Whom then Shall I Fear?

Thursday morning, February 21, 2008
I read these very encouraging words this morning: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord” (Psalm 27:1-6; NASB).
Wow! When it comes to a morning boost, this ain’t too shabby! Obviously, I do not know what is going on in your life, but I am willing to bet that you will find this passage very encouraging and timely. Unless you are in a coma (if you are you aren’t reading this anyway!), you are well-aware that we live in a fallen world and the prince of darkness is having a field day. He really believes that he is winning (slow to learn, in my opinion!) but he is not; Jesus has already won and we have been made more than conquerors—not just conquerors but more than conquerors!
I really love these words from Psalm 139: “If I say, ’Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to Thee, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee” (vs. 11-12). That revelation really does energize this truth: The Lord is my light and my salvation; consequently, I have no reason to be afraid, even when it seems that my enemies are waging a war against me, a war that is devouring my flesh, a war so intense that the darkness seems to be overwhelming me! You consider this: darkness is not dark to Him and the night is a bright as the day (the noon day!); in fact, darkness and light are alike to Him!
You see, regardless of what might be going on in your life, even if you are thinking the light around you is quickly becoming darkness, these are the facts: (1) Jesus is The Light of your life; (2) with Him, even the darkest of dark is as bright as the noon day; and (3) consequently, the darkness cannot overwhelm you, nor can your enemies destroy you. In other words, you have no reason to fear and every reason to be confident because He will conceal you, hide you, and lift your head above your enemies! Wow!
Notice the Psalmist’s use of the words “fear” and “dread”. It seems that he is relating “fear” with our dealings with darkness and “dread” with our dealings with enemies. In any case, most of us can readily identify with both terms. For example, I dread having to prep for a colonoscopy (a gallon of “go-lightly” is definitely an enemy!) but I am not afraid to prep. On the other hand, fear can come when you are sitting in your basement, watching the weather channel advise you of an impending tornado, and the last words you hear before the lights go out and you find yourself sitting in total darkness is that the monster is headed directly for your house!
And then we remember: the Lord is my light, the defense of my life, and my salvation; whom then shall I dread and whom shall I fear? Indeed, I will sing praises to the Lord for He is faithful and true; not to mention, darkness and light are alike to Him and He has made His enemies His footstool!
He really is Lord!

The Power of Darkness

Monday, February 18, 2008
In all probability my mind is too tired for me to attempt writing this but for some reason I feel compelled to do so; hopefully, it will be beneficial to someone. Of course, there is the possibility that I am doing it for my own well-being and catharsis; if so, please be patient with me (I am old, you know!).
Anyway, last night was quite interesting, to say the least, especially the part when the tornado was passing into River North and in very close proximity to our house. This is the second time this has occurred in the past couple of years, which is more than enough for me. Thankfully, we (Annis and I) escaped untouched, except for a few hours without electrical power, which was no big thing because it gave me an excuse to go to bed around 8:00! It was a bit eerie, I must admit, watching the TV and seeing the hook of the rotation moving in our direction, so much so that Annis insisted that we move into the basement. Of course, about the time we sat down to turn of the TV the power went off and there we sat in pitch darkness, as in the complete absence of light, or so it seemed.
To be honest, I really wasn’t afraid but I was thinking about how dark the darkness was, so much so, that for a moment I almost forgot why we were in the basement. In that darkness, I could picture the churning of the winds above our house, things completely out of our control, roofs being lifted off houses, trees being thrown around like toothpicks, people being covered over with debris—the utter devastation that one sees following most tornados (Thankfully, when the lights came back on, things didn’t look nearly that badly!).
As I told you earlier, we went to bed around 8:00, which was when my thinking changed, and I began thinking about the power of darkness, i.e. the power that Satan has, as he works in his dominion—the world of darkness. Sometimes I think we forget that we have an enemy, the prince of darkness, who does everything he can to destroy us, and always working in darkness. I thought about the many people he has deceived into believing his lies, lies that look so much like the truth, that distinguishing between the two is very difficult. The truth is his lies are often much more appealing than the truth, as they were with Adam & Eve; consequently, we are easily deceived. Sadly, when we are deceived, we do not know it; otherwise, we would no longer be deceived.
From what I have been able to observe, he is a master at enticing us to make foolish choices, choices that on the surface have all the appearances of being the correct ones, but whose consequences reveal that they were anything but the correct choices. I think Israel learned this lesson more than once. On one occasion they got tired of waiting for Moses to return from the mountain, so they decided to make their own God. At the time, it seemed like the correct choice; but trust me on this one, it didn’t take them long to discover the truth. On another occasion, they decided that they wanted meat to eat, instead of manna, and God gave them want they wanted; however, well you know the rest of that story!
Yes, I know that making wise decisions is not always an easy task, especially in light of the fact that none of us has a crystal ball; however, I also know that many of the decision we make are simply foolish choices, choices that no one in his/her right mind would make, choices that can only result in severe consequences. I mean, if you should jump in front of a speeding freight train, would you expect to walk out on the other side singing, “The Chattanooga Choo Choo”? If you should jump out of an airplane, without a parachute, at 30,000 feet would you expect to land on your feet and walk away singing, “Stay Off My Blue Suede Shoes”? I don’t think so!
I can only hope that you will believe this: you have an enemy who has the power to convince you that you can succeed in this life by doing your own thing, instead of submitting to your creator; in fact, he can make “doing your own thing” much more appealing that submitting to God’s will and way for your life. Of course, somewhere down the road, you will have to face that fact that the consequences of your choice give evidence to its foolishness.
And remember this: he loves darkness and he does so because he is evil!

