Mark 9: 38-50 September 30 2012
In my conversations with people who are outside the church, over and over I encounter people who do not go to church, people who don't even believe in God, and all because of the behaviour of some Christians they have met. I met a man last week who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, but now does not go to church because he married a non-Catholic and his church does not consider his marriage valid. I know a woman who does not believe in God because all she knows of the church are the rantings of certain televangelists who seem to be anti-almost-everything – especially freedom. And there are the parents who won't trust their children to the church because of all the cases of pedophilia they have heard about. And if you talk to enough people, you are bound to encounter one who will throw the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition in your face.
It's very hard to be held accountable for all the sins of everybody who every claimed to share your faith. And it doesn't really seem to help to declare, “But WE'RE not like that here!” People don't trust Christians because they have seen the very worst of Christians. And I don't blame them.
In fact, it is very easy to fall into behaviour that really puts other people off. Sometimes, when I come to church, and people are feeling anxious, and there is a lot of complaining going on, I'm really glad that there are no newcomers with us that day. What a terrible thing, to be glad nobody new came! But sometimes, the way we go on, it's just better that a new person doesn't get the wrong first impression!
Negative talk; fighting among ourselves; complaining; complaining about the weather, complaining about politics, complaining about our aches and pains – and I am just as guilty as anybody else – these are things that make us not very pleasant to be around. So no wonder people are staying away. No wonder God doesn't send any new people to us. Our own attitudes are a stumbling block, a stumbling block that would drive people away and not let them hear the Good News.
This is serious, folks. Jesus uses very strong language against anything that would interfere with one of the little ones, the ones not strong in faith, the ones who are just starting to learn about trusting God. What a terrible thing it would be if we stood before God, and God said to us, “Do you remember that young man who grew up in your congregation? I wanted him to be a Pastor. But he was so disgusted with your behaviour that he decided I didn't even exist and spent his life in sinful indulgence. And do you remember that woman who came to your church once? She felt insulted by your attitudes and never came back, indeed, never dared to try any other congregation. She died alone, with no one to pray for her.” Wouldn't that be an awful thing to hear when we finally come into God's presence?
Well, are you squirming? So am I. It seems hardly possible to even belong to a church without putting some people off. None of us is perfect, and we all get crabby from time to time. We get critical of other churches, mostly because of our own insecurity. If they are doing church differently from us, maybe their way is better, but that can't be, so we feel we have to criticize them in order to maintain our trust in our own traditions. And even with the best of intentions, those carefully maintained traditions can also put some people off, because they don't understand them and are a little intimidated by them. What are we to do?
There is only one way to avoid being a stumbling block to people, to being Bad News to them. And that is to be Good News. The word Gospel means, “Good News”. Jesus is Good News to the world. And we are the Body of Christ, which means that we are Good News too.
And there is only one way we can be Good News to the people around us, and that is for us to be the Body of Christ, to imitate what Jesus did, to be filled with Jesus. And to do that we have to look at Jesus, only Jesus, instead of at ourselves and at other people. When we look at Jesus, when we are in love with Jesus, it changes us. It changes our attitudes and our behaviour. It makes us into Good News.
“Have salt within yourself and be at peace with one another!” says Jesus. That reminds me of the other saying about salt, that we are salt for the world and light for the world. Salt preserves food, salt is necessary for life, and darn it! It just tastes good. When our lives become tasteless and boring, or difficult and scary, the zip, the enjoyment, goes out of our lives. We lose that saltiness that keeps us in good humour with each other, ready to forgive, ready to enjoy our differences.
It is God's love, God's inexpressable love for us, that gives us that saltiness that we need. We receive it by praying, by reading the stories of Jesus, by helping one another, by telling each other what God has done for us in the past.
Yes, our lives are full of anxiety and pain, perplexity and regrets. But whenever we start to feel these threats to our saltiness, it is important to remember to stop for a moment and lift everything up to God. To take our eyes off whatever is bothering us, and to look to Jesus.
The thing that is dominating our mind and making us crabby may seem like the most important thing at the moment. It may seem as important as our right hand, or our foot, or our eye – something we just can't do without. But Jesus says, “no, you CAN do without it. If something is making you Bad News to other people, you MUST do without it. Cut it off! Cast it out! Turn your mind to God's love and care, and you will never even miss it.”
I long for the day when a new person will walk into our midst, and by the joy and the caring he feels among us, he will get a glimpse of heaven. By the humour and acceptance she feels, she will know God's love. And God will add to our number daily those who are being saved. Thanks be to God. Amen.
