Mark 9:38-50

When I was growing up we have the flattest yard in the neighborhood. It was actually on a slope but it had no rolling hills or large trees in the middle of it. So it became the ball field for the neighborhood kids. And when we all got together we would choose up sides. The two oldest and most athletic would be captains and they would divide the rest of us up to try to have even teams. Choosing up sides was a part of the fun. Sometimes you would be on the same team with your closest friend. Sometimes you would end up on the other side and you could playfully pit your skills against theirs. As kids choosing up sides was all in fun.

Choosing up sides; however, becomes more serious as we grow up. The side you are on often determines your social network and your acceptability. Are you a nerd or a jock? Are you Clemson or Carolina, liberal or conservative, Christian or Secular, Democrat or Republican, PC or Mac?

Even in the church we choose up sides. Are you conservative or moderate? Are you mainline or evangelical? Are you fundamentalist or charismatic? Are you contemporary, or traditional, or liturgical? Are you Protestant, or Catholic, or Orthodox? I like to play with people. I tell them I am a liberal evangelical with liberation leanings and charismatic overtones.

But it all comes down to US and THEM.

Jesus' disciples ran into the same thing in their day. Someone they did not know was casting out demons in Jesus name! Was he one of us or them? He was using Jesus' name and he was casting out demons apparently successfully. But he had never registered for any of their demon casting seminars; which are offered quarterly in convenient locations. The disciples decided that they needed to nip this unauthorized sanctifying activity in the bud!

Then they reported to Jesus what they had done. The question is what were the disciples seeking from Jesus? Did they want to ask Jesus if they had done the right thing? Or were they seeking his words of congratulation on a job well done? I tend to think they assumed they had done the right thing and they wanted to show Jesus what good disciples they were. I say that because just a few verses before this the disciples were arguing amongst themselves about who was the greatest.

But Jesus points out the obvious. This stranger is casting out demons! He is banishing evil from people's lives. If he is using Jesus' name effectively, then he must believe. If he ain't agin us, he's fur us. If he's not "them" then he is "us."

In the same way Christians today need to be careful when they are choosing up sides. We don't want to fall into the trap that the disciples did. They condemned a perfectly good coworker to make themselves look good. Don't we do that sometimes? If they do as little as give us a cup of cold water because we serve Christ, they are blessed. We need to remind ourselves that if they are serving the Lord, then we are on the same side.

So does anything go? No! Jesus' comments that follow make that clear. Jesus says some hard things about stumbling blocks and millstones and cutting off hands and cutting out eyes, and hellfire. We're talking about heaven and hell serious quality of life and after life issues! If someone is preventing people from growing in Christ, they need to be stopped if only for their own good. Telling people that they can live however they want and still serve Christ is leading them astray. Sometimes people need to cut something out of their lives to be faithful. If they don't they will suffer in this world and possibly in the next.

We need to take stands on what is right and wrong. The church needs to stand up and say that certain lifestyles are wrong: drugs, and extramarital relations and materialism and addictions are damaging and need to be cut off. The church needs to take a stand for equal treatment for woman and we need to live it out by treating them equally in the church. The church needs to take a stand on racial issues. It may not be true here at Grace but in America as a whole the church hour on Sunday morning is the still the most segregated hour in our society. We need to take a stand on issues of social justice and economic justice. And we may find ourselves at odds with other Christians.

There is something that Jesus says at the end of this passage that has a bearing on all this. He said, "Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?" Salt is a compound. So as long as it is salt it has its flavor. If it were to undergo a chemical reaction it would lose its saltiness but then it would no longer be salt. In that case you could not say that the salt lost it flavor. You would say the salt became something else; a different compound. However salt can become contaminated. It can become mixed with something else that dilutes it and ruins its usefulness. In the same way Christian's lives can become contaminated and as a result ineffective.

So we need to have standards and live by them. Heaven and Hell are hanging in the balance. We need to retain our flavor as the salt of the earth.

This brings us to the last thing Jesus says on this issue. He says "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." First of all we don't want to fall into the trap of condemning a co worker. Secondly we do need to maintain standards. But at the same time we need to be at peace with our brothers and sisters. Jesus says "have salt in yourselves." Start by looking at yourself. The disciples' salt was contaminated by pride. They thought they were better than this other guy because they had attended the right seminars and he hadn't. And once we have checked our own saltiness we can be at peace with other Christians.