Some Things I Have Learned Along the Way

In light of the fact that I not only just celebrated by 66th birthday, but also am approaching my 60th year, as a Christian, I thought it appropriate that I share with you some of the things that He has taught me along the pathway of my journey, truths that for the most part did not come easily because in order for me to accept them, I had to set aside what I was taught, as a young Christian, by well-meaning significant others—things that I held as being very sacred:

1. God’s purpose for His children is to drive us to that place in which we find more pleasure in Jesus than we find in anyone or anything else and He will do whatever He knows to be necessary in order to accomplish that purpose. Those who believe that God’s purpose for us is to give us health, wealth, and prosperity in order to make us happy are deceived, and very much so.

2. God never intended for His church to use the many and varied tactics it uses, such as Sunday schools, drama productions, children’s ministries, youth ministries, rock bands, orchestras, coffee shops, gymnasiums, et al, to attract people to Him. As strange as it might seem, He intended for the gospel to be the truth that attracted people to Him, and, I might add, He has never placed Himself in competition with any rock band, youth ministry, slick tongued preacher, or anything else, for that matter, and He never will.

3. God did not design the modern-day plan for evangelism; He has, certainly, allowed it but it is not His design. The fact is God would never design any plan that exalts man and attempts to make Him a victim, which is in fact what most of protestant evangelism is about today.

4. The teachings of Jesus were never designed to be goals for which we strive; instead, His teachings were designed to further confirm the Law’s purpose—to define sin for us, to show us its exceeding sinfulness, and to drive us (in desperation, I might add) to Jesus as our only Savior—and in so doing, to fulfill the Law’s purpose.

5. God intended for us to spend large amounts of time in solitude; consequently, He did not devise the popular and controlling plan that requires us to be so busy doing His work that we would have no time for solitude. His plan offers us the opportunity and the time to spend our lives resting in His finished work—the work of redemption, so that we would not be distracted from spending large amounts of time in solitude. The truth is most of the “work of the Lord” with which we busy ourselves should be terminated immediately. Of this you can be sure: there has yet to live the man or woman who knows God intimately, who does not spend large amounts of time in solitude.

6. God did not design prayer to be the tool we use to manipulate Him into changing His mind so He will give us what we want. Much to the contrary, God intended prayer to be the means by which we find our way into submission to His will, regardless of whether or not it is what we desire. The truth is this: most prayer is selfishness shrouded in religion, even fasting prayer.

7. God loves the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper); consequently, He did not design it to be merely a memorial symbolized with saltine crackers and grape juice. Much to the contrary, He intended for the Eucharist to be just that—the giving of thanks by a believer. This Eucharist is expressed through the eating of unleavened bread (the body of Christ) and the drinking of wine (the blood of Christ), signs that become through the work of the Holy Spirit true food and true drink in the life of the believer—true, spiritual nourishment. The Eucharist is not about what man can do for God; instead, it is about what God has done for man.

