back to sermons

September 26, 2009

“Casting The Alternatives” Mark 9:38-50 Rev. Phil Blackwell

      It matters how we cast the alternatives, how generously we draw the parentheses, how we frame the issue. Jesus is very generous when he answers the disciples’ question with, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

       The disciples have come to complain to Jesus. “We saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” He was not a card-carrying disciple. He was not within the much tighter drawn parentheses of the disciples. He did not bear the authenticating logo of “Official Disciple of Jesus Christ.” But Jesus pushes back the limits. “Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of cold water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” 

       The disciples are learning early on that the Christian community is not a power- base but rather one that gives power away to others, that Jesus’ ministry is one of multiplication, not subtraction. It is about offering radical hospitality, offering a cup of cold water.

      Casting the alternatives widely here in Mark, “Whoever is not against us is for us,” but Jesus also said the reverse, according to Matthew and Luke. In those gospels he is being attacked by the Pharisees who are questioning his authority to heal and preach. They are accusing him of being an agent of the devil. And in defense he says, “Whoever is not for us is against us.” That is casting the alternatives very narrowly.  “Whoever is not for us is against us.”

      We heard that in our own public life immediately after 9/11 when both Hilary Clinton and George Bush said something very similar to that. When we were reeling from the terrorist attack, it was justified to call for the support of all civilized nations. And we got it. For one moment the whole world, except for those on the extremist fringe, was on our side. Sadly, we know that eventually we acted in ways that nullified that support. “Choose your enemies wisely for you will become like them” is the ancient wisdom. But in the moment of emergency there was not room for generosity. Tightly casting the alternatives, “Whoever is not for us is against us.”

      But in our reading for today it is not a crisis. Jesus is trying to broaden the view of his disciples. He is assessing the ongoing work of serving the needs of the people – feeding the hungry, clothing the threadbare, taking care of those ignored by society (the widows and the orphans), providing health care for the sick and infirm, providing community for the estranged – he looks around him and says, “Disciples, we need all the help we can get. This is no time to get picky over credentials. Do not stop anyone who offers a cup of cold water either to you because you bear my name or to the thirsty woman or man on the street. It is the cup of cold water that matters.”

      Down at our meal program on Saturday mornings more and more people are coming to be served. About 150 are showing up for breakfast or a bag lunch at our site at Grace Episcopal Church in the South Loop. We may need to ask for a freewill offering for that program soon since our funds are running short. 

      We have a lot of volunteers who purchase the food, transport it to this church, prepare it in our kitchen on Friday, take it to Grace on Saturday, serve the people, and clean up afterward. We do not insist that the volunteers be members of this congregation. We do not screen them to be sure that they are members of some other church. We do not ask them to affirm their faith in Jesus Christ. We simply ask, “Can you make a sandwich?  Can you wipe off a table? Can you call a homeless person by name, instead of a name?” That is casting the alternatives pretty generously. We need all the help that we can get. It is the cup of cold water that matters, and the bread, and the coffee. The love of Jesus Christ is made real in the serving, not in the orthodoxy of the servers. Keeping the parentheses wide, sharing the power of Christ, not limiting it. 

      I submit that today in our culture we are prone to casting the alternatives very narrowly. This happens in a time of single-issue politics, of fear and suspicion. There is a lot of “Whoever is not for us is against us” going around. Just listen to cable news and the talk shows.

      That prompts me to return a favorite story of mine that illustrates just ridiculous this can be. Emo Phillips told this one over 20 years ago, but it is perfectly suited for today. He said, “Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, ‘Don’t do it!’ He said, ‘Nobody loves me.’ I said, ‘God loves you.  Do you believe in God?’

       He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Are you a Christian or a Jew?’ He said, ‘A Christian.’ I said, ‘Me, too!’  Protestant or Catholic?’  He said, ‘Protestant.’  I said, ‘ Me, too!  What franchise?’ He said, ‘Baptist.’ I said, ‘Me, too!  Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?’ He said, ‘Northern Baptist.’ I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?’

      He said, ‘Northern Conservative Baptist.’ I said, ‘Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?’ He said, ‘Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.’ I said, ‘Me, too!  Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?’

      He said, ‘Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.’ I said, ‘Die, heretic!’ And I pushed him over.”

