Community in action
October 1, 2006
Mark 9:38-50, James 5:13-20
Children’s message
“We remember Jesus” from communion training
Things he said and did – communion and Bible story
Sermon
In today’s political climate, it seems important to know whose side people, and even God, are on – who’s for us, who’s against us
Taking sides is apparently vital in the global politics of our day
Being part of a western republican democracy, if that’s not an oxymoron
- indeed being part of any power-driven empire or system
requires knowing the answer to those questions:
eg a traditional enemy doing something good is immediately suspect,
or the republicans say this, the democrats say that, and they always have to be posed as opposites
Apparently it was the same in the middle eastern roman empire Jesus lived in, so the same sort of issue arose for the disciples in our gospel story today.
Mark puts this incident right after the disciples have been arguing about which of them was the greatest, and Jesus confronted them by putting a child in front of them and saying ANYONE who embraces a child like I do, embraces me and the God who sent me. He gives them a word about
Acceptance: child
Openness: anyone
Humility: embrace
Being part of God’s kingdom, he’s saying, means we are different
But they still don’t quite take it in, because the next thing is this report that they’d told some other healer off for doing what THEY were supposed to do, as if healing was only the prerogative of the in-crowd.
So again Jesus brings them a word about humility – here,he says, you not only need to heal, give something to others, but you also need to learn to receive, accept, something that SOMEONE else, ANYONE is the word he uses, does in my name.
It’s not all about them
Its not all about us
It’s not all about me
It’s all about bringing about God’s reign on earth. We do NOT belong to western republican democracy, tho we live in it;
we belong to the
and we know that because webehave differently – the rules are different for us, that’s what Jesus is saying here.
Common wisdom says, if you’re not for us, you’re against us – the line in the sand, fearful and threatened
Kingdom wisdom says, if you’re not against us, you’re for us, open, unthreatened
Jesus is teaching a different worldview –something bigger and more inclusive. That’s what the disciples, and maybe we, haven’t grasped; they and we want to be the only ones who have it right. They haven’t cottoned on to the hugeness of God’s vision.
In our study group on the roman empire and the kingdom of God, John Dominic Crosson gave us an insight into Jesus’ ministry – said it’s like a franchise:
Jesus’ instruction to his companions was to go out and do what he did – don’t wait until you’ve learned enough, or have your act together (in that sense they’re not disciples, student followers, says Crossan)
They belonged to the very present very real