The Scripture reading for December 31, 2014 is Mark 11:23-26 (Gospel) 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. Im going to get personal for a moment, so please dont judge me, because this personal revelation is probably, to many, odd, to put it kindly. I remember as a child reading this verse and just thinking, Wow... I also remember standing outside (on more than one occasion), looking at the mountains that stood behind my house, and saying, Move! Cmon now, mountain, move! I do not remember any mountains moving, however, to my dismay. I suppose my child-like faith was actually just childish faith, and yes, I do believe theres a difference, but that is a distinction only slightly relevant to todays discussion. Today, I would simply like us to ask the questions (and hopefully answer them as well), What point is Jesus making in todays passage? What sort of faith can actually move mountains? And maybe, What sort of mountains can and should we actually be trying to move? The various Gospels accounts of Jesus life are replete with miracles, just chock full o them. Jesus heals the lame, the sick, the blind, raises the dead to life, calms storms, exorcises demons: the list could go on and on. Most of us read of these miracles and think, Well of course he could them; he was God. That is, its easy to do miracles if youre God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Almighty Sovereign, the Infinite. But in our simple piety, we tend to overlook passages like todays, in which Jesus explicitly tells his disciples, Oh, by the way, you [You, humans! You, disciples of Jesus Christ!] can do things like this too (remember that todays passage comes right after another miracle of Jesus: the withering of the fig tree). Jesus says, to move mountains, i.e., to do the seemingly impossible, the miraculous, you must have (1) an unshakable faith and (2) an intimate understanding of the will of God. The former is obvious from the contents of todays passage; Jesus says, Whoever... does not doubt... But the latter, that is, the intimate understanding of the will of God, requires a bit of explanation. You see, Jesus says that faith is not the only thing that accompanies miraculous deeds. Prayer does as well. Miracles are asked of God by humans, and when humans communicate with God, when they praise him for his mighty deeds, when they thank him for his divine providence, when they ask of him things, we call this prayer. And while Jesus says, Whatever things you ask when you pray [even miraculous things], believe that you receive them, and you will have them, he does not mean whatever, at least, not an unqualified whatever. In fact, Jesus has already told his disciples what they are to ask for when they pray: food, forgiveness, the power to resist temptations and trials, and for Gods will to be magnified in their lives (Matthew 6:9-13). Ah, that slims the whatever list down a bit. But, does this qualification then exclude the miraculous? I think not, and I think thats why Jesus uses an example that is so obviously miraculous, supernatural even, in todays passage. Asking for daily bread, forgiveness, the will of God to be shown in and through the Christian believer: all these things can still be provided for miraculously, and via a human vessel. But such a belief, that by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, Christians are able to do miraculous things, has become uncommon. Miracles are, well, biblical things, ancient things, Jesus things (and so), God things. Sure, the apostles did them, but really, when was the last time you saw, as in, sensibly experienced, a miracle done? Probably never, and that goes for me too. So whats the problem? Is Jesus message outdated, irrelevant? Is the real meaning of this passage more ambiguous, more figurative? Actually, I dont think so, at least, it hasnt been traditionally interpreted as such. And thats because, simply, traditionally and historically, miracles have been attested in the life of the Christian church, and are still attested today, and not apparently fraudulent ones, mind you! What seems to be missing, I would argue, is the unshakable faith that Jesus demands of his disciples, his contemporaries, as well as you and I, and that intimate knowledge of the will of God. God miraculously providing food via a human medium, via petitionary prayer, so that children might not die of starvation is a far cry from the Name It/Claim It theology of the prosperity gospel, which advocates for Christians to call down blessings from God (financial and social) for their own edification. The former is something that still happens today, something wrought by spirit-empowered, holy, and devoted Christian hands. The latter is a marketing scheme wrought by the spiritually destitute and morally corrupt minds of televangelists. Today, Christian, I pray that you will cultivate a stalwart faith, and that you will be able to wisely discern the loving and gracious will of God for your life. I pray that you will take Jesus instruction seriously: that humans really can do the miraculous, because after all, Jesus was a human... and yes, God... but also, so very, unmistakably human. And I dont think he would encourage us to do the impossible. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:50:13 +0000
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