8. The most difficult part of living the Christian life (other than I cannot live it) is maintaining the courage required to take the risk of living in intimate relationship with other believers. To be sure, the desire is ever-present; however, I have come to believe that it might be easier to live as a hermit (well, I don’t really believe that—yet!).

9. Every one of us is self-centered and, consequently, we do very little (if anything) out of pure motives. Virtually, everything we do, we do with some selfish purpose in mind, even though it is often very covert; consequently, it is very difficult to trust man—even those, who call themselves Christian.

10. God never intended for the church to be another arm of corporate America, whose purpose and mission (although disguised in so-called not-for-profit ministry) is to make money, at the expense of the very people to whom it claims to minister; instead, He intended the church to be the Body of His Son, Jesus, whose purpose is to die, in order that others might live.

11. God intended for the Scriptures from Genesis to the Revelation to be His revelation of Jesus, not a rule book for successful living and the sooner we realize this, the clearer our revelation of Him.

12. Worship is not something we do for God or for His children; instead, it is something we do because He is God and we are His children, and this tells me much about most of what the church calls worship.

In the Batter's Box!

Valentine’s Day, 2008 (Thursday),
Some things are just too good not to share with others and the following is one of them; it is one of the responses I received from a long-time and dear friend in regard to yesterday’s perspective (I am sharing it without her permission, so please pray that she doesn’t demand a royalty!):

Bless you, dearest Mac. I wish that I could tell you I have no idea what you are talking about, but alas, I do. I am also ready to concede that this curve ball batting practice is most assuredly the "normal" Christian life. At least it is if I accept that He is sovereign, and I do. It has been the tenor of my life for the past....oh, a lot of years. I suppose in my own life, it is His way of reminding me that I have absolutely NO control over what He deems necessary to bring into my life....the only thing over which I have absolute control is my willingness (or unwillingness, as the case may be) to surrender to whatever He has for me in this particular "at-bat." I want to also rush to assure you that I am not speaking to you from the spectator's stands....I am in the batting cage at the moment. The most consistent message I have been getting from Him of late is, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." My first reaction to that is, 'Well, why don't You DO something about this mess?" But he points me back to the first phrase above. I guess that’s when I realize that He's all I have, then, and ONLY then do I also realize that He's really all I need. God's kinda like that, ain't He?

Wow! This is what I call creative writing at its finest, not to mention, incredibly honest, the kind of honesty that makes most religious folk nervous! If she were my student, I would give her an A++ and that is for sure! To tell you the truth I am jealous; however, because it is “righteous jealousy,” I think God is OK with it, so don’t worry about my having to get right with Him. Now don’t turn your nose up at my notion of “righteous jealousy”; if He permitted “righteous indignation” then surely He permits “righteous jealousy”! Anyway—
After reading and listening to your responses to my recent perspectives, and now with the added perspective of “Foxy Roxy” (my friend’s alias), I am convinced that we could put together quite a baseball team, if we were of a mind to do so. Since most of us are already in the game, it shouldn’t be too difficult! Because I played first base for all of my baseball career, I will go ahead and claim that position and leave the others up for grabs. I do not think, however, the position we play really matters; what matters is whether or not we have the intestinal fortitude to stand in the batter’s box to face curve ball after curve ball from a Pitcher, who seems to have no control. Yes, I know that He has perfect control but when I am standing in the batter’s box, it seems that He is out of control, at least much of the time. My friend’s “Don’t be afraid, I’m here” sounds really good, when I am sitting in the bleachers watching the game from afar; however, when I am in the batter’s box, it sounds more like, “Duck, you fool; this is going to be a bean ball!”
Isn’t it your time to bat? I certainly hope so, and Lord knows I hope you are better at it than I (but I am old, you know, not-to-mention, nearsighted)!!

