Proper 21

38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” 39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. 42 “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “ ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

This incident starts with some in group / out group dynamics

“This guy was doing what WE do but he’s not one of us so we told him to stop.”

It can sound a little like “we got dibs on exorcisms, that’s our trademark move”

Or, if we want to view the disciples charitably it might be that they are genuinely concerned that this guy whom they’ve never seen sitting at the feet of Jesus is doing something sinister and somehow distorting the name of Jesus in a way that could cause real harm

But at the heart of it is this impulse “he’s not one of US so he’s suspect”

INTERESTINGLY, Jesus does not say, “Yeah, shut that guy down.”

Nor does he say, “Go get this guy and we’ll run him through some tests to see if he’s legit.”

He just says, “Don’t stop him.”

He says anyone who experiences his power in a real way in their life is going to have a hard time abusing his name

Let him invoke my name for something that opposes the darkness

And then Jesus shifts the conversation to talk about how people come to know him

How it starts with small moments of being open and receptive

And how it starts like the faith of a child who believes Jesus is who he says he is but doesn’t yet have full discernment

But then you grow in discernment, and as you do you make choices about which things in your life bring you closer to Jesus and which create barriers or pull you away from him

And you make choices to prioritize the things that draw you closer to Jesus

And when we, followers of Jesus, do that we become like salt in the world

Preserving and enhancing that which is good

So as always, Jesus takes a real-world response from his disciples and turns it into a teaching moment

And I want to highlight three different aspects of it

Number 1: Jesus wants us to welcome all who are approaching Him

Especially those who genuinely desire to experience the real presence of Jesus in their lives in opposition to darkness

This means making space for people who are all over the map

At different points of understanding, different points of holiness, different points of churchiness

Center Set vs. Boundary Set

This will be increasingly important in our cultural moment in which so many people are questioning, deconstructing, reconstructing, and healing

Some people are shifting from one camp to another, some are moving farther away from Orthodoxy altogether, some are leaving abusive tribes to find a more open but healthier expression of the faith

All this to say, now more than ever people are all over the map

With so much disruption, our natural human tendency is to lock everything down down and draw clear boundaries and control the borders of the faith

But if we do that the effect will be the alienation of those who are constantly being told they’re outside the in group and that the only way to be a part of the believing community is to conform to a very specific set of guidelines

We end of communicating that a person has to behave, get it all together, work out all their theological questions AND THEN they can apply for membership in the in group

And broadly speaking we end up with a bunch of competing tribes that are more focused on the guidelines and on policing the boundaries than experiencing the real presence of Jesus

NOW, this does not mean that the way forward is to have NO guidelines

We must have some solid ground to stand on

One of the mistakes faith communities make is to swing the pendulum SO FAR to openness that they lose any distinct convictions whatsoever, and at that point they no longer have anything unique to offer the world

Remember, the way of Jesus will still be an offense to some

But let’s make sure people are offended by things Jesus actually modeled and taught

Let’s make sure they’re offended by the grace we offer to people, our desire to welcome strangers, and love sacrificially

Let’s make sure they’re offended by our care for the poor and our unwillingness to participate in violence and injustice

Too often in our moment Jesus is being used as a mascot for political belligerence that has nothing to do with his teaching.

And too many people LOVE to offend others through theoligical debate.

That’s not what we’re called to.

We stand on a solid confession, but we don’t need to be enemies and exclude people over gray area subjects we’re all trying to work out

A saying many have found helpful through the years comes from a 17th century German theologian

“In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity” - Rupertus Meldenius

To paraphrase, “Hold tight to Jesus and then chill out.”

WHICH LEADS TO THE SECOND LESSON

Instead of policing the boundaries, focus on following Jesus yourselves

In the end our faith isn’t in a system, it’s in a person, Jesus

And our knowledge of this person doesn’t come through systematic analysis, it comes through going with him and being with him

And as we go with him our knowledge of him will be personal and constantly unfolding

And Jesus didn’t say “Come, get a theology degree and then argue all the nuances with people.”

He said, “Come, follow me.”

See what I do.

See where I am at work.

Join me in bringing healing and hope to dark places.

And be transformed as you learn to join my life.

WHICH LEADS TO THE THIRD LESSON

Let your presence enhance the faith of others

Whatever seed of faith is present in others, let your relationship water it

We won’t be rewarded by Jesus for dowsing every spark of faith that doesn’t fit into our boundaries

That person who is SUPER rough around the edges

That person in process working through some things and asking BIG questions, even about those foundational truths

Welcome them instead of judging them

Welcome whoever is searching for hope and truth, wondering if any is found in Jesus

And let your life be an encouragement to them, not a stumbling blog

Now, I don’t think theological snobbery and moral judgmentalism is necessarily the problem in OUR community.

I think most of you might feel more like the person in danger of being judged by the in group.

Maybe you relate more to the person trying to experience the power of Jesus and you feel like there are so called experts or other Christians who would look down upon you.

And to that I’d say, just keep pressing in to experience the real Jesus and in THIS community you have freedom to work out your thoughts and questions and fears and wounds