By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v38John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn’t belong to our group.”
v39″Do not try to stop him,” Jesus told them, “because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me. v40For whoever is not against us is for us. v41I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward. v42”If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea. v43So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. v45And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell.v47And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. v48There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’ v49″Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt. v50″Salt is good; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?
“Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another.”
– Mark 9:38-50
Stumbling block. This is the recurring refrain in this Sunday’s gospel. We are warned not to allow any stumbling block to get in the way of God’s work – the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes we ourselves might be the stumbling block. The Holy Spirit blows where the Spirit chooses, and it is vain to think we can divert that Spirit. We can try to keep our worship just the way it’s “always been” and grumble over the electric guitar and drums and the songs of the youth every Youth Sunday. We can argue against the approved project or the building committee’s program. In the end we will wear ourselves out and make ourselves unavailable to God’s work, but we will not stop the Spirit working in any way. We may force the Spirit to pass us by, but we will never force the Spirit to change direction. Sometimes we get in the way of the Spirit by getting in the way of our fellow human beings.
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In our Gospel lesson this morning we read John telling Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” How often do we get in the way of other Christians because they are not with our group, that they are not doing things our way? Jesus tells John he should have left the stranger alone. To do good in the name of Jesus is sufficient proof of discipleship. There are more ways than one to follow Jesus. When we meet others who have taken different paths than our own, it is not our business to judge them, but to love them and to celebrate their faith. Even if we feel they are on the wrong path, a helping hand is better than a stumbling block.
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Last week, we heard Jesus troubling the disciples’ understanding of greatness. He provided them with a standard of greatness grounded in service in which “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” True discipleship. Today, we hear Jesus continue with his concern about the misunderstanding his followers have about discipleship. It begins with the disciples concerned about the actions of an exorcist. And Jesus adds, “… Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”Jesus is very clear that nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of those who are seeking the kingdom of God. That applies not only to our neighbors, but also to ourselves. To miss the kingdom is to end up in such misery that we might as well be thrown into hell. On the other hand, life lived with God is so rich and joyful that no sacrifice is too great in the pursuit of God’s kingdom. If your hand, your foot, your eye become stumbling blocks, better to cast them away than to miss the kingdom of God. In his usual vivid way, Jesus is telling his followers and listeners that the kingdom of God is better than anything else life can offer, and nothing must trip us on the way of that kingdom.
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An old man named Calvin had lived a good life as a farmer for years. One day an evangelist came to the community and, during his stay, visited Calvin and asked him what denomination he was. Calvin answered the question like this: “When my grain gets ready for selling, after I’ve harvested it and packaged it, I can take it to town by any one of three roads “ the river road, the dirt road, or the highway. But when I get my grain to town and go to the buyer to sell him what I have, he never looks at me and asks, ˜Calvin, which road did you take to get your grain to town?’ What he does do is ask me if my grain is any good.”
Is your grain good – the grain of your discipleship? That’s all that really matters. When we get to Heaven we will probably find some Roman Catholics, and some Baptists, and some Pentecostals. And they’ll be just as surprised to see us as we will to see them. But we will all belong to just one fellowship. Let’s call it the Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold Water. We will all be people who have lived out our discipleship through acts of kindness to others.As you encounter other people in daily life, your presence can be a stepping stone or a stumbling block on the way to salvation – to Christ. Which do you choose to be?
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v50″Salt is good; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?”Have the salt of friendship among yourselves and live in peace with one another.”
An ancient king once asked his three daughters how much they loved him. One daughter said she loved him more than all the gold in the world. One said she loved him more than all the silver in the world. The youngest daughter said she loved him more than salt. The king was not pleased with this answer. But the cook overheard the conversation, so the next day he prepared a good meal for the king, but left out the salt. The food was so insipid that the king couldn’t eat it. Then he understood what his daughter meant. He understood the value of salt.
In the ancient world salt was a valuable and scarce commodity. It was used as currency in some countries even into modern times. During an invasion of Ethiopia, in the late 19th century, Italian soldiers found blocks of salt stored in bank vaults along with other familiar forms of currency. Jesus was paying his disciples a compliment when he called them salt.(www.Sermons.com). As salt is valuable to give flavor and to preserve from corruption, believers and the church must be godly examples in the world and must resist the moral decay and corruption evident in society.
Let us pray.
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing
mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we,
running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of
your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 21 Collect, BCP)**
