Wed Yr B bet Jun 26-Jul 2
Psalm 88, 2 Kings 20:1-11, Mark 9:14-29
Today’s Reading: Mark 9:14-29
The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit
14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
17A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
19“O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. 22“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23” ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil[a] spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.[b]“
The teenage boy screamed a series of expletives at his mom. According to him, she had no right to tell him what to do. She was the worst parent in the world and he wouldn’t do whatever she said.
“I’m sorry, that is unacceptable language.” She replied. “I’m glad to talk with you, but you must calm down. God is not pleased with this behavior.”
His barrage of words-that-can’t-be-repeated continued. His mom began to pray under her breath, “Oh God, help me, help him. Oh God, help me, help him.” Aloud, she said, “I love you, son.”
“No, you don’t, you can’t.” he screamed back at her.
“God loves you and so do I.” She remained calm and spoke in a soft voice.
“God doesn’t care.”
“Yes, God loves and cares for you. Peter, I’m going to pray over you.”
“Shut up.”
“Oh God,” his mom prayed out loud, “please remove the influence to do wrong. Please take away the spirit that tempts us to choose the bad over the good. In Ephesians it speaks that we are wrestling with ‘spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms’ and we can’t always see how they are influencing us, but they are there. Remove and keep them away from my son. Fill him with your spirit instead and leave no room for their influences. Amen.”
The change was not immediate, and she continued to pray for him moving closer until she put her palm over his heart. He had stopped screaming and no longer used foul language.
“Peter, we need to talk about whatever is troubling you. When you feel angry and don’t know how to express it, pray that God will help you.”
“God won’t listen to me.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I’m too bad.”
“God loves us even if we behave badly, honey.” His mom met his eyes. “I love you because you’re my son, no matter how badly you behave. I pray that whatever tempts you to do wrong will lose power and that the Spirit of God will equip you to fight that influence. Don’t you already feel better?”
“A little.”
“Remember the Lord’s Prayer?”
Peter nodded.
“It says, ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ That says it in a nutshell. Sometimes we have to pray over and over because we are not very strong.. The disciples had a problem when they couldn’t get rid of a spirit in a young boy that was causing him to have convulsions and foam at the mouth.”
“Way worse than I am?”
“Way worse.” His mom laughed. “The disciples asked Jesus about it and he said, ‘This kind come out only by prayer.’ And so whenever you are struggling, I am going to pray. I am not strong enough, but God is. I can’t always help you but God can.”
“I don’t think God would want to help me.”
“The father who brought his son to Jesus felt that way.” His mother went on. “He asked ‘if’ Jesus could heal his son and Jesus reacted to the ‘if’ by saying ‘everything is possible for him who believes.’ Of course, the man wanted his son to be healed, just like I want you to feel better about yourself, so he said ‘I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.’ Most people feel moments of doubt.”
“So God will forgive me for all the stuff I do wrong?”
“Yes, you can count on it. God will also help you fight the temptation the next time. You must pray—first, asking for forgiveness and then for help to win against the influence to do wrong.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. Will you forgive me for my foul language and disobedience?”
“Yes. Let’s pray together to ask God’s forgiveness.”
“Okay.”
“Almighty God, omnipotent creator, you have power over the wind and rain, the powers of darkness and we thank you that you helped us overcome today. Forgive us for not trusting in you. Forgive us for our sins—our words spoken in anger, our actions of disobedience. Cleanse us and empower us to resist temptation to do wrong. Fill us with your Spirit that we can tell others how great you are. Amen.
“Amen.” Peter echoed. “Thanks, Mom, for not giving up on me.”
“God loves you and so do I. That’s not going to change. We’ll keep praying as Jesus says we are to do. That will make the difference.”
Today’s Prayer:
Almighty God, Ruler of all, you are greater than we can imagine. Thank you for caring enough about us to listen to our prayers. Forgive us for the ways we don’t trust you and disobey what you have asked us to do and to be. Fill us with your Spirit that will strengthen us so we can resist temptation to do the wrong thing. Lord, we believe. Help us overcome our unbelief, so that people will learn that you are more powerful than influences which are evil. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
