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Original Christian artwork: Even a little faith removes a mighty
mountain.
If you are like me, you don't have a lot of faith. I tend to get
caught up with what I can see, hear, touch and take care of with
my own two hands.
I have very little faith when I pray for something really
important. I do believe God is real and good and fair, but
somehow, I always find it difficult to think of Him helping
someone as insignificant as I am.
 A story in the Holy Scriptures that always stands out to me is
the one of a man who brought his son to be cured of epilepsy. My
favorite telling of the episode is in Mark's gospel, which is
likely taken from the apostle Peter's recollection of the event.
But Matthew, another apostle of Jesus Christ, also talks about
it.
The man brought his son to where Jesus and His disciples had
been ministering to the huge crowds that always gathered
wherever Jesus went. Often, this took place out in the open
countryside, because Jesus was under threat of arrest in the
cities, where religious leaders wanted to silence Him and His
painfully honest message from God. On this particular day, Jesus
had led a select few of His apostles up into a mountain where
His divine glory was revealed to them, so that they might be
assured that He was, in fact, the Messiah, the Promised One of
God.
As the man worked his way through the many scattered camps of
families and strangers (crowds of people came from Judea,
Galilee, Phoenicia, and other regions to hear and see Jesus and
to be helped by Him), he finally reached the place where Jesus'
actual disciples were gathered. There were many more than 12
men. Jesus had many disciples, both men and women, couples and
families, who followed Him from place to place. It was from this
vast number that the Lord had chosen 12 to be apostles.
That day, however, Jesus' disciples were unable to help the
man's son. They had been given the power to drive out demonic
spirits, and to heal ruined bodies. These things they often did,
in the Name and power of Jesus Christ. But they found themselves
unable to break the power of this unclean spirit, and the man's
son remained a victim of epilepsy.
While the failure of the disciples is becoming evident, Jesus
Himself is returning. He is making His way down the mountain
with the men who had accompanied Him. They had seen Jesus
transformed, and had also watched as Moses and Elijah met with
Him. Together, they talked about what had happened and what it
meant. As they reached the base of the mountain, they could see
the disciples and the commotion ahead.
Scripture says:
When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before
him, and said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an
epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire
and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples,
but they could not cure him."
Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much
longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with
you? Bring him here to me."
And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy
was cured instantly.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could
we not cast it out?"
He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell
you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say
to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move;
and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:14-20, NRSV)
Other very reliable translations also add verse 21, "However,
this kind [of evil spirit] does not go out except by prayer and
fasting."
In every version, the point is made by the Lord Jesus that even
a tiny speck of faith will move a mountain. This is was not an
isolated part of Jesus' message. His emphasis was not on faith,
as a thing unto itself, but on God, on God's mighty and
unlimited power, and on the goodness, love and mercies of God.
Jesus Himself was the perfect embodiment of God's inner nature.
Wherever He went, He was moved by loving compassion for the
sick, the elderly, the crippled, the dying, and even the dead.
Jesus always pointed us to heaven with His teachings, telling us
that the future and heavenly state of being is what really
matters, telling us to avoid worrying about this life and what
happens here, telling us that in heaven everything would be
righted and wonderful forever. Yet He was always moved with our
present needs and circumstances, rebuking religious leaders and
their false ideas of God, rebuking hypocrisies, greed, and
sinful practices.
Jesus, while He told us about the wonderful age and world to
come for those who trusted God, also reached out and touched the
lepers, making them whole and clean again, and He opened blinded
eyes, deaf ears, straightened crooked, withered limbs, restored
the power to walk and work, and raised the dead.
The miracles of Jesus were important signs from God, to be sure.
But they were much more than mere prophetic wonders. God is
reality and truth and life and power, not just a distant source
of a kindly, hopeful message about some day, far off, in some
other, more perfect place.
Jesus showed people the God that lives and acts today, and He
urged everyone with all His life and power to BELIEVE in that
God, and to TRUST in Him for all things.
