Homily for 30 March 2014: 4th Sunday of Great Lent
(Hebrews 6:13-20)
(Mark 9:17-31)
Today’s Gospel story of the man whose son
was possessed by an unclean spirit teaches us about the power of God and the
importance of faith.
The boy whose father brings him to Jesus
is possessed by a demon or spirit that tries to destroy him. It makes him unable to speak; it takes
control of his body and throws him around, even into the fire and into water. In fact, it sounds a lot like what we would
call epilepsy. We now understand that
epilepsy and other diseases are not caused by demons, but they still cause pain
and destruction and they still need healing.
In fact, we can look at this Gospel story
as a metaphor or image for any kind of affliction over which we have no control
and which works to destroy us and to affect those around us. This could be illness of the body, such as
cancer or heart disease or AIDS. It
could be illness of the mind, such as severe depression or schizophrenia or
bipolar disorder. It could be an
addiction, such as to drugs or alcohol or gambling.
Every human being has some sort of
affliction or addiction, and every human being also knows and loves someone
else who also has some sort of affliction or addiction. We all know how destructive these afflictions
are; truly they do seem to come from unclean spirits, or demons. In the Gospel story, the spirit attacks the
boy, which also hurts the father. It is
as though the Devil was trying to destroy the father’s faith in God by
attacking his son.
When the demon sees Jesus, it immediately
attacks the boy: it knows that Jesus has
power over it, so it tries to scare the father away from asking Jesus to heal
his son. But the father is desperate and
determined. He says to Jesus, “If you
are able, have pity and help us.”
At this point, he is not fully aware of
Jesus’ power as the Son of God, so he says, “if
you are able.” Jesus notices the
father’s anxiety and uncertainty, and tells him, “All things can be done for
those who believe.” This leaves no doubt
about God’s power—“all things can be
done.” But at the same time it
emphasizes the need for our faith—“for those who believe.” So the father cries out, “I do believe, but help my unbelief!”
Belief, or faith in God, is our decision
to accept God’s power and authority and control of our lives. Illness and pain and suffering can be used by
the Devil to try to weaken or destroy our faith, so we also need to ask God to
“help our unbelief,” as well as to have pity and heal us and those we
love. The more we turn to God for help,
the more God can help us, for “all things can be done for those who believe.”
Believing, and then holding on to our
belief, takes work. As Jesus told the
Disciples, some spirits can be driven out only by prayer and fasting. Keeping our faith requires discipline and
determination. And we have to keep on
even when what we hope and pray for doesn’t happen, or when we can’t understand
what does happen.
When we have faith, all things can be done for us. There is no guarantee that they will be done, or that what we want will
be done. We can’t dictate to God; we can
only pray, “Have pity on us and help us, and help our unbelief.”
And we can and must always give thanks
and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now
and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
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