Sermon-Sunday, October 1st
Mark 9:38-50
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have to tell you this morning that I can really relate to what the disciples are going through in today’s Gospel lesson. Today’s lesson opens with John telling Jesus that he and the disciples saw someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and then they tell Jesus that they tried to stop him because he was not "following them."
Now there are a lot of different ways that you can look at this incident, and none of them really portray the disciples in too positive a light. When you look at this and ask yourself ‘why would the disciples try to stop this this man,?’ it’s hard to really come up with a good reason.
This person is casting out a demon in Jesus’ name and these disciples try to stop him. Why do they try to stop him?? It seems on one hand, it’s because he’s not one of them, he’s not a part of their group. But I think there is more to it than that. Earlier in the chapter, the disciples were unable to cast a demon from a young boy and Jesus had to come along and save the day. But this guy was able to do it himself. I think the disciples were jealous of the fact that this guy was able to do something that they weren’t.
That’s where I can relate to what the disciples are going through. I have to confess that I am a jealous person. I can relate to that kind of jealousy. In my vast one year of ministry, there have been several occasions where a colleague of mine might share an experience with me of something that had taken place in their ministry that had very fruitful results.
And on one hand, I will be happy for them, it brings me great joy to see God doing something exciting in someone else’s ministry. But on the other hand, I can’t help but at least feel a little envious, sometimes bordering on jealousy. Don‘t get me wrong, this is not to say that I haven‘t had those moments here where I experienced joy at what God is doing here. I‘ve experienced a great deal of joy from the positive response to Bible-studies and seeing people getting involved with Sunday school and VBS, and in many other ways. But there is just something about seeing other people’s success that brings out that ugly green monster of envy.
What about you? How do you react to other people’s success or good fortune? How do react when someone you know gets a new car, or gets a bigger house? Or what about when someone you work with gets a job or promotion that you were hoping for? Or for you farmers, what about when one of your neighbors has a more bountiful yield than you? Certainly part of you is probably happy for the people in those situations, but more than likely there is at least a part of you that experiences envy and maybe even a little jealousy in those situations, and if not in those situations then certainly in other situations.
You all experience those feelings that deep-down you all know stem from looking at what will make you feel better, rather than what will help your neighbor, feelings that stem more from looking at yourself than at those around you and how you can love and serve them the way you are called to; feelings not only like jealousy, but pride, anger, lust and greed, and the list can go on and on.
Earlier this week, I caught a glimpse of a brief clip from an old Billy Graham sermon where he referred to sin as a disease. And it works when you look at how Jesus speaks of how sin relates to parts of your body. Every part of you is inherently sinful.
In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus says that if your hand, foot or eye causes you to stumble, meaning sin, then they should be removed. You could easily add other parts of the body to this list, what if your tongue causes you to stumble? Have you ever uttered a swear word, or said something that hurt someone‘s feelings? What if your mind causes you to stumble? Have you ever had a sinful thought or a lustful longing? Obviously, If you took that literally then none of us would have any arms, legs or eyes and we would be dead.
But that is what Jesus demands of us. Jesus demands our deaths. He demands that we die to ourselves, that we die to the disease of sin. And in baptism, He provides that death. Paul writes in Colossians 2
when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
In baptism, Christ Jesus gives you the death to your sinful self that He demands of you, but then He also raises you again in new life as a new creation. Daily as you live in your baptism, Christ Jesus brings about the death of the sinful self in you and the emergence of the new creation. In the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells the disciples that they will desert Him, and they do.
But the resurrected Jesus does not leave them in their sin. He meets them where they are at, in Galilee, in hiding. The relationship does not end with the falling away of the disciples. The same is true for you. You desert Jesus on a daily basis in sin, but Jesus continues to meet you where you are and bring about the death to sin that He demands of you and gives you the new life that He promises you.
Jesus warns the disciples of the dangers of salt losing its saltiness. What does that mean? Can salt lose it’s saltiness? Not if it’s pure. If we’re talking about pure salt, or sodium chloride, then it cannot become unsalty. But with impure salt, the sodium chloride can be leaked out. Salt is a preservative, and in Christ Jesus, you are preserved eternally. You are "salted" with the blood of Christ and you are able to stand righteous in front of God.
But what about your neighbor? In today’s lesson, Jesus says that "Whoever is not against us is for us." Compare that to what Malcolm X said in the 1960s referring to his segment of the civil rights movement; "Whoever is not for us is against us." Obviosuly, Jesus saw things differently. Whoever is not intentionally opposed to the Body of Christ is for the Body of Christ.
Don’t be misled, this is not universalism. He does not say "part" of us or part of the Body of Christ, He says "for us." He is talking about your neighbor. They are for the Body of Christ; for the Body of Christ to love and serve and proclaim the good news of Christ Jesus to.
They are for us so that through us, the Holy Spirit can work to bring them into the eternal truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, where they can also be preserved eternally, where they can also be brought into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and where they can also make the transition from being simply ‘for’ the Body of Christ to being part of the Body of Christ.
