Faith and Cynicism – 11/10/24

I have kind of a weird practice when I’m going through intense trials. I find great encouragement in reading stories of people who faced ridiculous odds and kept going.

One of those I read a little while ago  was Captain James Riley. He commanded the ship “Commerce” from Connecticut on a typical trip to West Africa. They were buying and selling wine, and silk cloth, and salt. But after traveling several days along the coast in a dense fog, the ship ran aground on August 28, 1815, off the coast of Morocco. Riley and the crew of 11 men were captured by a local tribe that killed one and enslaved the rest.

In the national bestseller “Skeletons on the Zahara,” Dean King describes the crew’s struggle for survival in brutal desert conditions. The slave masters stole their shoes and clothes, so as they took them deeper into the desert, their skin was baked off their bodies, their eyes often blinded by the bright desert sun. Food and water were so scarce, they lived on a little camel’s milk and camel’s urine. For several months they were traded among different nomadic groups, often separated. Sometimes they would see each other at tribal gatherings.

Their condition got so hopeless, at one point Captain Riley determined to kill himself. He wanted to end the beatings, the burning of the skin, the starvation, the dehydration, and everything that went along with that. But just when he lost all hope, something changed within him. He describes this in his book “Sufferings in Africa,” published in 1817.

By the way, Abraham Lincoln listed this as one of the most influential books on his life, under the Bible and “Pilgrim’s Progress.” It also was a book that had a huge impact on “the abolition of slavery” movement.

Captain Riley wrote in that book of that time when he was ready to give up.

“I searched for a stone, intending if I could find a loose one sufficiently large, to knock out my own brains with it; but searched in vain. This paroxysm [which I think is referring to a burst of insanity,] passed off in a minute or two, when reason returned, and I recollected that my life was in the hand of the power that gave it, and that ‘the judge of all the earth would do right.’”

He is quoting there Genesis 18:25. Captain Riley described himself,

I “felt perfectly resigned and willing to submit to the will of Providence and the fate that awaited me.”

And this part is remarkable.

“From that time forward, through all my succeeding trials and sufferings, I never once murmured in my heart, but at all times kept my spirits up, doing the utmost to obey and please those whom fortune, fate, or an overruling Providence had placed over me, and to persuade, both by precept and practice, my unhappy comrades to do the same.”

In other words, God’s providence led him not to give up. Over time, Captain Riley, just listening to his captors, learned Arabic, began to build a relationship with one of his masters, who he noticed had a heart, and a lot of debt, and needed money. And he came up with a plan to convince Sidi Hamet, one of his masters, that he and his men were worth a lot more money if they could get them out of the desert, to the coast, to the British consulate.

This happened so often, and so many sailors were enslaved, that they actually had a fund to buy the sailors out of slavery. But Captain Riley convinced Sidi Hamet that he had a friend who would pay him large amounts of money, and it would be worth trying to get him over there.

Well, that’s what ended up happening, a long, circuitous route to get there, but eventually the British consulate purchased them, some of them out of slavery, and Captain Riley and several of his men survived.

But the question when I’m reading stories like that is, I’m asking myself, how did they not give up? How did they not give in to hopelessness? When the men were rescued, several of them weighed 40 pounds. You’re talking bones. Captain Riley was a huge man for that day. He weighed normally 240 pounds. He ended up weighing 90 pounds. So they were barely alive. But how did they not lose hope?

I asked this question last week when we explored the woman with the issue of blood. Twelve years she tried everything. Nothing helped. Yet she still reached out to Jesus in faith and hope.

Our main objective in Matthew 8 and 9 is to see the connection between the miracles and the call. If you remember this chart we keep showing, Matthew has a very clear structure, it seems, that’s pointing us in a particular direction. Three miracles, call. Three miracles, call. Three miracles, call.

We’ve come to the final set of miracles and today we look at the last two miracles. And then on our anniversary service next week, we come to the climax. Don’t miss that. The final call. But for today, let’s look at those final two miracles. Matthew 9:27-34.

[Matthew 9:27-34] “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’ When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith, be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ‘See that no one knows about it.’ But they went away and spread his fame throughout all the district. As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, ‘Never was anything like this seen in Israel.’ But the Pharisees said, ‘He casts out demons by the prince of demons.’”

Three things jump out to us here: power, faith, cynicism. Let’s look at those one at a time. First of all,

1. Jesus’ astonishing power.

Jesus touched blind eyes, and they could see. Jesus casts out a demon and gave a mute man his voice. His power was so astonishing that even after he warned the men, “Don’t broadcast this,” they did.

Verse 31, “They went away and spread his fame throughout all the district.”

The crowds who saw the mute man delivered had a similar response; they marveled.

Verse 33, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”

And we need to say a word about why did Jesus command them not to spread the word? We saw this a lot a few years ago in our study of Mark. It’s very typical for the beginning, especially the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He does not seem interested in a marketing department when the marketing doesn’t understand who he is and what his mission is. He would rather have no publicity than bad publicity. People who experience this kind of power and authority tend to misunderstand the point. What is he aiming for? And so early on, he tries to put a damper on that.

