil knows what we crave the most: exactly what we desire when we are at our weakest. That is when the devil strikes. Several years ago my wife and I took our kids to The Magic Kingdom for a vacation. As we entered the park I noticed a smell – it was the smell of chocolate, as if someone was baking chocolate chip cookies. I looked around and did not see a bakery, or a cookie shop, nothing. What I realized they were doing, those scoundrels, was piping in the smell of chocolate – so if you or your kids were hungry, you would immediately begin to seek out a place to eat.  The temptation hit you immediately – and at this park, it is just the beginning of the temptations. 

My friends, what I have learned most as I have lived my life is how the devil works – and the devil is at his strongest with temptations. Take time this Lent to see what tempts you, and how the Devil might be in those temptations. Like Jesus, it is with the help of the Holy Spirit that we will endure the temptations that seek to separate us from our utter dependence on Jesus.

Let us pray,

Lord you know our wants, our needs, and our temptations. Give us the strength to turn to you for the things we need daily in life – and to resist the temptations of the Devil. Amen

Pastor Dave