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Of the world famous wonders of New York City I had experienced quite a few…
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Food: the pizza, corned beef sandwich, the bagels, street hot dogs
History: Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, World Trade Center, ground zero
Famous sites: Greenwich village, Chinatown, Times Square and Central Park
But of all the world famous wonders of New York there was one I had not experienced until this past
Tuesday night. The weekly prayer meeting of the Brooklyn Tabernacle church.
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BT – church of 10,000 people is located in a beautiful old theatre in the heart of Brooklyn
o You may have heard of them this past few weeks – their choir sang at the inauguration.
o the most incredible thing this church does is gather to pray – every Tuesday night since
their inception
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We walked in the bldg at 5:30…didn’t start until 7:00 (Jerald Cosey, Amy Osgood and Alicia
McClure)
o people prostrate at the front – some for an hour
o a dozen ushers herded us to the front – we discovered why later.
o 6:15 – offer for prayer…lined the middle aisle – 150+
o 7:00 – they sang with a fervor that took my breath away
o Pastor invited those who simply wanted the prayer team to bless them and they
crowded the front
o Later they handed out prayer cards and the crowd dove in with a frenzy of out loud
prayer in concert.
o Then after some teaching the pastor invited people to come forward to pray for people
on our hearts…hundreds crowded the front
o finally it ended around 9:00 and people left to walk home or catch the subway…in
below zero temps
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It was breathtaking. Why?
o quality of music? – no
o magnetic leaders? – no
o mesmerizing teaching? – no
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What was it? …because whatever it was I burned with a holy jealousy for us to experience it
right here.
And then it hit me…and I realized what it was that got people to brave below zero temps, cram into
crowded auditorium in them idle of their work week to pray like mad and sing like there was no
tomorrow. Before I tell you what I think it was…
Matthew 17:14-20
Mark 9:14-29
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Context – coming down off the mountain transfiguration… (After six days Jesus took Peter, James
and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was
transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could
bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Mark
9:2-4 )
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they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 "Lord, have mercy
on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the
water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." 17 "O unbelieving and perverse
generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring
the boy here to me." 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from
that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it
out?" 20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a
mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will
be impossible for you. Matthew 17:14-20
This story is full of emotionally charged and provocative statements and actions by Jesus.
17 "O
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unbelieving and perverse generation, How long shall I put up with you?
he’s angry and severely disappointed in the disciples
he calls them - perverse = distorted …not necessarily morally perverse … they had gotten
turned around – twisted
they were clearly wavering in their faith – unbelieving
btw…this ws not their first encounter with demonization – in the past they had been successful!
18Jesus
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rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
deliverance was provocative then – it is now. (cf July 7-8 sermon)
20 I
tell you the truth (Listen to me or now look), if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can
say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
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Mountains will move! … if you have faith!
Which is a ridiculous thing to say…isn’t it? Mountains will move…was Jesus the King of hyperbole?
Maybe he was still mad at them and just going off…
Or maybe he meant it…OK, not literally…but figuratively…
REALLY big things…huge obstacles…impossibly seeming problems…mountains in your lives
and our lives and in the life world will move…if we believe!
I think he meant it because it was true…it was historical…mountains have moved in our history:
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Abraham became the father of billions
Moses lead a million people out of slavery, through seas, over desserts, eating food from
heaven and water out of rocks.
Trumpets blew, people marched and walls tumbled down
The sun stood still for 24 hours
3 men thrown into a furnace were not even singed
A widows oil and flour multiplied every day to keep her and her son alive
and…Demons came out of traumatized children
Mountains had moved…and mountains have moved since then…
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In 1776 – the USA became a nation
In 1807 - the African slave trade was ended
In 1863 slaves were emancipated in USA
In late 1800s the 2nd great awakening changed a generation
In 1989 The Berlin wall fell
In that same year apartheid began to be dismantled
Those are just a snippet of the thousands of mountains that have moved. Then there are your
mountains.
