09/27/2009   17th  Sunday of Pentecost  Mark 9:38-50     – By Pastor Mark Moore            Older Sermons

“I heard a story the other day

   that reminded me of some members of my own extended family

      big,  outsized Texas personalities 

I had an uncle who was a cattle commissioner here in Ft. Worth

   white Stetson, Kakhi pants, little skinny tie  - the whole nine yards 

and  I’ve got cousins  …second cousins

   whose father had made buckets of money as a Wildcatter in the East Texas oil boom

      years and years ago and they’re still living the “Oil man” lifestyle 

They all talked kind of like the cartoon character “Foghorn Leghorn”

    “they was in Awl Biddnes Son” 

[slight pause

The story concerns a Lutheran pastor who had been playing golf with his buddies

   and they had stopped in at the course lounge to review their game

      and in walked a fellow named Hugh

Hugh was straight from Hollywood central casting

  just what a Texas oil man should look like   red-faced, large, and loud 

Hugh always wanted you to know that he was in the house

  He was a back-slapping, hee-hawing fellow

     both on the golf course and in the town 

Funny thing was that nobody wanted to play golf with him

   because he was so overbearing, so obnoxious 

But on this day, Hugh walked into the 19th Hole and was living large,

   a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other

He came up to the table with this pastor and started talking loud

   the only volume level he had,

      so loud that the attention of the room naturally turned to him 

He bellowed at the pastor

   "You Lutherans don't believe in the Bible, do you?!"  

Rather than take the bait, the pastor just looked at him and smiled,

   hoping he would pass on by like Texas thunderstorm

      hopefully without getting struck by lightening 
 
He went on, " I want to go to a church that is Bible-believing. Do you understand me?

  A place where the preacher is not trying to tippy-toe

     around the hard lessons of Jesus  

   A preacher who will lay it on the line, not try to water down the Gospel

      I want a preacher who will be bold and put it out there,

          the full measure of the Bible, not hold back a lick 

   I want a preacher who will not let sinners slide and will call them out by name

      I want the full Gospel.

          I don't want a preacher to pussy-foot around the message of Jesus." 

The pastor took a long sip from his glass

   "You want the full Gospel, Hugh?

       You mean the part about selling all you have and giving it to the poor?"

          or the part about “taking up your cross”

               or the part about “bearing the burdens of others” 

A pregnant silence fell over the room,

   after which Hugh responded, "Well, not that part!"  
 

The room broke up in laughter

   Hugh left as quietly as possible

      The Presbyterians, Methodists, and Episcopals were high-fiving

          It was like David had slain Goliath once again 
 

But the story causes me to think  -  what part of the Gospel do I avoid?" 

And the truth is that there's a tendency in everyone of us

   to avoid the hard parts of the Gospel

       when they are inconvenient to our habits, our lifestyles,

           our ways of being in the world 

[slight pause

This inconvenient truth is found in our Gospel lesson for today

We are continuing on the road with Jesus

   following the watershed moment of Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi 

Last week, we remembered Jesus' call to servant-hood

   to follow him in the way 
 

And we remember that the disciples didn't get it,

   as they argued about who was greatest among them,

      with Jesus pointedly reminding them

         that to be first is to be last, to be servant of all 

Tough messages, on what it means to be a follower,

    a disciple, an apprentice in the way of Jesus 
 

Here today Jesus is getting serious with his students 
 

He's using a somewhat gory but poetic image

   of getting rid of anything that gets in the way of your following in his way 

If your hand, eye or foot causes you to sin,

   you're better to cut it off or pluck it out 

The image here is powerful:

   Whatever gets in the way of your discipleship needs to go

      It needs to be jettisoned  
 

[slight pause
 

In the immediate setting of this gospel story

   the disciples were on their way to Jerusalem

      and it was the issue of competitiveness that was getting in the way 
 

It was competitiveness within the inner circle

   as to who was greatest 

This week it seems to be a competition between other groups

   that were doing ministry in Jesus' name,  

This text presents some ironies

    In the verse just before it, Jesus had said,

        "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me,

        and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." 
 

Now the disciples are trying to stop someone who is acting in Jesus' name 
 

In another verse the disciples will "try to stop" little children from coming to Jesus 
 

In response to this, Jesus declares:

   "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child

    will never enter it." 

Another irony is that this unnamed man,   is casting out demons in Jesus' name

   something that earlier in this chapter, the disciples were unable to do  

But at this point their complaint against him

     is that "he was not following us."  
 

They know that he is acting in Jesus' name

   The problem is that he doesn't belong to our group

      this passage may tell us that the Twelve saw themselves as the only ones

          authorized to do such things 

At this point in the story

   are the disciples "insiders" or "outsiders"?  
 

They don't understand what rising from the dead means  
 

They don't understand Jesus' passion/resurrection prediction  
 

They argue about who is the greatest 

Does their lack of understanding make them the "outsiders,"

   while this unnamed exorcist may be an "insider,"

       even though he doesn't belong to the group? 

Do they sound like Hugh in my opening story

A professor of theology once said:

     "Whenever you want to draw lines in order to mark who is outside the kingdom

      and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line!

      Jesus is always with the outsiders!" 

