How much do we believe?

     This week we are moving back to Mark's gospel.  While we haven't been focusing on the gospel lesson in past weeks, we have been slowly making our way through Mark.  Last week we heard of Jesus healing two women - one who had been suffering for 12 years with hemorrhaging, and the other a little girl who had died from an illness and whom Jesus raised again.
     After these two miraculous healings our story continues with Jesus arriving in his hometown in Mark 6.  Now, this part of the gospel is probably best known for Jesus sending his disciples out to minister in the surrounding country, the second half of the story, but I am fascinated by the first part.  When Jesus arrives home, he does not receive the warm welcome of a local celebrity that one might expect.  The word has been spreading and Jesus can no longer go anywhere without being recognized.  One might think that his homecoming would be a happy and joy-filled event, one where a young person of the town comes for a brief visit in the midst of his fairly significant success and fame.  Except what Jesus finds is more of a hostile and incredulous community.  Who, Jesus?  Isn't that just the carpenter's son?  And what's more, it says that they took offense at him and he could do no deed of power there.
     From this text it would seem that Jesus' power is affected by the amount of faith.  Just think about yesterday's text.  The woman believed that if she even touched the hem of his cloak his power could heal her - and it did.  Here Jesus couldn't do anything but lay his hands on a few sick people to cure them.  No raising people from the dead, no people clamoring for his touch or healing.  And Jesus could do no deed of power.
     Is God's power really affected by the belief of the people?  It is certainly true of other things - you can sometimes feel when you go into a place the energy.  Positive energy is life-giving and creates an atmosphere of hope and joy.  It often seems this way to me in worship (hopefully to those who come it feels that way, too). On the other hand negative energy is life-draining and creates an atmosphere of tension and fear.  We've all been in those places too - perhaps it was your own living room during a heated argument or maybe it was the home of a relative where you could 'cut the tension with a knife'.  Either way, from our own experiences it would seem that the mood of the place does have something to do with what happens there.
     We have experienced this in our own faith community.  Excitement builds excitement and the mood of the place seems to rub off on us.  People often comment to me how it 'feels' like something amazing is happening.  And that is true.  Something amazing is happening: God's power is working in and through us to change lives.  God's power is working to nurture people in faith, to provide a place for everyone to belong, to show compassion to those in need, and to shine Christ's light in our community.
      Christ's power is at work in and through his church, here in Ely, and we are experiencing the wonderful gifts of God's love.  It is my prayer that we will continue to believe, through our life and ministry together, that Jesus can heal.  That Jesus does heal.  That Jesus does make a difference.  The real mystery for us is how does our belief affect Jesus' power?  How much do we believe?