Moving Mountains

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
12/07/14 - Sunday Morning

Moving Mountains

“And He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith... truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you’” (Matthew 17:20). “And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you’” (Luke 17:6).

God reminds us again in 1 Corinthians 13:2 that faith can indeed move mountains: “And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains”. Literal mountains or mulberry trees (Luke 17:6) never get in the way of God’s purposes or cause anyone to spiritually stumble, nor can they lead us away from God. That is why neither the apostles nor any one of the prophets in the Old Testament ever moved or removed literal mountains (although, as you'll recall, Moses parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22), Jesus immediately exercised control over a storm (Matthew 14:30-32) and God listened to the prayer of Joshua resulting in either time stopping or the earth ceasing to rotate, for it is said that "the sun stood still" in the same position in the sky for a whole day (Joshua 10:12-13). Clearly God has the power to remove mountains for He created the entire universe out of nothing (Psalm 33:6,9) and one day He will simply and with ease remove it (2 Peter 3:9). And given the power and range of the miracles Jesus was performing during his ministry, a literal interpretation of the actual moving of mountains or mountain ranges by faith would have been entirely within the realm of possibility, and yet Jesus had something far more profound in mind for us when He spoke these life-altering words. God wanted the apostles and those who heeded their words, to do some serious, spiritual earth moving.

Mustard Seed Faith

Many authors have noted that the mustard seed was the smallest garden seed that the Israelites encountered or used. On the one hand Jesus said that the problem among His disciples was that they had a very little faith (Matthew 17:20), yet He clarifies that even faith the size of a mustard seed can do astonishing things. For a little bit of a real thing is incredibly powerful.

Different Faiths

The Bible does speak of people having little faith, a weak faith, and it even speaks of the faith that demons have (James 2:19). On the one hand the disciples of Jesus in Luke 17:5 clearly did believe in Jesus, but on the other hand Jesus is pointing out that they there not yet at the point where they absolutely trusted Him. Real faith, even just a little bit of it will not balk or stumble in regard to something that Jesus says. Rather it will say, “Well if God tells me to do that then I can”.

Moses and Faith: Numbers 20:8-12

Once again, Moses clearly believed in God and had already sacrificed much in following Him. Yet on this occasion when He struck the rock instead of following God’s command to speak to the rock was called a lack of faith, “Because you have not believed Me” (20:12). In Hebrews 12, amazing things were sacrificed and accomplished by those who believed and trusted God with all their hearts. What have YOU witnessed as a result of someone's faith? A deeply embedded addiction overcome? A family able to overcome decades of dysfunction? The ability to forgive the heinous of sins? A generational cycle of abuse broken? The facing of death with remarkable courage? Risking financial catastrophe in the name of integrity? Faith can do anything within God's will.

So What Does This Mean?

When we read what God wants done and we think to ourselves, “I think something else is needed”, we are no longer trusting Him at that moment. Just like in the case of Moses, when striking the rock would seem to make more of an impression than speaking to it, the man of faith remembers what God's spoken instructions are and does things God's way, whether or not we yet see His wisdom.

Mustard Seed Faith...

...will absolutely trust God’s way of doing things even when it would seem like from our human point of view that something else would make a bigger impression.
...will absolutely trust God’s instructions for worship — even though it might seem that something else might make a more inspiring worship service.
...will absolutely trust God’s plan of salvation — even though another plan might be acceptable to more people.
...will absolutely trust what God says about sin or sinful things — even though the world may deny that they are sinful.
...will absolutely trust God’s belief in me that I can live a godly life.
...will not argue that God’s expectations are too hard.
...will not argue that unity or agreement on doctrine for honest hearts is impossible.

An Incredibly Powerful Force

Be impressed with how powerful trust in God really is. Sometimes may feel very small and insignificant in this world and we are too often fearful of the powerful forces surrounding us. Footage of tidal waves, tornados, hurricanes and the aftermath of earthquakes makes us feel very vulnerable and small, not to mention the rising powers so vocally against the existence of the Creator and the relevance of scripture as the foundation for a solid world view. Yet Jesus is saying that we all can possess something far more powerful than the energy in a volcano, earthquake, hurricane or tornado. The Rocky Mountains are impressive, but far more impressive is the simple power that is unleashed by genuine and simple faith in God. Have you ever considered how powerful a little bit of real trust in God really is? It is the most powerful force at times in this universe. Real life is like the ingredient that makes an Atomic Bomb such a powerful weapon. What needs changing in your life in order for your soul to be prepared for an eternity basking in the light of His presence?

Modern Mountains

Often the application of what Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 or Luke 17:6 is made to various problems in our lives. I don’t think this is a unwarranted application, for if faith can actually remove entire mountains — or if faith in God did result in the sun standing still, then it should be obvious that faith is more than adequate to...

...resist the devil: 1 Peter 5:9
...return love for hate or injustice
...live sacrificially with an "others interest ahead of my own" attitude
...submit to your parent's even before you understand their reasoning.
...walk away from even the most additive of sins: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
...release the drug addict or alcoholic from their sin.
...break the cycle of pornography addiction.
...deal with all the lust and anger, jealousy, envy or gossip.
...tame the tongue by controlling what we think and say.
...save a shipwrecked marriage.
...remain unspotted by the world: James 1:26
...to stand fearless in the face of persecution: Revelation 12:11
...remain faithful even when we must stand alone.
...remain faithful in the most discouraging of situations or the most discouraging of relationships: 1 Peter 3:1ff
...keep on preaching the truth even if no one seems to be interested: 2 Timothy 4:2
...remain on the narrow way when so many are on the broad way.

God certainly does not expect the impossible nor is life too hard. The next mountain your walk leads you to, let us remember the words of Jesus, and exercise a little bit of genuine trust in God, for you can absolutely do "all things through Christ who strengthens you." Philippians 4:13.

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net