Walking on Water, Levitating Rocks, and Curve Balls

February 13, 2008
It seems like a month has passed (even though it has only been two days) since I wrote my previous perspective, the one in which I brought up the subject of anomalies. I ended it with these words: Today is another day and life will go on and The Creator is still The Creator, even though He sometimes throws us a curve ball by placing an anomaly in our paths, if for no other reason than to see how we will react to the abnormal (or is it the normal?)! Go figure!
Thankfully, I continue to believe that The Creator is still the Creator, even though He does throw us curveballs on occasion. Actually, when I ended that perspective, I really thought that life was about to calm down for me and things would quickly get back to “normal” (whatever that is!). Trust me, that thought was short-lived; I didn’t even have time to adjust. I went from an incredible (albeit, momentary), sense of relief to an almost overwhelming sense of “What? Another curve ball? So soon?”. As if that were not enough, in just a short while, I was asking the same question again! And then again! All in the same day!
Now please understand that I am neither asking for sympathy or for clarity; instead, I am simply trying to communicate to you that there are times in our lives, as believers, when trusting that God has your best interest at heart is about as easy as walking on water or levitating a rock or hitting a curve ball, for that matter! Just for the record: I cannot walk on water; I cannot levitate a rock; and at my age, I won’t even stand in the batter’s box to attempt to hit a curve ball. Now, if you still have questions, as to the ease with which I have been practicing Christianity over the past several months, and especially the past 48 hours, I cannot help you.
For most of my life, I have been able to handle adversity and handle it well; however, when it involves people I love and care about (which is most of the time) and it is coming at me like machine gun fire (as it has been doing of late), especially over an extended period of time, well, just let me say that I am not as good at it, as I once was.
Just for the record: practicing Christianity, at least for me, means that I wake up every day to die, in order that others can live; that I make it my ambition to treat others as being more important than myself; that I do not merely look out for my own interests, but also for the interests of others; that I spend my life serving others, rather than expecting to be served; that I trust Him to do exceeding, abundantly above all I could ever ask or think; that I never allow myself to be distracted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus; and, finally, that I do all of these, as I rest in His finished work.
As I think about what I just wrote, it is obvious to me that the most difficult part of my practicing Christianity lies in my purposing not to be distracted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Him; it seems that, over the past several months, distractions have been as plenteous as sand gnats, late in the afternoon on a south Florida beach. Most of the time, you cannot see the blasted creatures coming but, trust me, when they arrive, they do distract! What was intended as a pleasant afternoon of fishing one of the mangrove areas for snook, turns into a miserable, wretched fight against stinging, pesky, innumerable creatures, much like the demons of hell—a distraction for sure!
In the end, I do know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded (absolutely convinced) that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day! Although, it doesn’t always feel like it, I do know that He is good, always good, and I also know that He will only allow for that which He deems best to come into my life, even though it might appear, as anything but the best.
Yes, I do know that things could be much worse, and I do know that most people have it much worse than I; however, I must admit that I could use a break (at least that is my opinion) from some of the “stuff” of life that has tried so very desperately to distract me from the very thing I love most—the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

An Anomaly!

