Why in the hell is my Facebook feed filled with comments about red cups, a war on Christmas, and the chiding of Christians who should get their priorities in line?
Let me get this straight:
Starbucks decides to remove decorations from its holiday cup...
A FORMER pastor--FORMER, mind you--who is now a SELF PROCLAIMED internet
"social media personality" says this is a war on Christmas and against Jesus.
And Yahoo News, Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, and others run headlines.
SMDH!
Are you kidding me?
Are you really kidding me?
Folks, the war on Christmas is already lost--if there was one in the first place.
I mean, when retailers begin putting out Christmas decorations before the Halloween candy and costumes are put away, there is a problem of priorities.
When you can walk through the largest retailer in the U.S. and not see a single nativity scene in its selection of outdoor decorations, the real meaning of Christmas has been truly left behind.
The war is over.
The true god of this world has already won. (Need a hint who that god is: $$$)
But, the media needs a war on Christmas.
The media (and certain segments of our society) need to do battle to prove how Christians are short sighted and have their own priorities messed up.
The media (and certain segments of society) need to make headlines, get clicks, and get revenue.
And what better way than to manufacture a crisis?
What better way than to get people to point fingers?
What better way than to get guilt ridden self-righteous Christians to point the finger at militant self-righteous Christians?
Find an obscure former pastor...
Have him criticize a secular business who makes a change...
Write a few headlines...
Pop some popcorn...
And watch how we get duped into fighting.
Again.
Over a manufactured controversy.
Instead of the things that really matter.
Are we that dumb?
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
As a Child
When I was younger, one of the television shows I enjoyed watching most was America’s Funniest Home Videos. I think it is still on television; although I watch very little t.v. these days. I do know that there are a couple of episodes on Netflix, and my son in particular enjoys watching the hilarious antics of people who submit their videos to the show. I am often intrigued by the award part at the end. As I ran through the memories of my watching of this show, I thought long and hard about who would oftentimes win the awards at the end. For those of you who have watched and watch the show, what kind of videos usually take the prize? Here’s my unscientific, personal answer: cute animals and kids. The kids probably have the edge.
There is something about kids that captivates our hearts. Even if you do not have children, when you see a bunch of kids gathering together and laughing and smiling, it does something to your heart. When you see images of children who are hurting or who are sick, it captivates your imagination and causes deep down sympathy. There is something about our deep sense of humanity that causes us to want to protect, care for, and dote on our children. That’s one part of us, but you don’t think I’m going to make it that colorful, do you?
For there is another part of us that absolutely gets annoyed with children. Don’t think I’m being a kill-joy. You know it’s true. Kids are a disruption. They get loud and obnoxious. They get pushy and want their way. They do not follow the spoken and unspoken rules that we have as adults. They do not allow us to do the things we want to do and say the things we want to say, and they cry and whine and fuss and argue. And we generally think that they are a generation of spoiled brats! ! I think in every cultural period, people have worried about the youth of the day being, well, immature. Consider a few of these quotes from folks who lived long ago:
They [Young People] have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things -- and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning -- all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything -- they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else. –Aristotle
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress." (From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint". (Hesiod, 8th century BC)
At this point, you may be thinking that I am laying the groundwork to make a defense of our children and to encourage our children’s ministry here. Rest assured, I am not. I am not because the text we have before us from the Gospel of Mark is not about children. Much like America’s Funniest Home Videos uses children to suck us in and watch their programming, Jesus uses children to teach His disciples an important lesson–a lesson about God’s kingdom.
Let’s turn to the text. People were bringing children to Jesus that He might touch them. This was a common practice in the ancient world. If people knew a holy person was in town–a priest or a rabbi or other such leader, they would often bring their children to receive a blessing. Obviously, people had heard about Jesus being in the area, and they brought their kids.
However, the disciples weren’t exactly receptive to these people. They rebuked the folks who were bringing their kids. The Greek word here for “rebuke” is epitimao, which is the exact same word that is used by Mark when Jesus rebukes the demons. It is the same word that Mark used when Peter rebuked Jesus and when Jesus rebuked Peter back. It is a very, very strong word that shows the disciples’ almost disdain for the parents who are bringing their kids.
Jesus becomes indignant with the disciples. Again, we have another strong Greek word. Mark Edwards in his commentary says, “The word for “indignant” means “to arouse to anger” that is, to vent oneself in expressed displeasure rather than simply brooding about it. The object of a person’s indignation reveals a great deal about that person. Jesus’ displeasure here reveals his compassion and defense of the helpless, vulnerable, and powerless.”
I agree with what Edwards says, but I think it goes much further than simply Jesus compassion toward the children. There is more going on. For if you remember a couple of weeks ago, Jesus had an encounter with His disciples about who was greatest. The disciples had been arguing about who was greatest, and Jesus gave them an important illustration. Let me read to you just a few short paragraphs before today’s text from Mark chapter 9, “Then He [Jesus] took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
Let that sink in for just a minute or two. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes who? And by welcoming JESUS, the One who sent Jesus is also welcomed!!!” Jesus taught this explicitly to the disciples, and they are failing miserably. They are failing to welcome not “one such child” but a whole host of children, and so they are rejecting Jesus and by virtue of rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting God the Father. Is it any wonder Jesus is so indignant??!!!
Jesus hammers His disciples, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.” We are not going to spend time on this statement because it is pretty self-explanatory. However, the next statement is of utmost importance.
Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
This statement deserves a bit of time. For it strikes, not at the hearts of kids, but at our hearts. If you do not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, you will never enter it. What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God as a little child. Does it mean that we are to accept the kingdom of God just like we accept children? Let’s first understand how children were viewed in ancient Israel.
Almost all the commentaries agree on this point, and I’m going to go with the best quote on this one. Again, from Mark Edwards:
Why is this important? William Lane had an interesting comment in his commentary, one that I think gives a partial answer. Lane says, “Unlike adults, who do not want anything to be given to them, children are comparatively modest and unspoiled.” Now, I would have to argue a bit with Dr. Lane. I would qualify this statement and say that some adults want nothing given to them. Some adults believe they must work for everything and refuse to accept any sort of free gift. Some adults are too prideful to admit they need help and assistance. Some adults want to work for everything they get. Why? Because it is their accomplishment; their work; they take great pride in their accomplishments because it is THEIR accomplishment. Accomplishing much gives them a sense of value and worth, and if they take something without earning it, they feel shallow.
Of course, this does not encompass all adults. For we also know there are adults who expect things to be given to them. There are adults who have a sense of entitlement. There are adults who believe that they have a right to all sorts of goods and services without having to pay for them because they simply are. They believe they deserve anything and everything that is given to them. What is the result of such behavior?
The results from both ways are the same: a sense of self-righteousness. One way says, “I have worked my way up. I have accomplished all by my own, two hands, and I deserve to be rewarded for my efforts.” The other way says, “I am good in and of myself, and I deserve to be rewarded for being me.” Both of these paths are self-centered and self-serving. One bases worth and value on work. The other bases worth and value simply on being. Neither leads to gratitude. Neither leads to humility. Both are self-aggrandizing, and you will not enter into the Kingdom of God if you are self-aggrandizing. You will not enter into the Kingdom of God if you believe you deserve it. You will enter the Kingdom of God if you realize that you do not deserve it, that you have not earned it, and that it is an undeserved gift given through and by God.
This brings us right back to Jesus’ comment about children. Remember what I said earlier quoting Mark Edwards: children received their value only through their fathers. Children received everything they had through their Father. They realized they were totally dependent upon their Father for everything. And these are little children!! They have not reached the age where they become resentful–this is important. In a conversation with one of my congregation members this week, I was informed that she was engaged in learning about children and how they act before they reach a certain age. Before they become entangled in all of our problems as adults, they understand gratitude. They understand sharing. They understand compassion. They understand that they receive everything from their parents and guardians. They understand that everything is a gift, and they have a sense of gratitude and excitement about it. Little children know their dependence upon their parents; know it is undeserved; and respond with thanksgiving.
You will not receive the Kingdom of God unless you receive it as a child.
With gratitude.
With humility.
Without a sense of having earned it.
Without believing you are entitled to it.
How can you cultivate this attitude?
Did you catch my purposeful attempt to mislead you? You will cultivate a sense of gratitude and humility if you believe you have received something without having earned it. You will cultivate a sense of gratitude and humility if you understand that you have received something that you didn’t deserve. Gratitude and humility comes by knowing you are gifted something without having done anything on your part.
Christianity calls this sheer grace. Christianity calls this the act of God on our behalf to bring salvation to us–not because we deserved it. Far from it. We didn’t. In fact, it was our sinfulness that brought Jesus to the cross. It was our lack of ability to accomplish the following of the Law that required justice to be served. Someone out there might ask, “Well, what law did I break?” Think about it for just a moment. Think about the standards that you hold everyone else to. Think about how you think everyone else should act in the world. Do you live up to even your own standards? I can almost guarantee you, you do not. None of us do. There is a universal law that every culture, every religion, and every philosophy holds, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Every culture has it. Every culture breaks it. Admit it–you do too. And if you are judged by that standard, you must admit failure.
Yet, justice must be served. And rather than that justice falling upon you, God took on human flesh and allowed justice to be served upon Him. He took the punishment you deserved because you failed to do unto others. He stepped in to offer you the Kingdom when you didn’t deserve it. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved by Him.
By Him!
By Him!
Not by your actions and deeds. Not by any sense of entitlement because you were an important person or being, but by sheer grace.
No one has room to boast.
No one has room to hold one’s head high.
All are failures just as all are deeply loved. Such a thing brings humility and gratitude–a child like faith. A faith that comes when you remember what Jesus has done.
Oh, the text isn’t quite finished. There is one more verse. “And Jesus took the little children up into His arms, laid His hands upon them, and He–again we see the weakness of translation, for Jesus doesn’t simply bless them–according to the Greek, He lavishes rich uber-blessing upon them. Just as He lavishes such blessing upon you through the cross as He bears your sin. May your heart be moved to gratitude and humility as you come to know the gift of His sheer grace. Amen.
There is something about kids that captivates our hearts. Even if you do not have children, when you see a bunch of kids gathering together and laughing and smiling, it does something to your heart. When you see images of children who are hurting or who are sick, it captivates your imagination and causes deep down sympathy. There is something about our deep sense of humanity that causes us to want to protect, care for, and dote on our children. That’s one part of us, but you don’t think I’m going to make it that colorful, do you?
For there is another part of us that absolutely gets annoyed with children. Don’t think I’m being a kill-joy. You know it’s true. Kids are a disruption. They get loud and obnoxious. They get pushy and want their way. They do not follow the spoken and unspoken rules that we have as adults. They do not allow us to do the things we want to do and say the things we want to say, and they cry and whine and fuss and argue. And we generally think that they are a generation of spoiled brats! ! I think in every cultural period, people have worried about the youth of the day being, well, immature. Consider a few of these quotes from folks who lived long ago:
They [Young People] have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things -- and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning -- all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything -- they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else. –Aristotle
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress." (From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint". (Hesiod, 8th century BC)
At this point, you may be thinking that I am laying the groundwork to make a defense of our children and to encourage our children’s ministry here. Rest assured, I am not. I am not because the text we have before us from the Gospel of Mark is not about children. Much like America’s Funniest Home Videos uses children to suck us in and watch their programming, Jesus uses children to teach His disciples an important lesson–a lesson about God’s kingdom.
Let’s turn to the text. People were bringing children to Jesus that He might touch them. This was a common practice in the ancient world. If people knew a holy person was in town–a priest or a rabbi or other such leader, they would often bring their children to receive a blessing. Obviously, people had heard about Jesus being in the area, and they brought their kids.
However, the disciples weren’t exactly receptive to these people. They rebuked the folks who were bringing their kids. The Greek word here for “rebuke” is epitimao, which is the exact same word that is used by Mark when Jesus rebukes the demons. It is the same word that Mark used when Peter rebuked Jesus and when Jesus rebuked Peter back. It is a very, very strong word that shows the disciples’ almost disdain for the parents who are bringing their kids.
