Sermon September 29, 2024
“Teacher!” The Apostle John exclaimed, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” Our story today doesn’t waste a moment of time in getting to the point. Last week we talked about how the disciples were involved in a discussion about who was the greatest. Jesus issued what was, for Him, a mild rebuke of the disciples, and then He took the time to try to teach the disciples that those who are the greatest in God’s kingdom, are those who do the most for others; that servanthood is the mark of the true disciple. But now, the disciples see a person who is not a part of their inner circle, and that person is casting out demons in Jesus’ name. How dare they?
I have to say that, for me, the patience that Jesus had with the disciples is extremely encouraging, because I have certainly had my own share of “Duh!” moments in my lifetime, and I know that Jesus has, time and time again, displayed that same patience with me. But here we are, probably with the child from last week’s story still sitting on Jesus’ lap and possibly just moments removed from the part of Mark’s story where Jesus had to gently reprimand the disciples and teach them that true greatness in the kingdom isn’t about power or influence, but about servanthood. And in spite of this possibly only moments old lesson on humility, the disciples have once again exhibited a lack of understanding of the nature of servanthood.
For whatever reason, John and the disciples felt threatened by this other person who was claiming to work in Jesus’ Name without being one of His actual followers. We don’t really know why they felt this way, jealousy perhaps? Maybe they felt that this person was undermining their authority as disciples, or perhaps somehow diminishing their status or prestige. Maybe they thought that this other person was misleading people, or not fully understanding Jesus’ teachings? (As if the disciples actually fully understood Jesus’ teachings!) But without regard to why the disciples felt this way, the disciples said to Jesus, “Make him stop!”
Jesus responds to their request by explaining to them why this person doing what they are doing is a good thing and not a bad thing. “Whoever is not against us is for us” Jesus said. Jesus then again begins to explain to the disciples about servanthood.
After Jesus tells the disciples that whoever is not against us is for us, Jesus tells them that “anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”
Last week, the lesson on servanthood was about individual servanthood, as Jesus instructed the disciples about how their understanding of personal greatness and status just wasn’t applicable in God’s kingdom. And that the disciples individually needed to begin to develop a servant’s heart if they wanted to become a productive part of that kingdom. But now, today, Jesus begins to teach about collective discipleship and about how the church needs to work together to accomplish God’s purposes. In the simple act of giving a glass of water, one disciple is supporting another in their ministry. And as anyone who has ever undertaken even the tiniest task at church knows, the help and support of others is enormously important. Even when that support comes in the seemingly unimportant form of a little encouragement, or prayer, or handling some little bit of paperwork, or even bringing a snack at an opportune time, discipleship is at its best when it is a team sport.
This person who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name was healing the sick and was offering new life to others in Jesus’ name. I do believe that this fits the textbook description of discipleship. The disciples, instead of having chosen to become insular, would have best served their discipleship role by supporting this other person. Rather than asking them to stop, there should have been high fives all around.
I have an honest question. Can we look at this part of the story and see the difference between the selfish, worldly response of the disciples and the loving and supportive response advocated by Jesus? In a place where we might not have expected to find a lesson about love, we have run right straight into one. If the disciple’s hearts were filled with the love of God, their natural response to this person WOULD have been one of support and encouragement. This is a wonderful illustration of how having the love of God in our hearts will impact our actions. It is what Jesus has been trying to teach all along, but something that the disciples are not going to understand fully until they experience the filling of the Holy Spirit. But WE don’t have to wait to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit is already in us. It is Jesus’ automatic gift to all who follow Him, so for us it isn’t a matter of waiting on God to bring us understanding and a loving heart, those things are already within us; we just need to learn to listen to the Spirit so that we can develop those attitudes of loving and understanding.
And at this point, I have to say that the rest of this week’s lesson contains some things that are hard to hear. And so, I want to say up front that the Bible absolutely does not always ask us to take it literally. It is important, of course, always to take it seriously, but we do need to understand that the Bible sometimes uses hyperbole to make a point.
Sometimes this hyperbole is apparent, and sometimes not so much. When Mark told us back in chapter one that when John the Baptist was baptizing, and I quote, “All the land of Judea and all that were in Jerusalem were baptized by him” do we think that every, single, person who lived in Palestine was baptized by John? No, of course not! We recognize the fact that, in this instance, the Bible is using hyperbole to express the fact that a whole lot of people did come to be baptized… just not all of them.
2nd Chronicles tells us that Solomon, and I quote, “Made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones”. Again, we recognize this instantly as hyperbole because of the context. We know that gold and silver were not really as common as rocks, but the text is making the point that the amount of gold and silver used by Solomon was extraordinary. Now, no one would take either of these examples literally but would just pretty much instinctively understand them as exaggerations to make a point. Today, Jesus will be using some allegorical language that, because of the context, may not be so easily identifiable as hyperbole. But we will need to approach these texts with the same understanding that these are exaggerations to make a point.
Returning to our story, Jesus then says that “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck, and they were thrown into the sea.” The Greek word that Mark uses that we translate as stumble is σκανδαλίσῃ (scandalize) a word that, in the Greek, meant to set a snare, to trap something or someone. It implies a purposeful act of hindering a person in some way. But Jesus doesn’t want anything getting in the way of a person choosing to follow Him. He doesn’t want the disciples hindering this person who is casting out demons in His name. And He certainly doesn’t want the disciples hindering themselves by failing to love and support each other.