      Casting the alternatives too narrowly.

      There is a big event at Old St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church this Thursday night.  It will be the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Joint Declaration of Justification entered into by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation on October 31, 1999. Your stares of sheer panic suggest that you forgot to put it on your calendars. You have the next Bears’ home game, when it is that we set our clocks back, Labour Day in South Africa, and National Boss Day here in the U.S. (which is October 16th, if you need any prodding), but not the celebration of the joint declaration?

      Well, there have been times in the history of the western world when people bearing the name of Christ killed others who also bore the name of Christ because they disagreed over the means of justification. Are we saved by faith or by works? One of Martin Luther’s great complaints about the Catholicism of his day was that it seemed based primarily on acts of discipline – attending Mass, praying to the Virgin Mary, lighting candles, and paying indulgences – rather than acceptance of God’s forgiveness.  His protest was based upon his assertion that we are saved by our faith in God’s grace, not by our own actions.

      Well, Luther’s critique may have been an accurate sociology of the Church of his day; that may have been the way things worked. But it was not the way that the Church officially thought. Of course, we are saved by grace, not by works. That is what the scripture says.

      Cast the alternatives correctly. Emphasize what we hold in common, not the peculiarities that separate us. And so we have this joint declaration of the Catholics and the Lutherans which states that justification is accomplished by “grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part.” And we United Methodists signed on to this declaration three years ago and just recently have entered into full Communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  “Whoever is not against us is for us” in very real, ecumenical terms.

      Now, what we Wesleyans bring to the ecumenical table is a strong reminder of what all Christians acknowledge, that though we are not saved by works, the lack of them can condemn us. There is a whole section of hymns in the old Methodist hymnbooks under the heading of “Backsliding.” In John Wesley’s understanding, we are saved by God’s grace even before we know that God is at work in our lives. When we become aware of it and repent of our sins, we experience a resurgence of life, a “new birth,” some have said. We no longer have to expend energy trying to win our way into God’s love. God gives it freely to us. That redirects all of our energy to serve others as a result of God’s love. So, we give the cup of cold water as a result being loved, not as a qualification to be loved. Not to serve others is a sign that the new life in Christ has died in us. We can slide back from God’s salvation. Works matter.

      John Wesley preached a sermon entitled “Catholic Spirit.”  Here “catholic” is with a small “c,” meaning “universal.”  Picking up on an obscure text in II Kings (10:15), he says, “If your heart is with my heart, then give me your hand.” “If your heart is with my heart” . . . by that he meant: Do you believe in God and trust in God’s power? Do you know Jesus Christ? Is your faith filled with the energy of love? Above all, do you “love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength” and “your neighbor as yourself?” Do you show this love by your actions? If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then “your heart is with my heart.”

      Then, “give me your hand.” This is not just a handshake deal. By “giving me your hand” Wesley meant: love me as a brother in Christ, pray for me, provoke me to love and good works, join with me in the work of God. And I will do the same for you.

       The “catholic spirit” of casting the alternatives generously, making room for differences of theological opinion, for preferences in style of worship, for denominational allegiances, so that together we might offer a cup of cold water to one another and to the world.

      Our world today in Chicago is even bigger than John Wesley’s of 18th Century England. He was concerned about ecumenical issues, those things among Christians of different traditions. Today we have the added dimension of interfaith work. When can the parentheses be set so wide that they include not only Christians but also Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Native Americans, Sikhs, Jains, and Zoroastrians? It is my experience that Chicago is big enough to have all of the major world’s religions represented, and small enough that we keep running into each other.

       It will be interesting to see if we get the 2016 Olympics. If we do, we have a lot of work ahead of us to cast the alternatives as generously as possible, stretching our imaginations to redefine, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” And if we do not get the Olympics, the same task lies ahead of us, just not so conspicuously. 

      The disciples were trying to narrow the parentheses, to protect the “brand,” to save their credential as official disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “No, we must be more expansive than that so that all might be included.” Salvation is not found in the creedal purity of our thoughts as much as in the authentic love of our actions. It is not about us; it is about the cup of cold water. Let us cast the alternatives as generously as possible. Amen.

Philip L. Blackwell
The Chicago Temple
September 26, 2009