The Fourth of July makes us conscious of our roots. Have you ever thought what a leap of faith it was for Columbus to embark on his great adventure? Do you not marvel at his perseverance and commitment to his dream?

I read somewhere that the average speed of the Santa Maria during the voyage across the Atlantic was two miles an hour. Yet we get frustrated when we have to slow down to 30 miles an hour in traffic. Do you wonder why his crew became almost mutinous at times? Do you understand how frustrated Columbus must have been on such occasions with their lack of faith? 

Our founding fathers faced the same type of frustration. The Declaration of Independence was not entirely popular.  If Gallup had taken a poll back then, it would have shown that a fairly sizeable number of the early fathers and mothers thought it would be suicide to defy the British empire. The faith of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and others is even more thrilling when viewed in that light. 

Then there was Francis Scott Key detained aboard a British ship while the bombardment of Fort Henry took place. All night long the British ships' guns pounded the shoreline. But morning broke and Key saw "by dawn's early light the star-spangled banner yet waving."

In the last verse of the anthem that he composed we read, "Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. And this is our motto. In God is our trust."  That was the faith of the men and women who launched this free land, but their faith was not universally shared. Part of their frustration was in trying to deal with the Tories in their midst.

Jesus knew how it felt to be frustrated by people's lack of faith. His disciples were with him. It was the Sabbath day in his hometown of Nazareth and he was teaching in the synagogue. His friends and neighbors were astonished. "Isn't this Jesus, the carpenter who is teaching?" they asked. "Isn't he the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and Judah and Simon? Aren't these his sisters here with us?"  They knew him. They knew his family. Mark tells us that they were offended by him. It is here that Jesus spoke those well-known, often quoted words recorded in Mark's gospel:
"A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own family."  How true that is.  One definition of an expert is that you have to be more than 200 miles from home.

How we take for granted those persons closest to us.  But notice, please, verse 5: "And he could do no mighty work, save that he laid hands upon a few sick folk and healed them."  Even Jesus could do no mighty work when people did not believe! The first step in achieving is to believe. If we do not believe, then we will not achieve anything. 

Verse 6 says: "And he marveled because of their unbelief."  Jesus marveled at unbelief, and was frustrated by those who had no faith. He was stymied by those who stopped and stared but left incredulous at what they had seen.  We need to note that there are two levels of belief or unbelief. One level is with the head and the other is with the heart. Every survey that I have seen shows that very few people in our culture disbelieve with their heads. Nearly everybody believes intellectually that there is a God.  Seventy percent of our nation will not be in church today, but if you ask if they believe in God they will say yes. And why not? We are surrounded by evidence of a divine planner.

Many years ago, Harpers magazine published an interview with the rare genius Thomas Edison.  Edison was asked about his conception of matter. "I do not believe," he said, "that matter is inert acted upon by an outside force. To me it seems that every atom is possessed by a certain amount of primitive intelligence. Look at the thousand ways in which atoms of hydrogen combine with those of other elements, forming the most diverse substances. Do you mean to say that they do this without intelligence? Atoms in harmonious and unusual relation assume beautiful or interesting shapes and colors, or give forth a pleasant perfume, as if expressing their satisfaction . . . Gathered together in certain forms, the atoms constitute animals of the lower orders. Finally they combine in man, who represents the total intelligence of all the atoms."

"But where does this intelligence come from originally?" asked the interviewer.

"From some power greater than ourselves," answered Edison.

"Do you believe, then in an intelligent creator, a personal God?" asked the interviewer.

"Certainly," said Mr. Edison. "The existence of such a God, can to my mind, almost be proved from chemistry."

Very few people will deny the existence of such a God. But there are exceptions.

A cynical young medical student confronted a pastor: "I have dissected the human body," he announced, "and I found no soul."

The pastor said, "That's interesting. When you dissected the brain did you find a thought? When you dissected the eye did you find vision? When you dissected the heart did you find love?"

The student answered thoughtfully, "No, I did not."

The pastor said gently, "Of course you believe in the existence of thoughts, of vision, and of love. The human soul is the totality of man's existence in relationship with God. Just because you cannot locate it on a medical chart does not mean that it does not exist."  Most people accept such reasoning. We believe with our heads, but that is not the kind of belief that faith in Christ is about. "Even the demons believe," say the scriptures, "and tremble."

Faith in Christ is more than mere intellectual assent. It is believing with the heart, with the will, with adoration, and action.

Years ago a party of visitors at the national mint were told by a workman in the smelting works that if you first dipped your hand in water, a ladle of molten metal might be poured over the palm of the hand without burning it.

A husband and wife were part of this party of visitors. "Perhaps you would like to try it," the workman said to the husband.

The husband drew back sharply, "No, thanks," he said, "I'll take your word for it."

The workman turned to the wife, "Perhaps you would like to try it."

She replied, "Certainly." She pulled up the sleeve of her blouse and thrust her hand into a bucket of water. Calmly she held her hand out while the hot metal was poured over it.

In the nature of one of Jesus' parables, we might ask which of the two really believed the workman. The husband believed at one level but he wasn't willing to put his belief to the test. The wife, on the other hand, was willing to take the kind of risk that faith in Christ demands.

Many who witnessed Jesus' miracles believed, but only a few entrusted their lives to him. So it is today. We believe, but our belief has very little impact on our lives. We believe enough to keep us relatively decent, but not enough to make us disciples. If someone asked, we would say that Jesus is the savior of the world, but the truth of the matter is that we are not even certain that he has the power to save us. He must be deeply frustrated by our lack of faith!

St. Paul writes in II Corinthians 12:9, "And God said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee . . .'" What a hard thing that is for us to accept.

We are like the old man riding down the road on a donkey while he carried a 200pound sack of wheat on his shoulder. Someone asked him why he didn't take the weight off of his shoulders and strap it to the donkey. "Oh, no!" he protested. "I couldn't ask the donkey to carry all that weight."

Many of us are carrying burdens today that we do not have to carry. Only our lack of faith, trust, and confidence that God really is alive and able to relieve us of our burdens keeps us in bondage. How frustrated Christ must be with our lack of faith.

It would be far more desirable if we were like the young man who was in a marathon race. He was falling farther and farther behind the other runners. Suddenly he looked as if he were saying something to himself and his legs began to move with a steady stroke. He began to pick up speed. By the time he reached the finish line he had passed all of the others and had won the race.

Afterwards, when someone asked him what he was talking to himself about, he replied, "Oh, I wasn't talking to myself. I was talking to God. I was saying, `Lord, you pick "˜em up and I'll put them down . . . You pick "˜em up and I'll put them down . . . ."

That's faith at its very best. Faith always moves forward. It is more than just believing with the head. It is a dynamic interaction with God's will and purpose. It is living with a positive expectation regardless of our circumstances. It is the conviction that because He lives, we can live joyfully, abundantly, fruitfully.

A driver made his way nervously along one of the most treacherous Rocky Mountain roads. He was approaching an extremely narrow pass. There was no guardrail. Nothing to keep him from plunging thousands of feet down the side of the mountain. Then he saw a small sign. It said, "O yes, you can. Millions have."

Christ must be speaking similar words to many of us who have doubts and fears about the present and the future. "O yes, you can. My grace is sufficient."

Yes, he must be frustrated by our lack of faith. But see how frustrated each of us is as well. If we could fully believe the gospel message, we would witness great works in our lives. "O yes, you can. Millions have!"