A sermon given by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Menking, Director of the LSPS Program, on September 12, 2006, in Christ Chapel

Texts: Isaiah 38:9-20

Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Matthew 17:14-21

 In today’s gospel we find a story that is played out in many forms and variations in parish life. Just like pastors who often find themselves ineffective and up against criticism for their failure to work the miracle, the disciples have found themselves up against a demonic power of cosmic proportion and they come up short. They are unable to work the miracle. So like a normal congregation, the crowd takes their case -- and their patient -- to a higher power, Jesus. Jesus’ response is a bit puzzling. He actually evidences frustration and outright anger at the disciples for their ineffectiveness and more directly for their lack of faith!

I think we can all have some sympathy for the disciples here. Have you not found yourself in a similar situation: up against a power that renders you ineffective and powerless? More than just being ineffective in the moment, your sense of inadequacy is tapped and you are driven to ask yourself, “Why can’t I do this? Why can’t I do what others seem to do?” Eventually these questions turn into “What’s wrong with me?” Before long, “What’s wrong with me?” turns into a mea culpa that spirals down and is soon out of control. That’s not precisely what happens in the text, yet the text seems to be talking about the very existential issue that confront us on a regular basis – effectiveness/ineffectiveness; adequacy/inadequacy; power/powerlessness. Perhaps more to the point, this text gives voice to the very existential dilemma that all of us face at one time or another – what’s wrong with me that I can’t be as effective as I need to be? What’s wrong with me that I can’t be as effective as others seem to be? Congregations, by the way, have their version of this question: What’s wrong with us that we can’t be as effective as that church down the street? What’s wrong with us that we aren’t dynamic and growing? What do we need to do to be more effective?

Now if you think this text will give you some comfort and assurance, listen to Jesus’ response to the disciples: you perverse generation, how much longer am I to put up with you? The reason you weren’t able to overcome the demon, the reason that you were not effective is simple: you don’t have enough faith. Let’s face it; Jesus is not just irritated; he is downright angry at the disciples for their inability to get the job done. Aren’t these great pastoral care responses for folks already in the throes of inadequacy – you don’t have enough faith! Here you are questioning your very being and whether or not you are up to the task, and then your faith is called into question. Clearly, Jesus has not taken CPE.

Surely there is some exegetical magic that we can work here to make Jesus fits our expectation that he will in the end be comforting and assuring to these poor disciples who have now met their match. Well, there isn’t. Jesus is angry at them, and he is angry at them because of their lack of faith! Like it or not!

My guess is that the disciples approached this cosmic demon much like the rest of us approach powers that seem daunting and overwhelming, powers that make us feel weak and inadequate: we try to become something other than who we are or who we have been created. We don’t believe or trust that we have enough to face the moment. We work harder, believing that our inadequacy means we haven’t worked hard enough. We overcompensate for the weaknesses that we perceive. It’s as though we must prove ourselves! Yet, is it not the case that in proving ourselves, we often defeat ourselves? I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t what happened to the disciples. They got caught trying to prove themselves, and in the end they defeated themselves.

Consider the theology that stands behind having to prove yourself. When you have to prove yourself it means that you see yourself standing alone in the struggle. Your worth and effectiveness depends upon the strength and power that you are able to muster. And who are you proving yourself to? Yourself? Your mommy and your daddy? Maybe, but my guess is that if the truth be told you are proving yourself to God! No wonder Jesus was irritated! No wonder Jesus challenged their lack of faith! Could it be that Jesus is equally angry with us when we face the struggles of ministry with the attitude that we must prove ourselves?

The letter to the Hebrews, after a long recitation of the heroes of the faith, admonishes the hearer to lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely and run with perseverance the race that is set in front of us. Let go of the burden and do not be distracted! Let me be the first to assure you – if someone hasn’t already – the biggest burden and distraction you will have in your ministry is your deep sense of inadequacy. You will spend more time focusing on what you can’t do, on what you’ve not accomplished –and you will spend more time trying to compensate for yourself – than on trusting that the ordinary, insignificant and mundane gifts God has given you are sufficient for the moment, whatever the moment might bring. A good part of perseverance means trusting that you have the strength, gifts, and whatever else it takes to make it through whatever situation is in front of you – or trusting that somehow the ordinary and simple gifts are not just sufficient, but will lead to effectiveness!

We live in a culture that has created a very subtle addiction that sucks the very life and power out of us. It is an addiction to achievement. We are never able to achieve enough. Once we rise to a certain level, we must go still further! I recall a pastor who came to the Ministry Development Center for help. She was in a crisis. She had climbed the ladder of success in her denomination, but inside she was feeling empty and despair. Within her congregation, she was extremely well liked and respected. But inside, it was quite another story. Among the various issues that she felt were contributing to this was the fact that she felt a growing incompetence in her preaching, especially at funerals. Why? She said that this is what she had become known for in the community and the congregation. She spent enormous time and energy writing these sermons, because she knew how much people enjoyed them. And everyone was always better than the last. Except now, she was feeling burned out…unable to perform. Funeral sermons were now becoming ordinary and mundane and she was feeling worthless. She got wrapped up in herself! All of a sudden this is about her and her need to prove herself…not whether or not the community receives the Gospel or comfort! Her obsession on herself became the very distraction that Hebrews is talking about. The ministry was not wearing her down; what wore her down was her belief – and her culture’s belief -- that her effectiveness and worth as a pastor was contingent upon her preaching performance.

I can’t help but think that what she experienced is exactly the perversion that Jesus was talking about as well. When he chided the disciples about their lack of faith, he is not telling them that they need a stronger, more powerful faith, or even more visible faith to do more miraculous things. He was telling them to deepen their faith in the fact that what they bring to the table is already sufficient and capable of effective ministry and healing, even in the face of the cosmic demon!

This is not to suggest that we are never called upon to rise and meet challenges, or that we simply lay back and wait for God to act. By no means! Indeed we are faced with powers in this age that are of the same demonic and cosmic proportion of the one that the disciples met in the epileptic, and in the face of these we are called into action, just like the disciples. We are called to bring healing and restoration amid the powers of hostility and hate and standing amid these powers is daunting, overwhelming and downright intimidating. Make no mistake about this. Yet, we are admonished, chided, reminded and encouraged…do not be distracted by the inadequacy you might feel. The seemingly ordinary and mundane gifts that you bring are sufficient, and they will bear fruit, even when you don’t know it or can’t see it.

Amen!