+ Pentecost 18 – September 27th,
2015 +
Redeemer
Lutheran, HB
Series
B: Numbers 11; James 5:1-12; Mark 9:38-50
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
There’s no getting around it, Jesus’ words in Mark 9 are tough
to hear. And if we’re honest, we might even admit that Jesus’ teaching here
makes us uncomfortable. How true C.S. Lewis’s words ring when we hear readings
like this:
“I didn’t go to religion to
make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a
religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend
Christianity” -
C.S. Lewis (God in the Dock).
Yes, being
salted with fire doesn’t sound very comfortable – though Jesus’ refining fire
and preserving salt is good for us.
Jesus warning
against temptation to sin and causing offense also makes us squirm a bit –
divine amputation doesn’t sound like a very good church growth tactic – but
then again, Jesus came as a real savior for real sinners like us. “I came for
the sick, not the healthy,” he says. So that’s our message, not coddling
sinners, but dishing out true consolation week after week in Jesus’ water,
word, body and blood.
And then
there’s John’s comment to Jesus: “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was
not following us.”
What do you do when the Gospel is proclaimed by someone
outside the inner ring of the disciples – or outside of Redeemer, or the
Lutheran Church? How should we respond when someone says or does something
right in Jesus’ Name – and we weren’t the ones saying or doing it? Our first
reaction is to go full-John and say, “Stop that; none of that now. Let me see
some ID.”
We scoff at John’s foolishness. But, John’s words reveal that
we’re no different. The old Adam in each of us is a drama king or queen that
wants everything, everyone, at all times and in all places to be focused on
ourselves.
And in doing so, we turn Christianity into our own twisted
version of a high school lunchroom. The Lutherans are the music geeks. The
Episcopalians are the popular, rich kids with the fancy cars. And the
Evangelicals are trying really hard to get everyone to like them. In the end
everyone is convinced they’re better, smarter, and cooler than the rest, and
everyone else is just doing it wrong.
And, of course, when we do
that, we always naturally put ourselves on the winning team. After all, the old
Adam in each of us is a control freak. Goldilocks is our hero because we’re not
happy or content unless everything is just right, and by that we mean – my way.
But the Christian faith is no popularity contest. And we’re
not the center of it all. So, Jesus warns John and us…the Christian Church
isn’t a rivalry of us vs. them, the insiders vs. the outsiders.
For the
one who is not against us is for us.
Just to make the point clearer, let’s play a quick game of
“who said it”, Martin Luther or someone else?
Christianity
is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Great
quote. But it wasn’t Luther. It was a Methodist bishop named D.T. Niles
Or how about this one…Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy
because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the liturgy has
disappeared and been replaced by some kind of religious entertainment. Great
quote on the liturgy. Who said it? Luther? No. It was Pope Benedict XVI.
Still, Jesus words are tough to
hear and understand:
For the one who is not against us
is for us.
So, does this mean that false teaching is somehow OK and we should
ignore it? By no means. Speak the truth in love. Correct the error. But also
commend the good. And these days – with social and life issues like gender
dysphoria, homosexual marriage, and selling human body parts – we may be
surprised to find ourselves agreeing with other faithful Christians in places
we never imagined.
And though Jesus’ words can be difficult understand, the Gospel he gives
us, and the Gospel we proclaim to others, is remarkably simple.
Jesus died for you. Christ died for sinners…and we qualify.
Jesus saves you – not because you’re nerdy or cool, an insider or an
outsider, or anything you have or haven’t done – but because God is gracious
and merciful to us. It’s not our love for God that saves, but his love for us.
It’s not even our faithfulness to God that saves us – but Jesus’ faithfulness
for us, and in our place. Truth be told, we were all outsiders in need of
rescue.
But that didn’t stop Jesus. He became the biggest outsider in the world
for you. Jesus died alone, forsaken on the cross, with all our sins of control,
pride, and selfishness nailed to the tree with him. Jesus, the self-less one,
gave himself up in blessed humility for John, for you, for me, for all. Jesus
the First One became last so that we can sit at the head of the table at the
marriage supper of the Lamb. For though we were against him, Jesus is – and
ever shall be – for us in the cross.
So, when you hear this Good News – that Christ came to dwell among
sinners – from someone else or somewhere else, rejoice. Rejoice that fellow
sinners are given the greatest honor of all – to speak forgiveness to you. Rejoice
with Paul in Philippians 1, that Christ is proclaimed.
Jesus’ words to John also teach us that John, Peter, and the disciples
aren’t the lord of the Church, any more than Luther, voters' meetings, or your
pastor are lord of the Church. We’re not the captain of the ship. Jesus is the
Bridegroom and we are his bride. Jesus is the Shepherd and we are His sheep. We
belong to him. We are counted as insiders though we were all outsiders.
That’s what it means to be “in Jesus’ Name.” Think of adoption
for a moment. All the parents’ legal rights and inheritance, even the family
name, are given to the children. Everything they have belongs to the child. Every
parent of adopted children I’ve met calls their adopted child my own – my son,
my daughter. Why? Because they’re part of the family; they have the name. They
belong to them.
What a beautiful picture of God’s grace. We’re all adopted by
our heavenly Father. Our certificate was signed in blood by the cross of Jesus,
and sealed with water and word in our Baptism. Your name is written in the
Lamb’s book of life. You’re family. You belong. You bear Jesus’ name.
And you receive his inheritance: the kingdom prepared for you
before the foundation of the world. You even have the best Sunday dinners
around, here at the Lord’s Table where our heavenly Father feeds us with the
flesh and blood of Jesus, sustaining our flesh and blood with his own for our
forgiveness. Here is true comfort food for body and soul, rich in forgiveness.
Here is Jesus’ consolation for our guilty consciences. Here in his body and
blood, Jesus is always here for you.
For in Christ there are no insiders or outsiders, no cool kids
or losers, only forgiven sinners, each and every one of us.
So, take heart. Do not be afraid. And be at peace with one
another, for God is at peace with you.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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