1. Jesus’ astonishing power.

Second thing that jumps out, I believe, is

2. The blind men’s overcoming faith.

The blind men’s overcoming faith. Think about the obstacles they had to overcome. First of all, we could describe this as there were

• physical obstacles

Verse 27, “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him,”

Does that seem odd to you? That is not easy. It’s hard enough to follow someone through crowds of people in a busy place when you can see. Now imagine being blind, and you’re trying to listen for voices, hold on to robes, hear cues, clues, or ask directions. Where did he go?

They kept following Jesus, even though they had every reason not to. Every excuse not to follow. Also, they encountered

• social obstacles

You can see that by their crying aloud. In other words, they’re persistent. They’re calling out, like salmon swimming upstream. They’re pressing against the current of the crowds. So many noises, so many needs, so many competing people who want help. They’re blind. They can’t see Jesus, but they’re following him and they’re crying out.

I’m sure there were people that were saying, “Shut up!” We’re trying to hear him. We’re trying to follow him, too. Keep quiet. They do not give up. They do not quiet down.

To me, that raises the question, why didn’t Jesus just stop and heal them? Why does he allow the men to keep crying aloud? Might there be a quick lesson on genuine faith here?

Real faith is not a flickering faith in the sense of starts and dies. Starts and fades. Gives up quickly. Real faith persists. Also, real faith does not allow a disability to degenerate into despair. Again, they have every reason to say, “Well, if God made us blind, we’ll just give up. We’ll just blame him. We’ll just be angry.” That was not their mindset.

Another aspect of real faith, real faith is verbal. Is verbal. They are crying aloud. Paul touches on this in Romans 10:10.

“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’”

Saving faith is shame-free faith because when you put your faith in Jesus, you know you will never ultimately lose. However, it doesn’t mean it’s automatic or easy, instant. They persist, they cry aloud.

Last Sunday, all day long, we had people take the step of baptism. What a joyful day. But before they took the plunge, you’ll notice if you were here, they would come up on the stage and they would share their faith in Jesus. And some people think that’s cruel and unusual punishment. For good reason. It is scary to get in front of people and talk. But as Paul says, there’s something important about verbalizing what we believe. They are crying aloud. Jesus said if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father.

There’s something about verbalizing, speaking. Now, introverts you’re going to do it different than extroverts. For some it’s easy, for some it’s not. But if it’s in there, it’s going to come out. Genuine faith is verbal faith.

So, they overcome physical and social obstacles. But also what we could call

• informational obstacles

Look at verse 27 at the end.

“have mercy on us, Son of David.”

Son of David. A year ago when we started this series in Matthew, it was Christmas and we started in Matthew 1:1, which begins,

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,”

How did these blind guys know that Jesus was the son of David? It’s significant that the healing of the blind is exclusive to Jesus’ ministry. I don’t know of any example in the Old Testament of a blind person being healed. And I don’t know any example in the New Testament, after the earthly ministry of Jesus, of a blind person being healed; unless you count Saul, whom Jesus blinded and then healed. That seems different.

So there’s something interesting about the healing of the blind, and it seems that that is a clue of Jesus’ identity, because prophets like Isaiah promised,

Isaiah 35:5, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,”

when the Son of David, the Messiah, also known as the servant of the Lord, comes. Or Isaiah 42:7, that Messiah is called

“To open the eyes of the blind.”

So here in Matthew 9, the blind see what most miss. Jesus, Son of David. Jesus warned us of this in John 9:39. He said,

“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

So these blind men are overcoming physical, social, even informational or theological obstacles. And finally, after following, crying out, pleading for mercy, look at verse 28,

“When he entered the house, the blind men came to him…”

Aha! He’s cornered! Like cowboys corralling cattle, the blind men corner Jesus in a house. He can’t escape. Yet whenever we think we’ve cornered God, we are the ones who are being drawn in and confined by grace.

Verse 28, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’”

Don’t miss the beautiful brevity of belief. Yes, Lord. Saving faith is simple faith. It’s not wordy.

Verse 29, “Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

1. Jesus’ astonishing power
2. The blind men’s overcoming faith

One more thing we need to notice here, and that is,

3. The Pharisees’ villainizing cynicism

And I know that’s a lot there. Villainizing cynicism. After Jesus delivered the demon oppressed man, the man could speak, and the Pharisees protest.

“He casts out demons [verse 34] by the prince of demons.”

So in stark contrast to the blind men’s overcoming faith, the religious leaders turn to cynicism. Notice they don’t deny the miracle, they villainize the source.

Cynicism must twist good into bad. And cynicism is in the air we breathe today. It becomes a filter through which everything we hear or see gets sent through. For example, if God calls us into a pleasant season of life, we feel we earned it. We deserve it. We had it coming to us. If God calls us through a difficult season of life, God is cruel, he’s abandoned me. If God answers my prayer right away, I knew it would happen anyway. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t answer prayer. He doesn’t care.