Michael K. Marsh has a wonderful website called Interrupting the Silence, and he has a great, and thorough explanation of this, “Jesus is once again asking us to look at ourselves, to be self-reflective. It’s as if he saying to John, ‘Don’t you worry about that other guy. You worry about yourself.’ He’s asking us to look within. The greatest stumbling blocks are not outside us but within us: anger and revenge, the judgments we make of others, prejudice, our desire to get ahead and be number one, the need to be right, our unwillingness to listen, the assumption that we know more and better than another, living as if our way is the only and right way, pride, fear, being exclusionary, our busyness, lies, gossip, our desire for power and control. These, and a thousand other things like them, are what cause others and us to fall.” 1 And Jesus doesn’t leave any room for doubt about how important this is. Yes, the millstone is hyperbole. But as I said before, the Bible doesn’t always ask us to take it literally, but it does require us to take it seriously. Jesus wants us to know on no uncertain terms that personal discipleship, and corporate discipleship are both absolute keys to living lives of eternal significance.
Now, there is one really important thing to remember any time we study the Bible, and that is that no verse stands alone! Each and every verse of the Bible needs to be understood in the light of the witness of the entire Bible. So, when the Bible teaches us in multiple places that self-injury is a violation of the Law, or that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and so should be honored, the only way to square these teachings with the amputations suggested in this passage is to understand them as hyperbole to make a point, not unlike that 2nd Chronicles claim that gold and silver became as common as rocks. But Jesus is using this harsh language to emphasize to us just how critical this teaching is.
As Jesus continues, here is where things get a bit hard to hear. But in His discussion about hands feet and eyes, let’s tie this part of the conversation in with the part that just transpired. If our hands represent the things that we DO, is it fair to say that things that we do can trip someone up? Or trip us up? How about if our feet represent where we GO? Same thing? And if our eyes represent the things to which we turn our attention, can that trip someone up? Can that trip us up?
For us to be a stumbling block or a snare, whether through our actions or our presence or that to which we give our attention, is absolutely to be avoided, and to be avoided without regard to the personal cost to us. Are we beginning to see how this part of the discussion is still thoroughly tying in with the idea of serving others instead of ourselves? Can we hear in Jesus’ words once again the call to deny ourselves that we may be a blessing to others? Can we circle back to the disciple’s actions in this morning’s reading and see how what they did and what they said could have been a stumbling block or a snare to the person who was casting out demons? Can we see how what the disciples did and said were absolutely a stumbling block to them? Can we see how, in the disciple’s rejection of their brothers or sisters in Christ, they were failing to love? And can we see how that failure to love moved the disciples further away from the kingdom of God?
If our goal is discipleship, the last thing in all the world that we want is to be moving in the wrong direction. This is why Jesus used such harsh language. Jesus really wanted to make the point that guarding what we do, where we go, and what we give our attention, is an essential part of growing into discipleship.
I’d like to close with an explanation that I hope won’t sound too convoluted. First, most important, WE ARE FORGIVEN! Anything and everything in our lives that fails to be 100% Christ-like has already been dealt with at the cross. If our hearts belong to Jesus there is no worry and no fear about our eternity, because Jesus has covered all of that for us once and for all.
Second, while the imperfections and indiscretions of those who belong to Christ are forgiven, not everything is beneficial. God has called us to a higher purpose. He has called us to live lives of eternal significance, and sometimes living in that way means not doing things our way. It means not seeking our own comfort and satisfaction, but rather that of others. And yes, that IS a sacrifice, but that brings us to the third thing which is the fact that there is an unimaginable joy that we will find in dedicating ourselves to loving others.
And finally, listening to, and obeying the Spirit takes practice. Just like anything else in life, we learn from our experiences. How is it the old saying goes? “Good judgment comes from experience, and well, most experience comes from bad judgment”. But God is unwaveringly faithful. If the true desire of our hearts is to serve God, He will be relentless in teaching us how to do that. And the end result of God’s efforts will be that we will develop a heart that looks like His heart. And we will find that those self-serving impulses that we occasionally feel will begin to give way to a love that permeates our thoughts and our actions.
Finally, DO NOT be discouraged if there are times when we aren’t feeling as loving or as charitable as we thing we should. We are human, and worldly feelings will never fully go away until the day that our faith becomes sight. Warren Wiersbe explained this beautifully when he said, “The Spirit may use the body to glorify God, or the flesh may use the body to serve sin. When sinners yield to Christ, [they] receive a new nature within, but the old nature is neither removed nor reformed. For this reason, there is a battle within”. 2 But in light of this battle, it’s important to remember that we are in good company. Possibly the most encouraging thing I can say about all of this is to quote Paul’s letter to the church at Rome where he said “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” We are all in the same boat as Paul. We know where we want to go as disciples, but sometimes we stumble. If God didn’t already expect that of us, He wouldn’t have had to send His Son.
My beloved friends, let us not be discouraged by focusing on the missteps that can cause us to stumble. Rather let us press on towards the goal of living our lives in such a way that they become lives of eternal significance.
1 https://interruptingthesilence.com/2018/09/30/first-do-no-harm-a-sermon-on-mark-938-50/
2 Warren Wiersbe (I copied this quote a long time ago and do not remember from where I copied it. My best guess is one of his “Be” series books, which I highly recommend)
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