Monday morning, February 11, 2008
As some of you know, I am, among other things, an embalmer (my license is almost as old as I am; well, not quite, but it is so old that I no longer have to do continuing education! I guess the lawmakers figure that embalmers as old as I am can make it to the finish line without having to learn something new!).
Having said that, I assume that each of you, especially if you are as old as I am, knows what an anatomical anomaly is but in case you do not, I will tell you: it is simply an abnormality, an irregularity in anatomy. For example, it is normal for your left foot to be on the end of your left leg; however, when your right foot shows up on the end of your left leg you have, well you have an anomaly, not to mention a limp (I guess you can tell from that that anomalies usually cause other problems).
Anyway, since my days at the University of Minnesota ( a lifetime ago!), I have loved the study of human anatomy; in fact, my pathology professor did his very best to get me to continue my studies at the U of M and earn my PhD in anatomy (sometimes I wish I had listened!). To say it succinctly: I marvel at the way God created our amazing earthsuits! To study human anatomy and not to believe in God is an oxymoron--at least! Listen to this embalmer: no one but God could have made these incredible bodies (yes, I know that some seem to look a bit better than others
Strangely, on occasion it seems that He forgot to tighten a screw or to drive a nail all the way in, like when your right foot shows up on your left leg, and these anomalies really do intrigue me! Inevitably, I wonder: "God, why did you do this?" Sometimes, I can figure out the reason but most often I am clueless. I mean, why in the wide-world would The Creator give someone three kidneys or forget to install both ovaries? I do not have a clue and since He is The Creator, I usually don't fuss much over it, not to mention that it is none of my business, nor did He consult me!
Occasionally, in the process of embalming a body, I run across an anomaly and when I do, I find myself wondering how surgeons deal with them; I mean, I am dealing with a dead body and they are dealing with live ones (hopefully!). Think about it: In the process of a surgical procedure, the surgeon makes an incision to open the belly, expecting to find the gall bladder but instead he sees the appendix; trust me, that is one thing for an embalmer but quite another for a surgeon!
Actually, not long ago I stumbled upon an anomaly that would have been a challenge, a real challenge for any surgeon (in light of the fact that their patients are still pumping blood!) and, to be honest, it created somewhat of a problem for me (even in light of the fact that my patient was no longer pumping blood!)—the right jugular vein was about 3 times the normal size and it presented with a bifurcation that I had never, as in NEVER, seen before. Why did God do this? Why did this life-threatening anomaly lie just below the surface of the skin, probably without anyone but God ever knowing of its existence? What kept this vessel from rupturing and bringing instant death? I am clueless.
Anyway, the longer I live the more I realize that there are as many anomalies in Christianity, probably even more, as there are in these earthsuits that God created. All-too-often we fully expect to see the “normal” only to be surprised by the abnormal. Actually, I think I have come to believe that the “abnormal” is actually the “normal” in Christianity. Let me put it this way: I have studied Christianity longer than I have studied anatomy and, consequently, should be able to recognize the “normal” but so often what presents is anything but what I believe is normal. Maybe I just have things upside down, downside up!
To be honest, at this point in my life, I am always looking for the anomaly because I just know that it will present itself—especially in Christianity but also in embalming—and I figure it is wise to be on the lookout for the inevitable. Yesterday, however, I guess I had let my guard down just a bit, and in a moment, what I thought was going to be a “normal” Sunday afternoon proved to be anything but—
Today is another day and life will go on and The Creator is still The Creator, even though He sometimes throws us a curve ball by placing an anomaly in our paths, if for no other reason than to see how we will react to the abnormal (or is it the normal?)! Go figure!

Not to Baptize or to Use a Slick Tongue!

Tuesday morning, February 5, 2008
This is what Paul (the apostle), had to say concerning God’s reason for his existence: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18). Incredible words, especially when read in light of the fact that they came from the man who loved the church more than any other person (except Jesus!) who has ever lived.
His “God did not send me to baptize” would not fit well in most protestant churches, especially the evangelical variety. From what I have been able to observe, getting people baptized (usually with no regard for the preaching of the gospel) is the single most important mission of most churches, and for this reason—churches are in competition with one another and the evidence of growth lies in the numbers of baptisms. Obviously, Paul would not qualify to be the pastor of most churches, and he certainly would not qualify to serve on a church growth committee. Go figure!
For Paul, the main thing was always the main thing—the preaching of the gospel! For him, nothing was more important, not even getting people baptized; His “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” make this unmistakable clear. Sadly, the church has veered off course, so much so that in many churches Jesus is never even mentioned, much less is the gospel preached; consequently, people by the thousands (literally) are weary, frustrated, and disappointed with church, and, as a result, they are leaving, looking for life in other places.
For me, Paul’s “. . .not in cleverness of speech” is very significant and it is for this reason: In most cases, the church would never consider someone, who did not have a “slick tongue”, i.e. the gift of eloquence; yet, Paul tells us that God did not send him to preach the gospel using a slick, clever, eloquent tongue. In other words, God sent Paul to impress the people with the gospel, not with his eloquence. Funny how God chose Moses, one who, by his own admission, did not have anything even close to the gift of eloquence, to be the one who would speak in His behalf to the Pharaoh. Surely, Paul’s point is evident: the gospel, not man’s clever speech, is the power of God for salvation! “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation. . .” (Romans 1:16a). The preacher probably should be ashamed of many things, especially his lack of eloquence, but NEVER of the gospel because it is God’s power for salvation (I am tempted to elaborate upon that but I will save it for another “perspective”).
Now, listen up: “that the cross of Christ should not be made void”! I love it! Paul is telling us that God did not send him to baptize, or to preach the gospel with a slick tongue, and He did not because He knew that the church, with man at its centerpiece, would become just what it has become. The fact is this: baptisms and slick tongues are two of the main reasons people are so disenchanted with church. You think about this—really! [For the record: I am not meaning to imply that baptizing believers should be avoided, but I am meaning to imply that “getting people baptized” has become more important than the preaching of the gospel!]
Why have church leaders allowed such foolishness to go on within the church and for so long? Paul has the answer: “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness. . .” Any more questions? THE WORD OF THE CROSS IS FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING and, consequently, the word of the cross will not be allowed in the “church of the perishing”.
There is more, however, and it is this: “. . .but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”. Wow! I really like this: to those of us who are being saved, the word of the cross (the gospel) is the power of God (for salvation!). Can you see what this does for us? It eliminates all the stress of trying to get people baptized by using a slick tongue to persuade them to “walk the aisle”! In other words, the success of the church rests on God’s shoulders, not ours. Our privilege is to simply preach the gospel—the offensive word of the cross—both in season and out of season!
Now for the question of the day: Has it dawned upon you that the same Christ who sent Paul to preach the gospel has also called you to preach the same gospel and to do so without your becoming its centerpiece? If it hasn’t, I trust that it will—soon!

