Whoever is not against us

[thanks to Spill the Beans and David Lose]

We have been reading through the Gospel of Mark, here is a quick outline from the middle of chapter 8.

Jesus asks the disciples ‘who do you say I am?’

Peter answers: the Messiah!

Jesus ordered the disciples not to tell anyone

Then Jesus tells the disciples he will die,

and Peter, says: No Way!

Jesus tells Peter off for focusing on human things, not divine things.

“If any of you want to come with me,” he told them, “you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.  For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it.

  

Is it any wonder the disciples didn’t seem to understand what was going on at times?

then the story of the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain –

a mystical experience for the three disciples with him.

Jesus and the three return to find the rest of the disciples in a pickle. They have tried healing a boy and not been able to.

Jesus heals the boy.

[Last week]

Jesus again tells the disciples he will be killed,

this time they are silent because they are afraid.

as they travel the road they argue over who is the greatest among them.  Jesus tells them the one who welcomes, the one who is a servant, these are the greatest in the kingdom of God.

Then we come to this passage, and the disciples,

the same disciples who could not cast the evil spirit from a boy,

the disciples tell Jesus,

that they have told someone to stop healing,

because he wasn’t part of the ‘our’ group. 

a story from Soill the Beans

Have you ever been on a Litter Pickup?

What do you need? (Gloves, a bin bag, a litter picker).

A bunch of friends, Lucy, David, Anja and Michael, went along one Saturday to the local park where their church had organised a Litter Pickup. They pulled on their gloves. They took a big black bin bag to share. They got two litter pickers between the four of them. And they each got a special bright yellow vest to wear, which said “ST PAUL’S CHURCH. LITTER PICK-UP. KEEPING OUR PARK BEAUTIFUL.”

The park needed their help—what a lot of litter there was, on the grass, on the paths, among the flowers and beside the pond! The children got to work. They were so proud to be part of a team doing something good! Soon the big black bag was half-full, with chip packets and chocolate wrappers and newspapers and plastic bottles and drinks cans. Lucy and David were carrying the bag along, while Anja and Michael used the litter pickers to carry pieces of paper and all the other rubbish to the bag.

“Look!” said Lucy suddenly, in a loud whisper. “What’s he doing?”

The others looked where Lucy was pointing. There under the big beech tree ahead of them, a man was picking up rubbish and putting it in a wee carrier bag. It wasn’t a proper big black bin bag. And he didn’t have any gloves or a litter picker. And he wasn’t wearing a special bright yellow vest.

 “He can’t do that!” said Michael. “This is OUR Litter Pick-up!”

But David started to smile. “He might not be in our team, but he’s helping to keep the park beautiful!” he said.

“I wish he’d stop!” grumbled Lucy, “I’ve never seen HIM at our church!”

Then Anja whispered, “I think we should say hello. Isn’t it great that we’re not the only ones who care about the park?”

 [Spill the Beans]

Jesus tells the disciples: “whoever is not against us is for us.”

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”

  

Jesus seems to continually be trying to open the disciples to an ever widening group of people. The lame and blind, outcasts of various sorts, lepers, women, children, non-Jews and now people who do good, who are agents of the kingdom, BUT aren’t part of the group!

I wonder which groups in this area work for the kingdom, without being part of this church, or any church?

And what is the Kingdom of God, and how do we participate in the work for the kingdom.

The early disciples in general were not wealthy or in positons of authority. The early church, the people Mark was writing for, were mainly those who were outcasts, the poor, the lame, and the people that the religious leaders looked down on.

This means that when we read Mark’s gospel, we need to use our imagination, we need to look for wat the early church might have heard.

The Kingdom of God is contrasted with the empire, or earthly kingdoms.

Do we look down on people who dress differently to us when they want to come to a church function?

How do we treat people who understand the gospel differently?

Here the disciples are involved in a demarcation dispute. A turf war. Do we accept people who are different, racially, theologically, politically? Do we accept people without trying to make them like ‘us’?

Then the reading seemingly makes another turn, but it goes back to the ‘little ones’ from the reading last week.  Don’t be a stumbling block. Last week Jesus was telling, and showing, the disciples to welcome the little ones, the least; and after the interlude about someone, but not one of the disciples, healing in Jesus name; Jesus takes the conversation back to the little ones.

