Climate Control.

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam noted that spiritual gifts are exercised in the climate of faith. Our pastor reminded us of the passage in Scripture that speaks of the atmosphere of unbelief in Jesus's hometown:

Now Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house.” He was not able to do a miracle there, except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then he went around among the villages and taught. (Mark 6:1-6, NET, emphasis mine)

Pastor Sam also shared that what Jesus was not able to do in His hometown, He was able to do in Capernaum:

After Jesus had finished teaching all this to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was highly regarded, but who was sick and at the point of death. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they urged him earnestly, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, because he loves our nation, and even built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not presume to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!” So when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well. (Luke 7:1-10, NET, emphasis mine)

What a contrast. The "insiders", the men and women of Jesus's neighborhood, took offense at His presence in the synagogue. They refused to acknowledge His status, instead referring to Him as a common laborer. The "outsider", a Roman centurion, recognized that he was not worthy to bear the presence of Jesus in his house. The centurion referred to Jesus as Lord, the One with the authority to impart healing, and the centurion even realized that Jesus could command healing without having to be physically present-- just say the word, Lord, and by Your word healing will occur.

When we speak of Jesus, what sort of climate rules our speech? Is our Lord amazed at our unbelief? Or, is He amazed at our faith?

My Life In The Fishbowl.

The crowd had gathered around the nine disciples... the teachers of the Law were arguing with them.

In Scripture, particularly in the New Testament narratives concerning Jesus, we often see that large crowds would make their way into whatever region Jesus happened to be present. The Mark 9:14-29 passage, though, is interesting: although Jesus was not present, the crowd still gathered. It seems the presence of Jesus's followers, along with the presence of a young man attacked by an unclean spirit, was more than enough to draw a crowd. Perhaps some of us in this twenty-first century have also experienced the pressure of being in the gaze of modern-day crowds.

The father said... "Your disciples could not."

In the absence of Jesus's physical presence, the father in the Mark 9 account had gone to Jesus's disciples. It appears that the father's disappointment was deep, because he went on to say an astounding thing to Jesus: "If You can." It is a scary thing to know that our personal failures can have the powerful effect of causing other people to question the power of God.

Jesus replied... "'If'? All things are possible to those who believe."

I wonder if any of us are harboring areas in our lives where, whether due to the pressure of the crowd or the pain of seeing no "results" from spiritual interventions, we have said the astounding thing: "If God can." My prayer for us today is that, regardless of the level of crisis we face, we will never question God's ability to act.

The disciples asked Jesus privately... "Why couldn't we cast it out?"

Some years ago my husband shared a comment on this verse, and I have never forgotten it: The reason the disciples were able to ask this question was because they had cast out demons in other situations. They were not novices in ministry. Jesus had empowered them to engage in deliverance ministry, and they had done so successfully (see Mark 6:7-13), but the disciples' lack of a consistent prayer life rendered them ineffective in this encounter with a more powerful demonic spirit than they had previously known.

Jesus said, "Only prayer and fasting can force out that kind of demon."

God has asked for our participation in this specific spiritual discipline, which Jesus indicated is the key to resolving difficult spiritual problems. Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene is continuing to carry out its forty-day prayer assignment... and, yes, a crowd is watching. Some in the crowd might even be argumentative. My prayer for us all is that we will press forward in faith and obedience to His word.

May God give us the strength to continue in prayer and fasting.

May God grant us hearts that believe in His power to heal and deliver.

God, as people are watching us, please use us to turn their eyes towards You.