Jesus becomes indignant with the disciples. Again, we have another strong Greek word. Mark Edwards in his commentary says, “The word for “indignant” means “to arouse to anger” that is, to vent oneself in expressed displeasure rather than simply brooding about it. The object of a person’s indignation reveals a great deal about that person. Jesus’ displeasure here reveals his compassion and defense of the helpless, vulnerable, and powerless.”
I agree with what Edwards says, but I think it goes much further than simply Jesus compassion toward the children. There is more going on. For if you remember a couple of weeks ago, Jesus had an encounter with His disciples about who was greatest. The disciples had been arguing about who was greatest, and Jesus gave them an important illustration. Let me read to you just a few short paragraphs before today’s text from Mark chapter 9, “Then He [Jesus] took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
Let that sink in for just a minute or two. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes who? And by welcoming JESUS, the One who sent Jesus is also welcomed!!!” Jesus taught this explicitly to the disciples, and they are failing miserably. They are failing to welcome not “one such child” but a whole host of children, and so they are rejecting Jesus and by virtue of rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting God the Father. Is it any wonder Jesus is so indignant??!!!
Jesus hammers His disciples, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.” We are not going to spend time on this statement because it is pretty self-explanatory. However, the next statement is of utmost importance.
Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
This statement deserves a bit of time. For it strikes, not at the hearts of kids, but at our hearts. If you do not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, you will never enter it. What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God as a little child. Does it mean that we are to accept the kingdom of God just like we accept children? Let’s first understand how children were viewed in ancient Israel.
Almost all the commentaries agree on this point, and I’m going to go with the best quote on this one. Again, from Mark Edwards:
Ancient Jewish society...did not regard children with the same affection (as Western society). Children, like women, derived their position in society primarily from their relationship to adult males. Sons, to be sure, were regarded as a blessing from God, but largely because they insured the continuance of the family for another generation–and increased its workforce. Childhood was typically regarded as an unavoidable interim between birth and adulthood, which a boy reached at age 13. One will search Jewish and early Christian literature in vain for sympathy toward the young comparable to that shown by Jesus.Children were only seen as precious commodities–as those who could contribute in their later years toward the family’s well being. They were seen as hands for the farm or retirement care. Little children were a burden. They only received their value and worth from their parents. They knew they had no standing. They knew they had only the value placed on them by their parents. The majority of them were poor and disenfranchised. Life was rough and tumble. It was dog eat dog. They were not fed first. They had little or no toys. They soon learned that everything they received was a gift. And they learned gratitude.
Why is this important? William Lane had an interesting comment in his commentary, one that I think gives a partial answer. Lane says, “Unlike adults, who do not want anything to be given to them, children are comparatively modest and unspoiled.” Now, I would have to argue a bit with Dr. Lane. I would qualify this statement and say that some adults want nothing given to them. Some adults believe they must work for everything and refuse to accept any sort of free gift. Some adults are too prideful to admit they need help and assistance. Some adults want to work for everything they get. Why? Because it is their accomplishment; their work; they take great pride in their accomplishments because it is THEIR accomplishment. Accomplishing much gives them a sense of value and worth, and if they take something without earning it, they feel shallow.
Of course, this does not encompass all adults. For we also know there are adults who expect things to be given to them. There are adults who have a sense of entitlement. There are adults who believe that they have a right to all sorts of goods and services without having to pay for them because they simply are. They believe they deserve anything and everything that is given to them. What is the result of such behavior?
The results from both ways are the same: a sense of self-righteousness. One way says, “I have worked my way up. I have accomplished all by my own, two hands, and I deserve to be rewarded for my efforts.” The other way says, “I am good in and of myself, and I deserve to be rewarded for being me.” Both of these paths are self-centered and self-serving. One bases worth and value on work. The other bases worth and value simply on being. Neither leads to gratitude. Neither leads to humility. Both are self-aggrandizing, and you will not enter into the Kingdom of God if you are self-aggrandizing. You will not enter into the Kingdom of God if you believe you deserve it. You will enter the Kingdom of God if you realize that you do not deserve it, that you have not earned it, and that it is an undeserved gift given through and by God.
This brings us right back to Jesus’ comment about children. Remember what I said earlier quoting Mark Edwards: children received their value only through their fathers. Children received everything they had through their Father. They realized they were totally dependent upon their Father for everything. And these are little children!! They have not reached the age where they become resentful–this is important. In a conversation with one of my congregation members this week, I was informed that she was engaged in learning about children and how they act before they reach a certain age. Before they become entangled in all of our problems as adults, they understand gratitude. They understand sharing. They understand compassion. They understand that they receive everything from their parents and guardians. They understand that everything is a gift, and they have a sense of gratitude and excitement about it. Little children know their dependence upon their parents; know it is undeserved; and respond with thanksgiving.
You will not receive the Kingdom of God unless you receive it as a child.
With gratitude.
With humility.
Without a sense of having earned it.
Without believing you are entitled to it.
How can you cultivate this attitude?
Did you catch my purposeful attempt to mislead you? You will cultivate a sense of gratitude and humility if you believe you have received something without having earned it. You will cultivate a sense of gratitude and humility if you understand that you have received something that you didn’t deserve. Gratitude and humility comes by knowing you are gifted something without having done anything on your part.
Christianity calls this sheer grace. Christianity calls this the act of God on our behalf to bring salvation to us–not because we deserved it. Far from it. We didn’t. In fact, it was our sinfulness that brought Jesus to the cross. It was our lack of ability to accomplish the following of the Law that required justice to be served. Someone out there might ask, “Well, what law did I break?” Think about it for just a moment. Think about the standards that you hold everyone else to. Think about how you think everyone else should act in the world. Do you live up to even your own standards? I can almost guarantee you, you do not. None of us do. There is a universal law that every culture, every religion, and every philosophy holds, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Every culture has it. Every culture breaks it. Admit it–you do too. And if you are judged by that standard, you must admit failure.
Yet, justice must be served. And rather than that justice falling upon you, God took on human flesh and allowed justice to be served upon Him. He took the punishment you deserved because you failed to do unto others. He stepped in to offer you the Kingdom when you didn’t deserve it. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved by Him.
By Him!
By Him!
Not by your actions and deeds. Not by any sense of entitlement because you were an important person or being, but by sheer grace.
No one has room to boast.
No one has room to hold one’s head high.
All are failures just as all are deeply loved. Such a thing brings humility and gratitude–a child like faith. A faith that comes when you remember what Jesus has done.
Oh, the text isn’t quite finished. There is one more verse. “And Jesus took the little children up into His arms, laid His hands upon them, and He–again we see the weakness of translation, for Jesus doesn’t simply bless them–according to the Greek, He lavishes rich uber-blessing upon them. Just as He lavishes such blessing upon you through the cross as He bears your sin. May your heart be moved to gratitude and humility as you come to know the gift of His sheer grace. Amen.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
When Troubles Beset Us...
Perhaps you recognize the title of this post as part of the Gospel hymn “On the Wings of a Dove.” The entire verse is as follows:
When troubles beset us; When evils come
The body grows weak, and the spirit grows numb
When these beset us; well He doesn’t forget us
He sends down His love, on the wings of a dove.
I share this with you in the knowledge that many, many within our congregation have been beset with such troubles. There are many who are struggling with dealing with loved ones who are sick and dying. There are some who have lost spouses. There are some who are fighting illness themselves. There are some who are recovering from surgery. There are some who have had weird life circumstances cause stumbling and falling. One wonders why such things happen.
There is no perfect answer. Believe you me. If there was, I would write the book and sit back and enjoy the royalties. But I haven’t written that book because no answer is satisfactory. I can tell you a couple that are flat out wrong. Wrong answer number 1: “Jesus wants you to have victory over such matters.” One need be reminded, Jesus’ victory came on the cross–through suffering and persecution. The victory is won, no doubt, but not without a great cost. Wrong answer #2: If you just had enough faith, things would turn out right. Please, no one has enough faith. No one. This is why we are saved by sheer grace. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for all that we get. We don’t earn it by our faith. Wrong answer #3: God is causing this to test me. God knows you would fail. God knows we would all fail. Our human nature is weak. Furthermore, if you look at the life of Jesus, you will not see God testing Jesus (that would be a bit redundant). You will see the Enemy testing Jesus. It is the Enemy who tries to bring about our downfall by tests.
Which leads me to offer a few answers that I think help us grapple with trials and tribulations. Answer #1: When you are seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospel begins to take root in your heart, the Enemy works to steal you away. The Enemy sets up road blocks and trials to make you question your commitment to Jesus. Over and over again, we see this plainly in scripture. Answer #2: We cannot escape our choices. This is not a popular answer, but it is reality. It does not cover everything, but if you have lung cancer after smoking for 30 years, this is no surprise. One must make a distinction between things that we have some part in and things we don’t. Answer #3: I have no idea what-so-ever. This is the hardest one to accept because we want a reason. We want a clue as to why things are happening. Sometimes, there is just no good answer, and we must hope that God is in the midst of our trials and tribulations working to bring about a positive solution.
That last sentence is an important one because it demands trust in God. It demands that we have hope. It’s a hard thing to have at times, but it is central to our faith. The cross was the darkest day for the Christian, but it was followed by the light of the resurrection. Cross. Resurrection. Death. Life. God worked to bring hope from tragedy, and it is this that we hold onto desperately in the midst of our trials. May that hope find its way into your heart and mind. Amen.
When troubles beset us; When evils come
The body grows weak, and the spirit grows numb
When these beset us; well He doesn’t forget us
He sends down His love, on the wings of a dove.
I share this with you in the knowledge that many, many within our congregation have been beset with such troubles. There are many who are struggling with dealing with loved ones who are sick and dying. There are some who have lost spouses. There are some who are fighting illness themselves. There are some who are recovering from surgery. There are some who have had weird life circumstances cause stumbling and falling. One wonders why such things happen.
There is no perfect answer. Believe you me. If there was, I would write the book and sit back and enjoy the royalties. But I haven’t written that book because no answer is satisfactory. I can tell you a couple that are flat out wrong. Wrong answer number 1: “Jesus wants you to have victory over such matters.” One need be reminded, Jesus’ victory came on the cross–through suffering and persecution. The victory is won, no doubt, but not without a great cost. Wrong answer #2: If you just had enough faith, things would turn out right. Please, no one has enough faith. No one. This is why we are saved by sheer grace. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for all that we get. We don’t earn it by our faith. Wrong answer #3: God is causing this to test me. God knows you would fail. God knows we would all fail. Our human nature is weak. Furthermore, if you look at the life of Jesus, you will not see God testing Jesus (that would be a bit redundant). You will see the Enemy testing Jesus. It is the Enemy who tries to bring about our downfall by tests.
Which leads me to offer a few answers that I think help us grapple with trials and tribulations. Answer #1: When you are seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospel begins to take root in your heart, the Enemy works to steal you away. The Enemy sets up road blocks and trials to make you question your commitment to Jesus. Over and over again, we see this plainly in scripture. Answer #2: We cannot escape our choices. This is not a popular answer, but it is reality. It does not cover everything, but if you have lung cancer after smoking for 30 years, this is no surprise. One must make a distinction between things that we have some part in and things we don’t. Answer #3: I have no idea what-so-ever. This is the hardest one to accept because we want a reason. We want a clue as to why things are happening. Sometimes, there is just no good answer, and we must hope that God is in the midst of our trials and tribulations working to bring about a positive solution.
That last sentence is an important one because it demands trust in God. It demands that we have hope. It’s a hard thing to have at times, but it is central to our faith. The cross was the darkest day for the Christian, but it was followed by the light of the resurrection. Cross. Resurrection. Death. Life. God worked to bring hope from tragedy, and it is this that we hold onto desperately in the midst of our trials. May that hope find its way into your heart and mind. Amen.
Monday, November 2, 2015
D.I.V.O.R.C.E.
Today we arrive at one of those teachings that makes some of us squirm. Jesus teaches on divorce, and in reality on the topic of marriage. This is a pertinent topic for our society and culture as only a few short months ago, the Supreme Court declared that gay couples have the right to marry in our nation. This caused no shortage of angst amongst some folks, especially those of us who believe marriage is a relationship ordained by God between a man and a woman.
