Before I start this morning, I want to say that whenever I speak, including today, everything I say, I believe is being spoken to my own heart. I trust it will be helpful to others here as well.
So, I will begin this morning by looking quickly at each of the readings in turn, and conclude by summing up with four key take homes that seem to be relevant to me and to our community at this time.
The first lesson is the happy ending from the book of Esther, not a story we often consider in the Christian church. I've already covered this pretty thoroughly in the children's talk – just to add here for an older audience that Esther had to put her life on the line to do what she did for her people. That took a radical level of trust in God, which was very much rewarded. But still! Very scary. Very tough.
Likewise, the Psalm is about precisely the same total dependance on God, acknowledging that without God, the people would have been annihilated. “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
The epistle builds on today's theme of our dependance on God by spelling out that it includes looking to God for relief from suffering and illness, and that “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” I wonder, do you pray for yourself when you're ill or suffering? For others? The example given of Elijah is rather terrifying, to be honest, in its extreme effectiveness. It says “he was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.” How do you like that for answered prayer? I imagine more than a few around him at the time hinted that maybe he should not have prayed quite so fervently?
Fortunately, the follow up is “then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.” Whew! Dodged that bullet.
The Gospel is interesting. In Matthew 12:29-30, Jesus is telling parables in response to his opponents' claim that he casts out demons by the power of Satan, and finishes: “how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.“ However here in Mark, when John says to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us,” Jesus says, “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.”
At first glance it seems contradictory. Is it that whoever is not for us, is against us, or whoever is not against us, is for us?
First, note that in both cases the context is casting out demons. But in the former passage, Jesus exposes the illogic of his opponents by pointing out that you don't use the power of the one who has the minions to defeat his minions, but that you have to disarm him first to beat them. He then warns those who stand against him that they are making a serious and dangerous choice. On the other hand, here in the Gospel of Mark, he is reassuring his followers that it's all good if people not on the “approved list” are busy doing good work in the name of Jesus. In other words, he doesn't claim a copyright or exclusivity for the use of his name, but once again his logic is impeccable. He argues that if people do powerful deeds in his name, it will be a challenge for them to turn around and speak ill of him.
Jesus then goes on after some sweet words about the benefits of supporting his followers, with these shocking and difficult words:
“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.”
What is Jesus saying?
Well, there are a number of interpretations that have been offered over the centuries. To me, this is just another example of Jesus' unwillingness to mince words when there was an important point to drive home. All these metaphors, harsh as they sound, have simply to do with how gravely serious it is to be a stumbling block or a barrier to belief and growth to a “little one”, or someone who is not mature and confident in the faith, but rather still in the process of establishing a relationship with God. Sounds like all of us, right? Aren't we all growing in our relationship with God?
Sometimes, too, the “little one” is oneself. There are temptations we can put in our own path to turn us away from God, like poor choices of what we read, or watch on TV, or destructive conversations we can fall into with others, and so on. So whether it is a question of being a cause for a believer to turn away from God, or endangering one's own relationship with God by wrong choices, Jesus is urging us very, very strongly not to go down that road. This includes useless quarreling with others – so easy to do on Facebook and social media, as well as at family gatherings, right?
Jesus concludes firmly, “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.”
So what are our take homes from all these passages? What is the Spirit saying to the Church?
First, it couldn't be more thoroughly underlined that we are completely and utterly dependant upon God for everything in our lives. Societally we are indoctrinated from birth to imagine that if we are well enough educated, or lucky enough, or have enough money and the right environment, we can ensure that all good things will come our way. This is in spite of the obvious truth that in a moment one's life can change forever, for good or bad. We are not in control. But rather than that being cause for panic, these Scriptures point us to a deep trust in God and God's love for us, that as it says elsewhere, God works for good in all things for those who trust God.
Second, if we have full trust in God, God can do astonishing things through us. Maybe we won't stop the rain for more than three years. Probably no one wants that anyway. Instead, we could as a community be the means of significant and transformative outreach to Corktown and other areas in need, not only in Hamilton but across the world.
Third, the choices we make are vital. They either bring us and those around us closer to God or provide barriers to our faith and the faith of others. We are being called here to take a serious, hard look at questionable choices and when necessary to turn from them to avoid opposing God's work by hindering faith paths. This includes passing judgment on whether others are really following God or not, as Jesus' disciples tried to do by criticizing those who cast out demons in Jesus' name who were not their buddies. It is not for us to decide who is or who isn't doing the work of God.
Finally, it really matters a lot whether or not we have peace with each other. When I was a child, a popular spiritual song was “They will know we are Christians by our love.” I'm afraid that actually the world looks at Christians and mostly sees how bitterly we fight and argue with each other and denounce each other for one offense or another. This is true for liberals and conservatives, charismatics and social justice people. We lose our “saltiness” by such quarrels, whether we are busy fighting among ourselves within this parish or the wider Church.
My brothers and sisters, it should not be so. Let us seek together what makes for peace and mutual building up of those who call upon the name of Christ throughout the world.
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