Just thought I would remind you of what you already know—

Maybe I Am Just Confused!

Saturday morning, February 2, 2008
The truth is I will probably never figure out why Jesus added the last part to the text I used in my last perspective (Luke 17:6-10), and I am certain that I do not know its relationship to faith (at least not in the present!), so I will move on to the next turn in the road, which is this: “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]” (Matthew 17:19-21). Hmmm—what can I say?
This is the way I see it: The disciples have just returned from the Mount of Transfiguration, which to say the least was no shabby experience. The must have been on a spiritual high and ready to kill another Goliath, to walk on water, to raise someone from the dead, to handle snakes, to turn water into wine, and to see another burning bush; however, they were asked to cast a demon out of some father’s son and they failed to geterdone! To add to their embarrassment, the father quickly gave up on them and took his son to Jesus, telling him that His disciples were pretty much out of the loop, as far as casting out demons was concerned and, thus, begged Him to have mercy on his son and heal him of his dreaded misery.
You do not have to be very smart to realize that Jesus was just a tad frustrated not only with His disciples, but also with the boy’s father. Listen to how Jesus responded: “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me” (vs.17). A bit scathing, I would say! His “How long shall I put up with you” sounds exactly like something I heard my Mother say (more than once!) to both of my brothers in their earlier years, and trust me on this—she said it in such a way, as to make you wonder, if she wasn’t about to throw them out of the house (She never did it but I do remember thinking it would be in their best interest to keep a bag packed, just in case!).
I am of the opinion that these disciples wished they could have somehow dropped into a hole in the ground and disappeared—as in out of sight—but that was not to happen; instead, they would remain for the Grand Finale—one the probably never forgot (probably still remember it!). Notice how the show ended: “And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once” (vs. 18).
Then the debriefing: “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus answer was clear, succinct, and easily understood, even by a moron: You couldn’t cast it out because you are too stupid! You will not pay attention; you will not listen to anything I tell you; you do not trust anything I tell you; you are full of pride; and, well, you are just plain stupid!
Well, that is not exactly what He said but it is close enough for hand grenades and horse shoes, which is closer than any of us should want to get to demons! This is actually what He said (just for the record): “Because of the littleness of your faith; . . .” (vs. 20a). Well, I cannot speak for them but I can tell you that I am well aware of the “littleness” of my faith, especially when it comes to doing things that I know I cannot do—walk on water, turn water into wine, move mountains, cast out demons, handle snakes!, raise the dead, heal the sick, dance, especially dance!
To tell you the truth I was of the opinion that my “little” faith was enough because regardless of how little it is, it is His, if I have any at all, and His is supposed to be enough for anything and everything—even dancing! Maybe I am just confused. Go figure!