Critics of our position rightly pointed out that the Christian faith draws a sharp line about divorce, and they ask, “Well, if you Christians are so dead set against gay marriage, why aren’t you speaking out as loudly about divorce?” Furthermore, those critics also pointed out that just as many Christians get divorced as any other particular religious or philosophical group. So why, if this is the case–if we disregard or lessen this teaching on divorce–are we up in such arms about gay marriage? Now, I am not going to argue about gay marriage this morning. I want to deal with these legitimate questions that confronts us regarding divorce. It confronts our hypocrisy regarding our faith, and it also gives us an avenue to confront the true issue behind why marriages break up. Parts of the trip are not pleasant, but it is a trip that I think we are called to travel.
For you see, the temptation for any preacher when this text appears is to soften Jesus’ words. The temptation is to explain away what Jesus says to make everyone feel comfortable. Why? Well, you know why as do I. In this room this morning, not a single one of us has escaped the reality of divorce. Some of you have gone through a divorce and are remarried. Some of you have loved ones who are near and dear to you who have divorced. Some of you have good friends who have divorced as well. You hear Jesus’ words, “Whoever divorces and remarried commits adultery,” and you say, “Is that really the case? Am I...are my friends...are my parents really committing adultery?” If you ask me that question directly, and I am afraid you will leave the church because of my answer, I, as a clergy, am often tempted to do what Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in his book The Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer criticizes the church and says that we are all to ready to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner. Now, what does that mean. Just this: there is bad news. If you divorce and remarry, you are committing adultery. But there is good news: you are forgiven. There is no softening Jesus’ words. He spoke them for a reason, and I hope that once you see what that reason is, you will understand. Let’s turn to the text.
We begin with the Pharisees coming to Jesus to trap him. The Pharisees don’t like Jesus. They want Him silenced. They actually want Jesus dead. This is obvious by the question they ask Him about divorce because of the location of the question. Jesus and His disciples are in the region of Perea. This was the region controlled by Herod Antipas. What is significant about this? Well, if you remember Mark chapter six, there was that “wonderful” story about John the Baptist being beheaded. Why was John beheaded? Because John dared to criticize Herod Antipas because he stole his brother’s wife Herodias and they were living in an adulterous and incestuous relationship. John angered Herod Antipas and especially Herodias, and she simply bided her time until she was able to have John killed. By raising this issue in this territory, the Pharisees were hoping word would get to Herod Antipas about Jesus, and Herod would silence Jesus once and for all.
But Jesus is the ultimate master of debate. He is the master at outwitting traps, and Jesus maneuvers perfectly as He answers the Pharisees’ question with a question. “What does Moses command you?”
Craig Evans in his commentary on this text says this, “For the Jewish people, at least for those who were Torah observant, appeal to the commandments of Moses was an appeal to the highest authority on any question.” This is a master stroke by Jesus because Jesus is calling the Pharisees–who were staunch defenders of the commands of Moses, to delve into Scripture. He is making them answer the question from their own source of authority.
They reply, “Moses allows us to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss our wife.” The Pharisees are absolutely accurate in this comment. In Deuteronomy 24, permission is given for a husband to divorce his wife. The text reads, “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house 2and goes off to become another man’s wife.” There is more in this text, but I will not read the entire portion here. It would get too long. What I hope you can see is that in the Scriptures, there are grounds for divorce to take place. The Pharisees knew this. Jesus knew this. So why did they ask the question?
Walter Wessel points this out in his commentary on this text, “The crucial words are “something indecent.” What did that include? The school of Shammai, the stricter of the schools, understood these words to mean something morally indecent, in particular, adultery. The school of Hillel interpreted these words much more freely. Just about anything in a wife that a husband did not find to his liking was suitable grounds for divorce. Even if she burned his food! So where did Jesus stand in this? That was their question.”
Jesus doesn’t get caught up in this debate, however. Jesus drives much deeper. Jesus takes the Pharisees back to the first principles–to the creation of humankind. As Craig Evans once again says, “Jesus sidesteps these options and instead challenges the hermeneutical assumption that because something is “permitted” it is therefore according to the will of God.” What is God’s will for marraige?
Jesus quotes Genesis chapter 2, “6But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” 7“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’
Why is this text so significant? It is because of the Jewish understanding of God. God was seen as the ultimate being–a being who was whole, who was complete. If you remember the story of man and woman and how they became partners, God said that it was not good for man to be alone. Therefore, God began creating and bringing all the animals to man to find one who was suitable to be a partner. None were found suitable, so God caused the man to fall asleep, took out one of man’s ribs, and formed woman. Man was no longer whole. Part of him was gone. Woman was not whole because she was taken out of man. Neither could be whole and complete in and of themselves. It was only when they joined together–when they became one flesh, that they were once again whole and closer to God. So, if a divorce occurs, it is not simply two complete individuals going their separate ways. No. There is a literal tearing of flesh. There is a breaking of that which was once whole. This wholeness does not come about by the actions of people, but it is something that God does. Jesus points that out in His commentary. “What God has joined together, let no one separate!”
There is quite a bit of significance to this. Mark Edwards says this in his commentary, “The greatest difference between Jesus and the rabbis, however, is this: by giving a husband principal control over his wife, the Jewish divorce policy made the man the lord of the marital relationship. According to Jesus, however, it is neither man nor woman who controls marriage, but rather God, who is the Lord of marriage.: “what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
The disciples were apparently perplexed about this teaching, so as was their custom, they asked Jesus about it later in private. Jesus pulls no punches. Jesus wastes no time. Jesus teaches plainly and straightforwardly, “‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’
There is a lot to be said here, a lot. But first, let’s quote Walter Wessel again because there is something happening in Jesus’ teaching that makes perfect sense to us, but would have been shocking in His day. Wessel says, “Jesus did what the rabbis refused to do: he recognized that a man could commit adultery against his wife. In rabbinic Judaism a woman by infidelity could commit adultery against her husband; and a man, by having sexual relations with another man’s wife, could commit adultery against him. But a man could never commit adultery against his wife, no matter what he did. Jesus, by putting the husband under the same moral obligation as the wife, raised the status and dignity of women.” Jesus places a co-equal share on both men and women in marriage. Jesus gives rights to women that they didn’t have in the Jewish culture. It’s quite astounding.
But that doesn’t get to the heart of the question that perhaps many of you have. Is it really adultery? Yes, it is. Sorry, I’m not going to make you feel good about it. I’m not going to soften Jesus’ teaching. He isn’t beating around the bush, and neither will I. But, I will tell you this. Those of you who are divorced and remarried are the only adulterers in this room. You see, I am standing here this morning guilty of committing adultery as well. No. I am not, nor did I have an affair with someone, but none-the-less, I am guilty of adultery.
If you will permit me just a moment, I will read to you Matthew chapter 5 verses 27-28, “You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Yep, I am guilty. I am also guilty of murder. Again from Matthew chapter 5, “‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire.” Yep, I am guilty of that one too.
And I’m not going to try to justify myself or soften these teachings either. Christianity is not about justifying the sin. Christianity is about justifying the sinner. What do I mean by that.
Let me quote to you what N.T. Wright said about this passage from Mark on divorce. Let me literally try to get at the heart of the matter in what Wright says:
The problem with divorce and adultery and murder and all sin is a hardness of heart. It’s our selfish nature coming back to haunt us. Divorce happens because one or both parties in marriage become self-serving and selfish. The relationship becomes all about that person and fulfilling that person’s needs often to the detriment of their partner. Selfishness consumes a person sometimes to the point where abuse takes place, and in such cases, I have even counseled people to get out of that marriage!! God does not intend for you to be consumed by a selfish, abusive partner!!
But God does intend for hearts to be changed. God does intend for marriages to last. God does not desire divorce. God wants marriages to last until death do us part, and in order for that to happen, something has to cure our hard-heartedness.
Christianity proclaims that this something is the Gospel. The Gospel softens our hearts because the Gospel says, “Jesus died for you when you didn’t deserve it. Jesus died for you and took your place on the cross when you were Jesus’ enemy. Jesus took punishment that you deserved and cried out that you may be forgiven.”
You know as well as I do that whenever someone does something for you that you know that you don’t deserve, it cuts you to the core. You know as well as I do that when someone gives you a gift or shows you compassion that you don’t deserve, it makes you feel both guilty and loved at the same time. You know you don’t deserve it, so you feel guilty, but you also feel deeply loved and appreciated because someone did such a thing for you. Take that instance in your life and multiply it on a cosmic scale. Multiply it with the significance of eternal life on the line. Add up all the times you were selfish and acted in your own self-interest and did all the things you wanted to do instead of acting for others, on behalf of others or simply doing the right thing. Know that all that burden has been erased by the God who took on human flesh and sacrificed Himself for you because He loves you.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
This is what Jesus has accomplished for you. This is the cure for the disease of hard heartedness. And when this sinks down into the depths of your soul, you know it’s power. You know its ability to keep you humble. You know it softens your own heart.
Yes, you and I are living in sin. We live in sin every day. We are failures. We are adulterers. We are murderers. We are broken, failures. But we are loved with a love which surpasses all of these things. Our sins are not justified, but we are justified sinners because of the cross of Christ. Amen.
Critics of our position rightly pointed out that the Christian faith draws a sharp line about divorce, and they ask, “Well, if you Christians are so dead set against gay marriage, why aren’t you speaking out as loudly about divorce?” Furthermore, those critics also pointed out that just as many Christians get divorced as any other particular religious or philosophical group. So why, if this is the case–if we disregard or lessen this teaching on divorce–are we up in such arms about gay marriage? Now, I am not going to argue about gay marriage this morning. I want to deal with these legitimate questions that confronts us regarding divorce. It confronts our hypocrisy regarding our faith, and it also gives us an avenue to confront the true issue behind why marriages break up. Parts of the trip are not pleasant, but it is a trip that I think we are called to travel.
For you see, the temptation for any preacher when this text appears is to soften Jesus’ words. The temptation is to explain away what Jesus says to make everyone feel comfortable. Why? Well, you know why as do I. In this room this morning, not a single one of us has escaped the reality of divorce. Some of you have gone through a divorce and are remarried. Some of you have loved ones who are near and dear to you who have divorced. Some of you have good friends who have divorced as well. You hear Jesus’ words, “Whoever divorces and remarried commits adultery,” and you say, “Is that really the case? Am I...are my friends...are my parents really committing adultery?” If you ask me that question directly, and I am afraid you will leave the church because of my answer, I, as a clergy, am often tempted to do what Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in his book The Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer criticizes the church and says that we are all to ready to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner. Now, what does that mean. Just this: there is bad news. If you divorce and remarry, you are committing adultery. But there is good news: you are forgiven. There is no softening Jesus’ words. He spoke them for a reason, and I hope that once you see what that reason is, you will understand. Let’s turn to the text.
We begin with the Pharisees coming to Jesus to trap him. The Pharisees don’t like Jesus. They want Him silenced. They actually want Jesus dead. This is obvious by the question they ask Him about divorce because of the location of the question. Jesus and His disciples are in the region of Perea. This was the region controlled by Herod Antipas. What is significant about this? Well, if you remember Mark chapter six, there was that “wonderful” story about John the Baptist being beheaded. Why was John beheaded? Because John dared to criticize Herod Antipas because he stole his brother’s wife Herodias and they were living in an adulterous and incestuous relationship. John angered Herod Antipas and especially Herodias, and she simply bided her time until she was able to have John killed. By raising this issue in this territory, the Pharisees were hoping word would get to Herod Antipas about Jesus, and Herod would silence Jesus once and for all.
But Jesus is the ultimate master of debate. He is the master at outwitting traps, and Jesus maneuvers perfectly as He answers the Pharisees’ question with a question. “What does Moses command you?”