Amen
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have to tell you this morning that I can really relate to what the disciples are going through in today’s Gospel lesson. Today’s lesson opens with John telling Jesus that he and the disciples saw someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and then they tell Jesus that they tried to stop him because he was not "following them."
Now there are a lot of different ways that you can look at this incident, and none of them really portray the disciples in too positive a light. When you look at this and ask yourself ‘why would the disciples try to stop this this man,?’ it’s hard to really come up with a good reason.
This person is casting out a demon in Jesus’ name and these disciples try to stop him. Why do they try to stop him?? It seems on one hand, it’s because he’s not one of them, he’s not a part of their group. But I think there is more to it than that. Earlier in the chapter, the disciples were unable to cast a demon from a young boy and Jesus had to come along and save the day. But this guy was able to do it himself. I think the disciples were jealous of the fact that this guy was able to do something that they weren’t.
That’s where I can relate to what the disciples are going through. I have to confess that I am a jealous person. I can relate to that kind of jealousy. In my vast one year of ministry, there have been several occasions where a colleague of mine might share an experience with me of something that had taken place in their ministry that had very fruitful results.
And on one hand, I will be happy for them, it brings me great joy to see God doing something exciting in someone else’s ministry. But on the other hand, I can’t help but at least feel a little envious, sometimes bordering on jealousy. Don‘t get me wrong, this is not to say that I haven‘t had those moments here where I experienced joy at what God is doing here. I‘ve experienced a great deal of joy from the positive response to Bible-studies and seeing people getting involved with Sunday school and VBS, and in many other ways. But there is just something about seeing other people’s success that brings out that ugly green monster of envy.
What about you? How do you react to other people’s success or good fortune? How do react when someone you know gets a new car, or gets a bigger house? Or what about when someone you work with gets a job or promotion that you were hoping for? Or for you farmers, what about when one of your neighbors has a more bountiful yield than you? Certainly part of you is probably happy for the people in those situations, but more than likely there is at least a part of you that experiences envy and maybe even a little jealousy in those situations, and if not in those situations then certainly in other situations.
You all experience those feelings that deep-down you all know stem from looking at what will make you feel better, rather than what will help your neighbor, feelings that stem more from looking at yourself than at those around you and how you can love and serve them the way you are called to; feelings not only like jealousy, but pride, anger, lust and greed, and the list can go on and on.
Earlier this week, I caught a glimpse of a brief clip from an old Billy Graham sermon where he referred to sin as a disease. And it works when you look at how Jesus speaks of how sin relates to parts of your body. Every part of you is inherently sinful.
In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus says that if your hand, foot or eye causes you to stumble, meaning sin, then they should be removed. You could easily add other parts of the body to this list, what if your tongue causes you to stumble? Have you ever uttered a swear word, or said something that hurt someone‘s feelings? What if your mind causes you to stumble? Have you ever had a sinful thought or a lustful longing? Obviously, If you took that literally then none of us would have any arms, legs or eyes and we would be dead.
But that is what Jesus demands of us. Jesus demands our deaths. He demands that we die to ourselves, that we die to the disease of sin. And in baptism, He provides that death. Paul writes in Colossians 2
when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
In baptism, Christ Jesus gives you the death to your sinful self that He demands of you, but then He also raises you again in new life as a new creation. Daily as you live in your baptism, Christ Jesus brings about the death of the sinful self in you and the emergence of the new creation. In the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells the disciples that they will desert Him, and they do.
But the resurrected Jesus does not leave them in their sin. He meets them where they are at, in Galilee, in hiding. The relationship does not end with the falling away of the disciples. The same is true for you. You desert Jesus on a daily basis in sin, but Jesus continues to meet you where you are and bring about the death to sin that He demands of you and gives you the new life that He promises you.
Jesus warns the disciples of the dangers of salt losing its saltiness. What does that mean? Can salt lose it’s saltiness? Not if it’s pure. If we’re talking about pure salt, or sodium chloride, then it cannot become unsalty. But with impure salt, the sodium chloride can be leaked out. Salt is a preservative, and in Christ Jesus, you are preserved eternally. You are "salted" with the blood of Christ and you are able to stand righteous in front of God.
But what about your neighbor? In today’s lesson, Jesus says that "Whoever is not against us is for us." Compare that to what Malcolm X said in the 1960s referring to his segment of the civil rights movement; "Whoever is not for us is against us." Obviosuly, Jesus saw things differently. Whoever is not intentionally opposed to the Body of Christ is for the Body of Christ.
Don’t be misled, this is not universalism. He does not say "part" of us or part of the Body of Christ, He says "for us." He is talking about your neighbor. They are for the Body of Christ; for the Body of Christ to love and serve and proclaim the good news of Christ Jesus to.
They are for us so that through us, the Holy Spirit can work to bring them into the eternal truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus, where they can also be preserved eternally, where they can also be brought into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and where they can also make the transition from being simply ‘for’ the Body of Christ to being part of the Body of Christ.
Amen
posted by Steve at 1:57 PM
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