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This Week's Sermon THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 26 July 2009 "Lord Help My Dumb Heart to Believe!" Mark 6:45-52 LSB Series B Vicar Gerald D. Heinecke Soli Deo Gloria!

Ok, let's try this one more time. Two plus two equals four. What? Don't you understand? Don't you get it? Oh you think it's supposed to equal five. Let's look at it this way. I have two blocks here and here I have two more blocks. We will add them together. One, two, three, four. OH I get it!

In the classroom I heard it all the time, "I don't get it." I also saw the blank looks of despair on their faces, especially as I did substitute teaching. Of course I think the despair was in both our faces as we tried to understand what the teacher wanted them to learn. Granted adding to four is a fairly simple problem for everyone except maybe a four year old, but it demonstrates the greater degree of the need to understand.

Our gospel reading once again has many bewildered disciples. They just don't understand Jesus' power. We will see though that not much has changed. People still don't get his work. We can rest assured though because even though we don't always understand that two plus two equals four, Jesus will not abandon us. Rather he will continue to point us to himself. With this we pray:

Lord help my dumb heart to believe.

I.

If one would take a look at the different accounts throughout the gospels of this event we would see that what are apparently glaring differences actually are a very synoptic understanding. Last month we saw how the disciples accused Jesus of devaluing them on the lake. They basically accused Jesus of sleeping on the job. Yet on this trip we see something different occurring. It is the sin of unbelief. They do not understand who Jesus is, yet.

You see the disciples were trying to play connect the dots without the numbers. Have you ever tried to connect the dots without the numbers? It is nearly impossible to make the picture that is supposed to show up. That is where the apostles are at the moment. They have received the dots. They have all the information they could need. They even believe that those dots need to come together. What they lack are the numbers to put them in order. These disciples lack faith. They do not understand what Jesus has come to do.

Take another example. there are some people who have a great deal of knowledge of the Bible; Jehovah's witnesses and Mormons, use the Bible. Even the Jews have what we call the Old Testament. Yet, they lack faith. These groups lack the fundamental faith in Jesus' person and work and without it they will have an eternal, faithless death.

How can the disciples not have faith? They are with Jesus! I always thought as I was growing up, "Those disciples are so dumb. How can they not understand who Jesus is?" The answer is simple, what was the common understanding of the Messiah? They expected a bread king. They expected a king who would restore Israel to all its formal glory under King David and Solomon.

Remember the text that preceded this one. It is the feeding of the 5000. Our text today is actually the conclusion of that feeding. Verses 51-52 says, "And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." What else can the loaves be but those that were used in the feeding of the 5000? Now we add on top of this the fact that Jesus has walked on water, Matthew records for us that Peter even walked on the water, and equally astounding in John we see the boat that they were in is immediately at the shore once Jesus is taken into the boat.

The disciples have been slammed over and over with miracles involving the creation and it is actually quite astounding for them. It would be astounding for anyone. What's the point? We think that these disciples should know. Even Nathaniel's confession of Jesus being the Son of God in John 1, while true, contains misunderstanding.

These disciples should know who Jesus is and what his purpose is for becoming the incarnate Son of God. Or should they? It's as we say, hind sight is 20/20. Of course we can look back and say they should have known since they did have the Old Testament. But that is being spoken from having the clarity of the Scriptures before us. We can read from Genesis through Malachi and see how the scriptures point to Christ. We can read the Gospels and understand that Jesus had to die on the cross. We can read the epistles and see how Christ's work is expounded for us by Paul, Peter and John.

While our text says that their hearts are hardened it's not like the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. He refused to listen to the Word of the Lord and would not allow the Hebrews to leave. He did not believe in Yahweh as the true God. The hardening in our text is much different. It has an implied meaning that they are having a difficult time understanding and comprehending. The disciples don't hate the Word; they are just ignorant. They hear it, but they don't get it. These disciples haven't received the completeness of their training. These men are going through in depth seminary training with Jesus himself. They have the textbooks, but they need Catechesis 101 first.