Don’t be a stumbling block.  Don’t be a stumbling block for the little ones, the ones who are of little or no account in the culture, don’t lock them out, don’t make it hard for them.

There are more people who say they have a belief in God, than in all the churches combined.

As we think about the least in the community, people who are homeless, unemployed, single parents, people addicted to drugs of various kinds  - what might we do to make it easier for people to be part of a community of faith.

Some questions to think about:

Which groups could we work with to bring hope and healing in this community?

What might we do to make it easier for people to be part of a community of faith? 

Greatness

[Note: this is the written version, when I preach it usually changes]

Once again, Jesus tells the disciples he will be handed over and killed; and once again the disciples don’t understand what Jesus is talking about.

Do any of you remember not understanding something, but being too afraid to ask? It happened at times when I was at University. There was lots in Physics I struggled with, I didn’t understand enough to even ask a question, and I didn’t want to look stupid, so I sat there hoping I could avoid the embarrassment, and hoping I didn’t get asked a question.

Sometimes when we don’t understand something, it is because we need more time, or more explanation,

But there is another kind if not understanding. I think that is what is happening here with the disciples. They had reckoned that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would save the people of Israel, and to the people that meant overthrowing the Romans. Jesus being arrested and killed was not part of being a new leader in place of the Romans.

So what could Jesus possibly mean by all this talk of being arrested and killed, and not just arrested, but betrayed. That meant someone close to him was going to be part of his death.

It didn’t make sense.

It didn’t fit with the picture the disciples had of the place of the Messiah.

Instead of asking questions, they didn’t say anything.

Then on the road they talk about who is going to be the greatest in the new kingdom – the one where Jesus is boss – see, it isn’t just that the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus had said, they already had an image of how the future will be, and they couldn’t imagine anything different. When they arrive at Capernaum, and are in the house – code for take notice, here comes a Jesus teaching moment - Jesus asks them what they have been discussing as they walked along. From the disciples we hear … silence!

 

I do feel sorry for the disciples, they give up everything to travel with Jesus, to learn and follow, and yet so much of what Jesus is talking about they don’t understand, but they continue on the journey with Jesus, and they look like fools at times.  There is plenty about life and faith that I don’t understand, and times when I put my foot in it and say something stupid; but at least no one is writing it all down for people to read in 2,000 years’ time.

 

We will look at the rest of the Mark reading shortly, but from this section, I wonder what you notice?

What happens when we have a pre-set idea about a person, or the future?

What happens when we allow fear to control our thinking?

In Mark’s gospel, fear is the opposite of faith.

 

And what happens when we think we deserve to be more important than anyone else?

Who is the greatest?

Well here are some examples from how this question plays out in real life.

• The change in leadership of the Liberal Party this week – the members of the party room had to decide who would make a better leader; which brings to my mind the question of what makes a good leader?
• On TV there are lots of examples of where people need to compete against each other – the Bachelor; My Kitchen Rules, X factor…..
• And then there is the world situation – people fighting over religion, doctrine, culture; people who want to rule, to have their own way and make everyone else live with their choice.  This has been going on for centuries. Remember, many of the victims of ISIS are other Muslims who have a different understanding of that faith. Wars are fought over land, but also ideas.
• We also see this when new compete with another congregation or denomination, or faith group.
• And we see it in the sporting arena.
• Closer to home, what happens when we think we deserve cheaper food or clothing, when that means the farmer or person making the clothes doesn’t earn enough to live on?
• What happens when we think we deserve more space, more water, quicker service; who lives without or gets left behind?

 

Sometimes we struggle to comprehend what is happening in our lives, because our view of reality is set, and conflicts with what is happening in our lives.

Well, Jesus goes on to tell the disciples about greatness. Not the greatness the disciples had been thinking about. Not the typical greatness of wealth, power and status.

“Jesus overturns the prevailing assumptions about power and security by inviting the disciples to imagine that abundant life comes not through gathering power but through displaying vulnerability, not through accomplishments but through service, and not by collecting powerful friends but by welcoming children.

These are small things when you think about it. Serving others, opening yourself to another’s need, being honest about your own needs and fears, showing kindness to a child, welcoming a stranger. But they are available to each and all of us every single day. And each time we make even the smallest of these gestures in faith – that is, find the strength and courage to reach out to another in compassion even when we are afraid – we will find our fear lessened, replaced by an increasingly resolute confidence that fear and death do not have the last word.” [David Lose]