David Bahn – Reflections

When I was in college I had a mini-debate about faith with my friend Jerry. I told him that if I had faith enough (all hypothetical, of course) I could stand in front of a semi truck on the Interstate and it would not hurt me. He wisely denied the idea. He wasn’t worried that I was going to do it actually. He was worried that I would attach faith to a foolish pursuit such as I had described. The debate lasted for about 15 minutes. He won the debate. Sometimes such pursuits are smokescreens for unbelief.

Matthew 17:14-20

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15″Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17″O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Jesus says, however, that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. He tells us that nothing will be impossible for us. When I hear these words, I am undone. A promise from the Savior becomes an indictment: I am surely part of an “unbelieving and perverse generation” to which Jesus refers (v. 17). My faith barely holds fast in the normal ebb and flow of life. I don’t move many mountains.

Hyperbole aside, however, Jesus’ words point us beyond ourselves. Faith is not strong because it self-consciously works and strains at being strong. Faith is strong because it claims the power, goodness, promises, and faithfulness of God. Faith believes what God says. That’s faith’s strength. That’s faith’s focus. That’s a good focus for us all, whether we’re facing mountains that need to be moved, or any challenge that comes against the reign of God in our lives.