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what if the lack of faith that prevented Jesus from doing any miracles in nazareth, except for a few healings, had nothing to do with whether they believed he could do the miracles.
what i mean is this, faith in whether he could do these things wasn’t really necessary for him to do them. how many times did he say “oh you of little faith” and then do something that made everybody do the hustle with joy and wonder? one day he even cried out “how long will i put up with this unbelieving generation”
and then he drove out a demon even the combined efforts of the apostles couldn’t drive out
i believe the faith that was lacking, the trust that wasn’t there, was in whether he is who and what he claims to be
and i believe its why Jesus can’t do very many miracles here and now
except for a few healings
his people believe… Jesus was good, that he loves everyone (mostly), and that he and God probably had somthing special going on.� his people believe he died for us.� we believe if we are really good then we might get to go to heaven.
maybe
but we still aren’t completely on board with the notion that because he is good we get to live forever
starting now
we just can’t give our selves up completely
and follow him
we usually make a good start, just like the rich young man did… we’ve obeyed those commands!
but do we understand with our hearts that the kingdom of God is like a treasure we just dug up out in the pasture north of the dump?
do we understand that if we just sold it all
everything we are
just walked away from it
we
could
have
that
treasure
and i’m not just talking about material possessions, Jesus had material possessions…
i’m talking about the things we really hold dear
can we believe that we are pearls of great price
that each one of us
all by ourselves
are so valuable to him
that he sold it all
to have us with him and his Father
and it made his Father glad
i think C.S. Lewis said something along these lines…
God doesn’t want just a branch, he doesn’t want just the trunk, he wants to have the whole thing out
roots and all
we can’t give him just the parts of ourselves that are easy or convenient
he wants to have the whole thing out
and the thing is this, when we do
when we accept the truth that we are so valuable that he sold it all to get me back
then we get all of him in return
the terrible irony here is this
the thing we must sell, the thing we treasure so much is a lie
but learning to see the lie, call it that, and leave it behind is a process
not an event
so glory in the journey and give up a bit of the lie today
and a little more tomorrow
and the next day
don’t buy any of it back!� the salesmen are very slick and convincing so watch out!� some of them dress just like church people
just choose to believe
remember to look for beauty
and start by looking in the mirror
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Scott Bartchy is a radical. He believes in a subversive system that embraces those on the fringes of our society and seeks to establish a new way of life that goes against the status quo.