Bear The Name

Sunday, September 20^th, 2009

Ordinary 26B

Jerusalem Baptist Church, Warsaw, VA

Mark 9:38-50

³⁸John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” ³⁹But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰Whoever is not against us is for us. 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.⁴²“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. 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.⁴⁹“For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Why did the disciples stick with Jesus?

What was it that compelled them to stay, after hearing him tell them multiple times that following him – staying with him on the path that they were on – would eventually result in their persecution and probably premature deaths?

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks reviewing some episodes in their life as a group where Jesus has been trying to tell them that HE was going to suffer and die, and then telling them that if they REALLY wanted to follow him they were going to have to give up any thought they had for their own safety and comfort and security and give themselves completely to the task of bringing the good news to their neighbors and beyond.

As Mark moves them closer to Jerusalem and Jesus’ coming passion, the teaching Jesus gives them is clearer and clearer. The requirement is: no compromise. All or nothing.

It sounds … intimidating … extreme … off the deep end, doesn’t it?

We’d much rather be moderate … in our actions, in our attitudes, in our practice, and in our … faith? Do we really want to include our faith in htat moderation effect? That broad middle ground can be so much more … inviting … welcoming … comfortable than the extremes.

We’ve seen the outcome of extremism. We are all too familiar with fiery rhetoric and the ranting of madmen that result in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of lost followers or innocent bystanders.

But we can’t avoid dealing with what Christ tells the disciples and telling us through the Gospel texts: give yourself up and follow me. In ORDER to follow me, you must give your SELF up.

We may have been conditioned to think that that call is all good and well for those who are devoted to full time ministry, or who, like Chris, are committing to spiritual leadership in the church, and that it doesn’t apply to the … rank and file members of the church. After all, we all have lives to live, mouths to feed, business to take care of, we have a life to make for ourselves and for our families…

I like reading familiar passages in different versions of scripture; it helps to see the same old phrases through different lenses, and the one that does that most consistently for me now is Eugene Petersen’s ‘The Message’. Keep in mind, this is a paraphrase of the scriptures – he’s not aiming for word-to-word correspondence to the original languages, he’s trying to help us receive the words of scripture in the same way that those who first heard the words received them – the ideas and concepts are what he is trying to get across – here’s how he puts verses 43 through 48:

“If your hand or your foot gets in God's way, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.”

Can you see what the message is? Jesus isn’t talking about a one-to-one legalistic understanding of losing whatever appendage is involved in the commission of a sin. Just as he did in the Sermon on the Mount, he is going deeper than that – he’s going to where sin originates – to our very hearts.

Because ultimately, that is what God is after: our hearts. God wants us to want to be with God as much as God wants to be with us. We are God’s beloved children, and like any loving parent, God wants to spend time with us, and wants as little to get between us as possible.

So he gives us the example of the total trust, the total commitment that Christ showed in being obedient and trusting God with his life. Literally, completely, totally surrendered to whatever God had for him to do.

And ultimately, it is what we know the disciples did do, and it is what faithful followers of Christ have done through the centuries since he first told the disciples what they would have to do if they wanted to follow him.

And it is what we are acknowledging this morning in the life of Chris Bronner; that he is making the statement to be given to Christ through service to the church.

(ordination to the diaconate of Chris Bronner)

Let’s pray.