Craig Evans in his commentary on this text says this, “For the Jewish people, at least for those who were Torah observant, appeal to the commandments of Moses was an appeal to the highest authority on any question.” This is a master stroke by Jesus because Jesus is calling the Pharisees–who were staunch defenders of the commands of Moses, to delve into Scripture. He is making them answer the question from their own source of authority.
They reply, “Moses allows us to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss our wife.” The Pharisees are absolutely accurate in this comment. In Deuteronomy 24, permission is given for a husband to divorce his wife. The text reads, “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house 2and goes off to become another man’s wife.” There is more in this text, but I will not read the entire portion here. It would get too long. What I hope you can see is that in the Scriptures, there are grounds for divorce to take place. The Pharisees knew this. Jesus knew this. So why did they ask the question?
Walter Wessel points this out in his commentary on this text, “The crucial words are “something indecent.” What did that include? The school of Shammai, the stricter of the schools, understood these words to mean something morally indecent, in particular, adultery. The school of Hillel interpreted these words much more freely. Just about anything in a wife that a husband did not find to his liking was suitable grounds for divorce. Even if she burned his food! So where did Jesus stand in this? That was their question.”
Jesus doesn’t get caught up in this debate, however. Jesus drives much deeper. Jesus takes the Pharisees back to the first principles–to the creation of humankind. As Craig Evans once again says, “Jesus sidesteps these options and instead challenges the hermeneutical assumption that because something is “permitted” it is therefore according to the will of God.” What is God’s will for marraige?
Jesus quotes Genesis chapter 2, “6But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” 7“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’
Why is this text so significant? It is because of the Jewish understanding of God. God was seen as the ultimate being–a being who was whole, who was complete. If you remember the story of man and woman and how they became partners, God said that it was not good for man to be alone. Therefore, God began creating and bringing all the animals to man to find one who was suitable to be a partner. None were found suitable, so God caused the man to fall asleep, took out one of man’s ribs, and formed woman. Man was no longer whole. Part of him was gone. Woman was not whole because she was taken out of man. Neither could be whole and complete in and of themselves. It was only when they joined together–when they became one flesh, that they were once again whole and closer to God. So, if a divorce occurs, it is not simply two complete individuals going their separate ways. No. There is a literal tearing of flesh. There is a breaking of that which was once whole. This wholeness does not come about by the actions of people, but it is something that God does. Jesus points that out in His commentary. “What God has joined together, let no one separate!”
There is quite a bit of significance to this. Mark Edwards says this in his commentary, “The greatest difference between Jesus and the rabbis, however, is this: by giving a husband principal control over his wife, the Jewish divorce policy made the man the lord of the marital relationship. According to Jesus, however, it is neither man nor woman who controls marriage, but rather God, who is the Lord of marriage.: “what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
The disciples were apparently perplexed about this teaching, so as was their custom, they asked Jesus about it later in private. Jesus pulls no punches. Jesus wastes no time. Jesus teaches plainly and straightforwardly, “‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’
There is a lot to be said here, a lot. But first, let’s quote Walter Wessel again because there is something happening in Jesus’ teaching that makes perfect sense to us, but would have been shocking in His day. Wessel says, “Jesus did what the rabbis refused to do: he recognized that a man could commit adultery against his wife. In rabbinic Judaism a woman by infidelity could commit adultery against her husband; and a man, by having sexual relations with another man’s wife, could commit adultery against him. But a man could never commit adultery against his wife, no matter what he did. Jesus, by putting the husband under the same moral obligation as the wife, raised the status and dignity of women.” Jesus places a co-equal share on both men and women in marriage. Jesus gives rights to women that they didn’t have in the Jewish culture. It’s quite astounding.
But that doesn’t get to the heart of the question that perhaps many of you have. Is it really adultery? Yes, it is. Sorry, I’m not going to make you feel good about it. I’m not going to soften Jesus’ teaching. He isn’t beating around the bush, and neither will I. But, I will tell you this. Those of you who are divorced and remarried are the only adulterers in this room. You see, I am standing here this morning guilty of committing adultery as well. No. I am not, nor did I have an affair with someone, but none-the-less, I am guilty of adultery.
If you will permit me just a moment, I will read to you Matthew chapter 5 verses 27-28, “You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Yep, I am guilty. I am also guilty of murder. Again from Matthew chapter 5, “‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire.” Yep, I am guilty of that one too.
And I’m not going to try to justify myself or soften these teachings either. Christianity is not about justifying the sin. Christianity is about justifying the sinner. What do I mean by that.
Let me quote to you what N.T. Wright said about this passage from Mark on divorce. Let me literally try to get at the heart of the matter in what Wright says:
Jesus comment on the Mosaic permission is important as a clue to what he thought was going on in his own ministry. ‘Moses gave you this rule because of your hardheartedness’; in other words, Israel in Moses’ day was not able to fulfill the creator’s intention, and needed laws that would reflect that second-best reality. Hardheartedness, the inability (to use our version of the same metaphor) to have one’s heart in tune with to God’s best intention and plan, thwarted God’s longing that Israel should be the prototype of renewed humanity. The problem was not with the ideal, nor with the law, but with the people: Israel was, when it all came down to it, just like everybody else. Hardhearted. Eager to take the precious gift of genuine humanness and exploit or abuse it.
But this means that, for Jesus’ comment to make sense, he must be offering a cure for hardheartedness. If he is now articulating a rigorous return to the standard of Genesis, to God’s original intention, he is either being hopelessly idealistic or he believes that the coming of the kingdom will bring about a way for hearts to be softened.
The problem with divorce and adultery and murder and all sin is a hardness of heart. It’s our selfish nature coming back to haunt us. Divorce happens because one or both parties in marriage become self-serving and selfish. The relationship becomes all about that person and fulfilling that person’s needs often to the detriment of their partner. Selfishness consumes a person sometimes to the point where abuse takes place, and in such cases, I have even counseled people to get out of that marriage!! God does not intend for you to be consumed by a selfish, abusive partner!!
But God does intend for hearts to be changed. God does intend for marriages to last. God does not desire divorce. God wants marriages to last until death do us part, and in order for that to happen, something has to cure our hard-heartedness.
Christianity proclaims that this something is the Gospel. The Gospel softens our hearts because the Gospel says, “Jesus died for you when you didn’t deserve it. Jesus died for you and took your place on the cross when you were Jesus’ enemy. Jesus took punishment that you deserved and cried out that you may be forgiven.”
You know as well as I do that whenever someone does something for you that you know that you don’t deserve, it cuts you to the core. You know as well as I do that when someone gives you a gift or shows you compassion that you don’t deserve, it makes you feel both guilty and loved at the same time. You know you don’t deserve it, so you feel guilty, but you also feel deeply loved and appreciated because someone did such a thing for you. Take that instance in your life and multiply it on a cosmic scale. Multiply it with the significance of eternal life on the line. Add up all the times you were selfish and acted in your own self-interest and did all the things you wanted to do instead of acting for others, on behalf of others or simply doing the right thing. Know that all that burden has been erased by the God who took on human flesh and sacrificed Himself for you because He loves you.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
This is what Jesus has accomplished for you. This is the cure for the disease of hard heartedness. And when this sinks down into the depths of your soul, you know it’s power. You know its ability to keep you humble. You know it softens your own heart.
Yes, you and I are living in sin. We live in sin every day. We are failures. We are adulterers. We are murderers. We are broken, failures. But we are loved with a love which surpasses all of these things. Our sins are not justified, but we are justified sinners because of the cross of Christ. Amen.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
The Primary Relationship
Last Thursday, my youth director and I attended a seminar on boundaries.
For the most part, the seminar was okay. It was quite predictable. Much of the material was essentially common sense thought in how to prevent abuse--sexual and otherwise.
But there were a couple of things that rubbed me a bit raw.
1. The power issue. I belong to a denomination that is obsessed with power. The ELCA has bought into the dichotomous thinking of liberation theologies where the world is viewed through the lens of oppressor/oppressed, and sense God has a preferential disposition toward the oppressed, the voices of the oppressed must be valued, raised up, etc. Hence, there is no shortage of identity based theologies clamoring for ascendancy: Latin American Liberation Theology, Black Theology, Feminist Theology, Native American Liberation Theology, GLBTQ Theology, and the like.
There are a whole host of problems with this particular theological view, but now is not the time to go into such problems on a theological level. I want to address something on a more practical level, particularly as it related to this course. As we discussed the role of a clergy or a "professional" we were told that we, by virtue of our position are those in the power position. (Never mind the conflict with Jesus' particular view that in order to be great in the kingdom--which we proclaim--we are actually last of all and servant of all.) This differs from a marriage or dating relationship where two people come together as equals.
But wait!!! If feminist liberation theologians are correct, then a marriage relationship or dating relationship is not of equals!!! Males have the power!!! Women do not!!! How can we make a distinction between relationships if power dynamics govern both in such a manner? Seems like we need to rethink our theology or our worldview in order to have a more solid basis when discussing boundaries.
2. Perhaps the most laughable line of the gathering was the emphasis that boundaries actually give freedom. Not so much.
I mean, I'm going to split hairs here for just a moment because it is what I like to do. :-)
I give my kids rules for a reason. I tell them, "Don't play in the street," for a reason. It's a limitation on their freedom, not for freedom, but for safety. Within the boundaries (i.e. in the yard up to the sidewalk) they can run and play and go bananas--because they are safe. They are not free. There is a difference.
In this seminar, we were basically encouraged to make up more rules. Make up more policies. In theological speak, it was, "Make up more laws."
Newsflash: laws do not make you free. They shackle you. Martin Luther, the great reformer said, "The Law always kills." There is a reason he said this.
First off, no one follows the Laws totally and completely. No one. In one part of the seminar, there was a list of rules to follow when it came to certain interactions. I commented to my youth director, "I've probably broken nearly all of those." Why? Because many of those particular rules are broken each and every day in our relationships with each other as we laugh and joke and play with each other. All one need do is turn on the television for a few minutes to see more than a few boundary violations. Is it any coincidence that the rise in people getting offended has paralleled our loss of humor as a society? We have failed to add context to what goes on in interaction, and that has led to some scary situations.
Among those scary situations is a societal trend of emotional reasoning. Essentially this means a person allows his or her emotions to guide his or her interpretation of reality. Some celebrate this; however, it is not to be celebrated. It is actually a cognitive distortion. (Leahy, Holland, McGinn, Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders) Just because you or I see something as reality does not mean it is actually reality. A pastor who gently places his hand on a crying woman's shoulder--for all intent and purposes--is likely trying to offer compassion; however, that woman may have been a victim of physical abuse, and she interprets the actions as abusive or sexual in nature. Who is right? This pastor's life could be upset for years if this woman presses charges--even though her interpretation of reality is not reality. The answer is not: more policies and more laws. For heaven's sake, there were 613 commands in the Old Testament, and the people couldn't follow them!! The laws and commands are not the problem. The problem will be addressed below.
Secondly, if someone actually thinks he or she can and does follow the laws, commands, and policies, it almost always leads to a sense of self-righteousness, smugness, and confidence in one's ability to be morally upright and superior to others--almost always. This leads to an "if I can do it, you should do it too" attitude. Of course, the problem with this is two-fold. Self-righteous people are almost always seen as a$$holes by regular folks. (I speak from personal experience as one who has traveled long upon the self-righteousness road.) Secondly, when such a person falls, and there have been many (think televangelists who get caught engaging in extra-marital sex) then great damage is not only done to that person's credibility--there is also great damage done to the institution of the Church. Self-righteousness also leads to an us/them mentality. We pure, upright, honest people are doing it right versus those heathens over there who can't get their proverbial $h!t together. Such an attitude is hardly what we are called to espouse and set forth as Christians.
Both of these paths are "killer" paths. They damage individuals. They damage the Church. They damage the soul. More laws are not the answer. More policies are not the answer. What is? Onto the third and final point.
3. The money comment which was made during this seminar was the following, "Abuse of boundaries takes place when there is a problem in the primary relationship."
Please re-read that comment again, because I think it is of vital importance.
But here is my fear: my greatest fear is that most people in the room thought the primary relationship had to do with their spouse or significant other. My fear is that the "primary relationship" centered upon wife or husband or partner or boyfriend or girlfriend or the like. And that is not the primary relationship. It cannot be. Why?
