“Have salt and be at peace”
Mark 9:38-50 (September 29, 2024)
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The beauty of a franchise operation, like Tim Hortons, is that you can walk into any of their shops, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, order a chocolate donut and a large double-double, and it will be, more or less, the same.
If you want to open a Tims, there are very strict requirements. You will have to prove your financial worth, pass a series of interviews, and be willing to undergo rigorous training.[1] It’s all tightly controlled.
After you’ve opened the store, you must continue to meet a certain standard. There are audits and inspections. They don’t want anything to sully that Tim Hortons brand.
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What’s happening in our scripture reading today is something like that. The disciples must think the church is meant to be a franchise operation. They want to exert control over “who can make the donuts” – who can minister in Jesus’ name.
Who’s allowed to do these healings? What authority do they have? When someone comes along from outside their own tight-knit circle, the disciples get defensive.
“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
The disciples tried to stop him. Even though this unnamed disciple was doing Jesus’ work. Jesus’ first miracle, as reported in the Gospel of Mark, was casting out a demon. (Mark 1:21-28) He brought health and healing.
Now, this outsider, a person unknown to the twelve, is doing the very same thing! Notice – he’s not doing it isolation. He’s doing it in the name of Jesus!
See how word gets around? The gospel spreads, the kingdom grows!
Like a seed that’s planted in the soil and, mysteriously, it sprouts and sends up shoots, and soon leaves begin to appear.
The plant grows, though the farmer “knows not how.” “The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.” And then, when the time is right, comes the harvest. (Mark 4:26-29)
According to Jesus, this is how the kingdom works. God’s power of new life is released into the world. And we see signs of it springing up all around us.
We don’t always understand where it came from. But we rejoice whenever we see it. We praise God for the mysterious working of God’s Spirit! The kingdom has power all its own. It does not depend on us.
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The disciples want to put the kibosh on all this kingdom randomness. They’re uncomfortable when things happen outside of their control.
Many of us have this tendency too. I love when things are done a certain “proper” way. You can ask my family about how I load the dishwasher, and my reluctance to allow others to do it differently!
“There’s a right way to do things,” I say. But Jesus calls me to loosen up a bit. Not be quite so restrictive in my outlook that I miss the surprising way God’s kingdom comes.
“Teacher, we tried to stop him. Because he was not following us,” they say. With an emphasis on that little word us. Doesn’t that say it all? He’s not part of our crew.
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Jesus encourages us to have a broad and generous spirit. To acknowledge a kingdom that’s bigger than our bureaucratic regulations. He opens us up to the wonder of a world where God is always at work, and often in surprising ways.
“Do not stop him!” Jesus says. “That’s the last thing I want you to do. Don’t discourage that poor fellow. For no one who does a deed of power in my name will speak evil of me for long. He’s a friend, not an enemy. He’s on our side!
We’re so quick to separate the world into us and them. We, of course, being Jesus’ closest friends. But those other people over there, we’re not so sure. We view them with suspicion. Even when they claim to be following the same Lord.
Does this strengthen the witness of the church? Does it encourage the growth of God’s kingdom? I’m not saying we shouldn’t be discerning about right and wrong. But sometimes we get it all mixed up.
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Do you remember, last week, how Jesus took a child and set it in the midst of the disciples, and told them that “whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and not only me but the One who sent me.”
I don’t think they heard a word Jesus said! They’re still caught up in competition, arguing about who’s the greatest. Certainly not that fellow over there. Why he’s not even part of the franchise.
How wrong they are!
And now we come to the middle section of our passage for today where Jesus speaks some of the most difficult words you’ll ever hear. I warned Melita about these verses she’d have to read. Someone over heard that and called this scripture “sobering.” Which it certainly is.
Listen: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me,” Jesus begins. The tone is ominous.
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But who are these little ones? Are they children?
“Little ones who believe in me.” Followers of Jesus, who put their trust in him, but don’t necessarily have everything all worked out just yet. Unlike the disciples, who think they know it all.
Little ones who believe … “Like that other disciple who was trying to do my work. Until you stopped him!” Does Jesus sound annoyed?
Little ones … “Like the person who received the healing and was just beginning to find new life. Until you lot came along!” Can you hear Jesus’ growing anger. He’s not happy with the disciples.
“It would be better for you” … get ready for this … “If a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
Yikes! He couldn’t be talking to us now, could he?
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What follows are several verses that have to do with cutting limbs off and plucking eyes out. And we don’t quite know what to do with all that. Are we meant to take these words literally?
I would suggest that Jesus does not want you mutilating your God-given gift of a body. I think this is an example of literary hyperbole. A way of speaking that uses exaggeration to get our attention. And it works!
When Jesus says “better to cut your hand off than go to hell,” we all sit up and take notice.
This is a thorny passage and I know I’m treading on dangerous ground. I don’t want you to take it literally. But I would love for you to pay serious attention.
Can I remind you that the kingdom of God is the greatest treasure that you will ever find? It’s the pearl of great price. It’s the field for which you’ll sell everything you have in order to buy. (Matthew 13: 44-46)
The kingdom should be the #1 priority of your life! It’s the one thing you never want to miss. And you don’t want anyone else to miss it either.
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“So listen, you disciples! Quit your petty power trips. Stop being so hard on others who are doing their level best to follow my way.
“Whatever is keeping you from living in the Reign of God, get rid of it!
“Stop trying to be in control. Show some kindness. Exercise humility. Care for little ones, all kinds of little ones. Welcome any who bear my name. Even if they’re not from your clan or tribe or religious denomination.”
Am I going too far? What sins might we need to let go of in order allow the kingdom to come in all its fulness. Who might Jesus ask us to welcome? Perhaps these are questions that each one of us needs to consider personally.
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Next Sunday, we’ll welcome some wayward Baptists to our fold. Just for one service, mind you.
But as we’re together, we’ll gather at the table of our Lord. We’ll remember what he did to draw us into his family. And we’ll celebrate the love of Jesus that transcends all the labels and barriers we like to erect between us.
Yes, we may live our Christian faith in different ways. We may have different customs and practices that we value. But these fade in significance when we recognize our common calling. We are followers of Jesus. We’re little ones, struggling to learn his way.
And so, in worshipping together, we bear witness that God’s kingdom is bigger than any one expression of church. And that our lives are open to the surprising and wondrous work of God.
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But now we come to the final couple of verses, before Mark has Jesus leave that place and continue his journey to the cross.
This section of teaching ends with two things: Salt and peace. “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
When I think of salt, I think of ways Christians are called to be different. Everything that makes us unique.
Be salty people. People who have the Spirit of Christ within them. People who live with joy, trusting God’s grace, seeking justice, practising humility, living with neighbour-love.
Be salty people. Live as Jesus lived.
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And be at peace with one another. Stop this hyper-competitiveness. Serve others as Jesus served. Seek the well being of all. Strive for right-relationship. And where tensions exist, don’t make them worse. But work for reconciliation.
Salt and peace. Aim for that. And let go of all the rest.
The good news is that God is at work in our world, in us and in others. Sometimes the reign of God appears in plain sight. And sometimes it sneaks up and surprises us. We catch glimpses of it in people and places we never expect.
But wherever we find it, and in whomever the life of Christ takes root, we rejoice and humbly give thanks. We are not alone. God is working in our midst! Amen.
[1] https://company.timhortons.com/ca/en/corporate/franchising-program.php, Accessed September 26, 2024.