Is your faith strong enough? Are you strong enough to resist the temptations of the devil to sin? Are you strong enough to see through lies of the world? Are you strong enough to withstand hardship when sickness, death, pain, toil, seem to overcome you and everyone around? Strength of faith is the question for today.

               This reading takes place immediately after Jesus comes down from the Transfiguration mountain. He was with Peter, James, and John up on that mountain and now he comes down to find a developing situation between the remaining disciples and some of the teachers of the Law. The situation is explained by the father who takes a central role- there is a boy possessed by a demon who the disciples failed to drive out. He says that the disciples were unable to do so. An appropriate translation of this verse might be that they did not have the strength to cast out this demon.

               Why not? Was this demon simply stronger than them? It seems to be quite strong indeed! It seems to have total control over this young boy. The disciples couldn’t do anything for him. It physically forced him to be harmed in various ways. We learn this important thing about demons: they want to harm you, physically and spiritually. There are powerful forces arrayed against you and they want you dead and condemned to hell like them. In Jesus’ day they used possession to frighten people and drive them away from the truth, to cloud them. In our culture they may not use that specific method as much, but isn’t it because there are more effective methods to drive you away from Christ? If you saw someone acting the way the boy is described, would you be afraid of a demon? Probably not! You would be sympathetic to someone dealing with a tough medical situation, perhaps. No, there are other tools demons use against you. Temptations to sin are more subtle. Consider how many sins are looked at as normal today. It is normal to have sex outside of marriage and watch pornography. People who advocate against such things even on pragmatic grounds are seen as strange. Where did that idea come from? From demons, because those activities are harmful to your body in this life, and reason for damnation in eternity. It is normal to be greedy. Greed is a good thing. Where did that come from? It came from demons because greed destroys lives. And Greed separates from God who has given us every good thing. These demonic teachings seem overwhelming because they’re preached on TV and in schools and so on. Powerful forces! But let’s go back to the Disciples for a moment

               Jesus had given them authority in the past to cast out demons and they had successfully before! That probably brings us to their real problem- Jesus becomes a bit frustrated with the disciples “Oh Unbelieving generation. How long will I put up with you?” He includes the disciples, the crowd, the father of the boy in unbelieving generation- generation is a broad sweeping word. The scribes were absolute unbelievers certainly. But what about the disciples? They believed in Jesus – but not totally, not completely. Their belief in Jesus was mixed with belief in themselves, and in their own strength. This led them to be overpowered- demons are more powerful than you.

               They are not more powerful than Jesus. Jesus calmly commands the boy be brought to him. The demon shrieks to see Jesus. One small note- don’t be surprised if those under the sway of the teachings of demons react in a similar violent way when the Word is preached to them! He questions the father with compassion. Put yourself in the father’s shoes. He has been watching his son suffer for years at this point. The boy himself has had a lifetime of struggle against evil. What a relief to finally see this man who everyone says can truly help him! He says to Jesus If you are able, help us.

If you are able? Jesus’ ability is not under question for those who have put their trust in him. That’s what Jesus means when he says All things are possible for him who believes. This Bible verse is one of those abused Bible passages. Perhaps you’ve heard this or thought something like this: If you just believe hard enough, then your problem will be solved. After all, Jesus says everything is possible for those who believe! If your thing isn’t working out you must just not believe! That is not at all the point of what Jesus is saying. That is not faith at all, not saving faith in Christ at least. It goes back even to what the disciples’ problem was. It’s faith in yourself, and in your own strength.  It goes back to the initial question of today’s sermon- Is your faith strong enough?

               Now is a good time to review what faith is. Faith consists of three things- knowledge, assent, and trust. Knowledge- We find out the information from Scripture that Jesus has conquered death, sin and hell through is death on the cross. Assent- we believe that this is the truth. Trust- we believe this applies to us. That last part, trust, is where we struggle the most as Christians. You are all here because you have the knowledge and you assent to its truth. The trust comes harder, especially when faith is put to the test.

             Now is also a good time to address something I’ve addressed before. I’ll repeat it because its something I hear a lot- When some trial comes into your life you say, I know God won’t give me more than I can handle. Could this father handle having a demon-possessed son for years? Could the disciples overcome their own weakness? You might remember that is a misquote of a Bible passage that has to do with temptation to sin, not about external problems in your life that cause problems. If you become obsessed with the strength of your own faith, you end up like the disciples, too weak to resist the devil.

             You are not strong enough. Is faith strong enough? Wrong question- Is Jesus strong enough? I asked are you strong enough to resist temptation? Are you strong enough to resist the devil’s lies? Are you strong enough to overcome hardships in sickness, death, trials of all kinds? No- But has Jesus overcome the devil? Is Jesus the King of the universe? Does Jesus work everything out for your good? Is Jesus able to help you? Not “is your faith strong enough,” – Is your God strong enough? And the answer is absolutely yes!

                   The reaction of the father is a model prayer for us: I believe, Help me in my unbelief. How relatable is that prayer- as much as it might seem contradictory. I know I’ve been in the same position when confronted with what the world says about God, or about creation vs evolution, or about sin. You are believers too, but doubt assails you. What do you do? Ask Jesus to strengthen you. You are here at church because you know you are not strong enough- But God is.