There are always problems with that relationship. Always. There are no perfect marriages. There are no perfect relationships. There is always going to be some sort of conflict. There is always going to be some sort of animosity or anger or jealousy. Two imperfect people cannot ever and will not ever come together to make something that is perfect. And if those two imperfect people have added a couple of little imperfect people into the mix...well, then that just adds another whole layer or two or ten of imperfection, stress, anxiety, and the like--things that lead to boundary violations.
You see, our marriages, our friendships were never meant to satisfy us. They were never meant to give us fullness or completeness. They were never made to give us our identity or well being. Imagine if you expect your closest relationship to bear all of those things. Imagine if you thought your relationship with your spouse was capable of giving you all of those things even when your spouse or significant other is having a really, really bad day. Is it any wonder so many marriages fail these days?
The problem isn't necessarily with marriage. The problem is the focus on the wrong relationship. The relationship with a spouse isn't the primary relationship. The primary relationship is the one with one's Creator. The primary relationship we have is with God. We should know this in the church--should.
And so we return to that important statement: when something is wrong with the primary relationship, boundary violations occur.
Which raises the question: how do you make sure the primary relationship is right? How do you make sure you are right with God?
Well, now we get to the heart of the Gospel. For if we are orthodox in our belief, we confess that there is nothing we can do to make that relationship right. There is nothing we can do on our part to make that relationship whole. If we could--then we would become extremely self-righteous. If we could, we would be able to follow every Law and command. If we could, then there would never have been any need for Jesus and the cross. We cannot make that relationship right.
But God already has.
Through the incarnation. Through the cross. Through the blood of Jesus, we are made right with God.
That relationship has been made right when you were unable to do it. That relationship has been made right by sheer grace--by God's action and not your own.
Therefore, you have no room to boast or become self-righteous.
You have no room to become arrogant.
And...
You have no need to find your identity, your fulfillment, your sense of well-being from anything but God. When you are seeking these things elsewhere, that means you are not trusting in what God has done--instead you are trusting in yourself--in what you think you have to do.
When you violate boundaries, it means you are not trusting in what God has accomplished for you. You are returning to works/righteousness instead of the Gospel of grace. The answer to the problem of boundaries is not make more boundaries. It's trust God more. He is and has made the primary relationship whole.
I learned this lesson the hard way. My hope and prayer is that others might have an easier time.
For the most part, the seminar was okay. It was quite predictable. Much of the material was essentially common sense thought in how to prevent abuse--sexual and otherwise.
But there were a couple of things that rubbed me a bit raw.
1. The power issue. I belong to a denomination that is obsessed with power. The ELCA has bought into the dichotomous thinking of liberation theologies where the world is viewed through the lens of oppressor/oppressed, and sense God has a preferential disposition toward the oppressed, the voices of the oppressed must be valued, raised up, etc. Hence, there is no shortage of identity based theologies clamoring for ascendancy: Latin American Liberation Theology, Black Theology, Feminist Theology, Native American Liberation Theology, GLBTQ Theology, and the like.
There are a whole host of problems with this particular theological view, but now is not the time to go into such problems on a theological level. I want to address something on a more practical level, particularly as it related to this course. As we discussed the role of a clergy or a "professional" we were told that we, by virtue of our position are those in the power position. (Never mind the conflict with Jesus' particular view that in order to be great in the kingdom--which we proclaim--we are actually last of all and servant of all.) This differs from a marriage or dating relationship where two people come together as equals.
But wait!!! If feminist liberation theologians are correct, then a marriage relationship or dating relationship is not of equals!!! Males have the power!!! Women do not!!! How can we make a distinction between relationships if power dynamics govern both in such a manner? Seems like we need to rethink our theology or our worldview in order to have a more solid basis when discussing boundaries.
2. Perhaps the most laughable line of the gathering was the emphasis that boundaries actually give freedom. Not so much.
I mean, I'm going to split hairs here for just a moment because it is what I like to do. :-)
I give my kids rules for a reason. I tell them, "Don't play in the street," for a reason. It's a limitation on their freedom, not for freedom, but for safety. Within the boundaries (i.e. in the yard up to the sidewalk) they can run and play and go bananas--because they are safe. They are not free. There is a difference.
In this seminar, we were basically encouraged to make up more rules. Make up more policies. In theological speak, it was, "Make up more laws."
Newsflash: laws do not make you free. They shackle you. Martin Luther, the great reformer said, "The Law always kills." There is a reason he said this.
First off, no one follows the Laws totally and completely. No one. In one part of the seminar, there was a list of rules to follow when it came to certain interactions. I commented to my youth director, "I've probably broken nearly all of those." Why? Because many of those particular rules are broken each and every day in our relationships with each other as we laugh and joke and play with each other. All one need do is turn on the television for a few minutes to see more than a few boundary violations. Is it any coincidence that the rise in people getting offended has paralleled our loss of humor as a society? We have failed to add context to what goes on in interaction, and that has led to some scary situations.
Among those scary situations is a societal trend of emotional reasoning. Essentially this means a person allows his or her emotions to guide his or her interpretation of reality. Some celebrate this; however, it is not to be celebrated. It is actually a cognitive distortion. (Leahy, Holland, McGinn, Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders) Just because you or I see something as reality does not mean it is actually reality. A pastor who gently places his hand on a crying woman's shoulder--for all intent and purposes--is likely trying to offer compassion; however, that woman may have been a victim of physical abuse, and she interprets the actions as abusive or sexual in nature. Who is right? This pastor's life could be upset for years if this woman presses charges--even though her interpretation of reality is not reality. The answer is not: more policies and more laws. For heaven's sake, there were 613 commands in the Old Testament, and the people couldn't follow them!! The laws and commands are not the problem. The problem will be addressed below.
Secondly, if someone actually thinks he or she can and does follow the laws, commands, and policies, it almost always leads to a sense of self-righteousness, smugness, and confidence in one's ability to be morally upright and superior to others--almost always. This leads to an "if I can do it, you should do it too" attitude. Of course, the problem with this is two-fold. Self-righteous people are almost always seen as a$$holes by regular folks. (I speak from personal experience as one who has traveled long upon the self-righteousness road.) Secondly, when such a person falls, and there have been many (think televangelists who get caught engaging in extra-marital sex) then great damage is not only done to that person's credibility--there is also great damage done to the institution of the Church. Self-righteousness also leads to an us/them mentality. We pure, upright, honest people are doing it right versus those heathens over there who can't get their proverbial $h!t together. Such an attitude is hardly what we are called to espouse and set forth as Christians.
Both of these paths are "killer" paths. They damage individuals. They damage the Church. They damage the soul. More laws are not the answer. More policies are not the answer. What is? Onto the third and final point.
3. The money comment which was made during this seminar was the following, "Abuse of boundaries takes place when there is a problem in the primary relationship."
Please re-read that comment again, because I think it is of vital importance.
But here is my fear: my greatest fear is that most people in the room thought the primary relationship had to do with their spouse or significant other. My fear is that the "primary relationship" centered upon wife or husband or partner or boyfriend or girlfriend or the like. And that is not the primary relationship. It cannot be. Why?
There are always problems with that relationship. Always. There are no perfect marriages. There are no perfect relationships. There is always going to be some sort of conflict. There is always going to be some sort of animosity or anger or jealousy. Two imperfect people cannot ever and will not ever come together to make something that is perfect. And if those two imperfect people have added a couple of little imperfect people into the mix...well, then that just adds another whole layer or two or ten of imperfection, stress, anxiety, and the like--things that lead to boundary violations.
You see, our marriages, our friendships were never meant to satisfy us. They were never meant to give us fullness or completeness. They were never made to give us our identity or well being. Imagine if you expect your closest relationship to bear all of those things. Imagine if you thought your relationship with your spouse was capable of giving you all of those things even when your spouse or significant other is having a really, really bad day. Is it any wonder so many marriages fail these days?
The problem isn't necessarily with marriage. The problem is the focus on the wrong relationship. The relationship with a spouse isn't the primary relationship. The primary relationship is the one with one's Creator. The primary relationship we have is with God. We should know this in the church--should.
And so we return to that important statement: when something is wrong with the primary relationship, boundary violations occur.
Which raises the question: how do you make sure the primary relationship is right? How do you make sure you are right with God?
Well, now we get to the heart of the Gospel. For if we are orthodox in our belief, we confess that there is nothing we can do to make that relationship right. There is nothing we can do on our part to make that relationship whole. If we could--then we would become extremely self-righteous. If we could, we would be able to follow every Law and command. If we could, then there would never have been any need for Jesus and the cross. We cannot make that relationship right.
But God already has.
Through the incarnation. Through the cross. Through the blood of Jesus, we are made right with God.
That relationship has been made right when you were unable to do it. That relationship has been made right by sheer grace--by God's action and not your own.
Therefore, you have no room to boast or become self-righteous.
You have no room to become arrogant.
And...
You have no need to find your identity, your fulfillment, your sense of well-being from anything but God. When you are seeking these things elsewhere, that means you are not trusting in what God has done--instead you are trusting in yourself--in what you think you have to do.
When you violate boundaries, it means you are not trusting in what God has accomplished for you. You are returning to works/righteousness instead of the Gospel of grace. The answer to the problem of boundaries is not make more boundaries. It's trust God more. He is and has made the primary relationship whole.
I learned this lesson the hard way. My hope and prayer is that others might have an easier time.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Cutting Off Your Hand Doesn't Work
Last week, as we read through the book of Mark, we saw how Jesus coached His disciples in dealing with those who were not members of the “in” group. An exorcist was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, but this exorcist was not a part of the inner 12. Jesus sternly said, “Do not stop him for someone who does such a deed in my name will not soon turn against me.” These are powerful words as we deal with our fellow Christians who do not believe as we believe. Jesus name is what unites us, and doing what we do in His name renders most differences moot.
Then, Jesus spoke about those who do not follow Him as a disciple. “Truly I tell you anyone who gives you a cup of cold water because you bear the name of Christ, that person will not lose the reward.” Again, hearing Jesus’ words is important because this isn’t about the things we do–this is about how people treat Jesus’ disciples. If a non-believer gives YOU a cup of cold water, then they will not lose the reward. If Jesus regards even a non-believer this highly, the disciples should as well. For Jesus came to save the world, not just a select few. Only those who blatantly reject Jesus, whose hearts are consumed by other things, who seek their own satisfaction and self-preservation will bear some serious consequences.
This is why Jesus teaches what He teaches in our snippet from Mark chapter 9 this morning. Jesus shifts the focus from those who are outside the faith, from the outer life, so to speak, to the inner life of the believer. Jesus cuts through all external things and gets to the heart of the matter. This is extremely important to grasp, especially since today is Reformation Sunday–a special day for those of us who call ourselves Lutheran Christians–a day when we strongly emphasize God’s grace and our inability to save ourselves. How does this all come together? Let’s turn to the text.
Jesus begins with some powerful, strong words: 43If 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. 45And 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., 47And 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, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
It is important to note that in the ancient Jewish world, people literally did blame their extremities for sin. William Lane in his commentary on Mark says, “It was not a Palestinian custom to refer to an abstract activity but to the specific member of the body which is responsible for it.” So, in the culture, it was acceptable to say, “My hand sinned. My foot sinned. My eye sinned.” Jesus confronts this thinking and says, “Well, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If you foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eyes cause you to sin, pluck them out.” Jesus pushes the culture’s logic to its logical conclusion. It’s better for you to be lame or blind than to be sinful. It makes perfect sense, but it is horrifying.
Not only is it horrifying, it’s also forbidden by Jewish scripture:
Deuteronomy 14:1 reads, “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead.”
Deuteronomy 23:1 reads, “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.” (Bet you didn’t know that one was in there!)
There is a reason behind these laws for the Jews understood God to be holy and whole, complete. If you were incomplete. If you were not whole, you were seen as further away from God. You were seen as less than what you should be. For Jew to hear Jesus say, “Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Pluck out your eye.” would invoke absolute horror! The Jew would have thought, “You are asking me to separate myself from God–to become incomplete–to make myself less than I should be!”
