Moving Mountains

When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.’ Jesus answered, ‘You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly I tell 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 for you.’ Matthew 17:14-21

I have always been fascinated with the many roads that have been carved out of mountains. Throughout the Northeast, there are roads with rock outcroppings everywhere and many tunnels go right through mountains. Humans can alter, move and rearrange mountains, with the right tools and finances. What I find much harder for us to do, is to change our hearts and stop being tempted by power and money. We know these destroy relationships and individuals, yet we cling to them, like desperate, fearful children. Jesus promises us that we can move mountains and hearts, if we have faith, we can change the world. Having faith means letting go of our selfish desires and being filled with love for all people. May we daily let go so God can fill us with love again.

Gracious Creator, at birth you fill us with love

breathing your spirit and compassion in us

and giving us your power to move mountains.

Our hearts have become had and cruel these days

we protect ourselves with our power and wealth

and find that we are lonely and always afraid.

Lord, put faith filled love in our hearts again today

so all we do might bring your love to the world

moving mountains hearts and minds by your love. Amen.