March 10: Believing, Without All the Fuss!

By Kathy Merkle-Raymond

Mark 8:11-21

¹¹The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. ¹²And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.

¹⁴Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out — beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” ¹⁶They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” ¹⁷And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

In this scripture, Jesus confronts yet another request from the Pharisees to prove or demonstrate his connection to God. But Jesus also experiences his disciples’ wavering faith and ongoing confusion about God’s purpose for his ministry. This story about trust and belief ironically follows Jesus’ miraculous feeding of 4,000 people who have just spent three days with him, followers who had no food to sustain them on their journeys home.

Upon returning with Jesus to their boat, his companions begin whining about their hunger and fear of scarcity.  I’m struck by this interpretation from The Message:

“Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard them and said, ‘Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this?’”

Feeling desperate in their selfish wants and the insecurity of erratic faith, the disciples clearly miss the forest for the trees!  From Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”.

What do we find ourselves needlessly fussing about?  When our hearts are hardened with doubt, disbelief and lack of trust in God’s abundant grace, we, too, lose our ability to see, to hear and to taste the goodness in life all around us. We search for something “out there” to satisfy us, when our deepest needs are filled in the quiet, simple places where we openly meet and embrace God. There, and without all the fussing, we are free to trust and believe.

Singer/songwriter Tom Hunter reminds us that the “star” we seek is often right here with us, inside of us and a part of us, waiting for us to see, trust and believe:

But what if we can’t get there?

What if it’s too far?

What if we can’t find our way

from right here where we are?

What if it doesn’t matter

that we can’t find our star?

What if God comes anyway

right here where we are?