When he was at table with them, he took the bread. He blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him!(Luke 24:13-35)

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Overcoming barriers to faith (Mark 6: 1-6)


"Have a nice day!" the server will say to me as I am walking out the door of the restaurant after lunch.  "Don't tell ME what to do!" I'll reply, "Don't you know who I am?" It always gets a laugh, but my meditation on Mark's gospel reading for Wednesday puts a different perspective on those two phrases.
Faith is the cornerstone of the effectiveness of the Lord in our lives. If we don't believe in Him, nothing miraculous can be accomplished through Him. Even among His own people, the Lord was unable to accomplish any mighty works.

How do we choose to limit the Lord? What assumptions have we made that, perhaps unknowingly, put limits to our faith? Maybe we assume the age of miracles has passed with the coming of the age of science. Perhaps we think that we're too unworthy to be invited into the power of the Lord. Maybe we assume that the world is too wicked, or people are too stubborn, or a particular person is too evil to withstand the miraculous intervention of the Lord.

Have you ever been disappointed when someone didn't believe in you?  Maybe Jesus was disappointed in the same way when the folks in His hometown didn't think He could work any "mighty deeds." After all, they remembered Him from His growing-up years and knew Him only as Mary's boy, a local carpenter. "He was amazed at their lack of faith," the gospel says. Don't you think Jesus was disappointed too?

It may be in our very nature to resist receiving advice or criticism from anyone.  It seems to be particularly difficult when we receive it from someone who is close to us. For instance, watch a child when a parent is instructing them and showing them what they had done wrong. In many instances the child will talk back or argue. For adults, when receiving criticism or advice from a boss or someone we are not particularly close to, while difficult, it’s generally accepted. However, when we receive advice from a loved one, such as a spouse or brother or sister, it is particularly hard to take.

Let’s go back to the example of Jesus in His hometown. He brought them the good news, the gospel. But for many of the listeners, it was probably something they did not want to hear. Jesus brought the truth and the truth in many respects was contrary to the way they lived their lives. He was asking them to change and change radically.  This was hard for the people He lived with His entire life. The result was they rejected Him, much as we sometimes do when we hear the truth from a loved one.

I’ll bet everyone can remember those times when those close to us brought us the truth which was hard to hear. Did we accept what they said and use it to improve ourselves, or did we reject them outright? When we hear the good news of our Lord, do we accept it as it is, as the truth for our good, or do we reject it also?

We need to weed out the barriers to faith, to cast them aside. We need to find out what we think, that stands in the way of what the Lord thinks. And there is only one way to do this--prayer, constant prayer. Through prayer we begin to understand God and we begin to understand the limits of our own knowledge. When we pray for release from our own prejudices, the Lord will oblige in His time.
 

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