Saving Our Own Souls

Jesus has been talking about his death. He’s moving toward Jerusalem and the cross. Tension builds. Every breath of air the disciples inhale feels prickly and electric. They are edgy.  Nervous.

Moments before, they vented their anxiety by arguing against each other over who was the greatest. Now John tries to make them all feel great by putting someone else down.

“We saw a man casting out demons in your name,” he brags to Jesus. “We tried to block him, because he’s not following us.”

That happens a lot, doesn’t it, when people are nervous or scared. They divide the world into “Us” against “Them.”

It’s the Crips and the Bloods … Hatfields and McCoys … Montagues and Capulets … Catholic and Protestant … Sinner and Saint … Liberal and Neo-Con … Mainline and Evangelical … Straight and Gay … Capitalist and Socialist … Land of the Free vs. Axis of Evil … Han Solo and Darth Vader … Reason vs. Religion.

The rivalry is as old as Cain against Abel. The Apostle Paul saw it too in the young church at Corinth:

It has been reported to me [he writes] … that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters … Each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas” … (1 Corinthians 1:12).

As if Christ could be divided into so many factions and sects!

No matter which side we’re on, we believe God is with us. Abraham Lincoln pointed out the irony of that in his Second Inaugural Address. Speaking about North and South in the Civil War, he said, “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God, and each side invokes [God’s] aid against the other.” But he could have been talking about any place where there’s conflict.

There’s always an urge to keep “them” at bay. Deny power to them.  Impose restrictions. If they look weak, we will feel strong.

The church is as guilty as anyone. Like the TSA at the airport, we say, “No one can proceed to the gates without a valid ticket.”   Only, we’re talking about the pearly gates.

“We tried to block him,” John said, “because he’s not following us.”

Never mind that “following us” isn’t the goal … but following Jesus. Through the ages, the Church has found ways to let some folks in and keep others out.

In 1963, it was race. Martin Luther King, Jr. bemoaned the fact that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in America. Forty-six years later, that hasn’t changed much. “We tried to stop him, because he doesn’t look like us.”

If it’s not race, sometimes it’s just carelessness. A while back, a couple joined this church. A year later, they moved to the Upper Peninsula. They found a Presbyterian Church there and wrote me that they were eager to try it. But the front door was always locked. They saw lights on inside and other signs of life; but it took weeks to figure out that all the “members” went in through the back door. But did those members bother to tell anyone else or put out a sign? No!

“We saw someone casting out demons in your name and tried to prevent him.”

By the time the young couple figured out how to get in, they had pretty much decided, “Why bother? Do we really want to be part of that kind of church?”

It wasn’t intentional on the part of the church. But the results were the same.

Race … carelessness. Sometimes it’s a lack of credentials. Someone doesn’t have the right papers or qualifications. That’s what motivated John. The person casting out demons wasn’t “following us.”

Oddly enough, Jesus and Elijah lacked credentials too.

Our reading from James uses Elijah as a model for prayer. But he was persona non grata with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. They didn’t like him at all. They hired other “royal prophets” to say whatever the king and queen wanted to hear. But Elijah told the truth.

Likewise, Jesus.  He was definitely an outsider. If he hadn’t stirred up trouble for the Pharisees and scribes (not to mention the Romans) they never would have crucified him.

God has always worked with people at the margins and outskirts, not just those who know that they’re supposed to go in through the back door.

“But we tried to stop him,” John says. “Because he used the wrong door.”

David Kinnaman has interviewed thousands of young people and how they feel about the church. And he has written a book about what he learned. The title alone describes what many young people think about the church: Unchristian (Baker Books, 2007).

Kinnaman says young people often “have a hard time … seeing Jesus because of all the negative baggage that now surrounds him” (p. 15).

What keeps young people away? Kinnaman cites a number of things. But mostly it boils down to a negative personal experience of church. We come across as hypocritical, sheltered and judgmental. Their expressions of faith were stymied rather than welcomed and encouraged. Their gifts of creativity, technological savvy, and self-expression weren’t valued.

“We tried to block him, because he is not doing it our way,” John said.

“We tried to block him.” But the good news is, I don’t think the disciples succeeded. “We tried to block him.” But we couldn’t (sort of like the Packers’ offensive line in last week’s game).

God’s purposes and plans are not easily thwarted. God uses people who aren’t part of our “club” or inner circle. Yet, no one who does deeds of power in Christ’s name will be able soon after to speak evil of him, Jesus says (Mark 9:39).

The other night at our Presbytery meeting, Ernie Glenn gave an example. He told about a church in Milwaukee that tells the Pastor how to dress, what clothes to wear. Ernie hastened to add that the church is not Presbyterian.

And they don’t stop with the minister’s clothing. One day, number of deacons visited the pastor at home. They said, “As long as you represent us, we think you should drive a certain kind of car. In fact, we’ve already picked it out and paid for it. All you have to do is go to the dealership and tell them what color.”

That’s not our Presbyterian style. But I might be able to get used it.

And they do real ministry. The means may be different, but the ends are the same. They feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner and the sick, care for widows, pray fervent prayers, and proclaim the gospel to all who will witness. And they aren’t put off by a modern-day Disciple John trying to tell them, “You can’t do that, because you’re not following us.”

They know that ministry (which is what all of us do) isn’t done with a script. It is done with deeds of power done in in Christ’s name.

What matters isn’t what others do, but what we are up to. Are we being faithful? If not, it’s “Us” who need to change, not “Them” needing to be blocked. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off … If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off … If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out.”

Don’t take that literally! Too many people have maimed themselves on account of those words. What Jesus is saying, I think, in this powerful way, is: Don’t try to “cut off” someone else who doing God’s work. But if your own behavior makes anyone feel unwelcome, by all means, “Cut it out!”

Quit worrying about “Them,” and focus on “Us.”

Gregg Neel had his own story to tell at last week’s Presbytery meeting:

A group was asked to find a new hymnal for their church. After looking at many options, the chairperson said, “Let’s all vote on which one you’d want for yourself.”

Then the chairperson said, “Now let’s vote again on which hymnal you’d want for your children and grandchildren.”

Again, the vote was unanimous. But for a different hymnal. And that’s the one they purchased for the congregation.

We live in troubling, unsettled times, just as the disciples did. We may not accompany anyone on the way to the cross, as they did. But we know people who have their own crosses to bear: people without jobs … people struggling to make ends meet … people with health care concerns or loved ones overseas in places of armed conflict … and many more whose lives look grim. We accompany them as if they were us.

And we accompany (and are accompanied by) the One who came from the cross and from the grave to grace and guide our lives moving forward.

He didn’t send us into the world to wag our fingers and tell others what they can or can’t do. He sent us to see for ourselves that the state of our souls depends on the compassion we show … even to those who are “not following us.”

It may be chaotic to not have uniformity – with people doing things their own way. But it may also be more Christian, more open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Hospitality and solidarity, and daring faith that is willing to give up a hand, foot, or even an eye to inherit the kingdom – that’s the life to which our Christ calls us.

“Whoever is not against us is for us.”