I feel like I am preaching to the choir here at Grace. I once ran into someone who knew one of our members and automatically assumed every one at this church had the same theological and political stances. But as I look around this congregation we are truly a mix. We have liberals and evangelicals. We have conservatives and moderates. We have contemporary and traditional and liturgical. We even have Catholics and Protestants. We even have all that in the same Sunday School classes. And I have seen us disagree and argue, but still be at peace with one another.

That is what church should do. We need to take stands. But we also need to check our own salt and the purity of our motivations and disagree in peace.

But it all goes back to the beginning. Remember? There was this guy casting our demons. There are a lot of demons out there. There are demons of alcoholism and drugs and suicide and depression and divorce and abuse and injustice and the list goes on. We need to be casting them out! People's lives are in jeopardy. Their eternal destination is in question. \

There are a lot of demons out there. We need all the help we can get casting them out. That is the bottom line people. Its not the Methodist versus the Baptist or Catholic and liberals or evangelicals or whatever. Its US against THEM. Its Jesus against the Devil.

If they are not against us, they are for us. We need to have standards; we need to have salt in ourselves. But we also need to be at peace with our brother and sisters; our fellow soldiers in the fight.

James 5:13-20

The book of James is all about doing James says that what we do is as important as what we think or believe. He says near the beginning of the book that we should be doers of the word and not hearers only. He says that if our faith is not being put into action it's not really faith at all. Faith without some action is dead!

So he talks about how we can be doers of the word. He speaks of helping the needy. He talks about prejudice and favoritism. He even talks about how we talk. If you like to gossip go home and read James chapter 3.

But he concludes by talking about prayer. James is all about doing. Most people don't think that praying is doing anything. But James insists that the prayers of the faithful are effective. They are powerful and by them people are saved!

James says if any of you are in trouble you should pray, if you are sick call on the church to pray for you, if you have sinned confess. Why? "The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up." Now that is a bold statement! James says that faithful prayers will heal the sick and raise people above their troubles! Behind that bold statement are some leaps of faith. There are several "spiritual assumptions" or articles of faith that lie behind this belief in the power of prayer. To get to this bold belief James has to trust God on several points. I want to examine those articles or leaps of faith today.

The first leap of faith is that someone is listening. Many people, even some Christian's, think that praying is talking to yourself. They think that praying for another is just like saying "Get well soon." It expresses their feeling but does not effect anything because they assume, maybe not consciously but unconsciously, that no one is listening. I know there are times when we are saying grace over a meal at our house when we have to stop ourselves and be sure we are not so quick to get to the food that we forget that we are actually talking to God and not just saying some words to the air.

The story goes that a pastor asked a church member to say a prayer in the service. That church didn't have a sound system like ours and as a result some of the members of the congregation could not hear. One man yelled I can't hear you speak loader. The first man kept praying but not any louder. The second man hollered again, "I can't hear you speak up!" Finally the man doing the praying stopped and replied, "I wasn't talking to you."

Prayer is not just talking to ourselves or to the air. There is a God who listens. God hears our prayers. When we pray we are addressing the Almighty.

That can be a scary thought. If the president were here wouldn't you choose your words carefully? If you were going to address the Pope would you think about what you said? But we are talking about someone infinitely greater than the President or the Pope. And he already knows us better than we know ourselves. And he loves us and is listening!

That brings us to the second leap of faith: that God cares. Even if we could address the president or the pope, would they care? They might listen to our little problems, but they have weight of the world on their shoulders. Would it really matter to them would they care? Probably not. I don't know about you but I spent some time praying about the Aldersgate proposal. I was deeply concerned that Harbison would say that according to the Harbison Covenant only churches could be on this property and not residences. Would the rules and policies of a little neighborhood association have meant anything to the president of a super power or the spiritual leader of a billion people? Probably not, but it meant something to God and I believe he listened.

God cares for us and the everyday concerns of our lives because he loves us. I love my children. I can tell you all sort of thing about them. Let me just talk about their hair. Both my daughter have beautiful hair. Mary has her mother's hair - straight and dark brown. Kaitlyn has my hair which I got from my mother - auburn brown and wavy. But I have to admit, as much as I know about my daughters, I don't know how many hairs are on their heads. I have never bothered to count them. But God has. God has numbered the hairs on their heads because God loves them even more than I do, more than I can!

If that is not enough proof that God cares, then just take Jesus as a proof of God's love. "Christ died for us while we were yet sinners!" Jesus gave his life, not just for people who had already committed themselves to try to live right, but for those who were still dedicated to living wrong. If he cares enough to die for us, then surely he will listen to us when we pray.