That does not excuse the disciples or us or make anyone right with God. To be ignorant of the Word is just as much a sin as it is to hate the Word. The book of Concord makes that abundantly clear as it gives its clear exposition of the Word. If one could be ignorant of the truth, then we would not need to know about justification, grace, the sacraments, or even the gospel. If the disciples could be ignorant of the truth than Jesus could be satisfied with their lip service when the disciples say Jesus is the Son of God. It is as Jesus says in John 8:31-32, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. This is what Jesus strives to instill his disciples, sola fide, faith which comes from the truth, sola scriptura.

II.

With all this being said how can the world not have faith? We need only hear the words of Pilate, as he talked with Jesus, "What is truth?" The truth is hard to swallow. It is not only believing the gospel, but the law as well. It's recognizing that there truly is sin and that I have truly done wrong.

We have this psychological problem in the world though. It's the "I'm always right" syndrome which is also commonly associated with the "poor me" complex. Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. It's not my fault. I didn't do anything wrong. Why are you always picking on me? How dare you tell me that what I believe is wrong?

This is something that the Jewish nation had to forge past and it began with the disciples. The truth is not that they would be a great political nation but rather a great spiritual one. They were not founded on the fact that they were children of Abraham, but children of God.

Many Christian churches strive for what we call the lowest common denominator. They look for what will unite them with other churches so that no one can be considered wrong. Yet, this is a hardening of the heart. This is not getting it. This is acting out of stupidity. The world is resistant to the Gospel. In many churches' attempts to be more friendly the truth is misconstrued and faith is either destroyed or is left weak and barely understood. Some church bodies seek to be more inclusive by joining in altar and pulpit fellowship. Instead of creating a better understanding of the gospel they instead are dumbing down Christianity. In these attempts of all-encompassing Christian unity there is instead a Christian destruction.

As much as there was no excuse for the disciples to not know who Jesus is, there is even less excuse for us today. Hebrews 1 reminds us, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." The Old Testament is clear in its pronouncement of the coming messiah. Many times and in many ways it was reiterated who Jesus would be and why he would come. In order for us to no longer be confused as to his purpose, Jesus came not only to die on the cross but to explain all that we need to know for salvation.

Our Lord does help our dumb heart to believe. This is done in baptism. We are given the means by which we may understand the loaves. That is the Holy Spirit. You see Jesus disciples did not have the Holy Spirit as they were taught by Jesus for three years. That is why they didn't get it. It wasn't for a lack of trying! This lack of the Holy Spirit is evident over and over again as the disciples travel with Jesus, but it is pointedly clear when Jesus is instructing them after the resurrection that they will receive it soon.

Jesus tells them in Luke 24:49, Behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Luke clarifies that power for us in Acts 1, when he states it is the Holy Spirit that they will be baptized with. Jesus also told them during the last supper in John 14:26, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. We know that day as Pentecost.

For this reason all who are now baptized are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and with this blessed gift even the youngest babies in our church receive faith. It is because of the Helper, the one who creates sola fide, that they have faith. For the rest of their lives they will be taught the Christian faith, and we pray that all will grow in the true faith of their Lord and Savior.

Why do we not baptize adults right away? It is for the simple matter that they are capable of hearing God's Word and coming to faith through the spoken Word. The Apostles are witnesses of this fact. They believed in Jesus as the Savior and although their faith was imperfect Jesus continued to teach them. They were guided through Jesus' earthly life and even after the resurrection. All the while, they were continually coming to a greater and greater understanding.

Yes, some things were hard to grasp. Jesus feeding 5000 men is unfathomable and today some things continue to be unfathomable. The mystery of the Trinity we will never fully understand, Or how Jesus is truly present in the bread and the wine. Yet in faith, we believe them to be true. So when those adults who have been taught and profess to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, we then baptize. They are given the Helper just as the Apostle received him.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I pray that you may continue to see how two plus two equals four. The Christian faith is so complex and yet so completely simple. It simpler than preschool and more challenging that any profession on earth. Our lives are one of constant prayer as we pray that all things may be better understood by each of us. We place our hope in Solus Christus, Christ alone, that we may receive the truth and will not settle for half-truths. We pray that in our desire for Christian unity we do not allow the Gospel to be compromised in any way. Our Lord will always help us to grow in our faith. Lord, thank you for helping our dumb hearts to believe. Amen.