Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind cane come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

- Mark 9:14-29

Yesterday we read that following Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Jesus (together with James, John, and Peter) has just come down from the Mount of the Transfiguration, to find a great crowd surrounding a dispute between his disciples and scribes.  The people run to Christ.  But His chief concern is with defending His disciples, and His first question is to the scribes.

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  Yet again, the Gospels give us a teaching about faith in the image of this father, but also to another extent, in the disciples themselves.   My study bible comments that sickness in Scripture is frequently connected to demonic activity.  The father of the child shows humility, but lacks faith.  In fact, Jesus' statement ("O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?") applies to all those present.  Clearly the exorcism of the boy is the basis of the dispute, a kind of holy contest between the scribes and the disciples, who could not cast out the demon.   Note that when Jesus commands the father, "Bring him to Me," it is yet another time when those with the need for healing are taken aside by Jesus, and apart from the crowds, in order to shore up and strengthen their faith.

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind cane come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."   In effect, in private, Jesus instructs the disciples on their own lack of faith, and points them and us to practice designed to strengthen and shore up faith.  The text also gives us a hint that sometimes we will face personal spiritual challenges which are much more pernicious and difficult than others, requiring of us spiritual discipline to more greatly help us as well.

The father in today's reading recognizes his lack of faith, and tearfully cries to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  But this man has an advantage.  His own humility allows him to understand that although he believes, he still is lacking in faith -- he has belief, and he has unbelief.  It is a great advantage to know oneself to this extent, for to recognize what we lack is the first step in solving a problem and becoming truly "well."  It is like any ailment; a cure requires first an honest diagnosis and understanding of the problem.  So, in this sense, the father teaches us all a good example.  If we don't come to recognize our own problems and "lack" of anything, how can we come to Christ and pray for what we need?  How do we stand a chance of becoming well, healed?  Humility, then, becomes the great stepping stone to what we need.  In and of itself, our own need for humility is a tremendous challenge.  Note how the dispute between the scribes and the disciples doesn't really do much at all for helping to find faith.  We are much more likely to simply be put on the defensive through such disputing, and less likely to find the humility to come to Christ for help.  That happens in private, when the disciples are in the house with Him.  So it is with us.  In prayer, we stand a chance of coming to terms with our own flaws, and requesting help for them.  Before the world, especially when challenged to produce something as "proof" of our own merit or cause, we find ourselves challenged in ways that aren't very helpful to anyone.  What we need is the capacity to pray, even in the midst of our disputes -- just as Jesus recognizes that He needs to take the father and son apart from the crowd to truly help.  Moreover, the disciples themselves need "more faith" to deal with this particular "kind" of demonic activity.  They need to use prayer and fasting in their ministry in order to heal more effectively.  When we engage in our own prayer and fasting practices, so we should take note that what we are doing is shoring up our faith -- especially for more difficult challenges.  During an experience of caring for a dying parent, and being called upon to make constant life-and-death decisions for care, I personally found that taking time out for regular prayer was the best medicine for my own well-being, and in particular for finding the strength to make those decisions with reserves of energy and clarity that I didn't have otherwise.  In fact, I found that prayer practices -- such as using traditional Prayers of the Hours, or other traditional daily prayer practices as well as occasional prayers of the Church -- was the one thing that truly restored my reserves of energy to cope with the tasks at hand, and to encourage my own resourcefulness and positive attitude to meet the medical challenges that came constantly.  The Gospels -- and particularly our recent readings from Mark -- confirm the importance of taking active steps to shore up faith.  Christ's healings cannot happen without effort for faith, neither do any other of his "great works."  Our environment is important as well, as we can see from Christ's attempts to separate those in need of healing from those who ridicule and scoff.  It is always necessary to protect faith, to take the active steps to protect our own healing, whatever form that may take or need that presents itself in our lives.  This first starts with the necessary humility to face our needs, our hurts, and the things we lack, but most especially our dependency on Christ.  Gratitude must play a role in this sort of recognition.  The Gospels seem to emphasize this "active" role of faith, rather than a passive feeling.  There is always something we can do about it.   In John's Gospel, the people ask, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answers them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:28-29).  We note also how Jesus seeks to protect and defend His disciples.  So it is with each of us, that we are essential and precious as the faithful.  Let us do what is necessary to protect what is good in our lives, and to continue to root and grow what He gives us, what He offers.