The third leap of faith is that once God has listened, he will do something. A lot of people think of God as sitting up in heaven looking down on the world observing us, but not really getting involved. They think the universe is a great machine that God designed and built. God put all the gears in place and like a master clock builder he wound the key and started the mechanism and then stepped back. In this understanding, the universe is running by itself and God is just sitting back and watching.

James, and the rest of the Bible for that matter, presents a different view. The Bible describes a God who is intimately involved in the universe. God walked with Adam and Eve. God spoke to Noah and Abraham. God rained down fire for the prophet Elijah and appeared to Ezekiel and Isaiah and John. God's Son even made a special resurrected appearance for Paul. God is involved.

I think the problem is that many of us have had prayer that we thought were not answered. So we assumed that God, even if he heard them, decided not to answer. But that is where the leap of faith comes in. Faith is believing in things that we cannot see. I know there are times when I do not give my children the things they want or even think that they need. I do that because I know that those things are really not good for them or that the time is not right. Our heavenly father is the same way. Sometimes he says "no" or "not yet" because he knows what is best for us, but he does respond to our prayers.

Is any one of you in trouble? Is anyone having a good day? Is anyone sick? Has anyone sinned?

Then do something about it. Don't just stand there turn to God! If you say you believe in God then do something to demonstrate it. Call on God in prayer when you face trouble. Praise God when things go good! Call your fellow Christians together for prayer when you are sick.

Be doers of the Word of God and not just hearers. Take a leap of faith! Trust that God is there, - and that HE is listening, - and that HE will answer your prayers!

If � - "If the Lord had not been on our side," says the psalmist. "In fact let all of Israel say, 'If the Lord had not been on our side when our foes rose up against us, then we would have been swallowed alive.'"

No one really knows when this Psalm was written or to which event in Israel's history it refers, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because the words of this psalm apply to so many events in Israel's history. There were so many times when God's people could have declared, "We would be doomed if God were not on our side."

If God had not been on their side they never would have come into existence. If God had not intervened, the children of Abraham would never have been born for Sarah and Abraham were too old to conceive and bear children when Isaac was born. If God had not been on their side, Pharaoh would have kept them bound in slavery or slaughtered them on the banks of the Red Sea. If God had not been on their side, they would have never defeated the Canaanites and possessed the Holy Land. If God had not been on their side, they would have ceased to exist when they were conquered. After all how many nations do you know of that continue to exist despite years of captivity and occupation.

There are a hundred such episodes in Israel's history. The story of Esther is one of those "If God had not been on our side" stories. Even though it is in our Bible, few Christians know the story of Esther. So let me tell it to you.

Once upon a time there was a fair Jewish maiden named Esther. She had a cousin named Mordecai who loved her and adopted her as his own daughter when her parents died. Now Esther and Mordecai lived in Susa the capital of the Persian Empire. Generations before the Hebrews had been carried off into captivity by the Babylonians. Over the years God blessed the Jews in captivity and many rose to prominent positions despite their peculiar dress, diet, and religion. Mordecai in fact was an official at the royal palace.

One day the King issued an edict that all the young maidens in the kingdom be gathered together so that the King may choose one of them to be his queen. Mordecai brought Esther, but he told her not to tell anyone that she was related to him or that she was a Jew. Esther so impressed the King that he chose her over all the other maidens to become his Queen.

While all this was going on Mordecai overheard some of the gatekeepers plotting to kill the king. He told Esther about the plot and she told the king in Mordecai's name what was going on. The king was grateful that Queen Esther and Mordecai had saved his life.

But they did not live happily ever after. There was a man named Haman who had risen to the highest office in the court. All of the officials in the court would bow when Haman walked by. All, that is, except for Mordecai who refused to bow. This angered Haman who then plotted against Mordecai. Haman heard that Mordecai was a Jew so he plotted against the whole Jewish race. He went to the king and with half-truths convinced the king to order the deaths of all the Jews in his kingdom. A date was set for this law to take effect and everything was in place. Haman would have his vengeance on Mordecai and his whole race.

