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"God Can!" Mark 9:14-29

by Clancy Nixon

September 17, 2006

Church of the Holy Spirit

Broadlands, Virginia

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

It's in the file marked "There but for the Grace of God go I." His story could be

your story. He's the father of the tormented boy in Mark 9, on page 1,000 of your blue

Bibles. He may not be Prometheus, carrying the world on his shoulders, but this father

has carried a burden for years that is heavier than many of us could bear. His son is deaf

and mute; he has violent seizures; he is in constant danger. The boy is tormented by an

evil spirit, and because he is, the father is also tormented. The father loves his son.

Though Dad has tried everything, he has been helpless to do more than keep his son

alive. This family probably has few friends. Can you imagine the shame and loneliness

that father must feel? Dad's vigilance must be constant, for when fire or water is near,

the evil spirit throws the boy in it to kill him.

In this story in Mark 9, neither father nor son are given a name. That other

tormented father in Mark, the notable whose daughter Jesus brought back to life at least

he had a name - Jairus. These two, father and son, remain nameless to us.

The tormented father probably heard how Jesus' disciples had successfully cast

out demons from others. So he let his hope rise, he dared to hope that they could deliver

his son, where others had failed. But the disciples failed too; they failed publicly and

miserably. The father's hopes were sent rolling in the dirt once again.

As Jesus finally arrives, the tormented father says to him, Mark 9:17 and 18,

"Rabbi, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit. It seizes him and throws him to the

ground; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your

disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." Notice that the father had intended to

bring his son to Jesus. He says, "Rabbi I brought YOU my son." Instead, all he got were

these unnamed second string disciples, the ones who were not part of the inner circle of

the three. The second string were all of them except Peter, James and John, who were

with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, earlier in Chapter 9. The church had got the

father's hopes up, only to disappoint him. The Greek that the NIV translates "they could

not" means they were not strong enough.

There is a lesson for us here. Hang around any of Christ's servants long enough,

and they will disappoint you. Be prepared for it; you and I are just not strong enough to

meet every need. Jesus, Peter, James and John are in Heaven, and down here we are all

second string. Just as you won't get everything you hope for from a wife or husband,

from a sister or brother, or mother or father - neither will you get everything you hope for

from your pastor, your small group leader, or from any friend in the church. Yes, you and

I are ambassadors of Christ to one another, and we have the Holy Spirit in us. We need

to remember that we cannot expect others to be Christ for us. We can hope that we see

Christ in each other. We can pray that Jesus would come to each other, like he did to the

tormented father. Put your hope in Christ, not in people. Like this father and son, our

deepest needs are met in an honest to God encounter with Jesus. When you get less than

you hope from the church, press "beyond the Church to the Master of the Church, beyond

the servant of Christ to Christ himself." (Barclay)

As you get honest with the Lord like this father did, Jesus can diagnose your

problem, and heal your family. Look at verse 17. The first thing the father says about his

problem is that his son has been robbed of speech by an evil spirit there is a

communication problem. No doubt, when family members are not speaking to one

another, or when a child no longer really listens to mom or dad, it is a big problem. Next,

the father says that the boy is often thrown into the fire by this malevolent spirit. When a

child is in physical danger, it is a big problem. These are all real problems. But Jesus

says that the father's most basic problem was none of these; the father's problem was his

own watered down faith. It can sound simplistic and even reductionistic to say that the

father's real problem is lack of faith. But it's true in this case, because Jesus said so. It

can be true for us as well. We are usually pretty good at diagnosing our symptoms; the

boy appears to have epilepsy, as well as being deaf mute. God is far better than we are,

both at diagnosing our real problem and at prescribing treatment. God's diagnosis for the

father here is a lack of faith, or mixed faith and unbelief.

This comes out when the father asks Jesus in this way, verse 22: "If you can do

anything, take pity on us and help us." The father's statement shows the father's unbelief

in Jesus' power to do anything in his case. Isn't that so human? The father has learned

through painful experience to guard his hopes for his son. I can hear him say, "Others

might get healed, but not my family." Have you ever felt like this? When your hopes

have been dashed over and over again, you can believe the lie that maybe you are beyond

hope, that maybe even God is powerless to save you or your family. Have you ever felt

that your family is beyond redemption, it is too messed up, the bondage is too deep?

