Does this morning’s passage from Mark’s Gospel bother you? Are you a little put out by Jesus’ suggestion that people drown themselves, pluck out eyes and cut off limbs? How about being tossed into this place where there is always fire and the worm never dies (whatever that means)?
Frankly, if you’re not somewhat bothered by Jesus’ words this morning, I don’t think you’re paying attention to what’s being said. Because it seems very unlike the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” to be referring to people maiming themselves or being thrown into the unquenchable fire with some kind of “undead, zombie” worms; all because they led one of the little ones astray. So, maybe there is something else going on here; something that deserves a closer look.
All of this horrible language comes after some interesting, overlapping stories. You may remember back in chapter 6 of Mark, Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs to do mission work. He trained them and gave them authority over unclean spirits. Then they went out and performed exorcisms, anointed people, and cured them of sicknesses – all with great success. Now here we are in chapter 9, And while Jesus, Peter, James, and John were on the mountain for Jesus’ transfiguration, the remaining nine disciples could not cast a demon out of a young boy in the village. So when Jesus came down the mountain, He had to exorcise the spirit Himself. Then the disciples – having failed in the work they were trained to do – spent their time on the road arguing with each other about which of them would be greatest when Jesus was gone. After that, we get this morning’s story where John tells Jesus that some other person was exorcising demons in Jesus’ name (apparently successfully) and the disciples told the man to stop, because “he was not following us.”
What do those stories have to do with Jesus’ hyperbolic discussion about drowning, self-mutilation and burning? Simply this … Jesus saw a disturbing trend beginning in His group of disciples and He used extremely strong language (what we might call “over the top” language) to get their attention and put an immediate stop to this trend.
When the disciples saw this unnamed man casting out demons in Jesus’ name, they didn’t talk to the man to see if he too would like to become a disciple of Jesus. They did not even talk to Jesus about how He would like this situation handled. Instead, they took it upon themselves to stop this man from performing good works in Jesus’ name, “because he was not following us.” Notice that John said, “he was not following us.” Do you remember a single time in the Gospels where Jesus says, “come and follow us?” He never says anything like that. He always says, “follow me.” The disciples elevated themselves way beyond anywhere they should have been. AND what happened as a result of their actions and attitudes, was that they began to put up barriers that separated faithful followers from other faithful followers.
When the disciples were following Jesus and were in tune with His mission, they were capable of doing deeds of great power and were able to get wonderful results. But when they began to think too highly of themselves and their ministry, they lost the essence of His ministry – and they began to put up walls between people so that they could protect “their ministry” from what other people were doing. Jesus wanted them to understand exactly how destructive that attitude was, and how He would not tolerate it.
In America today, there is destructive division everywhere one cares to look. You folks know me well enough now, to know that this will NOT be a partisan diatribe in which I call out one political party as the “bad guy.” However, I do see the political climate in our country as emblematic of what Jesus wanted the disciples to avoid.
All over this nation (but particularly on television news channels) there are dividing lines drawn – sometimes over real issues, other times over manufactured ones. And when these dividing lines are drawn, no one ever says, “I think you are wrong on that issue. I see it differently. Let’s discuss it.” Instead, they yell at each other, or they don’t address the issue at all, but rather call the other person vile names and ascribe horrible motives to that person’s decision making. Everywhere we look today there is conflict between people. It’s geopolitical, it’s economic, it’s social, it’s racial, now it is even medical.
That is the world in which we 21st Century American Christians find ourselves operating. With conflict surrounding us, Jesus calls us to be united (to be the one Body of Christ), working in a unified way to accomplish the mission God has given us. But just like the original disciples, we tend to put up barriers that separate us one from another. If you’ve ever served on any type of ecumenical board, you know what I mean.
When groups of Christians from different denominations get together, they may share a common goal; they may even have the same basic understanding about the direction they need to take to reach that goal. But when it comes to the concrete steps to be taken in the project … every denomination has its own ideas about how that looks. You don’t have to reach across denominational lines to see this behavior though.
It even shows up on Bishop’s committees or Vestries. What is important in the day-to-day operation of the church can look vastly different from one person to another. If we lose sight of what we are doing; or if we lose sight of the fact that we all work for Jesus; we can begin to take the same path that the disciples were headed down in the 9th chapter of Mark.
John Winthorp was a Puritan clergyman who sailed to America in 1630. He was the spiritual leader of a group of like-minded, but in many ways diverse people who felt called together to accomplish a huge mission, on behalf of Jesus. When their ship was ready to land at the new Massachusetts colony, Winthorp gathered all of the people together for a worship service. During his sermon, he told them this:
We must strengthen, defend, preserve and comfort each other.
We must love one another.
We must bear one another's burdens.
We must not look only on our things, but also on the things of our brethren.
We must rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together.
It is this sort of “one-ness,” this sort of idea that we truly are the Body of Christ, all members working together for the good of the whole, that Jesus wanted to get across to the disciples. And it is a call Jesus tells us to be about today.
There is more than enough division in the world. Whether it be political, socio-economic, racial, ethnic, religious, medical, or any of a host of other issues, the world does not need more division. What the world needs is more of the love of God, as shown forth through the unified Body of Christ. This gathering of people, in St. Joseph, Louisiana a part of that Body. WE can begin to bring unity, healing and hope to this divided world, one person & and one situation at a time.
Let’s answer God’s call and BE that unified body of Christ.
In the name of one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
[Proper 21B Sermon, 9/26/2021, Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29; Psalm 19:7-14 James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50]
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