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around here we often talk about pain and struggle and the mountains we face – we’re
authentic…but too infrequently do we stop and acknowledge the mountains God has moved.
This week I got the chance to reflect on one families’ mountains that have moved…Ron and Meg
Blevins.
What does it take for mountains to move?
(bring these in one at a time on one screen)
Repentance, Walking in the Spirit, Prayer, Action
but today… Mountains will move when we have faith.
What kind of faith? What is faith? Let’s return to the passage…
14 When
they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 "Lord, have mercy
on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the
water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." 17 "O unbelieving and perverse
generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring
the boy here to me." 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from
that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it
out?" 20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a
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mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will
be impossible for you. Matthew 17:14-20
1. Faith is the assumption that God can do impossible things.
This child, all his life, suffered from seizures, was “man handled” into falling into fire and water.
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Some strange mix of physical, psychological and spiritual issues – impossible
his whole life beyond the help of all experts (and likely would be today too)
The father believed Jesus could solve it – the disciples did not. And most of us would not have this
kind of faith either.
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we’re too sophisticated. too rational, too smart, too overly reliant on experts to have this kind of
faith.
We’re grateful for miracles but rarely assume they can happen. Miracles always surprise us … and
they shouldn’t.
2. Faith is the belief that there is more going on in this world than we can see with our eyes.
Faith just takes for granted that not everything can be explained by science or reason. Faith assumes
that there is only a thin veil between this world and the spirit world.
3. Faith is dogged conviction despite evidence to the contrary
Jesus called the disciples perverse which was not a statement about their morality but their
fickleness.
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perverse = twisted or turned … to vacillate.
I can hear their prayers, can you, God heal this child…wait…um…if you can…please…help!...
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they were fickle as are we!
in contrast to the father…
21 Jesus
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." 24 Immediately the
boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! Mark 9:21
The father had a dogged conviction – he pushed forward – despite his struggles!
I am confused and even have doubts but I will believe anyway! (one of my favorite statements in all
the scriptures!)
Faith is conviction that battles through skepticism!
4. Faith is the confidence that when we pray, God hears and responds
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28 After
Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer." Mark 9:28-29
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This leads me to think that the disciples probably did NOT pray.
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Faith and prayer are inseparable. If you do not have faith you will not pray. You have a puny
prayer life…it is because you do not have faith!
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Show me a person who prays like mad and I’ll show you a person or a community that has
confidence in God that he respond…they have faith.
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We will return to this topic the 4th week of the series but let me return to my opening musings
on the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
What was it that got 3000 people to brave below zero temps, cram into a crowded auditorium in the
middle of their work week to pray like mad and sing like there was no tomorrow.
They have faith. They assume that God can will do impossible things. They believe that there is more
going on in this world than we can see with our eyes. They have a dogged conviction despite
evidence to the contrary. And they possess a confidence that when they pray, God hears and
responds.
Mountains will move when we have faith.
Now, can I tell you what I wish for us? That we, this church, will be known for this.
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That we are known as a church that worships like there is no tomorrow.
That we are known as a church that prays with a passion that is breathtaking.
That we are known as a church that does not settle for moderate joy but epic celebration.
That we are known as a church that is characterized not by polite applause but uproarious
clamor.
That we are known as a church that prays for ridiculous things…
o the end of poverty
o the end to abortion
o the upending of human trafficking
o the defeat of AIDS
o the destruction of racism
That we are a known as a church that experiences healings and spiritual deliverance
Friends, we are known now as church that gets things done, tackles injustice, has great ministry to
kids, and celebrates the arts in worship and does world class strategic planning but I am not satisfied
with only that…
I want us to be known as a house of prayer…
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…for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." Isaiah 56:7
It is time that we become known as and set the pace in central Indiana as a church that has
mammoth faith… A diverse, passionate, praying, wildly worshiping community that watches
mountains move.