Have faith in God. That was the core of Jesus' teaching. Have
faith in God's goodness. Have faith that God is kind and
forgiving and understanding, and that He is filled with
compassion toward us all. God is truly righteous, truly just,
truly holy. He is not just an empty religious theme or idea.
Many people believe in the power of faith itself, that it is
better to think positively rather than negatively about the
needs and circumstances of our lives. There may be something to
such ideas. It may help the people of earth to have some
religious training and ideas. It may help us to console
ourselves with religious hope when the tragedies of life strike
us down. It may give us some comfort to think that our departed
loved ones are still alive and at peace in some faraway place,
where light and beauty fill all the corners and moments.
It may help and it may not. I happen to believe that facing
reality in an honest and open fashion is better than myth, pipe
dreams or positive attitudes. Religion may help by showing us
that thinking happy thoughts can enable us to endure the night
to face another day. But the harsh realities of life are not
altered by all the wishful thinking in the world.
In contrast to faith in faith itself, faith in God offers us
many solid reasons to hope, and so much more. The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ does not expect us to believe in light
while we walk in darkness. He gives us light for today, right
here, right now. In fact, it is impossible to know and walk with
God and remain in darkness. He is perfect light. He is life and
hope and endless, boundless joy — forever. Starting now, right
here.
Christians may suffer depression and painful discouragements in
this world, just as other people do. We certainly know what
illness is like, and we are acquainted with the losses, the
setbacks, and death that is common to all humanity. After all,
we did not become any less human when we placed our faith in
Jesus Christ. If anything, we became all the more human, having
our spirits made alive again, as they were way back in the
beginning, when God first created human beings, giving us His
own breath for life. And being human, we know full well what
sorrow, pain and suffering are about.
Thankfully, God gives us more than a mere hope that someday
things may be better, if we can just hold out to the bitter end.
God gives us real and meaningful life, eternal life in Jesus
Christ. And even if we stumble and fall, become confused about
what is right and wrong, become twisted up in our own human
emotions — even when we fail God — He does not fail us. He is
our life forever.
Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son who came to this earth to make
things right. All that is God works in Him and through Him, to
this very day, making things right.
We may not see or understand all things right now, while God is
yet working to save human souls, but the death of Christ on the
cross seals everything, for both good and evil. Satan has lost.
God has won. You and I, if we are on the side of God, have also
won, even while today we may still feel the crushing weight of
loss. Our robes are already made for us, our crowns are already
waiting for us. Our hearts, this very today, are already filled
with the light of God in Jesus Christ, and we are — today, right
now — seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
We know all these things are true, not only because Scripture
makes them plain, and not only because we may have been told so
by faithful preachers and teachers, but because God Himself, by
the Holy Spirit within us, makes us living witnesses to the
reality of God, here and now.
Have faith in God, Jesus said to Peter and the disciples in Mark
11. Have faith in God, and whatever you ask will be done for
you. Believe when you pray. As the disciples were unable to help
a boy because they failed in faith, so we also fail to trust God
for many of the things we ask Him for.
More often than not, our lack of faith does not prevent God's
intervention and power, but simply makes us blind to what He is
doing. The Lord often begins acting, answering our prayers as
soon as we pray, or even before we pray. And yet, we cannot see
it because our lack of confidence draws our attention to some
other means of help.
In the mean time, God is acting, working things around for us,
and we're off trying something else (and usually messing things
up). When the prayer is fully answered, as it often is, we have
removed ourselves so far from the point of original hope that we
can't even see what God has done. Lacking faith in God, we
become blind to the spiritual and physical reality before us.
This happens a lot more often that we would ever want to
believe.
Jesus says, Have faith in God.
Put your faith in God, and not in your own cleverness, your best
friend, your family, your government, your good luck (or bad).
Have faith in God. Give Him some credit for loving you, saving
you, helping you when you cry out. Give Him the credit He
deserves.
Even a little faith in the true and living God will still move
an impossibly big mountain. All things are possible with God, if
we will simply trust Him. That is what Jesus wants us to get
through our thick human skulls.
Jim Sutton
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