Pick A Side
This is my sermon text for September
30, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 9:38-5-. + pBRC
May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be
at the center of your lives forever.
AMEN.
Before I begin, there are two
facts recorded in the Gospels that I wish to highlight. First, only one
disciple went to be at the foot of the cross. Several of the women who followed
Christ went to be with him to the last. Second, when those women went to the
tomb on the third day to find it empty, the Risen Christ himself told them to
tell his disciples that he was alive. When they did, the men did not believe
them, and said they told an idle tale.
Today’s Gospel lesson picks up
where we left off last week. Jesus tells his disciples for a second time he
will be arrested, killed and be raised on the third day.
They didn’t understand. They
didn’t ask any questions. They instead argued over which of them was the best.
Jesus
confronts them with this when they get to Capernaum, and tells them that
whoever wants to be great must first be a servant. He takes a child, and
holding it before them, says whomever welcomes a child, welcomes both Christ
and the Creator.
John interrupts to say that on
the way they saw someone, not one of them, who was casting out demons in Jesus’
name, and wonders if they should have stopped that person.
Jesus, still holding the child,
says that anyone doing a deed of power, a good work in Jesus’ name cannot turn
around and speak evil or poorly about Jesus. He then says, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”
(Mark 9.40)
Jesus
turns that phrase in the opposite direction in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospel,
saying, “Whoever is not with me is against me.”
(Matt 12:30 & Luke 11:23). The hairs that could be split aren’t worth the
effort; Jesus considers the opposition those engaged in action, and is not
focused on the undecideds.
This
I think points to the focal point of his message, are you working FOR the
kingdom to come, the reign of God, or are you working AGAINST it and God’s
will?
Whose
side are you on, God’s, or another?
It
isn’t an either – or situation. You can be on God’s side, or you can be on one
of billions of other sides. You can be on your side. You can be on the side of
an ideology. You can be on the side of a political party. You can be on the
side of a leader. You can be on the sidelines.
Whose
side are you on, God’s, or another?
It
is God’s will that you want to see done, or is it another’s?
The
person who was casting out demons was doing a good thing. They were using the
name of the Son of God to relieve people from a burden. But the disciples
questioned the deed because it wasn’t a part of their movement. They weren’t
doing it. So they questioned its authenticity.
That typifies the inter-traditional fights that mark
church conflict. We don’t want to work with them. They can’t be trying to do
good things. We may want a group to do this, rather than that which they are
doing. But what Jesus wants the focus to be is if what they are doing is what
God would want. If so, help out, or get out of the way.
Do
not be an obstacle to those doing God’s work.
I’m
not talking about doing work or good deeds or the right thing in an attempt to
earn God’s love. You already have that. These are good things done in response
to the gift of grace that God gave through the death of Jesus Christ. These are
works and acts done because of feeling God’s love, not in trying to win it.
Jesus,
still holding the child, says, "If any of you
put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it
would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you
were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9.42)
Children, or anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ, should
not be swayed from their faith. But look at all of the stumbling blocks that we
place in their way. The Church is ripe and rife with scandal. Abuse,
mismanagement, greed, predators, political agendas dominate the discussion
about what is going on in the Church. These aren’t stumbling blocks. They are
the concrete bollards and barriers that have been erected in front of buildings
for security purposes. Christ warns against putting stumbling blocks in front
of the faithful and we have raised barriers and bull works.
But we still manage to throw out some stumbling blocks.
Because we don’t and won’t provide guidance to those who want to, need to hear
the Good News. We stubbornly refuse to share how God has impacted our life with
others. We won’t invite family and friends to join us in worship. Instead, we
let them wander through life blindfolded banging into barriers and stumbling
into obstructions, rather than helping to show them the way we have come.
If being dragged to your death
by drowning isn’t a powerful enough motivator to be sure you are not hindering
another’s faith journey, Jesus gets more specific and graphic. If something
causes you to stumble, get rid of it. Even if it is a part of your body.
Jesus does not often speak with
such hyperbole, with such excess and graphic illustration, so when he does, we
need to pay attention. If there is something that you are doing that is a
distraction from doing the will of God, get rid of it.
To come back to the question I
began asking two weeks ago, and will keep asking: For Christ’s sake, what are you
doing? Are the things that you are doing, are the things that this
church is doing focused on sharing and living out the gift of grace that is the
Good News of Jesus Christ? If they aren’t, then they should be gotten rid of.
Are we a church, the body of Christ in the world, or are we a social club?
The letter from James from a
month ago famously says that faith without works is dead. (James 2.17) If your
faith is not inspiring you to act, to share your faith, then it is dead. A tree
that does not bare fruit is dead. A plant that does not flower is dead. And a
faith that does not yield the works of God is dead as well. It is salt that is
no longer salty. It is useless.
Jesus,
still holding the child, is trying to warn his disciples, both those around him
in Capernaum, and those here today, to not be distracted by all that is going
on around you. Don’t worry about your ranking in the kingdom, or what others
may be doing. Worry that what you are doing, or leaving left undone, is keeping
others from learning the love of God that is made manifest in the Son of God
and his ministry and passion of sacrifice and giving.
Don’t
put obstacles in the way of others who are seeking salvation.
Take care that you have not
lost your saltiness.
Beware that you have not
created your own stumbling block or millstone.
Are you on God’s side?
AMEN.
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