But is Jesus doing such a thing? Is Jesus telling us to cut off our hands and feet or pluck out our eye. No serious scholar believes such a thing because of this pertinent fact: if you cut off your hand, you will still sin. If you cut off your foot, you will still sin. If you pluck out your eye, you will still sin. The cause of sin does not reside in your hand or your foot or your eye. The cause of sin is much deeper. Jesus knows this. Jesus has taught this. Unfortunately, it is not sinking in.
Remember way back in Mark seven, there was an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees where the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were eating with unwashed hands. There’s a lot that is happening in that exchange, but eventually, we get to the place where Jesus says this, “4 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
It is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Hear that one more time: it is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to get people past the absurdity of it. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to show that blaming hands and feet and eyes for sin is asinine. Sin is a condition, not of the extremities, but of the deepest recesses of the human heart.
It is easy to blame a hand for stealing. It is easy to blame a foot for walking into a house of ill repute. It is easy to blame an eye for looking at another person with lust in your heart. It is easy to blame the rich for all the world’s problems. It is easy to blame those on welfare for their unwillingness to work. It is easy to blame capitalism for poverty. It is easy to blame communism for destroying human rights. It is easy to blame Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or liberals. It is easy to blame teachers for kids failing to learn. It is easy to blame elected officials for failing to deal with the problems of a given community. It is easy to put the problem “out there”, residing in someone else. But Jesus won’t let us get away with that. The problem isn’t in the hand. It isn’t in the foot. It isn’t in the eye. The problem isn’t out there with any group or institution or form of government. The problem is in the human heart.
Now, most folks don’t like this. Most folks would like to blame circumstances that are out there. It absolves them of responsibility. However, the Christian faith is not about shirking responsibility. It’s about accepting it, and accepting the fact that each and every one of us is indeed sinful. We are not just people who do bad things–who are imperfect. No. We are much worse. We are rotten to the core. We are self-centered and seek our own self-preservation.
You may not like me saying that, but let me see if I can show you the depths of your own sinfulness. Why do you do most of the things that you do? What is your motivation for getting up in the morning and going to work or engaging in any sort of activity? What drives you? I am not asking you to give me a superficial answer to this question. I really want to know.
You see, I get up most mornings and exercise. I make two laps around Cat Spring doing interval training. Most of you know I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past couple of years, and I want to keep it off. Some of you know my motivation behind it. A couple of years ago, my kids and I were visiting my parents. We were going to go to the Texas State Aquarium, and my kids ran up to their grandpa and said, “Grandpa, are you going too?” Grandpa, my dad, said, “Sorry, I can’t. My knee is hurting too badly.” Now, my dad hurt his knee playing football. He is also on the heavy side. These two things came back to haunt him. I hurt my knees playing football. I was on the heavy side. I saw the future in an instant–a future that if I am blessed with grandchildren that I could face. And I did not like that picture. I did not like the idea of my grandchildren asking me if I could go with them and having to turn them down. I decided right then and there to lose the weight and hopefully save my knees. Now, who did I lose the weight for? You could say that I did it for my children and my hoped for grandchildren. But that is not the truth. I didn’t want to deal with the disappointment of my grandchildren. I didn’t want to deal with their hurt. I didn’t want to see that in their eyes because IT WOULD BOTHER ME. My reasons are selfish. They have nothing really to do with my future grandchildren. They have nothing to do with this body that was given to be by God. My motivations are purely selfish. Purely.
Do I need to give further examples? Do I need to delve into why you get up and drink a cup of coffee? It’s because you enjoy it, right? You like the taste. Would you drink it if you didn’t like it? Would you drink it if you got no benefit from it? Oh, here’s another story putting the crosshairs directly on me. When I was on internship at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Waco, I did a lot of visitation. I really enjoyed visiting the little old ladies who were all too happy to provide snack for me. They found out I liked to eat, and they were happy to spoil me. One day, I went to visit Emma. I was told that Emma tended to be on the depressed side. She hadn’t done well after her husband had died. I hoped to cheer her up. Emma and I visited, and then she said, “I have something for you. It’s some fresh banana bread.”
A little part of me died inside. I hate bananas. I really do, especially since the taste of a banana makes me gag. Literally. I will gag when I taste banana. So, here is this wonderful lady; who went out of her way to make me this bread, who was a little on the depressed side, who didn’t need her intern making any sort of negative comments; what was I to do? I choked down the bread. I did something I didn’t like in the least. Hiding my gags and chugging water, I got that darn bread down. Self-sacrifice? Hardly. I wanted Emma to enjoy the visit. I wanted her to think positively about me and what I brought to her. I choked that bread down for purely selfish reasons.
Are your motivations any different? Do you engage in activities that you get no benefit from; no enjoyment out of; no satisfaction at all, yet continue to do so because it is the right thing to do? Most of us don’t. Not in the least. In fact, most of us know the right things to do, but we don’t do them because it costs us. It costs us dearly.
Which is why Jesus says, “Everyone will be salted with fire.” Most scholars are perplexed by this saying, but interestingly enough most of them link Jesus’ saying with Leviticus chapter 2:13, “You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your cereal offerings; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” These offerings were sacrificial offerings. They were offerings set forth showing a radical dependency on God. They were offerings saying, “Lord, we trust that you will get us through thick and thin, and we bring the first fruits of our grain to you to be burned in fire, with salt.”
But Jesus is taking this offering a step further. It’s not the first fruits that are offered and burned and refined and salted–it is us. We are refined and salted. We endure the fire and refinement as living sacrifices. St. Paul puts it this way in Romans chapter 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
This is the calling Jesus gives to His disciples. Don’t be superficial. Don’t look at your hand, your foot, or your eye. Look at the deep recesses of your heart and let the sinfulness of it be burned and refined. Offer your very self as an offering to God. Discipleship is not for the faint of heart.
Now, anyone who grasps this and understands this should be terrified. Really. If you understand what I have proclaimed to you to this point, you should be shaking in your shoes. For Jesus is demanding your entire being. He is asking you to walk away from all the desires of your heart. He is asking you to walk away from your own motivations and selfishness. He is asking you to forsake your identity and your well being to follow Him. It’s not a very good sales pitch. Most of us, if we were honest, would say no. We would say not a chance. None of us here this morning would accept such terms because they are just too difficult. The need for self-preservation and self-satisfaction is just too strong. We are unwilling to sacrifice ourselves.
But there is One who was willing. There was one who was able. There was one who did such a thing in our place. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it dozens of times, we must understand all scripture through the cross. We must understand all of Jesus’ teachings through the cross. The cross is the center of our faith and understanding, and Jesus knows you cannot and will not sacrifice yourself. Jesus knows the depths of your sinfulness. Jesus knows the hold that sin has over your heart. And He must break that hold. He must show you that following Him and trusting Him is worth the sacrifice.
And so when you could not sacrifice yourself, He sacrificed Himself. When you were afraid to face the fire, Jesus descended into Hell and faced that fire for you. When you were afraid of the pain of forsaking yourself, Jesus faced the ultimate forsakenness as the Father turned His back on Him as He hung on the cross. Jesus looked at you in the midst of your sin and in the midst of your selfishness, then looked at His Father and said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on your behalf.
When you could not do; when you were in bondage to your self, Jesus did. He saved you from yourself when you could not. This was not something you earned; rather it was given to you by sheer grace. And when you are moved by this, when those chains fall off your heart because you know you are deeply sinful yet deeply loved, you want to die to yourself. You want to become a living sacrifice. You want to be salted with fire. You want to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Your heart beats with a deep gratitude for the One who gave Himself up for you because He loves you.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. This is most certainly true. Amen.
Then, Jesus spoke about those who do not follow Him as a disciple. “Truly I tell you anyone who gives you a cup of cold water because you bear the name of Christ, that person will not lose the reward.” Again, hearing Jesus’ words is important because this isn’t about the things we do–this is about how people treat Jesus’ disciples. If a non-believer gives YOU a cup of cold water, then they will not lose the reward. If Jesus regards even a non-believer this highly, the disciples should as well. For Jesus came to save the world, not just a select few. Only those who blatantly reject Jesus, whose hearts are consumed by other things, who seek their own satisfaction and self-preservation will bear some serious consequences.
This is why Jesus teaches what He teaches in our snippet from Mark chapter 9 this morning. Jesus shifts the focus from those who are outside the faith, from the outer life, so to speak, to the inner life of the believer. Jesus cuts through all external things and gets to the heart of the matter. This is extremely important to grasp, especially since today is Reformation Sunday–a special day for those of us who call ourselves Lutheran Christians–a day when we strongly emphasize God’s grace and our inability to save ourselves. How does this all come together? Let’s turn to the text.
Jesus begins with some powerful, strong words: 43If 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. 45And 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., 47And 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, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
It is important to note that in the ancient Jewish world, people literally did blame their extremities for sin. William Lane in his commentary on Mark says, “It was not a Palestinian custom to refer to an abstract activity but to the specific member of the body which is responsible for it.” So, in the culture, it was acceptable to say, “My hand sinned. My foot sinned. My eye sinned.” Jesus confronts this thinking and says, “Well, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If you foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eyes cause you to sin, pluck them out.” Jesus pushes the culture’s logic to its logical conclusion. It’s better for you to be lame or blind than to be sinful. It makes perfect sense, but it is horrifying.
Not only is it horrifying, it’s also forbidden by Jewish scripture:
Deuteronomy 14:1 reads, “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead.”
Deuteronomy 23:1 reads, “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.” (Bet you didn’t know that one was in there!)
There is a reason behind these laws for the Jews understood God to be holy and whole, complete. If you were incomplete. If you were not whole, you were seen as further away from God. You were seen as less than what you should be. For Jew to hear Jesus say, “Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Pluck out your eye.” would invoke absolute horror! The Jew would have thought, “You are asking me to separate myself from God–to become incomplete–to make myself less than I should be!”
But is Jesus doing such a thing? Is Jesus telling us to cut off our hands and feet or pluck out our eye. No serious scholar believes such a thing because of this pertinent fact: if you cut off your hand, you will still sin. If you cut off your foot, you will still sin. If you pluck out your eye, you will still sin. The cause of sin does not reside in your hand or your foot or your eye. The cause of sin is much deeper. Jesus knows this. Jesus has taught this. Unfortunately, it is not sinking in.
Remember way back in Mark seven, there was an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees where the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were eating with unwashed hands. There’s a lot that is happening in that exchange, but eventually, we get to the place where Jesus says this, “4 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
It is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Hear that one more time: it is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to get people past the absurdity of it. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to show that blaming hands and feet and eyes for sin is asinine. Sin is a condition, not of the extremities, but of the deepest recesses of the human heart.
It is easy to blame a hand for stealing. It is easy to blame a foot for walking into a house of ill repute. It is easy to blame an eye for looking at another person with lust in your heart. It is easy to blame the rich for all the world’s problems. It is easy to blame those on welfare for their unwillingness to work. It is easy to blame capitalism for poverty. It is easy to blame communism for destroying human rights. It is easy to blame Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or liberals. It is easy to blame teachers for kids failing to learn. It is easy to blame elected officials for failing to deal with the problems of a given community. It is easy to put the problem “out there”, residing in someone else. But Jesus won’t let us get away with that. The problem isn’t in the hand. It isn’t in the foot. It isn’t in the eye. The problem isn’t out there with any group or institution or form of government. The problem is in the human heart.
Now, most folks don’t like this. Most folks would like to blame circumstances that are out there. It absolves them of responsibility. However, the Christian faith is not about shirking responsibility. It’s about accepting it, and accepting the fact that each and every one of us is indeed sinful. We are not just people who do bad things–who are imperfect. No. We are much worse. We are rotten to the core. We are self-centered and seek our own self-preservation.
You may not like me saying that, but let me see if I can show you the depths of your own sinfulness. Why do you do most of the things that you do? What is your motivation for getting up in the morning and going to work or engaging in any sort of activity? What drives you? I am not asking you to give me a superficial answer to this question. I really want to know.
