Having somewhat recovered (all except the fatigue) from Covid, I have a renewed appreciation for being sick.  As we work our way from the Mount of Transfiguration to the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem for Holy Week, we will encounter Jesus healing several people.  The first will not be covered in the sermon series.  It is the casting out of a demon from a boy just as Jesus, Peter, James, and John reach the base of the mountain (Matthew 17:14-21). The nine other disciples tried to cast out the demon they had previous experience with doing so (Matthew Chapter 10) but now they were unable to do this.  He blamed the inability of the disciples on their being of little faith.  The disciples’ faith grew and waned, much like our own faith.  Jesus cast out the demon, and the child was freed from bondage and restored to health.  Jesus tells them that if their faith is but like a grain of mustard, nothing will be impossible for them. 

There is a famous story that the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, tells of in his journals.  After returning from a failed missionary foray in the colonies of America, he was despondent at his inabilities there.  On the way to the Colonies, he was aboard a ship filled with Moravians.  On the way to South Carolina, the ship ran into bad weather and rough seas.  Many thought that the ship might go down in the storm.  Wesley was on deck to try and fight off seasickness.  While on deck, he heard the Moravians singing hymns.  When he went below, he was amazed by their faith despite the storm.

When he returned to England, he sought out the Moravians there and Peter Bohler.   Wesley confided to Bohler that he was thinking about giving up preaching because he had no faith. Bohler said, “I need faith that will give me three things: peace in the face of death, joy, and victory over sin.”  Bohler encouraged Wesley to “preach faith until you have it. Then you will preach faith because you have it!” 

Sometimes we lack the power of conviction; in those moments, we must speak with conviction and confidence until we have it.  Christ Church is at a critical juncture, we need to grow, but we have been wounded; we know it. But if we want to become a thriving church on the path to leading a community to Christ, we have to speak that into being.  We must believe that Christ will make it so, and then we must live into it.  Speak only about the good things happening, and share them with each other and with our friends, neighbors, children, and grandchildren.  Speak and act on it; then you will speak to it because we have it!

Have just the faith of a mustard seed, and you can do anything.

Peace,

Pastor Burt