Mordecai went to Esther secretly and begged her to appeal to the king on behalf of her people. She had not told anyone that she was a Jew, but they might find out anyway and she would be killed too. So Queen Esther invited the King and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet the king offered to give her anything she wished up to half his kingdom. Esther said, "I only wish that you would come again tomorrow for another banquet." That evening Haman was feeling good as he left the queens' banquet. Then he came to the Palace Gate and there was Mordecai who refused to bow to him. Haman was so angry that he ordered a gallows 50 feet tall be built just to hang Mordecai. That night the King remembered that nothing had been done to honor Mordecai for revealing the assassination plot and saving him. So first thing the next morning the king called Haman and asked him. "What should be done to honor the one whom the king wishes to honor?" Haman thought that the king was speaking of him so he said, "Let the King's own robes and crown be put on him by one of the court officials and parade him around the city on the kings horse for all to see the honor the king gives to those whom he wishes to honor." So the king said, "Good. Go and do that for Mordecai who saved my life."

That afternoon after the King had honored Mordecai, Haman was taken to the banquet that Queen Esther had prepared. At the banquet the King said again, "Queen Esther I will give you whatever you wish up to half of my kingdom." Esther replied, "If it please your majesty, I ask that you let me and my people live for we have been ordered killed." Angered the king demanded, "Who has done this awful thing." Esther replied, "An enemy and foe, this wicked Haman." The king stomped off in anger and Haman begged Esther for his life. When the king returned he saw Haman hanging on Esther's feet and though he was attacking her. Immediately he ordered Haman executed. So they hanged Haman on very gallows prepared for Mordecai and the King granted Esther and the Jews their lives. If God had not been on their side, they would have been done for. If God had not been on Esther's side, the king might not have granted her request. If God had not been on Mordecai's side, instead of being honored by the king he would have been killed. If God had not been on the Hebrews' side, they would have been slaughtered by Haman's genocidal plot.

But that is a Jewish story from the fourth century BC, what does if have to do with us twentieth century AD Christians. Well, let me tell you another story that is a little closer to home. Once upon a time the devil plotted against the human race. He entangled us all in his web of deceit and lies. Through half-truths and out right lies he tricked us all into sinning against God. Then the Devil prepared a gallows of fire on which to hang the human race.

But like Mordecai and the Jews we had an advocate in the royal court, the very court of God. Jesus Christ is his name and he is the very Son of God, the prince of the heavenly court. And one day he prepared a banquet so that he could intercede with the Father on our behalf. At that banquet he offered himself, his body and his blood, as a sacrifice, an atonement, for our sins. And because of that sacrifice the Devil is doomed to the fires of hell in which he had planned to make us suffer.

If God in Christ had not been on our side we would have been doomed. If it were not for the new life that Christ offers us, we would have been swallowed up by meaningless lives of darkness and sin. If Christ had not been on our side when the devil plotted against the human race, we would have been hopelessly doomed to eternal punishment. But because of God's Son, we have an advocate with the Father who will plead for our lives, who died for our sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus Christ, God's Son, is on our side. Not in the sense that God will do what ever we wish. For sometimes what we wish is not right. But God is on our side in the sense that God stands with us in the face of troubles. As the 23rd psalm says, "He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies." This is a table of reconciliation with the Father. It is also a feast to nourish and strengthen us in the face of danger. God is present to offer help and comfort in times of need.

Since God is with us, on our side, let us call on our Heavenly Father in prayer. Are any of you suffering? Then pray for comfort. Are any cheerful? Then praise the Lord. Are any sick? Then ask your brothers and sisters in Christ to pray with you for relief. Are any lost spiritually? Then pray that they would come to the light of God.

The prayers of God's faithful people are powerful. Through them we call upon and call forth the power of God in our midst. They are the vehicle through which God works miracles in our lives. So as James tells us, pray for your brothers and sisters in their hour of need. If God were not on our side we would be doomed. But thanks be to God we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Mark 9:38-50

Jesus' Disciples were at it again. In the previous passage they were arguing about who was the greatest of them. They were trying to decide how the positions of power would be divided up when the Kingdom Jesus spoke of finally came, when they heard a report that surprised them. Someone else was moving in on their territory. Someone else was casting out demons in Jesus' name.

This could be disastrous for the disciples' power base. What were they to do? They went to Jesus and told him of this exorcist who was obviously unauthorized in his activity. How dare he, someone who was not one of Jesus 12 chosen disciples use his name? Matthew had even drawn up some papers for Jesus to sign. He said, "Jesus, you will sign these papers then I can get them notarized and registered by the end of the day and your name will be a registered trademark protected by law. Then the next time he uses your name we can nail him for copyright infringement!"

But Jesus could see the real issue. He said, "Now don't be so defensive. He's not hurting anything. He cast out a demon. If he is casting out demons he must be on our side. If he is not against us he must be for us."