So we build up this immunity to divinity like we’re allergic to God’s work. Cynicism can come in the hard form, like the Pharisees are displaying, hard doubt or disbelief, which twists what is good into what is bad. Or it can come in the form of a soft doubt. And that’s not as abrasive, but just the same lethality ultimately. What is soft doubt? It’s kind of like scar tissue. Listen to what one man writes about this. He says,

“I think we have built up scar tissue from our frustrations, and we don’t want to expose ourselves anymore. Fear constrains us.”

Fear of being hurt again. Fear of being disappointed again. It’s easier not to hope, not to try like Captain Riley. I’m just going to… It’s easier to die than to try to go on any further.

Fear links arms with cynicism to protect us from faith so we can lower risk and pretend to be in control.

Now, there’s a lot in that you can chew on for the next month or two, but think about that. Fear links arms with cynicism to protect us from faith, which lowers risk, because we’re craving certainty, and we can pretend to be in control. But cynicism never delivers what it promises. It shields us from hope, it cauterizes desire, and it ultimately dehumanizes.

This past week, I was listening to Dr. Keith Plummer share how he came to Christ. Keith is a professor at Cairn University. He grew up in a non-Christian home, but he ended up going to a Lutheran school. So he was not a Christian, but he had Christians around him who would share the gospel with him. But he rejected it for a long time.

He went off to Brown University and it was there that he gave his life to Christ, experienced a joy and a peace that he had never experienced before. Prior to that, he said he had an inner unsettledness, but eventually had this deep hunger and appetite for the Word of God.

But as he was explaining this journey toward faith, he talked about what kept him from becoming a Christian for so long. And he described it this way. This is what captured my attention. He said,

“I was asking questions that were manufactured to protect me from becoming a Christian.”

That is so interesting. I’m asking questions — so he gave the appearance of being interested, open, intellectual — but he said the kind of questions I was asking were actually protecting me from committing to Christ. It wasn’t like I was open and honest, searching. I was actually protecting, shielding, guarding. A lot like the Pharisees here, right?

The Pharisees knew more Bible than anyone. But they figured if God’s going to send a Messiah, he’d better send it to look exactly what I think he should look like, or we’re going to twist him, everything he does. They didn’t deny the miracles, but “We’re going to twist it into something demonic.”

I wonder if any of us are in that place now, at various levels, whether it’s the hard doubt — the Pharisees, the cynicism of the Pharisees — or I think more of us probably can relate to that scar tissue idea where we’ve experienced disappointment, hurt, maybe even hurt in church. Christians have let us down. I don’t know how you can be alive for more than five minutes and not have a Christian let you down.

But over time, that can build into what Bryan calls “scar tissue” that actually ends up shielding us from the very thing we need.

Last night, as we were praying for this service, I just really felt overwhelmed with the sense that there are people who are ready to give up, who don’t know if they can keep going, tired of trying. And Jesus is speaking to you, inviting you out of cynicism into overcoming faith. A verse that kind of captures it for me is Romans 15:13,

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Can you say that out loud with me?

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Just imagine, Captain Riley just wants to end it all. What changed? Circumstances didn’t change. The conviction that God is in charge and knows what he’s doing and is going to do the right thing. And he has done that in sending his Son for us.

And this morning, I believe he’s speaking to some of us who have grown either intellectually or emotionally exhausted, ready to give up. And we’re praying that the God of hope would fill you with all joy and peace in believing, like these blind brothers who are crying aloud, refusing to give up. And the Lord says, “Do you believe I can do this?”

Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. So let’s spend a few minutes right now praying about that. I’ll comment on a few things to pray about, but you pray where you are.

So first of all, will we face the obstacles we encounter honestly?

Some of us are in a battle with doubt. We have a lot more questions than there are answers or that we know answers to. And it’s a good thing to ask questions. But they feel suffocating.

Others are battling fear, or hurt, or hard news, or disappointment, or resentment. Will you be honest about the obstacles you face right now? Talk to Jesus about that.

The second question is, will you follow him?

Father, we want to be like the blind men who followed you, even though everything was stacked against them. Today I believe you’re speaking to some of us. You’re calling us to follow you, even if we can’t figure it all out. Even if we don’t have all the answers yet, even if we don’t know exactly how it’s going to turn out, that we would confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart, that God, you’ve raised him from the dead and be saved.

Lord, that may happen at a moment, but that is a continual prayer, acknowledging our need of you. So, Father, I beg you to please infuse joy and peace in believing into those who feel tired — tired of trying, tired of failing, tired of uncertainty, ready to give up.

Father, you speak. Draw, fill us with hope. And even as I pray that, Lord, I want to thank you, thank you for the way you carry us. I’ve just seen so many times where I didn’t even know I needed to be carried and you were carrying. We do need you. We thank you that you are faithful. In Jesus’ name, amen.