Remember the example of the leper from Mark 1:40 who said to Jesus, "You can make

me clean." Our tormented Dad here says to Jesus, "If you can do anything...." Jesus

rebukes this father, then speaks the truth him. Jesus says, verse 23, "If you can?" That is

the rebuke. Then the truth: "Everything is possible for him who believes."

God can! "Everything is possible for him who believes." Let's say it together:

"Everything is possible for him who believes." God can. Do you believe what you just

said? Then turn to a neighbor and tell them this: "God can heal your family and my

family." Go ahead and tell someone that...

God can! Just listen to these Scriptures: 1 Samuel 2:25 says, "If you harm another

person, God can make things right between the two of you." Matthew 3:9 says, "Out of

these stones God can raise up children for Abraham." Mark 10:27 says, "There are some

things that people cannot do, but God can do anything." Acts 26:8 says, "Why does it

seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?" Romans 16:25 says, "God

can make you strong in faith." Nothing is too difficult for him.

God can do anything, but there are times when God chooses not to intervene. That

is where the tormented father lived. He had prayed and waited and asked for help and

waited some more, but until Jesus showed up personally, God had not yet healed his son.

The Dad needed to let God be God. Jesus' timing is perfect. Just because God had not

yet intervened did not mean that God had no plan to intervene. Faith believes that God is

ready to heal any moment now.

The way the father responds to Jesus is beautiful and so encouraging. In verse

24, he says, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Can't you relate to the father

here? We can live in this same tension between hope and fear. This man is a believer,

whose faith has been diluted by despair and doubt. I love that the father is honest to God

about his need for more faith. Jesus does not say that the reason the boy has not been

healed is the father's small faith. Jesus is not blaming anyone; he is simply teaching us

that miracles require faith. When Jesus rebukes the father, the father prays for more faith.

What a great example this father is for us in quick repentance and prayer when

confronted with his unbelief.

No family is beyond hope. Some time ago, not at this church, a friend and I

ministered to a married couple who were Christians. The husband had a dangerous

behavior pattern. At night in bed with his wife, he had nightmares that a demon was

attacking his wife, and he dreamed that he was protecting her by choking this demon. But

in reality, he was literally choking his wife, who repeatedly experienced her husband

trying to kill her! He always awakened before he hurt her too badly, but you can imagine

that this was a serious problem! Prayer had not helped, and therapy and doctors had not

helped. In Mark 3:15, Jesus gave authority over dark spirits to his disciples, and he gave

us this same authority in the long ending to Mark. The husband wanted us to just send

the demons away, but first, he needed to take responsibility for his actions. He was still

sleeping in the same bed with his wife, thereby endangering her! He confessed his sin of

not protecting his wife from himself. It turned out that the husband had gotten into fights

all his life, and we discerned that a violent spirit had been tormenting him since

childhood. After the husband confessed his sins of violence for all those fights, we took

authority over this violent spirit, and commanded it to go to Jesus for him to deal with it.

Later, we did cleansing prayers over the couple and their marital bed, and more bad

spirits take flight. Praise God, this man later reported that his night violence ceased from

that moment! Evil spirits are real, and God desires his people to be free, to walk in

Christ's victory over Satan.

God can. Everything is possible for him who believes. We don't know how the

story ended for the father and the son, except that the deaf and mute spirit left the boy.

This side of heaven, we won't know their names, either but we do know they are no

longer called "tormented." They have new names free men; healed ones; overcoming

ones.

Now we'll move to a time of prayer. As we focus our prayers, God wants to meet

you at the point of your need. I'd like to ask you if there is a place that this father's story

intersects with your story. Some of us may need more faith that God can and will heal

your family. Maybe family problems give you feelings of shame or loneliness. Has the

church let you down or failed to help you? Perhaps you feel nameless or ignored by God.

No matter the problem, go directly to Jesus in prayer, and let him minister to you. You

can let God minister to you by right where you are, by staying in your seat. You might

want to come forward to kneel at the altar rail. If you prefer, you can receive personal

prayer from a prayer minister on the left aisle, either now or during communion.

Everything is possible for him who believes. God can. Let's pray.