Tuesday Sermon: Belief

          The phrase that caught my attention this morning came from the Gospel:  "And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.  And he was amazed at their unbelief."

          Why should belief have an effect on whether Christ could perform miracles?  A miracle is a miracle; an achievement of great mystery; a scientific wonder – what difference should belief have?

          In the Gospel, Jesus is dealing with people he grew up with, who knew him as Mary and Joe's kid, the carpenter's son.  All of a sudden, in their minds, Jesus changed the rules, becoming something that there was no way he could actually be. 

          People have a tendency to be skeptical.  Now, some people are convinced through science.  Some through enormous amounts of eye-witness testimony.  And yet others will deny what is right before their very eyes – claiming conspiracy, tricks, sleight of hand. 

          There are people today who deny the moon landing ever took place; who deny the Holocaust took place, claiming it to be a Zionist conspiracy that robbed Palestinians of their home; who think the Earth is flat, despite photographic evidence to the contrary.  "Fake news" is the buzzword of today. 

          Today's fake news about vaccinations has created an outbreak of measles in Washington State that has, just 12 hours ago, caused the state to declare a state of emergency.  Fake news can be as benign as Elvis sightings or as real as people dying because they believed a report, long since debunked and declared fake itself, but which is bringing back a rise in diseases that had almost been eradicated. 

          Belief in Christ, in who He is, in what He can do is a necessary component to miracles – not because He is incapable of performing them, but because those watching are incapable of believing He caused them to happen.  Belief is at the basis of faith.  As baptized Christians, despite the fact that none of us ever saw the miracles performed during Christ's life, we choose to have faith and believe. 

          Let us pray:  Holy Spirit, I know the great joy of salvation is being indwelled by God himself. I pray that God would grant this honor to those unbelievers, that He would choose to take up residence within them. May He fill the hearts of those who have yet to see Him! As Ezekiel 36:27 states, “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” I am blessed to have the Spirit within me, and I pray for that blessing for unbelievers so that they can know true happiness. Amen.