Picking and Choosing Sides Keith McFarren August 24, 2025 Mark 9:38-50 He went out to his mailbox one day and there it was. A cream colored envelope with a bright blue ribbon embossed across the front with the words “An Exclusive Offer just for You” printed on it. Inside, the man found a letter offering him the chance of a lifetime. He and a few other lucky people had been selected to take part in a guaranteed way to cut all of his bills in half and for a limited time only he could be the recipient of this startling discovery for only $29.95. “A way to cut all my bills in half,” he thought. “Hmmm…there’s the house payment, the car payment, the electricity, the water, the cable TV, my charge cards. All for only $29.95. Just think of the extra money that would be available every month.” So he filled out the order card and enclosed his cashier’s check for $29.95 and dropped it in the mail…and he waited and he waited. Finally, one day it came. His way to a new life. Oh, how lucky he was, he thought, to be part of an exclusive group of people to get in on the ground floor of this offer…to be able to cut his bills in half for little of nothing. So he ripped the box open…and there it was just as promised…a way to cut his bills in half. There in front of him was a pair of $10.00 scissors. Webster’s College Dictionary defines the word “exclusive” as “shutting out all others from having a part or share of something; allowing no one else to have what you have” [Random House Webster’s College Dictionary; 1995 ed. P. 446]. One would think that it would have taken at least a generation or two before this selfish idea of exclusiveness began to rear its ugly head but here it is showing itself in full force in today’s scripture reading. John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he wasn’t one of us.” “He wasn’t one of us.” When it comes right down to it, we probably shouldn’t be too surprised. After all John and the other disciples came by it naturally. They were brought up that way. Their lives and their entire culture were saturated with exclusivism. They were Jewish and because they were Jewish, they belonged to an exclusive religion and because they were Jewish they also belonged to an exclusive culture, all whose main identity was based on the fact that they were “God’s chosen people.” They were “in with the in crowd” so to speak…and if you take a closer look you’ll find that there is a certain legitimacy in this concept of “being chosen” especially when it has to do with fulfilling a divine purpose. But at the same time there is also a dark side or a danger to all of this as well. There is a danger because, if we’re not careful, “being chosen” can end up pointing us in a negative direction. We can go from “being chosen” to “being different” and then on to “being better than everyone else. John liked belonging to an all-exclusive club. So much so that he wanted to restrict working for Jesus or working in Jesus’ name to his own small, exclusive group of disciples and no one else. But Jesus didn’t like that idea because if someone is doing something like casting out demons or doing other such things while mentioning Jesus’ name, that person is actually honoring Jesus and God’s kingdom in doing what he is doing. It’s quite a difference in attitude. It’s the difference between seeing Jesus’ work as being an exclusive, private and privileged operation among just a select few or seeing his work as an open event, an all-inclusive event in which all people, no matter who they are, or where they come from, or what they look like are welcome to take part in and graciously be accepted into God’s inner circle. John’s exclusive attitude still exists today. It’s a symptom of a disease that still afflicts a lot people and even a lot of churches. ·How easy is it for any of us to have the attitude that this church belongs to me? This is my church. I’ve gone here for X number of years and I’ve invested a lot of time and money here. Here’s how we need to do things and if you don’t do it my way, I am going to get mad and I’m going to pick up all my toys and I am going to go home. ·How easy is it for people who have worshipped and prayed in one particular way for so many years to assume that there is only one way to worship God and there is only one way to pray and there is only one way to preach the gospel and only one way to tell others of God’s love and God’s mercy and God’s grace. There is only one way…and that way…is our way. Bob and Kristine Stark and Keith Thews were here a couple of weeks ago. They came back from Tennessee for Keith’s aunt Jeri’s funeral and then came to church on Sunday morning. Do you remember the band that they had…Fisher’s of Men. They played their gospel music downtown on the Riverwalk and they played out near Meijer in Dunlap and on the yards of various other churches here in town. They even played on the corner of 6th and Marion St. and got caught in the middle of a neighborhood gunfight. They took homeless people into their home…single people and families…and they fed them and they clothed them and they brought them to church. They were different than most of us. They did things differently than we do. But they were good people. They wore their faith on their shirtsleeve and they weren’t afraid to share their faith with others. They preached and acted out the gospel in a way that we (including myself) had never been around before. But what they did was never about them. They always did it in the name of Jesus. They always put God’s kingdom first…always trying to save souls…always trying to get people back on the right track…always providing God’s grace and God’s compassion to others. Maybe today is a good day to take the blinders off and take a good look around you. Take a wide, all inclusive view of your faith instead of the narrow, exclusive view. There are no cliques in the kingdom of God. There are no self-imposed little circles. There is no “us” and “them.” The kingdom of God contains all the dimensions of God himself…and if you know anything about God you know that the dimensions of God are endless. