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THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST September 15, 2024 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto OPENING HYMN: 655 “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word” by Martin Luther https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8ViZi7M5p4 The Invocation Page 184 Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 The Introit Psalm 31, verses 14-16,24 24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! 14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! 16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. 24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) Lord have mercy upon us. Christ mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. The Salutation Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy spirit. Collect Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, our support and defense in every need, continue to preserve Your Church in safety, govern her by Your goodness, and bless her with your peace; for You live and reign with the Father the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Old Testament Reading Isaiah 50: 4-10 Psalm 116: 1-9 (antiphon v. 5) Our Epistle Reading 1st Corinthians 11: 23-30 Our Gospel Reading Mark 9: 14-29 THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 666 “O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe” by Martin Luther https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mIu4H6pO3A THE SERMON – In times of trouble, many of us have asked: -- Why did this happen to me? -- Why couldn’t I be healed? -- Why did my loved one die? -- Why did tragedy strike? We could just ask: why is there such evil in the world, and how do we deal with it? Perhaps you've prayed, and it seems your requests haven’t been answered. We might wonder, have we prayed enough . . . or correctly? When we ask these questions, we can doubt if we have enough faith. Or even wonder, “Is God listening?” It’s said that faith is like a fire, and we often feel our faith should be a bonfire. We sometimes hear that if we have a ‘great’ faith we’ll always be healthy and wealthy, yet that’s not true. Whether your faith is like a candle or a bonfire, it is still faith if it sees Christ as Lord and Saviour. The question is: What does the world’s evil do to your faith and hope in God? Does it weaken or attack it? If it does, that means you’re human. There is a temptation, especially as we get older, to become cynical. We see so much trouble, cruelty and heartache, that it can appear nothing is true, or can be trusted. And so, the wrong question to ask of our Gospel passage today is how do we control or eliminate the evil of this world. The false faith healers and TV evangelists claim to do that. They suggest you weren’t healed because you didn’t have enough faith. Or that you’re not rich. Or have troubles in life because you don’t follow God’s Law perfectly. And if you begin to doubt, in this way, you may even wonder if you have enough faith to be saved. In our Gospel passage, the disciples find they can’t cast a demon out of a boy and ask why. Is this ever true of us? Do we feel we can’t control a broken world as much as we’d like, or need to? And what was the father of the boy, discovering about himself? He had faith, but it was assailed, weakened by the troubles of life, and perhaps the disciples’ inability to cast out evil. The father expresses to Jesus one of the frailest, human, and yet straight-talking things in the Bible. He says: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” We’ve all been there. Why is Jesus so concerned with teaching us about faith? Because faith is the way God connects us to Himself, to His work, and to our salvation. A good Bible passage to remember is Ephesians 2: 8-9 -- “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Jesus, the only son of God, lived a perfect life, and was nailed to a cross and died for our sins as the Saviour of the world. So, by God’s gift of faith, we receive all that Christ has done for us. He appeased the wrath of God and made full payment for our sins. By faith we’re connected to that act of atonement. And that’s important to understand, because unbelievers and heretics like to think they can do things, by their own power, to make themselves right with God. By their own efforts they hope to control, manipulate God, but of course they can’t. But by faith, God joins Himself to you. By faith the merits of Christ apply to you for your eternal salvation. The context of what’s going on in our Gospel text is important. This conversation between Jesus, the disciples, and the boy’s father takes place directly before the passage in Mark that describes the Transfiguration, where Jesus reveals Himself in His glory as God in human flesh. Peter, James and John were with Him on the mountain and get to see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah from the Old Testament. What they were talking about is Jesus going on to Calvary. They talked about the fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation, that Christ would soon go to Jerusalem, be hung on a cross, and die a sacrificial death for the sins of all humanity. But it’s only by faith that we grasp the significance of this monumental event, of this sacrifice, the most important thing that’s happened in human history. So we come to verse 24 of our Gospel text, and the cry of the man which is your cry, and mine, “Lord I believe . . . .” I’ll leave a blank here, because what’s translated in many Bibles is “help my unbelief.” While a good translation, it’s not a very strong one. In the original Greek, the word used for ‘help,’ is the same word that would be used by someone who knows they’re in deep, deadly trouble. I grew up near the ocean, and as a teen spent time on beaches, I can tell you from personal experience that when a person is in danger of drowning, of losing their life, when they yell ‘help’, they mean ‘rescue me!’ They know they can’t help or save themselves. It’s the same here in the meaning of these words from the father. He says, Lord, I believe, rescue my unbelief. Why does this man cry out as he does? First, he desperately needs help. Then, he wants the faith to believe help is really there. Jesus has identified the man’s problem. It’s that his faith has been blurred by the doubts that attack when evil is so prevalent, when it’s all around. Notice what Jesus says is the cure for this man’s problem. In verse 23 Christ says to him, “All things are possible for one who believes.” And that’s why the man says, ‘I do believe, help my unbelief.’ Is this man’s hope to be found in how much he feels he has faith, as some Christians, some preachers insist? They brag about their ability, about their righteousness, and become as faithless as the Pharisees. True Christian faith doesn’t find its confidence in the one who believes. It sees and lays hold of the crucified Christ for our soul’s redemption. He is the object of our faith. So, by faith we’re able to pray as Christ taught us, “Thy will be done.” What is it, who is it, that rescues this man’s unbelief from the world’s evil? Jesus Christ. Jesus says to the demon, come out, leave that kid alone, and it happens, that’s part of the proof. But the ultimate proof is the crucified and resurrected Saviour of the world. The father whose son has been healed is probably going to hear about this teacher who’s gone to Jerusalem and been nailed to a cross. The Good News will be spread that Christ’s death paid for the sins of the world, that this One, who is both true man and true God, rose from the tomb on Easter morning! Christ wants this father to no longer be blinded by evil, and its effect on faith. Jesus simply says, believe me. He says it to the father. He says it to us. The same questions, doubts and fears face all of us. The father isn’t unique. We can wonder who, and what, will rescue our faith from unbelief, from the world’s evil. God’s Word, the Bible, is telling us it’s not how much, how perfectly we believe, it’s about Christ. Here, in the Saviour, is our hope, strength, and salvation. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus overcame death for believers. As a Christian, you will live eternally because of Christ. Jesus saves us, and Jesus alone. How does Christ come to us today? God rescues you from unbelief, from the world’s evil, through his Holy Word . . . when it’s preached correctly, when it’s taught. When you hear it, it is Christ who comes to you. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, faith is worked within your heart. In Baptism, it was Christ who came to you. It was Jesus who came into your life and said, though the world is fallen, I take you out of the world’s evil and join you to Myself, to My death, and to My resurrection for your soul’s salvation. In the Lord’s Supper, it is Christ coming to you in the bread and wine. It is His body and blood that’s given you for the forgiveness of sins. Faith itself is a gift worked within us by the Holy Spirit using God’s means of grace. Heaven descends to us. Christ came down to earth. He didn’t stay on the Mount of Transfiguration in His glory, but came into a world broken by evil and sin to heal a stricken boy, and a stricken world. Our hope and reassurance are in our Lord. He is our true lifeguard, our ultimate defense. We only, and always, rest in Him. May the peace of God, that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. Amen. THE PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 The Words of Our Lord Page 197 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Pages 198 The Distribution Nunc Dimittis (The Song of Simeon) Page 199 Salutation and Benedicamus Benediction Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 CLOSING HYMN: 923 “Almighty Father, Bless the Word”