Faith and Belief

Mark 9:24(NRSV)

Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

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You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse, but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do"

"If I Ever Lose My Faith" by Sting from "Ten Summoner's Tales," 1993

So let's start here, because this is suddenly the elephant in the room, Sting sings "You could say I lost my belief in the holy church." This may not be the most uplifting thing ever written in a devotional, but it goes to a place devotion needs to go.

People often put their faith in things that do not deserve devotion. The greedy have a faith in wealth and that is not healthy. The vain put faith in looks and that is not wise. Gluttons of all stripes place faith in the object of their abuse and that can become the object of addiction.

There is a difference between having "faith" in the church and faith in the Head of the Church. The church is made up of people, people who are sinned and fallible. The Head of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is fully human and fully divine; all human and all God. Jesus is not only more God than we will ever be, but he is more of a person than we will ever be. In him alone must our faith rest.

As Sting sings, "If I ever lose my faith in you, there'd be nothing left for me to do."

When the man brings his demon possessed son to Jesus, Jesus says, “All things can be done for the one who believes.” The man then cries “I believe; help my unbelief!”

As people, imperfect human beings, we will never be able to fully believe, not to the extent that Jesus is able to believe in us. Often we think of this verse as Jesus scorning the father, "If you believe your son will be healed." The man's answer certainly seems to follow this logic.

But what if Jesus is instead saying, "I believe in you, I believe in humanity, and because I believe, all things can be done." The acts of Jesus do not depend on us having enough faith. Jesus has enough faith in us to do the miracles that show us life.

Still, our lives are plagued with uncertainty and pain. Sting sings, "Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world." We may be lost, but Jesus finds us--both in our belief and in our unbelief.

The Church can be a wonderful thing. In its most gloirous state it is the Body of Christ on earth. But it is better to have faith in Christ while remembering Christ calls on us, the church, people, to continue his work on earth.

How to Spend

Mark 9:33-37 (NRSV)

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

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Spend it on love,
Spend it on the children,
Spend it on the ones who need it the most.

"Spend It On Love" by Bob Walkenhorst from "The Good News and The Bad News" by The Rainmakers.

Priorities, ultimately everything that ever gets done or undone is because of priorities. Is something too important to let go? Is something so routine that it is left for another day? When does yesterday's optional become today's urgent?

Jesus placed a high priority on the children. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Whoever spends a dollar on a child spends a dollar for the Kingdom of God.

There are more than enough opportunities to spend money on things that do not point to love. Money spent on avarice and greed sure don't go toward love. Money spent on things that don't protect, defend, or educate a child are not spent on love. As Bob sings, "lottery tickets and beer" just don't cut it.

Just as important as money is time. People spend hundreds of thousands of hours working every year to "provide the finer things in life" for their families, the problem is that nobody gets to enjoy them. Wasting money is one thing, but time wasted can never be retrieved.

Bob Walkenhorst, lead singer and principle songwriter for The Rainmakers, was inspired to write this song after driving past a polling place on an election day many years ago. Going by, he saw kids holding up signs that said "Spend It On Us!" To be first, you have to be the servant of all, especially those who are the weakest of us all, the children. When future generations are blessed, the present generation is blessed too.

So Very Good to Be Here

Monday after Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday


Mark 9:2-6

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

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How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year.
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here.

"Wish You Were Here" by Roger Waters and David Gilmour recorded by Pink Floyd from the album "Wish You Were Here"

Imagine Peter singing this song. Imagine him singing it to the world. He had just seen Jesus transfigured, a fancy word that means to change appearance. He was so freaked out, so shocked, so terrified that he offers to do some carpentry, building booths for the heroes. He wanted to do them the honor of creating a place for them to be, but to what purpose? Perhaps he wanted them to stay around so that everyone could see what he was seeing. A table to hang out at like a book signing. It was good for them to be there, so it is good for us to be there too. That seems clear.

Imagine Peter singing this song. He knows himself and he knows who we are too. We are just two lost souls swimming in this fishbowl year after year. Thoreau said "I have traveled extensively in Concord" and this is Peter's point, we know our lives. We know our neck of the woods. We know what we know and it will take something dramatic to adjust our image toward something holy and this will do .

Imagine Peter singing this song. He knows Jesus and he knows his old fears. He knows where they came from and he knows those who share them too. He wishes we were there with him, seeing what he saw. He was terrified, sure, but this was new. This was different. This is shock and awe.

But this doesn't happen. There are no booths. There are no guided tours of Transfiguration Point. There is only the story. There is only the promise.

Why does Jesus only bring Peter, James, and John? Scholars give all kinds of reasons, and if you were interested in scholarly opinion you wouldn't be reading this. What Jesus did give them is exactly what they needed. He gave them the image that mattered to them. Peter wished we were there too, but this isn't our image. This image is for them.

Imagine Peter singing this song. Now ask yourself, what is the image that you would have Christ show you? Imagine and know that the image you see can be as real as the one seen by Peter, James, and John. This is the lesson of the Transfiguration. As Jesus' image changes, our image of Jesus changes too. As the image of Jesus changes, our faith in Christ deepens. As the image of Jesus changes, it ought to scare us to death too. Of course it should be scary, this is shock and awe.