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him” writes the Psalmist (Psalm 24:1). Those who do the work of the Lord belong to the Lord…even though we don’t all look the same, or all dress the same or sound the same or worship the same or evangelize the same. So don’t simply look for labels…look for actions, look for attitudes, and look for the indwelling movement of the Spirit of God in those around you. Because he grew up in an all exclusive world, John wasn’t open minded enough to think about this…but Jesus did and so Jesus simply said of the people who were doing God’s work in a different way, “Do not stop [them].” Jesus then adds to this simple command a profound lesson on the psychology of inclusiveness: “For no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us…is for us.” It all comes back to Jesus. Jesus came to tell us the truth…to give us all the answers. He came to explain which side is which. He came to set the example we all need. ·He came as one of us, tempted in every way, shape and form, just like us…but he never gave in. ·He came to give every one of us the chance to start our lives over again…the chance to be transformed by his forgiveness…the chance for reconciliation through his grace. ·He came to show us what faith, and discipleship and love and obedience are all about. ·He came to show us what courage and integrity and vision are all about…and he did it by going to the cross…for all of us. ·He came and he set the example for us…and he calls for us to follow his example. So before we start judging the motives of other people simply because we don’t agree with them, or because they are different than we are in some way or another, examine your own life first, to make sure that you are living by kingdom standards. In biblical times it was believed that there was nothing any purer in the world than salt…because salt came from the two purest things in the world – the sun and the sea. The glistening whiteness of the salt was in itself a picture of purity. “Have within yourselves the purifying influence of the Spirit of Christ. Be purified from selfishness and self-seeking, from bitterness and anger and grudge-bearing. Be cleansed from irritation and moodiness and self-centeredness, and then, and only then, will you be able to live in peace with your neighbors” (Gospel of Mark, William Barclay; p. 274). The secret, Jesus says, is to stop worrying so much about others and get our own selves straightened out, have salt in your own life, purify your own life, purify yourself just as Christ is pure, and continually strive for perfection…just as Christ is perfect and live in peace with each other. We are called to live our faith and to live our lives in such a way that there is no doubt who we follow. Jesus spoke about not putting stumbling blocks in front of others. He spoke of living a life that is not offensive to others…or offensive to the values of God’s kingdom. He spoke of living a life that won’t lead others astray. Is this you? Is this the kind of life you are living? Turning the other cheek; loving our enemy; forgiving those who sin against us; showing no partiality; being honest; living with integrity and faithfulness; bearing our own cross – these are not options in the lives of those who call themselves disciples of Jesus. These things that I just spoke of are not options for the followers of Christ…nor are they to be looked at as unattainable goals. These things are what we might call the minimum daily requirement, the standard by which we live and breathe and relate to people both inside and outside our faith. So before we start judging…before we start choosing sides as to who is one of us and who isn’t let us remember that even though we don’t all look the same, and even though we don’t all worship God in the same way…we still all belong to God. And before we forget, as we so often do, that Christianity is an all-inclusive group, let us make sure that we have our own house in order. Let us take stock of ourselves, let us make sure that we’re following Jesus and we’re following all the rules of the kingdom before we begin to question the means and the motives of others. Outside the doors of this church are millions of people who don’t do things the exact same way that we do, yet these same people profess to be Christians, people who Jesus refers to as “little ones who believe.” They are the humble. They are the ones without wealth; they are the ones without status…many of them are without any type of education. But none of that really matters because people who are on Jesus’ side all have the same goals and those goals are to build up the Kingdom of God here on earth. What we say and how we act reflects upon our relationship with God and if we do anything to exclude people who aren’t like us for one reason or another, these “little ones who believe,” as Jesus says, then we are going to find ourselves in big trouble because we have failed. We have failed ourselves and we have failed God…all because we are still choosing sides…and if we are still choosing sides…then you are not the person that you profess to be. |