Day #19
Larry Trotter
Words
of Love
38 A
man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is
my only child. 39 A spirit
seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he
foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to
drive it out, but they could not.” Luke 9:38-40 NIV
Overcoming the Barrier
The first church I
served met in an aging building that had lots of charm but little space. The
only fellowship area was upstairs with the only access being a steep, narrow
staircase that was not user friendly for many of the members. After I had been
there a year the decision was made to look into building a freestanding
fellowship hall that could also be used for other community events. Members
agreed to adopt building materials. One would buy concrete, someone else
roofing materials, another lumber, and so on. All the labor would come from
members and friends in the community. After some research and cost estimates we
held a church conference to vote on the project. Surprisingly, several of the
members had decided that it might be too expensive and it looked as though
their dream of a fellowship hall might not get past the drawing board. But just
as the discussion seemed to be pointing toward an impasse, one of the most
senior matriarchs stood, gathered her coat and purse, looked at everyone with
contempt and said, “Some church we are. If this is all the faith we have, I’m
going home.” And she did, without another word. After a few moments of stunned
silence the church voted unanimously to move forward with the project and I
learned some valuable lessons about roofing, drywall, and the power of belief
in the right hands.
Matthew and Mark
also have versions of the story excerpted in the verses above that describe failure
on the part of the disciples to cast out a demon. In their versions Jesus
indicates that only prayer can dislodge such a demon. Here, Jesus criticizes
the “unbelieving and perverse generation” which alludes to all the People of
Israel and their unwillingness to accept the kingdom he is introducing with his
radical teaching and preaching, a recurring theme in Luke’s gospel. This
passage follows the Transfiguration scene where Jesus is glorified on a
mountain and is visited by Elijah and Moses who represent the Law and the
Prophets, understood as the totality of the Scriptures that Jesus came to
fulfill. The Transfiguration and the current passage that follows it are
bracketed by Jesus pronouncing his looming death, which is explicitly
misunderstood by the people he came to save. Luke uses the scene to underscore
how our unbelief can thwart our participation in God’s unfolding kingdom by
making us unwilling to accept something new. Sometimes our failure can result
from thinking too small or limiting what we think God can do in a situation.
Jesus came to overcome that barrier by revealing the power of God to enter a
situation and present possibilities that are only seen by eyes of faith. Sometimes
Jesus straight up tells it like it is in order for us to see things as they
are.
Prayer
Healing God, help my unbelief by relaxing my
insistence on understanding everything and simply believing that all things are
possible in your constantly expanding kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment