Unity in Service

Mark 9:38-50

The words of Jesus are powerful and provocative. They force us to look again at our own lives in order that we might discover how we “measure up” to the standards Christ has set before us. Last week we looked at a particular standard: the condition of discipleship. Jesus, through the writings of the Gospel authors, explicitly establishes the condition of Sacrifice in Servitude. In becoming Disciples of Christ, in sacrificially serving Christ, we are forced to examine—and re-examine—our relationships with others to evaluate whether they are in line. Are we meeting the condition Christ has given? This week, we see an important application of realizing that condition of discipleship. This morning's text clarifies how an attitude of sacrificial servitude will guide our social interactions with those we who are not in “our circle”... those who are different.

What do we do when we come across people who are not in “our group?” Jesus' disciples are trapped in a world where they think they have special privilege to God's Authority. By virtue of being with Jesus, they feel that they are the only ones capable of ministering in the name of Jesus. They intentionally stop a man from carrying out the will of God because he was not under the proper authority, or so the Disciples thought. Since this man was not one of the twelve, since he was not an immediate, or close, follower of Christ, the Disciples felt that he was not privileged to the blessed work of Christ. The Disciples, although recently chastised—as we saw last week—for their egotistical desire to be the greatest, are still only concerned with their status of “true legitimacy” in working for Christ. The Disciples only seem to care about who was doing the work, and they completely ignored what work was being done.

It's funny, in our world today it appears that this is still true. We, as Christians, can often be so concerned with people and their legitimacy, that we forget about the work that needs to be done. We are so concerned about arguing over women's rights in the ministry, over homosexual presence in the church, or over the proper reasons for divorce that we have, at times, abandoned the very call of Christ to sacrifice ourselves to the poor, needy, and suffering of this world. We consistently reject and many times interfere with the ministry of those we find to be theologically illegitimate. Forgetting the very nature of their work, we are more concerned with the nature of their sexual orientation, their marriage, or their gender.

Is this the message of Christ? Is this the appropriate concern of the Church and of the people of Christ? I will let you decide, but let us again focus on the words of Christ in this passage of scripture. Here we find the Disciples approaching Jesus with a concern. They say to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us” (Mark 9:38). Casting out demons is an interesting practice in the New Testament. Being able to perform an exorcism grants someone immense authority, because it displays the natural, or super-natural control over the world that an individual possesses. In the time of Jesus, demons and sickness were often identified as one in the same. Now there were some differences to be had between sickness and demon possession, but many times an unknown sickness with strange or unusual symptoms would be considered as “demon possession.” Thus, healing and exorcism were often closely linked. We see this in Jesus' own ministry. He healed and he also removed demons. Jesus followers aknoweldged that Jesus had supernatural Authority because they witnessed the unusual power he had over natural disease and the supernatural power he had over demons.

As disciples, Jesus' followers felt they could have privileged access to Christ's divine Authority. In other words, they thought that only they could legitimately cast out demons and heal the sick by invoking the name of Christ. They felt that using Jesus' name was only the right of those who closely followed him. In the context of their previous desire to be “the greatest,” this event appears to be another example of selfishness on the part of the disciples. They believed they had sole access to Jesus' authority, and thus, were spiritually important. They did not understand that the very act of healing or exorcism was an alliance with Christ. They didn't see that others could do the will of God in the name of Christ. They didn't recognize the inclusive nature of Christ.

Jesus responds quite clearly to the disciples: “For the one who is not against us is for us” (v. 40). The question the disciple's had to ask themselves, and that we must ask ourselves is this: who is for us? More specifically, who is participating in the Will of God? Who is furthering God's Kingdom by fulfilling the condition of discipleship, the condition of sacrificial servitude. The answers might surprise you. Like the disciples, so many times we want to carve out our own spheres of legitimacy. We want to point at some and say “you can do the Will of God, because you are on my side.” And then we want to point at others and say, “you, however, cannot, because you are not on my side.” But Christ replies powerfully and persuasively by saying in effect: “who are you to determine who it is that fulfills God's Will?” This is still the response of Christ today. Your job is not to be judge and determiner. My job is not to be judge and determiner. Your job, my job, our job is to band together for the Good of God. We must band together in service and in sacrifice so that we might deliver our world into the Kingdom of God. We must see those who labor for Good as instruments of Christ and God's Love, and not as theologically deficient tools of evil. We don't draw the lines... God draws the lines.

