Whoever Is Not Against Us

I begin with a reading from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 9, verses 38-50 (N.R.S.V.)

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 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.

     “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.   If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.,   And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

     “For everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

When I was a young boy I used to enjoy making “forts”.  A fort could be as simple as a big cardboard box with some holes cut in it for windows and doors, or it could be a place of sanctuary high in a tree put together with scrap boards and a few nails. There were forts were made with straw bales at my uncle’s farm, or forts created by a small clearing in the bush that only my buddies and I knew about.  And that seemed to be the most important part of a fort – only certain people knew about it, or only certain people were allowed in it.  The stereotypical sign for a boy’s fort in those days was “No girls allowed”.  We knew who was part of the inner circle and anyone else simply wasn’t allowed in.

It’s one thing to see children at play be so exclusive, that can be excused as simple lack of maturity and understanding.  It’s quite another to see grown adults engaged in a process of protecting the inner circle by excluding all others.  Our gospel reading today begins with that very scenario.

In the Gospel reading I began with the disciples announce to Jesus that they tried to stop someone who was casting out demons in his name.  The fact that he was throwing demons out of people didn’t seem to be their main concern, rather it is latter part of the verse 38 that  reveals the real issue: the disciples complain “because he wasn’t following us.”

Perhaps there was some jealousy at work here.  Earlier in the 9th Chapter of Mark the disciples were not able to cast out a demon that was causing a boy to throw himself in the fire.  Then they come across a person who is not part of their inner circle who is having success casting out demons in Jesus’ name.  He is doing what the disciples could not.  That probably made them frustrated and angry – so they tried to stop him.  This unknown exorcist was not part of the club and thus, in their minds, he had no right to be throwing out demons in Jesus’ name.  They tried to stop something that, to all onlookers, would have been seen as a positive thing.  Why couldn’t the disciples see that someone who was able to relieve people of the evil forces that oppressed and harmed them was a good work?  Why didn’t they encourage this unknown minister working in Jesus’ name?  Is it because they were so wrapped up in self-worth derived from being part of the inner circle of Jesus that they simply couldn’t let anyone else close to that place of honor?

This is the same group of disciples that Jesus just chastised because they were arguing amongst themselves about who was the greatest.  This is the same group of disciples that would soon try to prevent children from coming to Jesus.  This is the same group of disciples that wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritan village that didn’t welcome them. There is great irony in that scene – the disciples, who were not always good at welcoming those they saw as outsiders, wanted revenge on a village that was simply acting the way the disciples themselves did – being non-welcoming.

Jesus is concerned with not limiting anyone’s access to the good news he brings to the world.  Jesus teaches his followers that “Whoever is not against us is for us.”  That opens the door pretty wide for disciples who were interested in keeping the fort for themselves only.  Jesus once again shows a desire to be inclusive rather than exclusive.  Jesus wants to welcome all into the abundant life he is offering.  Excluding others has been a problem in the church ever since the earliest days of the Christian faith.  The Apostle Paul had to struggle to get Gentiles accepted as full members of the Christian church.  Many in the early church centered in Jerusalem wanted to keep the Church for “Jewish people only.”  Throughout the centuries the church has too often been guilty of saying only for certain people could belong.  Sometimes the exclusivity was expressed indirectly, such as when the language used in worship could only be understood by some. Other times the exclusivity was more direct as when some churches in the United States posted signs that stated “Whites Only”. 

Whenever we act in such a manner we are repeating the mistakes of the disciples who tried to stop the un-named exorcist from his Jesus empowered healing ministry.  We are too often blind to the workings of the Holy Spirit throughout the world, believing that God can only work through our particular group.

After the correcting the disciples in their attempt to shut down an outsider from ministry, Jesus continues with a strong warning “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”   The word in this passage that is translated in English as “stumbling block” is the Greek word scandala.  This Greek word is the orgin of our English word scandal. It can mean to stumble, but it can also mean “to cause offense”.   Jesus is telling his followers that if they do anything that causes someone to lose their faith, or to restricts a person’s access to the Saviour, then it would be better if they were given cement boots and tossed overboard (to put it in more modern terms).  Notice that Jesus is not referring to others, to outsiders, he is speaking directly to his followers, his disciples, using the pronoun “you”.  Given that this warning follows so quickly after the story of the un-named exorcist, and just before the disciples attempt to prevent the children from coming to Jesus, this is a strong criticism of their behaviour.

Jesus uses harsh language to say “Wake up!  Pay attention!  Don’t you see what you are doing?  By your actions you are trying to restrict the work of the Holy Spirit, you are trying to limit where and with whom God can work.  You are trying to limit how God works, excluding others you don’t consider as rightfully belonging. This restriction of the expansion of God’s realm is one of the worst things you can do.  Better if you just removed yourself from the picture rather than be found to be in opposition to God’s will.”

Then to drive the point home Jesus uses the same term scandala to talk about the trouble our eyes, hands and feet can cause.   Again speaking in hyperbole Jesus says it would be better if you removed the offending part, whether that be one’s eye or hand or foot.  Many people have assumed that Jesus’ reference to sin in these verses is about breaking the commandments – thus if your hand causes you to steal, or your eye causes you to covet, or your foot causes you to murder – then better to cut these body parts off.  But considering the context in which the gospel writer Mark puts these verses, I think Jesus is referring to any form of attitude or action that cause someone else to lose their faith, or to not come to Jesus in the first place – these are things that must be guarded against.

We need to ask ourselves “What are some of the stumbling blocks Christians today are guilty of setting in front of others?”  Are we ready to take a good hard look at the ways we have caused others to lose their faith in God, or to have no desire to come to Christ in the first place?  Are we prepared to ask ourselves hard questions like “Do I behave in such a way as to hinder others from seeing the love of Jesus?”

I have learned that one of the biggest reasons people today are not interested in the Christian faith is because of the hypocrisy they see in our actions and attitudes.  Like the disciples in our gospel reading today, we still want to designate who’s in and who’s out. Most people today know that Christians are supposed to “Love others as we love ourselves.”  We talk a lot about love, but then we too easily slip into expressions of judgment.  We say that Jesus welcomes all people into his fold, but then we shun those who are not like us.  Such hypocrisy is a stumbling block, causing many to turn away from the message of Jesus.  Too often we have become like the Jesus’ disciples who tried to prevent the children from coming to him because they felt that was not appropriate.  We have set ourselves up as the judges of what is appropriate and what isn’t appropriate, and like the disciples of 2000 years ago we too can interrupt the ministry of others because we can’t understand how God would ever work in people like that!

I am reminded of a song by Noel Paul Stookey, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.  A number of years ago he wrote a song called “Peace in the Valley”  The last verse of that song goes like this:

So if you meet a man in a pastel suit

With an alligator Bible to match his boots

You might not like his style too much

But if he could reach a soul you could never touch

You gotta say...

Peace in the Valley

Peace on the mountain too

Before you tell a man he's got a splinter in his eye

You better pull the log out of you.

It is too easy for me to look down at Christians from other denominations and faith traditions, to think that God really works best through Lutherans, but such arrogance is exactly what the disciples were exhibiting in today’s gospel reading.  I need to be reminded, again and again, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”    I need to rejoice when I see evidence of God’s Spirit working through the efforts of other people, even if they are people quite different from me, even if they are people I don’t agree with on some issues, even if they are people I would hesitate to call Christian.  There is so much evil in the world, we should, as disciples of the Prince of Peace, be glad whenever there are actions and attitudes of love and acceptance, forgiveness and healing – regardless of who is performing those actions.  We need to be more concerned with our own failures in following Christ rather than in the perceived failures in others.

Jesus calls us to follow him, but then he also calls us to “get out of the way” if we are hindering others from experiencing the healing and transforming grace of God, if we are restricting access to the one who calls us to be agents of peace rather than gatekeepers of the fort.  The gospel reading for today ends with this important command of Jesus “be at peace with one another.”  May we strive to be peace makers, especially with those we have understood to be outside our group.  And may our peace making become the attitude that we are known for, that we might draw all people to the Prince of Peace.