In my conversations with people who are outside the church, over and over I encounter people who do not go to church, people who don't even believe in God, and all because of the behaviour of some Christians they have met. I met a man last week who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, but now does not go to church because he married a non-Catholic and his church does not consider his marriage valid. I know a woman who does not believe in God because all she knows of the church are the rantings of certain televangelists who seem to be anti-almost-everything – especially freedom. And there are the parents who won't trust their children to the church because of all the cases of pedophilia they have heard about. And if you talk to enough people, you are bound to encounter one who will throw the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition in your face.
It's very hard to be held accountable for all the sins of everybody who every claimed to share your faith. And it doesn't really seem to help to declare, “But WE'RE not like that here!” People don't trust Christians because they have seen the very worst of Christians. And I don't blame them.
In fact, it is very easy to fall into behaviour that really puts other people off. Sometimes, when I come to church, and people are feeling anxious, and there is a lot of complaining going on, I'm really glad that there are no newcomers with us that day. What a terrible thing, to be glad nobody new came! But sometimes, the way we go on, it's just better that a new person doesn't get the wrong first impression!
Negative talk; fighting among ourselves; complaining; complaining about the weather, complaining about politics, complaining about our aches and pains – and I am just as guilty as anybody else – these are things that make us not very pleasant to be around. So no wonder people are staying away. No wonder God doesn't send any new people to us. Our own attitudes are a stumbling block, a stumbling block that would drive people away and not let them hear the Good News.
This is serious, folks. Jesus uses very strong language against anything that would interfere with one of the little ones, the ones not strong in faith, the ones who are just starting to learn about trusting God. What a terrible thing it would be if we stood before God, and God said to us, “Do you remember that young man who grew up in your congregation? I wanted him to be a Pastor. But he was so disgusted with your behaviour that he decided I didn't even exist and spent his life in sinful indulgence. And do you remember that woman who came to your church once? She felt insulted by your attitudes and never came back, indeed, never dared to try any other congregation. She died alone, with no one to pray for her.” Wouldn't that be an awful thing to hear when we finally come into God's presence?
Well, are you squirming? So am I. It seems hardly possible to even belong to a church without putting some people off. None of us is perfect, and we all get crabby from time to time. We get critical of other churches, mostly because of our own insecurity. If they are doing church differently from us, maybe their way is better, but that can't be, so we feel we have to criticize them in order to maintain our trust in our own traditions. And even with the best of intentions, those carefully maintained traditions can also put some people off, because they don't understand them and are a little intimidated by them. What are we to do?
There is only one way to avoid being a stumbling block to people, to being Bad News to them. And that is to be Good News. The word Gospel means, “Good News”. Jesus is Good News to the world. And we are the Body of Christ, which means that we are Good News too.
And there is only one way we can be Good News to the people around us, and that is for us to be the Body of Christ, to imitate what Jesus did, to be filled with Jesus. And to do that we have to look at Jesus, only Jesus, instead of at ourselves and at other people. When we look at Jesus, when we are in love with Jesus, it changes us. It changes our attitudes and our behaviour. It makes us into Good News.
“Have salt within yourself and be at peace with one another!” says Jesus. That reminds me of the other saying about salt, that we are salt for the world and light for the world. Salt preserves food, salt is necessary for life, and darn it! It just tastes good. When our lives become tasteless and boring, or difficult and scary, the zip, the enjoyment, goes out of our lives. We lose that saltiness that keeps us in good humour with each other, ready to forgive, ready to enjoy our differences.
It is God's love, God's inexpressable love for us, that gives us that saltiness that we need. We receive it by praying, by reading the stories of Jesus, by helping one another, by telling each other what God has done for us in the past.
Yes, our lives are full of anxiety and pain, perplexity and regrets. But whenever we start to feel these threats to our saltiness, it is important to remember to stop for a moment and lift everything up to God. To take our eyes off whatever is bothering us, and to look to Jesus.
The thing that is dominating our mind and making us crabby may seem like the most important thing at the moment. It may seem as important as our right hand, or our foot, or our eye – something we just can't do without. But Jesus says, “no, you CAN do without it. If something is making you Bad News to other people, you MUST do without it. Cut it off! Cast it out! Turn your mind to God's love and care, and you will never even miss it.”
I long for the day when a new person will walk into our midst, and by the joy and the caring he feels among us, he will get a glimpse of heaven. By the humour and acceptance she feels, she will know God's love. And God will add to our number daily those who are being saved. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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