Third Midweek Lenten Service

SERMON - Lord, Have Mercy on Me When I Am Filled with Doubt

INI

Text: Mark 9:17-29

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 can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

In Christ Jesus, to whom we look for mercy, dear fellow redeemed:

LORD HAVE MERCY is our Lenten theme this year. That phrase, known as the Kyrie, has been part of Christian worship since the first century. It is found in both the Order of Morning Service and the Communion Service of The Lutheran Hymnal. It follows the Gloria Patri, which is sung after the confession of sins. LORD HAVE MERCY! Generally, when we plead for God’s mercy, we are asking for His forgiveness. In our liturgy, however, that is not the case, for the Kyrie is sung after we have already received God’s absolution. Instead it is a direct appeal to God to grant us mercy in every other aspect of our lives—to hear our prayers, to provide for our needs, to assist us in times of danger, to fill our lives with blessings! Today, on the basis of our text from Mark’s Gospel we all appeal to our Savior God— LORD, HAVE MERCY ON ME WHEN I AM FILLED WITH DOUBT!

I.

Yes, LORD have mercy—sustain me when I am frustrated with my fellow believers! The miracle account in our text is an interesting one, because Jesus’ disciples became directly involved which was seldom the case. Unfortunately, their involvement was somewhat negative. As Jesus descended the Mount of Transfiguration, He saw a large crowd at the base of the mountain. His disciples were in the midst of that crowd arguing with a group of scribes. When the people saw Jesus approaching they ran to meet and to greet Him. When He asked what they were so heatedly discussing, one of the people in the crowd—the father of a young demon-possessed boy stated: “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.”

In order better to understand this situation, it is helpful to bear in mind that some months earlier the twelve apostles were among seventy disciples sent out by Jesus to preach the gospel. When they returned, they were filled with joy because as they reported, “Even the demons are subject to us!” (cf. Luke 10:17) While we do not know exactly what Jesus’ disciples and the scribes were arguing about, we can well imagine that it had to deal with their inability to heal this man’s son, and the impact their failure had upon their credibility and that of Jesus’ ministry. The disciples had no doubt assumed that they would be able to cast out this “mute spirit.” No doubt the father expected the same. When they could not, Jesus’ enemies no doubt jumped at the opportunity to mock them and to cast aspersions on Jesus as well. The boy’s father obviously could not hide his great disappointment in them—a disappointment leading to doubts concerning Jesus as well.

Have your fellow believers ever disappointed you? Have you ever become frustrated when your fellow believers have in some way failed to meet your expectations? Have those human failures even led you to question the reliability of Jesus? Perhaps you have faced a serious challenge and your fellow believers suggest that you all should pray. After all, “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” they quote with confidence (cf. James 5:16b). So you all pray, but the situation does not seem to change. You begin to have your doubts—are these people as Christian as they claim, does prayer really work, is God aware of my problem…does He even care? Or have you ever been frustrated by the words or actions of a fellow believer or your pastor? Do they at times seem more concerned about being proven right than interested in helping people in need? Sometimes do their words and actions even seem to be quite unchristian? Satan certainly wants to stoke those fires and cause you to begin to doubt your fellow believers, your church, your faith, and even your God! LORD, HAVE MERCY ON ME WHEN I AM FILLED WITH DOUBT! Sustain me when I am frustrated with my fellow believers!

II.

Have compassion upon me when my problems seem impossible to solve! As the father in our text brought his son forward to Jesus, the little boy began going into convulsions. The spirit caused him to fall to the ground and to foam at the mouth—a sight that brought consternation to the heart of his father. Jesus asked, “How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked the question not to learn the answer, for as true God He already knew it! Rather, Jesus was focusing this man’s attention on the extent of the problem facing him, in order to prepare him better to appreciate and understand the miracle Jesus was prepared to perform to heal him. The father explained that “from childhood…he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.” The situation was overwhelming. The man began to doubt that anyone or anything might be able to help. He looked to Jesus and threw himself upon Jesus’ mercy: “If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Jesus’ response was an invitation to believe. He said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Jesus saw the doubt—He understood it! He also knew that the father’s doubt could only be replaced by faith, if the father clearly understood that the object of his faith had to be Jesus Himself! The father immediately cried out with tears: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Jesus, our compassionate Savior, acted immediately and decisively commanding the spirit: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” The spirit convulsed the boy one last time and then departed, leaving the boy so still that everyone thought he had died. Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him up, and entrusted him to his father.

There are times when the problems we face seem so overwhelming to us, that they appear impossible to solve. Such problems, especially when they affect those whom we love the most, can shake us to the bones. Financial struggles, family problems, health concerns may all at times seem completely beyond hope of resolution. We may question whether or not even Jesus is able to help, yet what Jesus told this father is true for us today—if we believe, all things are possible! But let us remember that the object of our faith must likewise always be Jesus! A generic faith…a faith in oneself or in some other thing simply will not do! The true faith, for which all things are possible, is a faith in Jesus Christ! His will is absolute! There is nothing He is unable to accomplish for us, if it serves to further His plan for our lives! Yes, LORD, HAVE MERCY ON ME WHEN I AM FILLED WITH DOUBT! Have compassion upon me when my problems seem impossible to solve!

III.

Instruct me when I am perplexed by the evil in this world! At the end of our text, the disciples approached Jesus in private. They were perplexed by what had happened that day and asked Jesus, “Why could we not cast it (the spirit) out?” After all, they had been able to cast out demons only a few months before on their mission trip—why the change? Jesus’ response was both interesting and instructive: “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

Jesus’ response suggests that there are different levels of evil—some being more powerful than others. That would make sense seeing that there are different levels of angels in God’s service, and since Satan and his fallen angels came originally from those ranks, they would have been created with different abilities. Consequently, it would take more power to defeat some as opposed to others. Jesus’ response, however, reminded His disciples of something even more important to understand—all evil must be confronted not by the power of man, but rather by the power of God. The disciples had not been able on their own to cast out demons during their mission tour. Rather, that power was bestowed upon them by Jesus when He sent them out. Even so, their ability to deal with such evil in the future would be directly tied to their association with Jesus. The object of prayer is Jesus! The One being served through fasting was Jesus! It was only through Jesus that evil—great or small—would be overcome!

The evil forces so evident in our world today are indeed powerful. The devil, his ally: the world, and our own sinful flesh are in rebellion against God. Those evil forces take on many different forms. Sometimes they approach us with a smile and an invitation to become involved in things that appear to be fun, but which place us in opposition to the will of our God. Sometimes they approach us with the clear intent to harm us, causing great destruction and fear in our lives. As the apostle Paul reminds us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Consequently, if we are to avoid doubt when faced with the perplexity of evil in our world, we must remain close to our Savior God! We must pray regularly! We must spend time meditating upon God’s truths, so that we are properly equipped to oppose Satan and his evil allies. Yes, LORD HAVE MERCY ON ME WHEN I AM FILLED WITH DOUBT! For then, and then only, will you and I find the help that we need to overcome and gain the victory of faith and achieve by God’s grace the goal of life everlasting! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!