This speaks directly to our own setting

    as we see Christian groups positioned against one another  

It's amazing to me to see the bitterness between and within denominations

   who declare that their way is the "right way,"

       demonizing people who might approach the Gospel

           from a different perspective 
 

I'm reminded of the seminary

   where one of my buddies and I would argue all night long

      about various theological concepts

          That's the bread and butter of seminary life, you know 

At the end of our dialogue, someone would say,

   "Well, you just keep believing your way,

        and I will keep believing God's way!" 

and then we’d accuse each other of theological imperialism

    which now sounds funny

        until we run into its manifestations in congregations 
 
 

Then it gets nasty 
 

It devolves into judgmentalism 
 

It concludes in name calling, and thus the body of Christ is painfully divided 

[slight pause

What was true for the disciples has been true throughout history

   The world and the church have fought for centuries in a fence-building frenzy

       The stories of the past schisms and divisions are legion

           And, living out the tendencies of the same human nature,

              we still act this way in our time 
 

Standing against this, Jesus’ words remind us

    that Christianity is not the preserve of a privileged few  

He reminds us that no one seeking to do the Lord’s work is an outsider 
 

He reminds us to welcome all people who are willing to join the journey,

   following our Lord

Over and over again, Jesus’ words remind us to be including – not excluding

 
 

Over and over again, Jesus’ words rebuke us when we turn against others

    because they are different 
 

Over and over again, the life Jesus lived, and the way he taught his first disciples

   remind us of the scandal of our divisions 

[slight pause
 

There is another side to this, of course 
 

Sometimes, conscience and practicality dictate

   that we separate ourselves from others,

       but the message here, at the very least,

          is not to do so lightly – not to draw a line in the sand

             except as a last resort 

Jesus helps us work against the temptation to think that

   “for me to be right,     anyone who disagrees with me must be wrong” 
 

Jesus seems to be telling the disciples something like this:

    “Look for the commonality

         Recognize that there are many among you who might work or think differently,

             but don’t jump to the conclusion that that makes them against you

                 or against me” 

[slight pause
 

Here Jesus gets simple in a wonderfully symbolic image 

He who gives a cup of cold water out of commitment to Jesus' way

   will find the deepest joy known to humankind,

       simply because this servant-hood is how God designed us to be 

When we give of ourselves,

   even in the simple act of giving a cup of water,

       we are participating in the divine 

We are aligned with God's design of creation

    And that sense of doing what God wills,

        fills us with a joy that is beyond mere happiness,

            fills us with a peace that goes beyond our understanding 

When we get serious about our faith,

    we have ears that can hear Jesus' call to us

        to jettison those things that get in the way

           of this image of servant-hood 

We may have to pluck out the judgmental way

   of viewing others that are different from us 
 

We may have to cut off the selfishness

   that drives our lives 
 

We may have to let go of the resentments that clutter our souls 
 

Anything that gets in the way of us getting into the way of Christ must go 
 

This is what it means to get serious about following Jesus,

   not just being a religious affiliate in some church

       or a patron at a museum of religion 
 

Jesus is getting serious

   This has always been the radical call of Jesus to intentional discipleship

       And it still is 

We have this treasure, given to us by God  
 

And all we have to do is receive it 

To embrace our true identity

   is to know the secret about ourselves that flies in the face of logic 
 

    God loves us as we are 
 

          It goes with the territory of being God's creature 

This is the grace that is truly amazing

   And the ethical corollary,   is that this is true for all people 
 

We manifest this spiritual truth by being servants to one another

    This makes it real,    incarnate,    in the flesh 

My own experience of this possibility of spiritual transformation

  comes when we break bread together and when we share the cup,

       when we gather in the community of faith…

          Here the vision of the kingdom of God

               takes on flesh and blood in relationship 
 

[pause
 
 

The second part of the Gospel is a warning against giving scandal 
 

Jesus warns against causing another to stumble,   or be scandalized

  to cause not to believe 

I could argue that Jesus' words indicate the seriousness of any and all sin 
 

Whatever causes us to act contrary to God's will,   needs to be dealt with

   Our relationship with God has to be more important

       than our most important body parts 
 

I think about other body parts Jesus might have mentioned

    that might be more relevant to most of our sinful behaviors 

What if your tongue causes you to stumble?

    Have we ever uttered a swear word, an unkind word, a four letter word?

         Do we need to cut out our tongues?  

What if your brain causes you to stumble?

   Have we ever had a sinful thought, a lustful longing?

      Do we need a lobotomy?

Every part of our human body is sinful 
 

Every part leads us astray and away from God 

What does Christ demand that you do with your sinful parts?

   They must be cut out, removed

       If we were to do that with our whole bodies, we would die

Christ     demands     our deaths

 

However, Christ also provides for our deaths

   through our baptisms into his death 
 

Just what is the scandal in the question of ministry in the church today?  

Is it that people who do not conform to customary patterns

    are disregarding the authority of the tradition

         and are audaciously stepping forward to assume ministerial responsibilities?  
 

Is it that members of the church,

   both those who are in leadership positions and those who are not,

       are insensitive to the prompting of the Spirit

           and insist that the church continue to do things

               the way they have always been done?

Might it be both?

 
 
 

[slight pause

When in the throes of such a struggle,

    it is difficult to have a clear perspective 
 

          It is much easier to cling tenaciously to one’s own position on the matter

Today’s readings remind us that there are important values to preserve

    on both sides of the issue 
 

They also clearly point to the core of the matter,

     namely, the genuine needs of God’s people 
 

Together, as a community, we must discover how these needs can best be served,

   and we must discover this,  while being faithful to both the authentic tradition

       and the mysterious ever-present Spirit of God 
 

The story of today’s gospel is about the disciples’ attempt

    to draw a circle around Jesus and themselves –

         shutting out the one who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name 

Perhaps a short, powerful poem by Edwin Markham can help us remember

   that Jesus ordered the disciples not to exclude that man

        and to recall that those who are not against us are for us 
 

Markham writes:

      “He drew a circle that shut me out –

      Heretic,   rebel,   a thing to flout.

      But Love and I had the wit to win:

      We drew a circle that took him in.”

Amen