Balance of Responsibility          Numbers 11 and Mark 9:38-50       P17b-06   Oct. 1, 2006        Rev. Laird Duran

I think John was jealous. Someone else, someone the disciples and Jesus didn’t know was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Casting out demons means that they were curing people who were suffering in any way, healing the sick, helping the mentally ill, and forgiving sins that haunted them and their families. John was jealous because these people who didn’t follow Jesus were casting out these demons in his name. John thought that Jesus would want to keep all that power and notoriety for himself and his disciples who were close to him.

Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power and uses my name will ever be able to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water and uses my name will not lose his reward.” In the days before doctors, hospitals, therapy and medicine the sick and mentally ill were in every family. The prisons, like today were full of sick people talking to themselves. Jesus did not plan to build an empire where he was the only one who could heal the sick and cast out those demons. He expected and even hoped that others would do the things he was doing, even using his name in doing so.

So the question I want to address is, Should we encourage others to do what we have been doing ourselves? When do we encourage others to do what we have been doing all our lives? Now you might say, “Of course we should allow others to do what we’ve been doing. What’s the problem?” But I say, not so fast.

Let me tell you a story about a family of five people, Genetta and George and their three teenage children. This day was typical of most days. Genetta came home from work and found the garbage cans lying on the curb after the morning trash pickup. When she came inside, there was a sink full of dishes from that had piled up since yesterday, the last day she washed the dishes.

That was normal because George and the three teens had an unspoken assumption that it was Genetta’s job to do the take in the trash cans and wash the dishes. On rare occasions, when Genetta asked for help, they did for that one time. When George came home, he said, “Genetta, you forgot to take in the trash cans and wash the dishes.”

Genetta said, “How did I get that responsibility?” She decided then and there, not to bring in the trash cans or wash the dishes. Genetta had a habit of doing things that others could do themselves, and now it was time for her to make a change.

Notice I didn’t say she was going to make the rest of her family change. That would be simple revenge and manipulation, and it would not help the family. She decided she was going to change by not taking out the trash and washing others dirty dishes. She couldn’t change others to suit her wishes. She could only change her response to what others do, or in this case, don’t do.

When Genetta took responsibility that belongs to others, she was robbing them of the opportunity of taking responsibility. Their could be many reasons for this. Without realizing it, Jeanette had been an enabler for their poor behavior. Now she decided to stop that.

Her husband George and their teen age children had come to think that she should do these things for them. When that happens in a family, excessive dependency leads to problems like divorce and children that never mature because they never learn to take responsibility.

Genetta decided it was time for a change. One Saturday, the day she usually reserved for housework, she announced that she would be away all day, and left the garbage cans in the street and the dirty dishes in the sink. When she returned late that night her family was angry. They said “How could you do this to us? You don’t care about us anymore."   But it didn’t last. Eventually, they talked about it, and they found ways to share responsibility for the dirty dishes and trash removal. Over time, her family was started to find a balance between personal freedom and family responsibility.

Meet another fellow who was an enabler of his people’s poor behavior. His name was Moses, and he was the leader of the Israelites, who were very dependant on him and on God. For a while, they were thankful for their freedom from slavery in Egypt. They were glad to be on their way to God's promised land through the dessert wilderness. When they were hungry, God provided manna from heaven for them. But after a short time, they wanted the good food they were getting back in Egypt when they were slaves, meat and fresh vegetables. They complained to Moses, angry with him and God. They said they were better off in Egypt.

Moses had it with them. He told God he was ready to through in the towel. He prayed to God, "Why are you doing this to me, all these people pestering me. Am I their mother? If that's what your purpose is for me, kill me now. If I have favor with you, spare me of this trouble."

God answered Moses' prayer. God told Moses to gather the 70 leaders of the community, the elders and officers of the people. They got together in one tent, and the Spirit moved over them. I would love to read the minutes from that meeting, but we don't have that recorded in the story. What is recorded is that they all felt the Spirit of God, and the responsibility for leadership was shared among all 70 of them.

In our reading, it says they all prophesied together. That means they talked about their future and where God was leading them. When that happened, God sent flocks of quails to eat. Eventually by the grace of God, they arrived at the promised land. There is a lesson that applies to families and congregations and even nations.

Unilateral decisions or actions at any level are a seed bed for disaster and discontent. When a leader makes decisions or takes action by himself or herself, it leads to problems. But when people come together to take action, we will see the power of the Holy Spirit. Some modern writers have called this synergy. Synergy means that the power of all working together is greater than the power of individuals working by themselves. In government, this is what makes democracy work so well.

In the gospel reading, Jesus warned us about taking care of the little ones. He told the disciples not to do anything that prevents the children from coming to him and developing a strong faith.

Years ago, I had a course in parenting called Parent Effectiveness Training. It’s a dated program now, but the goal of parenting is still the same. The goal of being a parent is to raise children to become responsible adults who have integrity.

The goal of the Christian is to raise other Christians to be responsible Christians who glorify God in following Christ. That means that they will have to learn to cast out the demons and solve their problems. A parent’s role is to help them learn to do that. That means we have to be involved with them and stay close to them, but to allow them to take the lead in resolving their issues.

Jesus said told us to have salt in ourselves. We usually hear in the other gospels that we are the salt of the world. That’s true, too. But let us first have salt in ourselves. What does that mean? Salt is a seasoning, and salt is a preservative. In the world, evil is always finding a way, destroying lives in our families and our children. Death destroys us. Sickness takes our breath away. We are all perishable, like the food in our refrigerator. The salt we have in ourselves is the power of the gospel, the news of God’s power for the world.

A little salt goes a long way. When we add salt to food, its taste changes. When we add the salt of the gospel to a person’s life, his whole life changes. Families can be restored. Death no longer is to be feared, because Jesus already beat death when he rose from the dead. Have the salt of the promise of Jesus in yourselves! Amen

Amen