Ultimately what the disciples were trying to do is assert themselves as spiritually superior. They were trying to draw the line in the sand and say “you were not personally instructed by our teacher, thus, you must be unable to do what it is that we are called to do.” Jesus flat out denies such flawed logic. Jesus shows us that anyone, of any theological persuasion can perform spiritually significant acts that are in accord with the Will of God. For anyone who does what God commands is doing what is Good in the sight of God. A Catholic who serves the poor, an Anglican who donates to hurricane relief, a pentecostal who adopts a parent-less child are all doing these things in the name of Christ and for the Good of the Father. We may not worship with these people, and we may not adopt their theological beliefs. But Jesus calls us to recognize the value and worth of their actions in their willingness to follow after the Will of God.

What we must see about the condition of discipleship is this, that it transcends theological divisions. The condition of discipleship spans the gaps that theological debate has created. Loving people in service and through sacrifice is universally important, and Christ asks his followers to accept it as valid. Will you accept such validity? Will you see the value in a person's efforts to liberate the oppressed, or in comforting the suffering, or in feeding the hungry? Will you join with those who seek to reduce poverty and restore social justice? Will you partner with those who find solace in searching after God and His will for humankind? I hope that you will not allow theological barriers to hinder the work of God's people. I hope you will not be so concerned with discovering someone's theological legitimacy that you fail to recognize the value and worth of their contribution to the Will of God.

Jesus specifically addresses those who would hinder the work of God by allowing selfish intentions to creep into their ministry. The disciples, battling this desire to be the greatest, battling a drive to push out those that do not fall within their closed circle fellowship, are creating a potential to push out those of the faith those who are not recognized with importance. In establishing a hierarchy of power, the twelve are egotistically using their proximity to Jesus to thwart the Will of God, and in so doing threaten to push out those who seem to the disciples to be unimportant. These “little ones” of the faith are not to be pushed out or pushed over. Jesus makes this very clear.

Jesus says to the disciples: “whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and her were thrown into the sea” (v. 42). These “little ones” can either be understood as infants or as insignificant believers. I think that given the context of the disciples situation in respect to the man they didn't recognize as a legitimate tool of God, these “little ones” are in fact those we consider to be insignificant. Those people of Faith that we think are unimportant because they don't have the proper grasp on Faith. They don't see the world like we do and they don't see God like we do, thus, they are insignificant. This is wrong, and this selfish. No one is insignificant in the sight to God. And treating people with disdain and contempt because of their theological beliefs or inexperience in their life of faith is a grave mistake. It is a terrible distraction from the unified ministry of God's people.

Finally, Jesus exhorts his disciples to be salty and find salt in themselves. Jesus tells his disciples: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (v. 50b). Salt is a preservative, and the image of salt that Jesus provides speaks of the true nature of discipleship and its conditions of service and sacrifice. The peace of the church, the peace between one another stems from an attitude of humility and service. An attitude of greatness can only divide people and will only hinder the Will of God. Therefore we must take up the condition of discipleship if we ever hope to see a unified church accomplish the Will of God. If we ever hope to see the Kingdom of God made real on earth, we must first embrace Sacrifice, Service, and a Humility that is produced by Love. We must look past theological divides toward servicing others and giving of ourselves. We must forget our self-righteous desire to be great, so that we can move forward in advancing the Kingdom of God here on earth. For when our eyes are fixed upon the author and perfecter of our faith, and not on each other's inadequacies, only then can we make steps toward Heaven.

Amen.