You see, I get up most mornings and exercise. I make two laps around Cat Spring doing interval training. Most of you know I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past couple of years, and I want to keep it off. Some of you know my motivation behind it. A couple of years ago, my kids and I were visiting my parents. We were going to go to the Texas State Aquarium, and my kids ran up to their grandpa and said, “Grandpa, are you going too?” Grandpa, my dad, said, “Sorry, I can’t. My knee is hurting too badly.” Now, my dad hurt his knee playing football. He is also on the heavy side. These two things came back to haunt him. I hurt my knees playing football. I was on the heavy side. I saw the future in an instant–a future that if I am blessed with grandchildren that I could face. And I did not like that picture. I did not like the idea of my grandchildren asking me if I could go with them and having to turn them down. I decided right then and there to lose the weight and hopefully save my knees. Now, who did I lose the weight for? You could say that I did it for my children and my hoped for grandchildren. But that is not the truth. I didn’t want to deal with the disappointment of my grandchildren. I didn’t want to deal with their hurt. I didn’t want to see that in their eyes because IT WOULD BOTHER ME. My reasons are selfish. They have nothing really to do with my future grandchildren. They have nothing to do with this body that was given to be by God. My motivations are purely selfish. Purely.
Do I need to give further examples? Do I need to delve into why you get up and drink a cup of coffee? It’s because you enjoy it, right? You like the taste. Would you drink it if you didn’t like it? Would you drink it if you got no benefit from it? Oh, here’s another story putting the crosshairs directly on me. When I was on internship at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Waco, I did a lot of visitation. I really enjoyed visiting the little old ladies who were all too happy to provide snack for me. They found out I liked to eat, and they were happy to spoil me. One day, I went to visit Emma. I was told that Emma tended to be on the depressed side. She hadn’t done well after her husband had died. I hoped to cheer her up. Emma and I visited, and then she said, “I have something for you. It’s some fresh banana bread.”
A little part of me died inside. I hate bananas. I really do, especially since the taste of a banana makes me gag. Literally. I will gag when I taste banana. So, here is this wonderful lady; who went out of her way to make me this bread, who was a little on the depressed side, who didn’t need her intern making any sort of negative comments; what was I to do? I choked down the bread. I did something I didn’t like in the least. Hiding my gags and chugging water, I got that darn bread down. Self-sacrifice? Hardly. I wanted Emma to enjoy the visit. I wanted her to think positively about me and what I brought to her. I choked that bread down for purely selfish reasons.
Are your motivations any different? Do you engage in activities that you get no benefit from; no enjoyment out of; no satisfaction at all, yet continue to do so because it is the right thing to do? Most of us don’t. Not in the least. In fact, most of us know the right things to do, but we don’t do them because it costs us. It costs us dearly.
Which is why Jesus says, “Everyone will be salted with fire.” Most scholars are perplexed by this saying, but interestingly enough most of them link Jesus’ saying with Leviticus chapter 2:13, “You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your cereal offerings; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” These offerings were sacrificial offerings. They were offerings set forth showing a radical dependency on God. They were offerings saying, “Lord, we trust that you will get us through thick and thin, and we bring the first fruits of our grain to you to be burned in fire, with salt.”
But Jesus is taking this offering a step further. It’s not the first fruits that are offered and burned and refined and salted–it is us. We are refined and salted. We endure the fire and refinement as living sacrifices. St. Paul puts it this way in Romans chapter 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
This is the calling Jesus gives to His disciples. Don’t be superficial. Don’t look at your hand, your foot, or your eye. Look at the deep recesses of your heart and let the sinfulness of it be burned and refined. Offer your very self as an offering to God. Discipleship is not for the faint of heart.
Now, anyone who grasps this and understands this should be terrified. Really. If you understand what I have proclaimed to you to this point, you should be shaking in your shoes. For Jesus is demanding your entire being. He is asking you to walk away from all the desires of your heart. He is asking you to walk away from your own motivations and selfishness. He is asking you to forsake your identity and your well being to follow Him. It’s not a very good sales pitch. Most of us, if we were honest, would say no. We would say not a chance. None of us here this morning would accept such terms because they are just too difficult. The need for self-preservation and self-satisfaction is just too strong. We are unwilling to sacrifice ourselves.
But there is One who was willing. There was one who was able. There was one who did such a thing in our place. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it dozens of times, we must understand all scripture through the cross. We must understand all of Jesus’ teachings through the cross. The cross is the center of our faith and understanding, and Jesus knows you cannot and will not sacrifice yourself. Jesus knows the depths of your sinfulness. Jesus knows the hold that sin has over your heart. And He must break that hold. He must show you that following Him and trusting Him is worth the sacrifice.
And so when you could not sacrifice yourself, He sacrificed Himself. When you were afraid to face the fire, Jesus descended into Hell and faced that fire for you. When you were afraid of the pain of forsaking yourself, Jesus faced the ultimate forsakenness as the Father turned His back on Him as He hung on the cross. Jesus looked at you in the midst of your sin and in the midst of your selfishness, then looked at His Father and said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on your behalf.
When you could not do; when you were in bondage to your self, Jesus did. He saved you from yourself when you could not. This was not something you earned; rather it was given to you by sheer grace. And when you are moved by this, when those chains fall off your heart because you know you are deeply sinful yet deeply loved, you want to die to yourself. You want to become a living sacrifice. You want to be salted with fire. You want to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Your heart beats with a deep gratitude for the One who gave Himself up for you because He loves you.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. This is most certainly true. Amen.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Peace in a Pluralistic World
One of the major issues confronting our world is its shrinkage. You may scratch your head for a moment on that comment thinking, “Isn’t the earth the same size as it has been for billions of years? There aren’t parts of it eroding into space, are there?” No. That’s not the kind of shrinkage I am talking about. It’s the shrinkage that has been ongoing since the development of more types and faster types of travel and communication. It is in this regard that I think the world is getting smaller.
Consider this, 150 years ago, if you wanted to know what was going on half-way around the world, you had to wait days, if not weeks or months to find out. Letters from overseas were carried upon horseback to an awaiting boat–most probably a sail boat although steam engines were beginning to arrive on the scene. The letter would arrive and be delivered on horseback to its location, but if you were very lucky, the railroad might be able to carry it a bit faster to your location. Communication took time–a long time. Travel took time–much longer than it does now. Today, we have instant communication anywhere in the world by satellite phone or internet. We can board an airplane today and in less than 24 hours can be sitting on the other side of the world. We can drive down to Katy in under an hour’s time whereas 100 years ago it would have taken half a day. The world has shrunk because of technology, and that has had some consequences.
Among those consequences is that we are now forced to rub shoulders with people who are vastly different than we are. We are now coming into contact with people of all sorts of races, religions, worldviews and identities. If you engage this world in any way, you will run into people who do not look like you, think like you, or act like you. Amazingly enough, we are doing a pretty good job of coexisting in this world without destroying each other; but there is quite a bit of tension–quite a bit of tension.
We see that tension rear its head in politics; in spirited debate; in the various wars around the world. There is heightened tension right now between Israel and Palestine. There is heightened tension between Democrats and Republicans. There is heightened tension between conservatives and liberals. There is heightened tension between those who believe in God and those who are atheist. There is heightened tension between Christians and Muslims. Various worldviews around the world are in a constant struggle to interact and offer people a sense of belonging and sense of understanding about the nature of reality. And there is a struggle for truth–which worldview is true and leads us to respect and honor one another?
Some have argued that no one worldview can have a hold on the truth. No one worldview or religion can grasp ultimate truth if that ultimate truth even exists. In fact, some use a rather fascinating illustration to show this. It’s an illustration called the “Blind Men and the Elephant.” Perhaps you have heard it. Depending on the version, five or six blind men encounter an elephant, and each of them touch a different part of the elephant. After their encounter, the men argue about what the elephant is like. One argues the elephant is like a rope–long, narrow, and stringy, because he touched the tail. One argues the elephant is like a wall because he touched the torso. One argues the elephant is like a tree truck as he touched the leg. One argues the elephant is like a hose because he touched the trunk. Another argues the elephant is like a spear, long and sharp because he touched the tusk. Round and round and round they argue–all of them, in one way right, and all of them in one way wrong. And, some argue, that’s the way with religions and worldviews. All of them get something right. All of them get something wrong. Leslie Newbigin gave a rebuttal of sorts to this parable as he realized something: you cannot say that all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you can see the entire perspective of reality yourself. You cannot possibly know all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you yourself know the truth! Therefore, people who try to tell you that reality is this way are simply trying to convert you to their way of thinking! They have no idea if it’s true or not. It is just another competing worldview.
The Christian worldview offers a particular way of looking at the world, and it is a way that unabashedly claims to know the truth while honoring and respecting those outside its belief system. It seeks converts but does not seek to harm or hurt those outside the faith. Now, that has not been the case because there are those who have warped Christianity’s teachings, but this morning, I would like to show you what Christianity teaches using this little snippet from Mark chapter nine.
This little piece begins with the disciple John coming up to Jesus and saying, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Now, keep in mind the following points: first, remember that just a few verses earlier Mark recounted how the disciples were UNABLE to cast out a demon. So it is with no great irony that John is trying to stop someone else from successfully doing what the disciples were unsuccessful at accomplishing. Secondly, immediately preceding John’s statement was Jesus’ teaching on greatness. “Whoever wants to be first of all must be last of all and servant of all.” Does it strike you how John, who is speaking for the rest of the disciples as well, doesn’t quite seem to get humility? Finally, consider this last point which was rammed home to me by James Edwards in his commentary on this text. I never even considered this point until I read it, and it makes absolute sense to me now. Edwards says, “John’s report that the independent exorcist ‘was not following us’ is depressingly ironic. We should expect him to say ‘because he was not following you.’ Is it not a little presumptuous at this stage of discipleship for John to think himself and the other disciples as worthy of being followed?” I hope you caught Edwards’ gist there. John and the disciples are still quite consumed with themselves. They think they are something special because they follow Jesus. They rank themselves with Jesus, but in reality, it’s not about them!!! It’s never supposed to be about them or us!! It’s always supposed to be about Jesus!!!
Which is why Jesus replies to them, “‘Do not stop him [and the Greek gives you the sense of “do not stop him or anyone like him now or ever]; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.” Now, I want to point out quickly here that the other exorcist was not casting out demons in the name of any other religion or in the name of any other god. Some might like to take Jesus’ words and expand them to all religions here. You cannot do that. Jesus said plainly and clearly that this was being done in His name. When someone does something in Jesus’ name, we are called to humbly step back. We are called to celebrate what they are doing. For anyone who does something in Jesus’ name is not against us. We are working toward the same goal and purpose–if we are working in. Jesus’. Name.
Of course, that now raises the question of, “Well, what if someone is not doing anything in Jesus’ name?”
Jesus continues, “41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” Some have massively misinterpreted this verse. They have suggested that if we are doing even the littlest of actions, then we will be rewarded. They suggest that Christianity is about doing all sorts of little things with great love, but you need to look very, very carefully at what Jesus says here. This is not about the actions of His disciples. This is about the actions of those who are outside the circle of Christianity. This is about those who are not following Jesus. “Whoever gives YOU a cup of water to drink BECAUSE YOU BEAR THE NAME OF CHRIST will by no means lose the reward.” If there are those outside the faith who welcome you; who embrace you; who are kind to you, Jesus sees that as a welcoming of Himself. Try to wrap your head around that for a moment. Even if someone does not believe in Him or trust Him, when they care for you, they are caring for Jesus, and Jesus honors that. Which means, if Jesus is honoring the actions of those who care for us in such a manner, should we not do the same? Of course we should, and I will return to this in just a minute after dealing with the final verse.
Jesus finishes, “‘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.” This comment would have called up historical precedent because the Roman army had inflicted this exact punishment some Jewish Zealots who had tried to rebel against them under Judas the Galilean (Lane 346)1. Again, let me point out that Jesus is reinforcing the idea that we should not inhibit someone who is striving to do good in His name. In our zealous nature to make sure everyone does everything “right” we may cause others to stumble. We may cause others to fall. We may cause others to walk away from the faith, and Jesus says this would be cause for us to have a millstone hung around our necks and us be cast into the ocean.