Jesus had dealt with the immediate issue: the outsider using his name. Be Jesus could see a deeper issue underneath this event. Jesus could see that the disciples were beginning to draw circles that defined who was in and who was out of the kingdom. The problem was that these circles had nothing to do with trying to bring people into the Kingdom. Sometimes it is important to draw a circle so that people can be told that they are outside of God's will and that they need to change. When we proclaim that certain lifestyles and activities are sinful we give people the opportunity to step away from those lifestyles and into God's plan for their lives.

But this man was doing nothing wrong. He was doing something right. He was casting out evil. Certainly casting out evil is in God's will.

And if the disciples had wanted to draw this man in they would have gone to him. They would have asked him if he wanted to meet this Jesus and become his disciple like they were. But they didn't go to him to invite him. They went to Jesus to condemn him. They had drawn a self centered, self serving circle not to draw people closer to Jesus and God's will, but to keep Jesus all to themselves.

So Jesus said, "If any of you place a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone had been hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea."(Mark 9:42) Strong words and Jesus backed them up with stronger words. "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better to live maimed then to go to Hell whole." He then went on to say the same for the foot or the eye. Finally Jesus concluded by describing hell as a place of worms and fire. Certainly amputation seems a better fate than and eternity of worms and fire.

Jesus was using these strong words to warn the Disciples. They were supposed to be building roads that would lead people to the Kingdom of God. They were heavenly highway builders, but they were not doing their job. Instead of building road they were setting up road blocks. Instead of making a way for this exorcist, who believed in Jesus, to come to Jesus; they wanted to stop him.

And Jesus says that if they block the way of one of those little people who believe in Jesus they were in big trouble. They were in so much trouble that it would be better that they be drowned in the sea. At least they would have a painless death. For Jesus told them even amputation is better than eternity in Hell!

I think Jesus' disciples learned their lesson. They learned to be road builders instead of road blockers. They learned to lead people to Jesus instead of stopping them. They learned to make a way for Samaritans and women of ill repute, Ethiopian Eunuchs and tax collectors, and eventually even Greeks and Romans. They heeded Jesus' warning about placing stumbling blocks in the way of God's little ones.

But have we? Too often we use God's call to holiness as a way to keep people away from Jesus instead of as a way to lead them to him. It is important for the church to proclaim that certain lifestyles are sinful so that people can be lead away for those lifestyles. We need to proclaim that it is wrong for people to live in sin or to be materialistic, because those things hurt them and others.

The problem is that sometimes Christians use God's call to holiness to keep people out of the church. They say by their actions or their inaction if not by their words, "You're a sinner, you can't come in here." And instead of making a way for them to come to Christ and be delivered from the bondage of their lifestyle, we place a roadblock in their way.

Oh there are many other ways that Christians do this. There are many kinds of road blocks. Sometimes Christians question the genuineness of another church because they pray in a different way or they worship in a different way or they came to Jesus in a different way. I remember a young man once asked me to tell him how I came to Christ. I told him I was baptized as a baby and grew up believing in Jesus. When I was 8 I made a personal commitment to make Jesus my Lord and Savior. And at 13 I was confirmed as a member of the church. He proceeded to tell me that I was headed for Hell because I had come to Christ the wrong way. But we do the same when we ridicule those who shout or speak in tongues in worship or when we suggest that an emotional life-change conversion experiences are only surface deep.

We Christians need to stop building roadblocks based on our limited understanding of God's will and church practice. Instead we need to build roads of cooperation. Instead of judging others who believe in Jesus but act differently, we should reach out to them.

Just remember what Jesus said, "If they are not against us, they are for us." If evil is cast out by their use of Jesus' name, then we're all on the same side. And if we hinder their growth in Christ, then we are the ones bound for Hell not them.

Are we road builders or road blockers? That is a difficult question to answer. I suspect we have all done a little of both. In our attempts to point the way to Jesus, we have sometimes constructed roadblocks.

This is a serious question. Jesus said it was a question of Heaven or Hell. I think sometimes the church in an attempt to be "relevant" fails to proclaim the central truths of the Christian faith. And sometimes in an attempt to proclaim the central truths we fail to demonstrate their relevance to people's lives.

But sometimes I feel the biggest roadblock we place in the way of other people is our own spiritual immaturity. Those who look up to us are sometimes limited by our own lack of Christian growth. They look to us and think that is all there is to the Christian faith. That is why the example of Jesus is so important. In Him we have the perfect example of God's will. Perhaps we all need to seek a closer walk with him lest our lack of faith hinder the growth of others.

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