(Note: I didn't actually preach this today. I stayed home, while a couple laypeople read it for me! What a blessing to have congregations so concerned about my health that they insist I stay home and they cover Sunday morning!)
Pentecost 18B
Sept. 30, 2012 (adapt. from Sept. 27, 2009)
Mark 9:38-50
Grace to you in peace from God our
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ok, be honest: how many of you cringed a bit when you
heard the Gospel lesson just now? How many of you choked just a little bit when
you said, “Praise to you, O Christ,” after a reading about maiming yourself and
burning in hell? I know I did when I first read it. Passages like these are not
the easiest to find some good news to preach, that’s for sure.
But
maybe that’s a good thing – passages like these also require extra love and
care to read. They require more intentional reflection and meditation, more
faith-filled reading and re-reading… and no one comes out of such deep
reflection on the Word worse off for the effort!
The
first thing we need to do is to gain a deeper understanding of some of the
shocking pieces that may overshadow the point of Jesus’ words. It helps to look
at the passage as a sort of a three-part essay. The first part is this bit
about the disciples trying to stop a man who was acting in Jesus’ name but not
following them. Jesus answers, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” That’s
his thesis statement. The rest of the passage goes on to show us what it means
that, “whoever is not against us is for us.”
The
bulk of Jesus’ sermon – the part that is particularly difficult to digest – is
this middle part, that shows us what “against us” might look like. He does this
using some admittedly shocking language, language that doesn’t at all fit with
the image of Jesus we prefer – the one who brings the little children to him,
who heals the sick and loves the outsider, who brings peace on earth. This
Jesus is, frankly, a little bit scary, and certainly not very likeable. At
first read-through, this does not appear to be someone who is forgiving, as we
know Jesus to be. This Jesus fits better into our perception of the Old
Testament, where an-eye-for-an-eye is the standard for ordering society, for
punishing wrong-doers. So where, here, is grace and forgiveness?
First,
let’s break down this seemingly harsh language. As is often the case with
biblical interpretation, this is language that makes a lot more sense in the
cultural and geographical context in which Jesus is living. Take, for example,
“the unquenchable fire” of hell. “Hell” here is not what we usually mean when
we think of hell. It is not a physical place, an eternal, fiery underworld
where the devil lives. It is not even a spiritual hell that separates us from God for eternity. The
word used in Greek here is “Gehenna,” which refers to an actual place, a sort
of dump just outside the gates of Jerusalem. This Gehenna is where people threw
all their waste – including the bodies of criminals and dead animals – and
where there was a constant fire burning to purify the rubbish. Because of the
undoubtedly horrid smell and heat of the fire, the word “Gehenna” came to mean
something like what we call “hell,” where evil people, criminals, go for the
afterlife. But in this context, Jesus is most likely talking about the place
itself, located outside Jerusalem, the literal place where criminals go when
they die.
Next
let’s try to understand this theologically and practically for our lives. The
whole section could be summarized with, “Don’t do anything that causes anyone –
yourself or others – to stumble in their life of faith.” His first admonition
is regarding causing “one of these little ones” to stumble. These little ones
could be anyone, but especially those who are young in their faith. A couple weeks
ago, we heard Jesus call Peter “satan,” another word for which is “adversary” –
in other words, one who stands between a person and God. Here again Jesus is
warning against standing between a person (especially a person young in their
faith) and their relationship with God. So essentially he is saying, “Don’t
keep someone from faith.” THAT behavior would be “against us,” against God.
Rather than be speed bumps or barriers to people’s prayer life, Jesus urges us
to help people along the way – perhaps by inviting them to church or to any
number of other events we have. Pray for them. Pray with them. Talk about how your relationship with Christ
has made your life better. Encourage, don’t block.
The next series of three admonitions Jesus gives us
are regarding our own faith life.
If your hand, or your foot, or your eye cause you to stumble, he says, cut them
off. If your feet carry you somewhere you shouldn’t be, into a situation where
you will be tempted to sin, cut it off. If your hand does something hurtful to
another – perhaps writing a nasty note, or pushing someone away – cut it off.
If your wandering eye starts to watch things that it shouldn’t, cut it out.
But, as Jesus often speaks metaphorically, I believe he is speaking
metaphorically here as well. His intention is not to cut off the foot, or hand,
or eye itself, but rather to cut off the source of sin. Find what is causing you to sin, and cut that out of your life. Perhaps it is laziness – I know I ought to read my Bible more, but it takes so much effort
sometimes. Or maybe it is busy-ness – I’d like to join this or that committee, but I just have too
much to do. Maybe it’s your own pride – I probably should get out there and help with road clean-up, but I
don’t want people to see me in that orange vest picking up trash… what would
people think? There are lots of other things that cause us to sin, that get in
the way of our relationship with Christ.
And finally, we come to the conclusion of Jesus’ essay
– what I remember as a student calling the “so what?” So we know now what not to do, and even what to do instead. So what? In
Jesus’ typical cryptic way, he starts talking about salt. “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.” Salt is
not typically one of the first Christian symbols that come to mind, but it is
certainly a powerful one. Salt is full of symbolism that describes our
Christian life – the life that Jesus is urging us to live, as opposed to a life
that causes people to stumble. Just think: what are some ways salt is used?
Salt is a preservative. So Christians who have salt in
themselves have preserved the faith of Christ in their own lives – through the
waters of baptism, and every time we come to this table to remember Christ’s
sacrifice on our behalf, as he died for us on the cross to bring us life and
salvation. In fact, historic baptismal rites always included putting salt on
the lips of the child being baptized as a symbol of this preservation in faith.
What else? Salt is a purifier, a cleanser. Anyone who
wears contact lenses uses saline solution to clean them. Some dental hygienists
even recommend using salt water rather than Listerine! So, as “salty Christians,”
we have been cleaned of our sins, purified. Similarly, we can be purifiers of
the tainted world around us – by serving others in Christ’s name, and by
helping them along in their faith journey rather than causing them to stumble.
Another use of salt: it heals. As soon as you start to
get that sore throat, out comes the salt water and the gargling begins. So we
are called, as salt of the earth Christians, to heal the world, to pick up
those who stumble, to bring solace to a world in pain by sharing the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the most common use for salt is as a seasoning
– just a little bit can bring out the best flavors in a meal, just as exposure
to the gospel can bring out the best in life.
Salt is enduring. Jesus talks about salt that has lost
its saltiness, but of course that cannot happen – salt cannot loose its
saltiness unless its chemical make up in changed, in which case it is no longer
salt. So when we have salt in ourselves, we bear the strength and endurance of
Christ.
Finally, salt produces thirst – a thirst for God’s
Word, a thirst for a relationship with God, a thirst for the righteousness of
God.
So after all that, what can we make of Jesus’ original
thesis: “whoever is not against us is for us.” Well, these are the ways that we are and act “for Jesus” – by
practicing these characteristics of salt, by having salt in ourselves. By not
causing yourself or others to stumble, but rather, by living a life that
preserves the faith of Christ in your own life, that purifies your own actions
and the actions of the world around you, that heals the effects of sin on the
world, that brings solace to the downhearted, that brings out the best flavors
of life that only the gospel can reveal, by enduring in a life pointed toward
God, and by producing a thirst in yourself and others to grow ever closer to
God. By having salt in ourselves, may we be at peace with one another.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment