Another Exorcist

³⁸ John 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.” ³⁹ But 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. ⁴⁰ Whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For 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.

Temptations to Sin

⁴² “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, 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. ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, 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, ⁴⁸ where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.

⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt 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.” (NRSVUE)

On my dresser top, I have a knot of necklaces. I don’t know how they got so tangled up, but there they are. Every time I try to get one free, it tugs and pulls on the others. I suppose I could get just one out, but it’s hard not to get overwhelmed by the whole thing.

This passage looks that way to me, too. There’s a lot we could pull out, but none of it is going to come without strings attached.

We could start with the passage before this one. Jesus has just scolded the disciples about arguing with one another on the way. He used a child as an example, telling them that anyone who welcomed a child in his name welcomed him, and by welcoming him they welcomed God the Father, too.

That same child is still sitting there listening in on the conversation, we might expect, which changes the way we hear the phrase “little ones.”

It also might change the way we see the disciples. They ignored what Jesus just said about welcoming and changed the subject. They want to complain about people casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Are they jealous? Earlier in this chapter, they struggled to exorcise a demon, and now these strangers are getting the job done.

Jesus tells them to calm down, that “whoever is not against us is for us.” He says that even those who give a cup of cold water to someone in his name will receive the reward.

Here’s my struggle. I don’t mind when people are wrong. Lots of people are wrong. I mind when they look like ME and they’re wrong.

If the church has ever hurt someone, it reflects poorly on all of us wearing these weird white collars and the ones who sing along with us on Sundays. If the Lutheran church has hurt someone, I get even more upset. I could tell you it’s because my standards are higher for us Lutheran folk, but really it’s just that it hits closer to home.

The disciples are mad not that the demons are behaving better, but that they’re behaving better for other people using Jesus’ Name without “official” authority. They’re stealing the disciples’ gig. Or maybe they’re “cheating” by using the Name but not following Jesus.

The Twelve sound like children, upset because someone else has gotten a better grade than they have. They want Jesus to kick those other people off the team, or at least to fuss at them some.

Jesus won’t do it. He won’t turn away any allies. If the power of his name is working through a pair of hands, those hand won’t be able to work against Jesus any time soon. They are bearing the fruit of the kingdom, however they got around to growing it.

The next necklace to untangle is in what Jesus says. “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.”

First, know this: this is a metaphor. The crowds who heard it the first time knew that, too. Please don’t drown yourself or anyone else.

Second, “little ones” means more than just children. It certainly includes children, like the one who might be sitting there with Jesus. But it also includes new believers, people wavering in the faith, and Christians generally. Remember how often Jesus calls the Twelve “you of little faith”? We are all God’s little ones.

Skandalizo is the word in Greek for “cause to stumble.” Don’t scandalize the weak. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 8, with the food restrictions. He will eat anything when he’s on his own, but with those whose piety makes them vegetarian, he skips the meat. If his food choices are going to give them trouble, he chooses something else.

Another example is a pastor I know who won’t mow his lawn on Sundays because he wants to model Sabbath for his neighbors (even though Sunday is a work day for him). It’s a person who wears jeans to worship on Sunday wearing dress pants to a funeral to show respect to the family. It’s an older sibling choosing to use the little-kid scissors so their younger sibling isn’t singled out. It’s a friend taking the elevator so they can continue their conversation with their friend who can’t use the stairs.

Part of our role as church is to smooth the way for others to believe. I’m allowed to wear my hair any way I want, but if that bald look I’ve been eyeing will distract people from the gospel, it might not be the way to go. (Just kidding. Mostly.)

Keeping a check on ourselves comes next. Again, these verses are metaphors. Bodily mutilation is not required for the sake of the gospel. It is worth thinking about, though, what to cut out of our lives so that we stay out of trouble. If your “work spouse” is becoming a threat to your faithfulness to your real spouse, it’s time to cut out that job. If your love of shoes is cutting into your ability to be generous, it’s time to share.

It’s better to live life with your soul and conscience fully intact than to walk the way of danger every darn day. Make the sacrifice. Keep your life. Be Jesus’ disciple.

It’s better to make the hard sacrifice than to live in hell.

Hell is when we are separated from God. I assume that it’s a place, and I know for sure that it’s a mindset. I’ve seen people live in hells of their own making rather than clearing out the gunk in their lives. Often, they think they’re hiding it. Every time, they’re holding on to an illusion that keeps them lonely. It separates them from God, and their family, and their friends. Jesus came so that we don’t have to be apart from the God who loves us.

At the root of that necklace ball, there’s always one or two that cause the most trouble. Usually they’re 90s chokers or chains with weird little embellishments. In Mark 9, it’s verses 49 and 50.

No one fully understands what Jesus is saying here. My best guesses, based on what I’ve been reading, have to do with salt and fire being preservatives for food. Being salted or fired might refer, then, to times of temptation or struggle where our faith is challenged and grows into a newer, more durable, version of itself.

Salt can’t cease to be salt. It can be diluted and dirtied. Ask anyone who has shoveled a salted sidewalk. We know.

Here’s what I do understand (thank God!): Be at peace with one another.

Whether it’s other people trying to take credit for our Jesus, or making us look bad; whether it’s changing what we do for the sake of others’ fragile faith; whether it’s welcoming people we’d rather not; Jesus tells us to be at peace with one another.

I don’t know yet which part of this reading will be the hook for my sermon this week. Where does the Holy Spirit step on your toes? What questions do you have? Where can we smooth the road for each other?