Again, the problem confronted throughout this particular teaching by Jesus is the problem of self-righteousness. John and the other disciples thought they were better than this other exorcist because of their close association with Jesus. Humility was severely lacking. If we look down our noses at those who are outside of the Christian faith and treat them as less than those created in the image of God, this again is self-righteousness. If we go around criticizing others for trying to follow Christ in a manner that we think is wrong or undignified or less than perfect, then we are being self-righteous. And this self-righteousness comes from thinking that religion and following Jesus focuses on our actions.
This is exactly where Christianity diverges massively from the rest of the world’s religions. For the rest of the world’s religions focus on what we do. They say we must do the right things to be accepted. We must accomplish good works or the deity will turn against us. This leads us to either despair because we do not believe we can accomplish those works or it leads us to become self-righteous because we think we are accomplishing those works and others should do like we do.
But Christianity says we are not saved by our works. We are not saved by casting out demons. We are not saved by bringing cups of water. We are not saved by living perfectly, morally, and uprightly. We are not saved by telling everyone else how they should or should not act. We are saved totally and completely by sheer grace. Let me repeat that again, you are only saved by sheer grace. You are saved only and completely by Jesus and His actions on your behalf. You are saved only by what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross by dying the death you deserved. You have no righteousness to stand on.
St. Paul put it this way in the third chapter of the book of Philippians, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through trust in Christ, the righteousness from God based on trust.”
You see, Paul had every right to think that his works had guaranteed him righteousness with God, and Paul was indeed self-righteous. He persecuted the church because he thought he could accomplish the works of the law. But Jesus appeared to Paul and radically changed his worldview. Paul knew that Jesus came into the world and saved him by sheer grace. No longer could Paul trust in himself. Paul knew he must trust in Jesus.
And when you trust in Jesus, when you trust in His work on the cross, several things become abundantly clear. First, you know that you have seen God. You have seen the Truth. For you have seen the God who became flesh. Secondly, you are humbled because you know that you did nothing to deserve what you have been given. Your heart is no longer hardened because you know that Jesus died for you when you least deserved it and were living in sin. And finally, you have a heart for others. You cherish those who work in Jesus’ name, and you see those who do not work in Jesus’ name as those created in the image of God who God longs to bring into fellowship with Him. You long to bring them the news of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. For even though Jesus indeed died for you, you remember John 3:16 and 17.
“For God so loved the world–the WORLD–that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world–THE WORLD–not to condemn the world, but that the world–THE WORLD–might be saved through Him.” If we know that Jesus came to save the WORLD, we know that means all of the people in it. If your heart is touched by this, I invite you to delve further into the Christian worldview, for I think you will find within it the Truth who brings peace to this shrinking world. Amen.
1. New International Commentary on the New Testament. “The Gospel of Mark”. William Lane.
Consider this, 150 years ago, if you wanted to know what was going on half-way around the world, you had to wait days, if not weeks or months to find out. Letters from overseas were carried upon horseback to an awaiting boat–most probably a sail boat although steam engines were beginning to arrive on the scene. The letter would arrive and be delivered on horseback to its location, but if you were very lucky, the railroad might be able to carry it a bit faster to your location. Communication took time–a long time. Travel took time–much longer than it does now. Today, we have instant communication anywhere in the world by satellite phone or internet. We can board an airplane today and in less than 24 hours can be sitting on the other side of the world. We can drive down to Katy in under an hour’s time whereas 100 years ago it would have taken half a day. The world has shrunk because of technology, and that has had some consequences.
Among those consequences is that we are now forced to rub shoulders with people who are vastly different than we are. We are now coming into contact with people of all sorts of races, religions, worldviews and identities. If you engage this world in any way, you will run into people who do not look like you, think like you, or act like you. Amazingly enough, we are doing a pretty good job of coexisting in this world without destroying each other; but there is quite a bit of tension–quite a bit of tension.
We see that tension rear its head in politics; in spirited debate; in the various wars around the world. There is heightened tension right now between Israel and Palestine. There is heightened tension between Democrats and Republicans. There is heightened tension between conservatives and liberals. There is heightened tension between those who believe in God and those who are atheist. There is heightened tension between Christians and Muslims. Various worldviews around the world are in a constant struggle to interact and offer people a sense of belonging and sense of understanding about the nature of reality. And there is a struggle for truth–which worldview is true and leads us to respect and honor one another?
Some have argued that no one worldview can have a hold on the truth. No one worldview or religion can grasp ultimate truth if that ultimate truth even exists. In fact, some use a rather fascinating illustration to show this. It’s an illustration called the “Blind Men and the Elephant.” Perhaps you have heard it. Depending on the version, five or six blind men encounter an elephant, and each of them touch a different part of the elephant. After their encounter, the men argue about what the elephant is like. One argues the elephant is like a rope–long, narrow, and stringy, because he touched the tail. One argues the elephant is like a wall because he touched the torso. One argues the elephant is like a tree truck as he touched the leg. One argues the elephant is like a hose because he touched the trunk. Another argues the elephant is like a spear, long and sharp because he touched the tusk. Round and round and round they argue–all of them, in one way right, and all of them in one way wrong. And, some argue, that’s the way with religions and worldviews. All of them get something right. All of them get something wrong. Leslie Newbigin gave a rebuttal of sorts to this parable as he realized something: you cannot say that all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you can see the entire perspective of reality yourself. You cannot possibly know all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you yourself know the truth! Therefore, people who try to tell you that reality is this way are simply trying to convert you to their way of thinking! They have no idea if it’s true or not. It is just another competing worldview.
The Christian worldview offers a particular way of looking at the world, and it is a way that unabashedly claims to know the truth while honoring and respecting those outside its belief system. It seeks converts but does not seek to harm or hurt those outside the faith. Now, that has not been the case because there are those who have warped Christianity’s teachings, but this morning, I would like to show you what Christianity teaches using this little snippet from Mark chapter nine.
This little piece begins with the disciple John coming up to Jesus and saying, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Now, keep in mind the following points: first, remember that just a few verses earlier Mark recounted how the disciples were UNABLE to cast out a demon. So it is with no great irony that John is trying to stop someone else from successfully doing what the disciples were unsuccessful at accomplishing. Secondly, immediately preceding John’s statement was Jesus’ teaching on greatness. “Whoever wants to be first of all must be last of all and servant of all.” Does it strike you how John, who is speaking for the rest of the disciples as well, doesn’t quite seem to get humility? Finally, consider this last point which was rammed home to me by James Edwards in his commentary on this text. I never even considered this point until I read it, and it makes absolute sense to me now. Edwards says, “John’s report that the independent exorcist ‘was not following us’ is depressingly ironic. We should expect him to say ‘because he was not following you.’ Is it not a little presumptuous at this stage of discipleship for John to think himself and the other disciples as worthy of being followed?” I hope you caught Edwards’ gist there. John and the disciples are still quite consumed with themselves. They think they are something special because they follow Jesus. They rank themselves with Jesus, but in reality, it’s not about them!!! It’s never supposed to be about them or us!! It’s always supposed to be about Jesus!!!
Which is why Jesus replies to them, “‘Do not stop him [and the Greek gives you the sense of “do not stop him or anyone like him now or ever]; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.” Now, I want to point out quickly here that the other exorcist was not casting out demons in the name of any other religion or in the name of any other god. Some might like to take Jesus’ words and expand them to all religions here. You cannot do that. Jesus said plainly and clearly that this was being done in His name. When someone does something in Jesus’ name, we are called to humbly step back. We are called to celebrate what they are doing. For anyone who does something in Jesus’ name is not against us. We are working toward the same goal and purpose–if we are working in. Jesus’. Name.
Of course, that now raises the question of, “Well, what if someone is not doing anything in Jesus’ name?”
Jesus continues, “41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” Some have massively misinterpreted this verse. They have suggested that if we are doing even the littlest of actions, then we will be rewarded. They suggest that Christianity is about doing all sorts of little things with great love, but you need to look very, very carefully at what Jesus says here. This is not about the actions of His disciples. This is about the actions of those who are outside the circle of Christianity. This is about those who are not following Jesus. “Whoever gives YOU a cup of water to drink BECAUSE YOU BEAR THE NAME OF CHRIST will by no means lose the reward.” If there are those outside the faith who welcome you; who embrace you; who are kind to you, Jesus sees that as a welcoming of Himself. Try to wrap your head around that for a moment. Even if someone does not believe in Him or trust Him, when they care for you, they are caring for Jesus, and Jesus honors that. Which means, if Jesus is honoring the actions of those who care for us in such a manner, should we not do the same? Of course we should, and I will return to this in just a minute after dealing with the final verse.
Jesus finishes, “‘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.” This comment would have called up historical precedent because the Roman army had inflicted this exact punishment some Jewish Zealots who had tried to rebel against them under Judas the Galilean (Lane 346)1. Again, let me point out that Jesus is reinforcing the idea that we should not inhibit someone who is striving to do good in His name. In our zealous nature to make sure everyone does everything “right” we may cause others to stumble. We may cause others to fall. We may cause others to walk away from the faith, and Jesus says this would be cause for us to have a millstone hung around our necks and us be cast into the ocean.
Again, the problem confronted throughout this particular teaching by Jesus is the problem of self-righteousness. John and the other disciples thought they were better than this other exorcist because of their close association with Jesus. Humility was severely lacking. If we look down our noses at those who are outside of the Christian faith and treat them as less than those created in the image of God, this again is self-righteousness. If we go around criticizing others for trying to follow Christ in a manner that we think is wrong or undignified or less than perfect, then we are being self-righteous. And this self-righteousness comes from thinking that religion and following Jesus focuses on our actions.
This is exactly where Christianity diverges massively from the rest of the world’s religions. For the rest of the world’s religions focus on what we do. They say we must do the right things to be accepted. We must accomplish good works or the deity will turn against us. This leads us to either despair because we do not believe we can accomplish those works or it leads us to become self-righteous because we think we are accomplishing those works and others should do like we do.
But Christianity says we are not saved by our works. We are not saved by casting out demons. We are not saved by bringing cups of water. We are not saved by living perfectly, morally, and uprightly. We are not saved by telling everyone else how they should or should not act. We are saved totally and completely by sheer grace. Let me repeat that again, you are only saved by sheer grace. You are saved only and completely by Jesus and His actions on your behalf. You are saved only by what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross by dying the death you deserved. You have no righteousness to stand on.
St. Paul put it this way in the third chapter of the book of Philippians, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through trust in Christ, the righteousness from God based on trust.”
You see, Paul had every right to think that his works had guaranteed him righteousness with God, and Paul was indeed self-righteous. He persecuted the church because he thought he could accomplish the works of the law. But Jesus appeared to Paul and radically changed his worldview. Paul knew that Jesus came into the world and saved him by sheer grace. No longer could Paul trust in himself. Paul knew he must trust in Jesus.
And when you trust in Jesus, when you trust in His work on the cross, several things become abundantly clear. First, you know that you have seen God. You have seen the Truth. For you have seen the God who became flesh. Secondly, you are humbled because you know that you did nothing to deserve what you have been given. Your heart is no longer hardened because you know that Jesus died for you when you least deserved it and were living in sin. And finally, you have a heart for others. You cherish those who work in Jesus’ name, and you see those who do not work in Jesus’ name as those created in the image of God who God longs to bring into fellowship with Him. You long to bring them the news of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. For even though Jesus indeed died for you, you remember John 3:16 and 17.
“For God so loved the world–the WORLD–that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world–THE WORLD–not to condemn the world, but that the world–THE WORLD–might be saved through Him.” If we know that Jesus came to save the WORLD, we know that means all of the people in it. If your heart is touched by this, I invite you to delve further into the Christian worldview, for I think you will find within it the Truth who brings peace to this shrinking world. Amen.
1. New International Commentary on the New Testament. “The Gospel of Mark”. William Lane.
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